Sioux City Orpheum
520 Pierce Street,
Sioux City,
IA
51104
520 Pierce Street,
Sioux City,
IA
51104
2 people
favorited this theater
The second Orpheum Theatre was located on Nebraska Street, built around 1919, and designed by George Rapp with 1,456 seats. The new Sioux City Orpheum Theatre was constructed in 1927 and opened on December 19, 1927 as part of the Orpheum Circuit. It was designed by architectural firm Rapp & Rapp.
This opulent vaudeville and moving picture house boasted a large 2,650-seat, three-story auditorium complete with Wurlitzer pipe organ, half circle boxes, hand carved detailing, gilded ornamentation, several crystal chandeliers, and a hand painted ceiling.
Throughout the years, the Orpheum Theatre has been used for symphony performances, ballet, special attractions, and hosted entertainers such as Fred Astaire, Tallulah Bankhead, and Katherine Hepburn.
Beginning in 1999, the Orpheum Theatre was spectacularly restored to its original appearance, reopening in fall of 2001 after having been closed for nearly a decade.
Contributed by
Jeff Henjes
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Recent comments (view all 24 comments)
This is a 2007 photo of the Orpheum Theater.
A Wurlitzer theater organ opus 1759 style 240 was installed in the Orpheum Theater on 10/19/1927.
The Fall 2008 issue of Classic Trains Magazine has a neat color photo taken in May 1948 of two Sioux City Service Co. trolley cars meeting at Turner and Villa streets. One car has on its front a poster ad for the Orpheum Theatre. Movies are Frank Sinatra in “The Miracle of the Bells” plus “co-hit” “My Dog Rusty”.
Here is a 1966 photo from Life Magazine:
http://tinyurl.com/6xum85
Another photo of the Orpheum is here.
Is the name of this theatre the Orpheum or the Sioux City Orpheum. Even their web site just says Orpheum.
1985 photo of the Orpheum Theatre.
View link
This is another 1985 photo.
The Orpheum Theater at the corner of 6th & Pierce is actually the third theatre in Sioux City. The second building was known as The Capitol and was remodled by Rapp & Rapp after the building of the present day Orpheum. They did not design the theatre on Nebraska Street, only the theatre on Pierce. I worked at the Orheum from the early 1960’s to the 1970’s and writing a book.
PaulWolter the first Orpheum was the Victory Theatre or originally named: Lyric Theatre.