Moore Theatre

I have added a photo from WW1 era shows my Great Aunt Birdie, second from right, with friends, at the door of the Moore Theatre, Orpheum Vaudeville. I suspect this is the Seattle Theatre in this discussion. Birdie and family lived in Vancouver BC and had close relatives in Seattle. How does one add a photo to the discussion?

I worked as a projectionist at the Moore Egyptian from late 1975 into 1979. I have written about the Moore. It is in the book From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse. My essay is titled Art and Grind in Seattle.

The Moore is owned by the Seattle Theatre Group, the same group that owns the Paramount and the Neptune.

My father heard the pianist Artur Rubenstein in concert in the Moore Theatre in 1946. We still have the program. Dad was in Seattle with the Coast Guard just prior to his discharge, and sat in the upper-balcony, lower right hand side. He says it was one of the most memorable concerts he ever heard, and he can still see it in front of him when he closes his eyes.

It was Seattle’s first Orpheum Theatre, at 3rd and Madison, that was renamed the President Theatre, probably in 1927 when the new Orpheum at 5th and Stewart was opened. The first Orpheum isn’t listed at Cinema Treasures yet. I’ve been meaning to submit it for quite a while, but I keep misplacing my notes about it.

The Moore Theatre was never called the Orpheum, Old or otherwise. It presented Orpheum circuit vaudeville shows from 1916 or 1917 until 1927, but the theater’s name was never changed. The original Seattle Orpheum was an entirely different theater, opened in 1911 at Third Avenue and Madison Street. I’ve been unable to discover what became of the old Orpheum after the new Orpheum opened in 1927. It might have operated for awhile under another name, or it might have simply closed. By 1940, it was being used as storage space, and it was demolished in 1949.

The Moore history notes that the segregated “gallery” has been removed. No, this “gallery” was the 2nd balcony, which is still there – but friends who’ve been going to the Moore for years are often surprised when I point it out, they never noticed it. A few of the lights in its dome’s stained glass still function. This balcony has a ridiculously steep rake that must be experienced to be believed, and it is not normally used due to the only access being a long staircase. From just inside the entrance ( after going through the balcony doot on the left) one must climb a narrow, steep flight of stairs, ending at a landing (where resides the bay window on the north side of the building), do a dogleg turn and go up a second flight, then do at least five switchback flights to reach the top. I saw Alan Parsons a few years back and, despite unusually light attendance, this was open – the only time I’ve seen it open – and I made certain to go up. As I wear a top hat and opera cloak to the theatre, I hope I inspired more ghost stories, though I’m certain the Moore has its share of real ones!
The Moore really needs restoration; the box seats have been removed, the second balcony looks worn-out (not that it sees much use, due to fire codes, see above) and ugly 70s chandeliers with olive-green “crystal” have been hung. Many light fixtures are missing, and everything but the lobby floor is under many coats of thick, white paint. I don’t believe it ever had a pipe organ at all. This place is a diamond-in-the-rough, and could really shine again. But despite its decline, it’s still a fine house for shows.

The Hotel and Theater are connected. A brick wall divides the Theater and Hotel basement. I may be wrong, but I don’t think this wall is part of the original construction.
Vern

Correction: I see that the Moore Hotel had a swimming pool in the basement, not the theatre?

When you were “8ish” and running around the Moore Theatre who were you with? Some of the places in the theatre you mentioned were not open to the public, let alone to an eight year old kid. You would need to have keys to access some of the places you mentioned. When I was a teenager, during the 70’s, I worked at the theatre and know of the places you mentioned. I didn’t care much for the pool area. After a few explorations, I only went in that part of the basement to turn on and off the steam. Since it hadn’t been in use for many years, the whole area was decrepit. I do remember murals on the walls but I don’t recall what they looked like. I thought it a dangerous area to be if you were by your self. It was obvious that people who had no business there frequented the pool area, perhaps for shelter, or maybe for other reasons. My dad told me when he was a teenager (early 1940’s) he would go swimming in the Moore’s pool.
It’s possible we crossed paths.
Vern

When I was a teenager in the mid-seventies, I worked at the Moore Theatre. I opened the theatre closed the theatre, cleaned the theatre, took tickets, and spent a fair amount of time exploring. Thereâ€\s a lot more to the Moore than meets the eye. In the auditorium, backstage, above and around the dome and underneath in the basement I came across some unusual situations. I don’t believe in ghosts, but on a couple of occasions, when the theatre was empty, there is no denying that my friend Robby and I saw some things in the foyer and on the mezzanine that could not be explained. I’m not sure why but to me the theatre seems to be older than the turn of the 19th century (1907).
By-the-way, most of the live shows at the Moore while I worked there were awesome, Billy Joel, Supertramp, Electric Light Orchestra, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Climax Blues Band, Golden Earring, Chaka Kahn and so many others, some of which whose names Iâ€\ll never remember. Not all the shows were great some were horrible. I think the two worst were the Strawbs and the New York Dolls. The movies ranged from the unusual (200 Motels, Rocky Horror) to disturbing (EL Topo) and downright awful (Eraserhead). For a teenager such as me, working at the Moore was a dream come true.
Thanks Ken

The second link posted by Lost Memory on May 25 2005 no longer works.

Here is the new Moore Theatre Home Page.

Here is the Moore Theatre History Page.

Cascadekid is right, the Moore Hotel has a swimming pool in the basement.

In addition to showing films, the Moore was Seattle’s touring house for legit theatre for some time, before the 5th AVenue and the Paramount were renovated and got into that business. The Moore is —– or was, in the 80’s & 90’s when I knew it —– a “hemp” house, meaning it used a ropes-and-sandbags flying system instead of a system using steel counterweights to raise and lower the curtains. At one point in the mid ‘80’s, a touring show —– was it “Elephant Man?” —– came through whose sets and lighting overtaxed the capacity of the flyrail. During the load-out, a substantial chunk of the flyrail was pulled out from an unbalanced load.

I know someone who claims the theatre is haunted; a former maintenance man told me there were scarey things that happened at night. Another person I know related a tale that he was working on the fly floor on one side of the stage, and looked across to the other side of the stage and saw someone looking at him. The apparition then turned and walked away —– only it walked through the brick wall and disappeared. OTOH, this was the 70’s and 80’s and my friend was tired and may have been chemically enhanced.