Seattle's Theatre History

[Ed Gordon]

Another Opening, Another Show: Seattle's Theatre History with Lawrence Kreisman

Theaters have played a major role in Washington State’s cultural history, as purveyors of film and performance art, as community gathering places, and as architectural landmarks. Join us for a special look at theater history with renowned author and historian Lawrence Kreisman!

Larry, who curated MOHAI’s 1981 theater exhibition, will present a lecture on Seattle theater history. For its youth and size, Seattle had a broad ranging reputation in entertainment. In fact, in 1909, it was reputed to be second only to New York in the number and variety of live offerings. It was the home and training ground for theater entrepreneurs who ultimately established enormous national and international empires—John Cort, Alexander Pantages, and Sullivan and Considine. Others, including John Hanna, James Clemmer, Russell and Drew, John Hamrick, Jensen and von Herberg, and John Danz, built substantial local or regional organizations. Seattle’s premier theater architects, B. Marcus Priteca, E. W. Houghton, and R.C. Reamer, also built reputations that extended far beyond the city.

Only a small number of Seattle’s many legitimate stage houses, vaudeville, and motion picture palaces are still intact. Come learn about them and other important historic theaters across Washington State through this virtual presentation.

I came across this video of a slide presenatation on Youtube. If you are a cinema architecture and history buff, you may find this interesting. It is rather long (50 minutes) and is all slides. Rather than embedding the video here I include a link to it on Youtube. The presentation has chapter marks so you can easily jump to any portion you are interesting in.

Here are some samples of picture from Seattle's 5th Avenue Theater, which was saved from the wrecking ball and completely renovated for theatrical presentations:

Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdzmdd8Ajx0

[Steve Lee]

Hi Ed,
It's nice to see that another true picture palace has been spared the wrecking ball, and has been restored to its former self.
I must say that the centre ceiling panel reminds me of the one in the Fox Detroit. I know that they are both of similar age, built around the mid 20s but have no idea who the architects were, but both are very similar in their style of architecture.
Having been a stage manager in an old decorative theatre, I have seen just how much dust is transmitted in the air every time you raise and lower the stage curtain. I guess nobody ever thought about the maintenance side of things when they designing these buildings, with all of that intricate plaster work, this is not something you can give a quick wipe over with a damp rag.
Just maintaining an auditorium like that must be a nightmare.

[Osi Osgood]

Man, that theater is absolutely gorgeous! Back in Idaho, we would occasionally go to the Egyptian theater in Boise, Idaho, just during the day, just to take in the sheer beauty of that old school, nearly 100 year old movie theater, with all that "King Tut" inspired decoration and those lovely overhanging balcony's! Thanx 4 posting about this.

[Ed Gordon]

...Back in Idaho, we would occasionally go to the Egyptian theater in Boise, Idaho, just during the day, just to take in the sheer beauty of that old school, nearly 100 year old movie theater, with all that "King Tut" inspired decoration and those lovely overhanging balcony's! Thanx 4 posting about this.

I checked out the Egyptian in Boise at http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/332/photos/179778

That is an impressive proscenium they have there. So much of that architecture was covered over when they upgraded theaters to show wide screen. I see they still show film there. Do you know if they kept the 70mm projectors?

[Ed Gordon]

Hi Ed,
It's nice to see that another true picture palace has been spared the wrecking ball, and has been restored to its former self.
I must say that the centre ceiling panel reminds me of the one in the Fox Detroit. I know that they are both of similar age, built around the mid 20s but have no idea who the architects were, but both are very similar in their style of architecture.
Having been a stage manager in an old decorative theatre, I have seen just how much dust is transmitted in the air every time you raise and lower the stage curtain. I guess nobody ever thought about the maintenance side of things when they designing these buildings, with all of that intricate plaster work, this is not something you can give a quick wipe over with a damp rag.
Just maintaining an auditorium like that must be a nightmare.

Yes Steve, we are lucky that these treasures were saved. We also have the Paramount theater that was saved. It was in the process of being sold to developers out of California. A local benefactor who made their fortune at Microsoft stepped in two weeks before the sale and bought it.

Paramount Theatre History

The architect for the 5Th Avenue was Robert C. Reamer.

Located in the Skinner Building, a historic office block ranging from five to eight stories with retail shops on the ground level, the theatre is surrounded on three sides, with its entry facing its namesake avenue. In addition to an auditorium with an original seating capacity of 3,000, the theatre contains a grand entry hall, and a mezzanine that once featured a tea room in addition to a waiting room and women's lounge.

Robert C. Reamer's design for the 5th Avenue Theatre was modeled to reproduce some of the features of historic and well-known Beijing landmarks. The Norwegian artist Gustav Liljestrom executed the design based on his visit to China, and on Chinesische Architecktur, published in 1925, an illustrated account of German architect Ernst Boerschmann's travels in China.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Avenue_Theatre