Orpheum Theatre
1192 Market Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94102
1192 Market Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94102
13 people
favorited this theater
Built in 1926 as a part of the Pantages Theatre circuit, the theater sputtered through its first years as a vaudeville house and was sold to RKO. The theater was soon reopened as the New Orpheum Theatre and remained a first run movie house for the next 35 years.
The theater was purchased in the 1970’s, closed briefly, and then reopened in 1977 for live theater. However, this conversion was not a success and it closed again in 1981.
The Shorenstein Hays Nederlander Organization bought the Orpheum Theatre in 1981 and reinvigorated it with the best travelling Broadway shows in the nation. Under their leadership, the Orpheum has now been going strong for over 20 years.
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Recent comments (view all 52 comments)
Took 3 pics from the stage last weekend…unfortunately it was dark because the “house” wasnt open yet…one decent pic of the auditorium ceiling, the architectural features on sides seem less ornate than in the old pics i’ve seen above…maybe because of all the theatrical lighting ..also threw in some pics of civic center statues with “wicked” in the background
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Lost Memory… Your 1966 picture of the Orpheum brought back my City visits from 18 months at Oakland Army Base. Memories when I saw “Dr. Zchivago” in this glorious auditorium. Upon departing, patrons were handed postage-paid postcards to mail to friends, encouraging them to see the picture.
Another(live) show later was Eartha Kitt who sang her favorites and popped a few humorous jokes in between. The audience was generous in so much as to laughter, applause but most of all, they listened to her most politely.
I also obtained her autograph. Oh, what a talented and sexy lady!
A couple photos I took of the Orpheum Theatre on Feb. 28th can be seen here:
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I have quite a few small pocket mirrors from way back in the 20’s or 30’s, that have someone by the name of “Charmion” pictured on the back in various poses. She looked to be a body builder, very muscley. My wife thought it may have been a man. Anyone have info on this act or person? It states “Star of Vaudeville at Orphium”.
Anyone have any clues as to who this may have been and what type of act it was?
Charmion was her stage name, her real name was Laverie Vallee (1875-1949). her art was Vaudeville trapeze artist and strongwoman. She died in Santa Ana, Ca in 1949.
Sometime in the ‘90s I saw Mandy Patinkin perform at the Orpheum. As luck would have it a local radio station was giving away free tickets and I snared a fabulous seat.
Hello, I saw a posting from FBZ about some small pocket mirrors with vaudeville performer Charmion pictured on them. I collect items with her picture and would be willing to purchase if the owner was interested. Is there any way you or I could contact the owner? Thanks! Jim 973-864-6048
http://www.psilo.com/dead/showshow.php?band=1&date=1976-7-18 http://www.archive.org/details/gd76-07-18.sbd.bertha.14838.sbeok.shnf
A few 2012 photos can be seen here and here.
A 1928 photo of a very different San Francisco Orpheum Theatre appears on the historic-memphis.com website. Here’s a link to the page.