The following is forwarded to this website from a long time friend, SDH, formerly managing director of the Chicago Theater, q.v.
My one visit to the Loew’s Capitol was in the early 1960’s. It was located almost next door to the Warner Brothers Hollywood, which was almost next door to the Mark Strand. Loew’s had converted the Capitol to Cinerama and it was completely draped. I understand, though, that the original decor was still there behind the curtains. I remember it had one of those Loew’s new-style New York marquee: Stainless steel and shadow letters with the theatre name (Just like the Loew’s State two blocks down Broadway). Those new Times Square marquees had no changeable letter boards on them because every one of those theatres had immense electric false fronts from Artcraft-Strauss. The orchestra seats under the balcony had been removed (you couldn’t see Cinerama from under thebalcony), and a Japanese Garden was built at the back of the floor, a ridiculous sight indeed. Since the balcony was the best place to sit, they had put escalators in the center of the famous marble stairs. That was the only theatre I ever saw with escalators except for the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis. Now, of course, all these new downtown Loew’s multiplexes have escalators galore: What better place to put a theatre auditorium than in the windowless center of a building?
I have seen pictures of the Capitol interior before Cinerama and it was Loew-Lamb Adam style. Very stately, very simple ornament.
The organ was an Estey which originally had the lighted cash register stop controls. It is an apocryphal story that G. D. Harrison, who was servicing the organ in the days before he reached the pinnacle of Aeolian-Skinner) set every piston to spell out dirty words which were clearly visible from the balcony. Later on, Loew’s did spring for a beautiful standard horseshoe console, but the organ was still an Estey which had a very bland residence-organ character with nothing really theatrical about it. It didn’t sound very good I’m told, but did any Estey ever sound very good? Very bland, and nothing which could possibly offend!
You know, of course, that Roxy was at the Capitol before the Roxy Theatre was built, in the capacity of grand high poobah of ridiculous stage shows, describing the stage show over WOR, the Loew’s-owned radio station in Secaucus. Major Bowes replaced him, very pleased to have Roxy out. Bowes, after the stage show era was gone, was the host of “Major Bowes' Amateur Hour” on CBS. This show was the direct predecessor of the “Ted Mack Amateur Hour.”
Additional information on the Tivoli’s Wurlitzer would be appreciated. As I understand it, this is one of only three remaining original installation Wurlitzer theater organs in Tennessee. (The other two being the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville and the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis.)
The Lamar dates back to the silent movie era. There is a small stage and a small organ chamber left and right of the proscenium at stage level. The arched window visible in the photo above opens into the projection booth. In the projection booth there are vestiges of an older facade, indicating that the booth and lobby are additions to an older theater. When last seen in 1990 the roof was nearly gone, the side exit doors falling out of the walls. Every other row of seats had been removed for the live part of the prono show which was the Lamar’s last use.
The facade of the Lamar appears in the film “Mystery Train.”
The hotel next door was the West Side Hotel, the Lebanon Hotel was farther down West Main Street. Reports are that the current owner has put a new roof on the building: at least forstalling a roof collapse.
The Capitol went through a 2nd rate renovation before it closed. The “moderne” sconces were removed and the walls covered with faux-wood paneling with fake plants in a mid-height planter running the length of the auditorium.
The terrazzo lobby floor and the triangle marquee and vertical sign survive as of this writing.
The Orpheum (Opened as the RKO Orpheum) was designed by Rapp and Rapp of Chicago and is quite similar to the larger Orpheum in Omaha, Nebraska. Both are “Movie Palace Baroque” which Rapp and did so well.
The Memphis Public Library has 2 copies of the opening night program.
The Memphis Orpheum has three balcony structures: a mezzanine, a large main balcony divided by a cross-aisle into “Grand Tier” and “Balcony” and the asymetrical uppermost section refered to as the “gallery.” This is also divided by a cross aisle into “Upper Gallery and "Lower Gallery” sections.
The Gallery was the product of that regretable time of Jim Crow laws: black and white people segregated by law. A seperate box office on Beale Street opened into a long long stairway to the very top of the theatre where black patrons were allowed to sit. The Gallery was served restrooms and smoking lounges that were spacious, but not appointed as richly as the white folks lounges below.
