Orpheum Theatre

The Orpheum Theatre is listed in the American Motion Picture Directory 1914 - 1915.

In the Film Daily Yearbook;1926 edition is is listed with a seating capacity of 596.

Saw "Stomp" here a couple of years back. This is a small, narrow little theater of mostly exposed brick, far as I can recall the interior. Both the orchestra and the tiny balcony have center aisles and the proscenium runs wall to wall. The rows of seat don't hold many seats on either side of the aisle, maybe 10 to each side. The balcony is maybe 5 or 6 rows deep and is reached by an ordinary case of stairs on the right side of the theater as you walk in to the tiny "lobby area." Any ornamentation or architectural detail appears to have been stripped. It's hard to imagine this space held nearly 600 seats at any time. Perhaps the interior was gutted and the auditorium space reduced at some point? It has the feel of a theater that was cut right in half.

If you do make your way down to the Orpheum's neihgborhood, there is a wonderful old church on the next block of 2nd Avenue to the south and a fantastic corner shop across the street called "Love Saves the Day" (or something) that buys and sells all sorts of old toys, magazines, models, games, lunch boxes, vintage used clothes and other artcles of ephemera. One can spend hours just browsing the shelves.

In 1978, I helped to reopen the Orpheum. The balcony had been floored over and was being used as a carpentry shop. We took out the asbestos slate projection booth that showed quite a bit of fire damage. The early film stock was quite flammable and made life for the projectionists hard. We also took out the crank that ran a cable up from the booth to the ceiling and out to the roof. This opened three five foot by ten foot hatches in the ceiling for ventalation. There was no room for ice in the plenum as there was only a basement.

Catwalks had been hung running from upstage to the balcony. I'm not sure what show this was for. A rudimentary steel grid had been installed for rigging, well after original constuction, probably from the 50's. We had to dig out the rubble from under the stage in order to create additional space needed for production.

It is extremely hard to believe that this space ever contained enough seating for 600 people. Some of the marble rubble and the stories from the neighborhood indicated that this space had been a converted public bathhouse before conversion to a theatre.

Since the 50's some of the players who have acted at the Orpheum include Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Martin Sheen, Morgan Freeman, Meatloaf, William H Macy, Sylvia Miles, Katherine Ross, Brooke Adams, Priscilla Lopez, Mark Blum and many others.
http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=theater&id=103

This theater is showing movies. This is the theater next door to Papaya King at 86th and 2nd. It appears to be cut into a multiplex.

Is this theater still single screen or was it split?

Bway... I think you have this mixed up with the uptown Orpheum. The Orpheum at 126 2nd Avenue is down in the East Village between East 7th and St. Marks Place and has been featuring live theater for a great many years. "Stomp!" has been playing here for 12 years.

Haha, yup, I am mixed up then. I am thinking of the one near 86th STreet. Is that one listed on this site?

Yeah... here's the link.

I remember seeing "Star Wars" up there (I posted my memories on the page) on its intial release in '77 with my Dad. The theater operated as an up-and-down twin from 1968 (each theater using a different name and entrance) until its demise in the 1980's.

Here is a photo of the Orpheum.

Evening shot.

http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=new+york&catpageindex=28&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31105

Is Stomp still at this theater?