The Orpheum Theatre in Wichita

Wichita, Kansas

Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

  constructed by a group of local investors and operated by theatre mogul Carl Hobitzelle, opened on September 4, 1922, and was the first atmospheric theatre

Atmospheric theatre

An atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace which has an auditorium ceiling that is intended to give the illusion of an open sky as its defining feature...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 though whether or not it can be considered a true "atmospheric theatre" has been contested by some. In 1984, it was given to the Orpheum Performing Arts Centre, Ltd., a non-profit corporation created to the preserve, restore and utilize of this significant part of the city's cultural and architectural history. The magnificent 42 ft (12.8 m) high by 40 ft (12.2 m) wide proscenium arch is the main feature of the auditorium. The sidewalls of the auditorium were accented by niches with mock tile roofs, grills and wooden lattice arches across the ceiling to create a courtyard effect.

The theatre once held 1,700 seats but now only seats 1,281. The theatre was designed by renowned architect John Eberson

John Eberson

John Eberson was an American architect best known for his movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre fashion.Born in Czernowitz, Austro-Hungarian Empire , Eberson went to highschool in Dresden and studied electrical engineering in Vienna. He arrived in the United States in 1901 and at first...

 with the concept of creating the ambiance of a specific locale. The Wichita Orpheum was designed to invoke a garden of old Andalusia

Andalusia

Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

. Its entire design, including that of the asbestos curtain, was that of a Spanish garden or court. The Orpheum Wichita was an integral part of the famous Orpheum Circuit and in its heyday virtually every major star of vaudeville graced its stage, including such luminaries as Eddie Cantor

Eddie Cantor

Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...

 and Fannie Brice.

History

The Orpheum Theatre has significant associations nationally and internationally with the development of a whole new concept and style of theatre architecture. During this period, more than 17,000 acts appeared with the playbill changing three times each week.

By the time it closed in 1974, it was an adult film venue and the structure had considerably deteriorated. As Orpheum Theater and Office Building, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1980.

A group of investors bought the structure in 1984, but a legal entanglements kept the board from taking over until 1992. In total, the theatre remained dark for 17 years. The board chose to open the theater for events and complete renovations as money was available. As of 2011, most funding has come from private grants with $1 million given by the City of Wichita.

Restoration

Restoration work on the Orpheum is being conducted by the California based John Ash Group, a national historical preservation architecture firm. Although the building cost about $750,000 to construct in 1922, the Orpheum board estimates the total cost of renovations will require another $13 million in addition to the $4 million already invested. Areas still to be addressed include a new auditorium flooring and seats, concession stands, electrical upgrades and decorative plaster work. The theatre directors kicked-off a public fund-raising campaign in April 2011 and hope to complete work in 2013.

See also

• Movie palaces list
  Movie palace
  A movie palace is a term used to refer to the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opened every year between 1925 and 1930.There are three building types in particular which can be subsumed...