While MALCO owned the theatre, the number of black patrons grew to such numbers that the Gallery was determined not to be large enough. The previously mentioned “long long stairway” was reconfigured so that a doorway could be opened to the main balcony. A wall was built right down the middle of the balcony so that black folks could sit on the north side (house right) and white folks on the south side. This lasted until the Jim Crow laws were repealed.
The organ the Memphis Orpheum is the original 3 manual, 13 rank Wurlitzer installed in chambers left and right. The building was designed with 4 organ chambers and a relay room in anticipation of a 4 manual, 20 rank instrument. Oral tradition is that the order was reduced after it became obvious that “talkies” were not going away. As installed, the solo chamber is upper house left and the main chamber is upper house right. The organ relay was installed in the chamber lower house left. The chamber lower house right is accessible only through a trap door in the floor of the main chamber and has never had anything in it. The relay room is at orchestra level and has served for many years as the lamp storage room.
In the mid 1950’s a stage fire burned the ornate main valance over the proscenium. The burning valance fell onto the dark wood organ console in the pit badly scorching it. The console was repaired and painted white. This fire also smoked the auditorium rather badly. The simplest method to disguise the soot and dirt was to lower the light levels to “very low.” Patrons to THE MALCO during those days remember it as being vast and dark. The valance and the interior paint were not replaced until the building’s first renovation in 1982-83.
It is noteworthy that the Memphis Orpheum never had a large chandelier in the dome. Rumors that one was removed are false: the original drawings survive and show nothing of the sort. The auditorium does have 2 very large chandeliers in front of the organ boxes and 2 smaller, though still heroic, over the balcony.
The Memphis Orpheum has a medium size lobby with two handsome chandeliers and 6 large sconces. Twin stairs rise to the mezzanine and descend to the lower lounges and restrooms. During the 1982-83 renovation the storefronts south of the lobby were opened into the main lobby for extra restroom and concession space. This addition picks up some design cues from the theatre while being modern enough to be obviously new.
A new extremely large women’s restroom was added to the lower lounge during the early 1990’s. It is oddly clumsy though the extra stalls are quite welcome.
The original stage was only 28' deep. A new stage and dressing rooms were added in the mid-‘90’s giving the theatre a space large enough to mount the largest touring shows.
Loew’s Palace opened in 1920, not 1925. It was designed by Thomas Lamb during his “Adam” period. Loew’s had this theater and the nearly twin Loew’s State under construction at the same time. One etched and painted lobby mirror survives at the Memphis Orpheum Theatre. Twin mirrors were removed from the Palace and installed at the Orpheum, one has since been broken. A replacement was made to preserve the symetrical installation.
The Loew’s Palace had a fairly small lobby with stairs on each side. There was a glass window wall between the lobby and the auditorium. Beyond the window wall as an open orchestra foyer/standee area. Above this was an under-balcony dome. Ascending the stairs led one to an lower balcony cross aisle with a well at the dome. Looking down into the well, one looked down on seats. Looking up one saw the saucer (under-balcony) dome. This whole lower balcony cross-aisle was cove-lit in pink neon. The wall covering was a rose damask.
The lower balcony cross-aisle lead to a single large balcony (there was no mezzanine) with vomitoria at each extreme end.
In the auditorium, a single large chandelier hung in the main dome. Cove lights encircled the rest of the auditorium. “Upside-down umbrella” lights hung under the balcony.
The Loew’s Palace opened with a Moller organ. The pipes were in the standard left and right chamber locations. As the LP was not air conditioned, there were large plaster lattice grills in the ceiling open to the attic. The Moller’s percussions were installed on a platform above the dome and spoke through the lattice work.
The Moller was replaced by a Wurlitzer during the mid 1920’s.
The Loew’s Palace was altered to accomodate Cinerama. The side boxes were cut away and the orchestra pit filled in.
This theater had several owner’s or leasors. MALCO ran the theater for a while in the 1930’s. Paramount also ran it for a while. When torn down, the balcony carpet was still a beautiful repeating pattern of the Paramount logo.
