Orpheum Theatre

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.