Orpheum Theatre
210 W. Seventh Street,
Okmulgee,
OK
74447
210 W. Seventh Street,
Okmulgee,
OK
74447
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Griffith Amusement Company
Architects: Leon B. Senter
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Styles: Spanish Baroque
Previous Names: Cook Opera House
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
918.756.2270
Nearby Theaters
The Cook Opera House became the Orpheum Theatre which screened its first movie on August 23, 1920, “Eyes of Youth” starring Clara Kimball Young. It had 1,200 seats. In 1974, the former balcony was converted into a second auditorium.
Contributed by
Todd Scott
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Recent comments (view all 27 comments)
Allowing for colorful versatility, these frosted fixtures seemed to be popular amoung theatre operators. This style of lighting is also found inside the Art Theatre (AKA-Park), Champaign, IL.
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and
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A 1984 photo of the Orpheum Theater showing “Temple of Doom” and “Sixteen Candles”.
The Orpheum, taken April 2009 – the very nice crew let me come in before they opened to take a look around. Magnificent place, a must-see if you’re in the area.
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Symco; If you really want to see exactly what the frosted glass sidelight fixtures looked like inside the Orpheum auditorium, then go to this site and type in word “Dixie”. Auditorium views for the Holdenville Dixie Theatre show the exact same sidewall fixtures. These fixtures were more fancy than those found inside the Art Theatre, Champaign, IL.
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Several sources have told me about an Orpheum doorman, named Jeff Chapman, who was the crush of all local junior high girls during the late 1960’s.
After college Jeff was house manager of the Sooner Theater in Norman, OK, where his charm earned him the same admiration as he had enjoyed in Okmulgee.
As mentioned above, originally the Orpheum Theatre had an Austin pipe organ. Hear a couple of those instruments on this site –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV5NwBNtamY
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXdOhGK1xxk
Sharp vintage interior/exteriors images of the Orpheum Theatre can be found on this nice web site,
http://www.roadsideoklahoma.com/node/581
photos including ornate lobby here http://www.flickr.com/photos/sethgaines/page4/
Grand opening ad as Cook on August 22nd, 1920.
Cook Theatre opening Sun, Aug 22, 1920 – 4 · Okmulgee Daily Times (Okmulgee, Oklahoma) · Newspapers.com
This became the Orpheum theatre on August 19th, 1921.
Orpheum theatre Fri, Aug 19, 1921 – 2 · Okmulgee Daily Times (Okmulgee, Oklahoma) · Newspapers.com