The following is forwarded to this website from a long time friend, SDH, formerly managing director of the Chicago Theater, q.v.
My one visit to the Loew’s Capitol was in the early 1960’s. It was located almost next door to the Warner Brothers Hollywood, which was almost next door to the Mark Strand. Loew’s had converted the Capitol to Cinerama and it was completely draped. I understand, though, that the original decor was still there behind the curtains. I remember it had one of those Loew’s new-style New York marquee: Stainless steel and shadow letters with the theatre name (Just like the Loew’s State two blocks down Broadway). Those new Times Square marquees had no changeable letter boards on them because every one of those theatres had immense electric false fronts from Artcraft-Strauss. The orchestra seats under the balcony had been removed (you couldn’t see Cinerama from under thebalcony), and a Japanese Garden was built at the back of the floor, a ridiculous sight indeed. Since the balcony was the best place to sit, they had put escalators in the center of the famous marble stairs. That was the only theatre I ever saw with escalators except for the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis. Now, of course, all these new downtown Loew’s multiplexes have escalators galore: What better place to put a theatre auditorium than in the windowless center of a building?
I have seen pictures of the Capitol interior before Cinerama and it was Loew-Lamb Adam style. Very stately, very simple ornament.
The organ was an Estey which originally had the lighted cash register stop controls. It is an apocryphal story that G. D. Harrison, who was servicing the organ in the days before he reached the pinnacle of Aeolian-Skinner) set every piston to spell out dirty words which were clearly visible from the balcony. Later on, Loew’s did spring for a beautiful standard horseshoe console, but the organ was still an Estey which had a very bland residence-organ character with nothing really theatrical about it. It didn’t sound very good I’m told, but did any Estey ever sound very good? Very bland, and nothing which could possibly offend!
You know, of course, that Roxy was at the Capitol before the Roxy Theatre was built, in the capacity of grand high poobah of ridiculous stage shows, describing the stage show over WOR, the Loew’s-owned radio station in Secaucus. Major Bowes replaced him, very pleased to have Roxy out. Bowes, after the stage show era was gone, was the host of “Major Bowes' Amateur Hour” on CBS. This show was the direct predecessor of the “Ted Mack Amateur Hour.”
Additional information on the Tivoli’s Wurlitzer would be appreciated. As I understand it, this is one of only three remaining original installation Wurlitzer theater organs in Tennessee. (The other two being the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville and the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis.)
The Lamar dates back to the silent movie era. There is a small stage and a small organ chamber left and right of the proscenium at stage level. The arched window visible in the photo above opens into the projection booth. In the projection booth there are vestiges of an older facade, indicating that the booth and lobby are additions to an older theater. When last seen in 1990 the roof was nearly gone, the side exit doors falling out of the walls. Every other row of seats had been removed for the live part of the prono show which was the Lamar’s last use.
The facade of the Lamar appears in the film “Mystery Train.”
The hotel next door was the West Side Hotel, the Lebanon Hotel was farther down West Main Street. Reports are that the current owner has put a new roof on the building: at least forstalling a roof collapse.
The Capitol went through a 2nd rate renovation before it closed. The “moderne” sconces were removed and the walls covered with faux-wood paneling with fake plants in a mid-height planter running the length of the auditorium.
The terrazzo lobby floor and the triangle marquee and vertical sign survive as of this writing.
The Orpheum (Opened as the RKO Orpheum) was designed by Rapp and Rapp of Chicago and is quite similar to the larger Orpheum in Omaha, Nebraska. Both are “Movie Palace Baroque” which Rapp and did so well.
The Memphis Public Library has 2 copies of the opening night program.
The Memphis Orpheum has three balcony structures: a mezzanine, a large main balcony divided by a cross-aisle into “Grand Tier” and “Balcony” and the asymetrical uppermost section refered to as the “gallery.” This is also divided by a cross aisle into “Upper Gallery and "Lower Gallery” sections.
The Gallery was the product of that regretable time of Jim Crow laws: black and white people segregated by law. A seperate box office on Beale Street opened into a long long stairway to the very top of the theatre where black patrons were allowed to sit. The Gallery was served restrooms and smoking lounges that were spacious, but not appointed as richly as the white folks lounges below.
