Auditorium Theatre

The Auditorium was included in the MGM Theatre Photograph and Report project. There is an exterior photo dated May 1941. The cinema was located in a brick building with a stately facade about 4 stories high. Near the top is engraved “Orleans Municipal Building”. There is a center entrance with a double door. There is no marquee but there are large portable poster boards on either side of the entrance. There are 4 pilasters across the facade and a big cornice above. The Report states that the Auditorium is on Main Street, that it has been showing MGM films “for 20 years” , but then says that it opened in 1933, 8 years earlier. (typical of the mistakes found in these reports). It says that it is in Good condition, and has 500 seats, all on one floor. There are no competing theatres, and the 1940 population of Orleans is 1,300. Although “Vermont” is typed under “State” on the Report, it was for some reason filed alphabetically by town with the Reports for Massachusetts, so at first I thought it referred to Orleans MA on Cape Cod. It’s a good example of a 1940-era American rural movie theatre.

The Real Photo postcard is definitely the same building which was pictured in the 1941 MGM Report, but a much better photo.

The first use of the 507-seat auditorium occurred on April 11, 1931 with the live play, “Meet Uncle Sally” with the first film playing less than a month later with “The Great Meadow” playing on May 6, 1931. The venue was designed with a Colonial style with 430 floor seats and 79 balcony seats. The back curtain had a view of Willoughby Lake. It was still operating - though just twice a week - with movies in the 1950s.