Orpheum Theatre
146 Main Avenue North,
Twin Falls,
ID
83301
146 Main Avenue North,
Twin Falls,
ID
83301
1 person
favorited this theater
The Orpheum Theatre opened in October 1921, with 900 seats.. In the 1950’s, when it was an Intermountain Theatre, many considered the Orpheum Theatre to have the sharpest, although small, Cinemascope screen in Idaho. This was probably because the projection booth was built downstairs instead of in the balcony, giving a rather short and direct throw.
The Orpheum Theatre still has a very sharp and small picture but when the lights go down in the restored 1920’s auditorium, the walls seem to close in giving a very intimate viewing experience. The balcony is closed now with its approximately 250 seats removed.
In contrast to the auditorium, the concession stand and outer lobby have a clean, contemporary look. It used to have a full marquee and now it has one that sits flush with the front of the building.
In keeping with downtown urban renewal that began in 1970, it was called the Mall Cinema for many years and then changed back to the Orpheum Theatre in the late-1990’s to reflect its location in Historic Old Towne, a part of the Twin Falls Downtown Historic District. The district was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
Another downtown theater, the Idaho Theatre, was completely demolished. The Orpheum Theatre is now operated by Interstate Amusement.
Contributed by
Ron Pierce
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Web site for the Orpheum and Interstate Entertainment.
www.magicvalley.com
According to the 1956 Film Daily Yearbook, the Orpheum Theater originally seated 731. The balcony was quite a bit larger than the main floor and could easily have seated about 430-plus.
The Orpheum also had a relatively small stage for occasional live performances. the auditorium itself was very ornate, with a back-lit proscenium arch over the stage and dome-shaped molding in the ceiling.
The Orpheum’s first CInemaScope presentation was “Rose Marie,” in the spring of 1954 — coinciding with the arrival of Twin Falls' first local TV station.
Probably because it was then operated by Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Theatres, the Orpheum frequently played major first-run films abouit the same time they were playing in Boise and Salt Lake City.
“The Ten Commandments” played for nearly three weeks — an unprecedented long-run in a town where most films played for just a week or less.
During the mid-1950s I worked at both the Orpheum and the Idaho as a ticket-taking doorman (in a uniform that looked like Harold Hill’s in “The Music Man”), canged the marquees and assisted the assistant manager when the manager was on vacagtion.
Most of the memorable old Magic Valley theaters have long since disappeared, but the Orpheum is still a commanding presence on Main Street in downtown Twin Falls.
Here is a 1931 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yeouq5h
Photo is not there anymore.
Cosmic observation of the day: all of the theaters listed for TWIN Falls…are single screens.
We drove through Twin Falls last weekend (Sunday, June 17), and I picked up a copy of the local newspaper, the Times-News. From the theater ads, it appears that the once stately Orpheum Theatre has been down-graded to a bargain, “dollar house.”