An Ageless Theatrical Beauty
On the corner of Hyde and Market Streets in San Francisco stands the Orpheum Theatre. From the day, over 75 years ago, that its magnificent carved doors first opened to the public, until now, Orpheum audiences have seen an illustrious array of American theatrical entertainment pass across its stage and screen. From vaudeville, to movies, to musical comedy, this official city historical landmark has held them all!
The visual beauty of the theatre, kept wonderfully intact by its current owner, Shorenstein Hays Nederlander Theatres, is a delight to behold, and a show in itself.
In the twenties, the entertainment rage was vaudeville, and movies merely an "added attraction" to intrigue the patrons. The theatres themselves were architectural flights of fancy Egyptian palaces, Indian temples, medieval castles with open courtyards. Most of the architecture was exaggerated and opulent. But these settings added to the romance and adventure the audience would find on-stage.
The New "Pantages Theatre"
In 1925, Alexander Pantages, whose chain of 30 theatres was the most successful entertainment circuit in the West, believed that vaudeville was here to stay. He decided to add a showcase to his string of theatres, replacing the old one in San Francisco, built in 1911 on Market at Mason. The "new Pantages Theatre" at 8th and Market was commissioned to B. Marcus Priteca, Pantages' exclusive architect, who was a renowned architectural historian and illustrator as well. Each one of five hundred theatres he designed is a unique trip through a history book of some period.
The Interior of the Orpheum Theatre
Working with a relatively modest budget of under one million dollars, Priteca decided to take the visitors to the new Pantages on a journey to pre-Reformation Spain. The result was luxurious, ornamental, full of delightful surprises, but, unlike the work of some of his contemporaries, never gaudy or garish.
The facade of the new theatre was patterned after a 12th century cathedral in Leon, the high vaulted ceiling in the lobby after a palace in Alhambra. The work of skilled 12th and 13th century Spanish artisans was recreated on the sides of the proscenium, depicting crusaders and pilgrims. The auditorium ceiling was ringed with full-bodied lions, and figures from folklore and myth were on the upper third of the auditorium walls. The ceiling itself looked like a giant butterfly wing, softly spreading iridescent light over the audience.
Standing on a delicate Spanish balcony overlooking the main lobby, one could look down on inlaid oriental carpeting, and across to a rich-toned tapestry over the main entrance.
Opening Night - A Gala to Behold
On a Saturday evening in February, 1926, the Pantages Theatre opened to the public. It was a gala evening, mixing two hundred Hollywood celebrities with state and city officials and local socialites. The evening's entertainment featured one of vaudeville's biggest shows (with a cast of 60) called Revue of Revues, and seven other acts, including a full-scale ballet, a miniature comic opera, a couple of stand-up comics, and a movie star ring Syd Chaplin (brother of Charlie) and Rin Tin Tin.
The Fall of Vaudeville
Several years later, vaudeville was faltering, and the curtain came down on Alexander Pantages' empire. His holdings were sold to RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum), and his beautiful San Francisco showcase was reopened as the new Orpheum Theatre. The Orpheum, incidentally, had been the name of a series of San Francisco theatres since 1876. By the mid-thirties, the alhambran walls of this Orpheum were to house a respected, first-class movie palace.
As A Movie House
For the next 35 years, the Orpheum audiences were transported from the silent screen, through the advent of the "talkies" to the wonders of Cinerama and wide screen.
HAIR in the Seventies
In 1970, an American Conservatory Theatre production of the breakthrough musical, Hair was presented at the Orpheum, and the appearance of the irreverent "tribe" on-stage signaled the reawakening of the Market Street building as a home of legitimate theatre in San Francisco.
Civic Light Opera Restores Theatre
Meanwhile, the prestigious San Francisco - Los Angeles Civic Light Opera company, which was outgrowing its original home at the Curran Theatre, saw the 2503 seat house as the answer to its space problems, and decided to move to the Orpheum. In 1976, CLO commenced a two and one-half million dollar renovation project under the direction of Richard F. McCann, a former associate of the Pantages architect, Priteca. Under McCann's supervision, every caution was taken to retain the essence and spirit of the original structure, while modifying to fit contemporary theatrical requirements. The auditorium and adjacent areas were recarpeted, seats were added and recovered, all surfaces were repainted, and lighted fixtures were brought in from New York and Mexico. New sound, fly and rigging systems were installed, and offices and backstage facilities were expanded and enlarged. "Live" theatre was about to return to the Orpheum!
Opening Night Act 2
On May 10, 1977, the new red curtain at the Orpheum rose on Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun, starring Debbie Reynolds, the first CLO production in its new home. Civic Light Opera producers Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin would fill the stage in the next few years with such superstars as Lena Horne, Liza Minnelli, Jackie Gleason and Debbie Reynolds. The marquee would display the titles of the national companies of Sly Fox, Pippin, Chicago, Evita, Dancin', and On the 20th Century.
Curtain Down Act 2
Unfortunately, the Orpheum Theatre did not prove to be a lasting home for the SF-LA CLO. In 1981, when problems arose with a production of Gypsy starring Debbie Reynolds, the SF-LA CLO chose to close down the San Francisco part of their operations and continue only in Los Angeles. The producers looked to the rising Best of Broadway series, run by local impresario Carole Shorenstein Hays, to accommodate their loyal subscribers. Carole Shorenstein Hays and the Messrs. Nederlander were committed to bringing live touring productions to San Francisco, and they felt the SFCLO work on the Orpheum should not be in vain. The Shorenstein Hays Nederlander Organization bought the Orpheum Theatre and combined the SFCLO series with the Best of Broadway series, offering a refund for Gypsy to all subscribers who did not wish to transfer their season tickets to the Best of Broadway.
From 1981 to the Present
On August 25, 1981, the Orpheum Theatre opened under new management with the hilarious musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Sixteen years later, a massive and privately funded renovation took place at the Orpheum unveiling an ornate and stunning theatre that has become synonymous with elegance in San Francisco. Blockbuster musicals have been housed at the Orpheum beginning with Carol Channing in Hello, Dolly!, Yul Brynner in The King and I, Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney in Sugar Babies, Dream Girls, Man of La Mancha staring Raul Julia, Evita, The Secret Garden, Beauty and the Beast, the American premiere of the British hit Mamma Mia! in 2000 and the smash hit musical The Producers. Disney's The Lion King took up residence for most of 2004 and in 2005 the Orpheum will host the Pre-Broadway engagement of London's latest smash - four-time Best Musical Award Winner, Jerry Springer - The Opera.
As the Best of Broadway series continues to play, under the direction of Carole Shorenstein Hays and Scott E. Nederlander, Alexander Pantages dream to keep the Orpheum Theatre light continues to shine bright.