While MALCO owned the theatre, the number of black patrons grew to such numbers that the Gallery was determined not to be large enough. The previously mentioned “long long stairway” was reconfigured so that a doorway could be opened to the main balcony. A wall was built right down the middle of the balcony so that black folks could sit on the north side (house right) and white folks on the south side. This lasted until the Jim Crow laws were repealed.
The organ the Memphis Orpheum is the original 3 manual, 13 rank Wurlitzer installed in chambers left and right. The building was designed with 4 organ chambers and a relay room in anticipation of a 4 manual, 20 rank instrument. Oral tradition is that the order was reduced after it became obvious that “talkies” were not going away. As installed, the solo chamber is upper house left and the main chamber is upper house right. The organ relay was installed in the chamber lower house left. The chamber lower house right is accessible only through a trap door in the floor of the main chamber and has never had anything in it. The relay room is at orchestra level and has served for many years as the lamp storage room.
In the mid 1950’s a stage fire burned the ornate main valance over the proscenium. The burning valance fell onto the dark wood organ console in the pit badly scorching it. The console was repaired and painted white. This fire also smoked the auditorium rather badly. The simplest method to disguise the soot and dirt was to lower the light levels to “very low.” Patrons to THE MALCO during those days remember it as being vast and dark. The valance and the interior paint were not replaced until the building’s first renovation in 1982-83.
It is noteworthy that the Memphis Orpheum never had a large chandelier in the dome. Rumors that one was removed are false: the original drawings survive and show nothing of the sort. The auditorium does have 2 very large chandeliers in front of the organ boxes and 2 smaller, though still heroic, over the balcony.
The Memphis Orpheum has a medium size lobby with two handsome chandeliers and 6 large sconces. Twin stairs rise to the mezzanine and descend to the lower lounges and restrooms. During the 1982-83 renovation the storefronts south of the lobby were opened into the main lobby for extra restroom and concession space. This addition picks up some design cues from the theatre while being modern enough to be obviously new.
A new extremely large women’s restroom was added to the lower lounge during the early 1990’s. It is oddly clumsy though the extra stalls are quite welcome.
The original stage was only 28' deep. A new stage and dressing rooms were added in the mid-‘90’s giving the theatre a space large enough to mount the largest touring shows.
Loew’s Palace opened in 1920, not 1925. It was designed by Thomas Lamb during his “Adam” period. Loew’s had this theater and the nearly twin Loew’s State under construction at the same time. One etched and painted lobby mirror survives at the Memphis Orpheum Theatre. Twin mirrors were removed from the Palace and installed at the Orpheum, one has since been broken. A replacement was made to preserve the symetrical installation.
The Loew’s Palace had a fairly small lobby with stairs on each side. There was a glass window wall between the lobby and the auditorium. Beyond the window wall as an open orchestra foyer/standee area. Above this was an under-balcony dome. Ascending the stairs led one to an lower balcony cross aisle with a well at the dome. Looking down into the well, one looked down on seats. Looking up one saw the saucer (under-balcony) dome. This whole lower balcony cross-aisle was cove-lit in pink neon. The wall covering was a rose damask.
The lower balcony cross-aisle lead to a single large balcony (there was no mezzanine) with vomitoria at each extreme end.
In the auditorium, a single large chandelier hung in the main dome. Cove lights encircled the rest of the auditorium. “Upside-down umbrella” lights hung under the balcony.
The Loew’s Palace opened with a Moller organ. The pipes were in the standard left and right chamber locations. As the LP was not air conditioned, there were large plaster lattice grills in the ceiling open to the attic. The Moller’s percussions were installed on a platform above the dome and spoke through the lattice work.
The Moller was replaced by a Wurlitzer during the mid 1920’s.
The Loew’s Palace was altered to accomodate Cinerama. The side boxes were cut away and the orchestra pit filled in.
This theater had several owner’s or leasors. MALCO ran the theater for a while in the 1930’s. Paramount also ran it for a while. When torn down, the balcony carpet was still a beautiful repeating pattern of the Paramount logo.