The Orpheum Theater is a theater located in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. The theater hosts programs best served by a more theatrical setting, including the Omaha Performing Arts Broadway Season, presented with

Broadway Across America Broadway Across America (BAA) is a presenter and producer of live theatrical events in the United States and Canada since 1982. It is currently owned by the John Gore Organization (formerly Key Brand Entertainment), which purchased it from Live ...

, and

Opera Omaha Opera Omaha is a major regional opera company in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1958, the professional company is widely known for the International Fall Festival events it held in the 1980s and 1990s, which garnered international attention and served ...

's season. The theatre is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. The main auditorium is a proscenium theater known as "Slosburg Hall". The theater has a

theatre organ A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements ...

, made by

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

History

City National Bank Building, Omaha, Nebraska 041

The current site of the building was previously home to the "Creighton Theater". John A. McShane organized a stock company to build the original theater in 1895. The architects for the original theater were Fisher & Lawrie and the general contractors were

Rocheford & Gould Rocheford & Gould were brick manufacturers and construction contractors in early Omaha, Nebraska. The firm built numerous brick structures during Omaha's transition from the wooden buildings of Nebraska's territorial days to more permanent str ...

. Paxton and Vierling installed the iron curtain that weighed 11 tons. The theater was named after John A. Creighton, a local philanthropist, and a large portrait of Count Creighton decorated the proscenium arch. The Creighton Theater was eventually added to the Orpheum Circuit, which by 1900 had expanded to nine western cities: Omaha, Chicago, Kansas City, New Orleans, Denver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. The reference to Creighton was eventually dropped from the theater's name. By 1926 a new, larger theater was in the works. The current space was built in 1926 on the same site as the original Creighton Theater, but with its entrance situated on 16th Street. When

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

acts were no longer in fashion, a screen was added and the theater operated as a downtown movie theater from the 1940s through 1971. A year later, the

Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation is a 501(c)(3) civic and philanthropic organization in Omaha, Nebraska. History The organization was formed in 1895 in an attempt to keep the Nebraska State Fair in Omaha after receiving an ultimatum to provide ...

purchased the building and began a $2 million renovation and became a performing arts venue once again. In 2002, Omaha Performing Arts Society assumed management of the Orpheum Theater from the City of Omaha, and the Orpheum underwent a $10 million renovation, making it capable of accommodating larger and more complicated scenery and sets. The Skylink was added in 2004 for increased convenience and accessibility to the theater. The 200-foot-long elevated, enclosed and climate-controlled walkway connects the OPPD parking garage to the venue. In October 2013, the steel-letter marquee that was installed with the 1975 renovation was replaced with a digital electronic display board. The signage upgrades also included the installation of LED posters in the theater's lobby. During the summer of 2017, the theatre received a $3 million update, including paint, new carpeting and a refresh of seating.

External links

History of the theaterOmaha Orpheum InteriorPostcard Orpheum Theater InteriorOriginal Omaha Orpheum Theater Postcard
* ttp://memories.nebraska.gov/cdm/search/searchterm/Orpheum%20Theatre%20(Omaha%2C%20Neb.)/field/all/mode/exact/conn/and/order/title Historic Images of the Orpheum- Nebraska Memories

References

{{Authority control History of Downtown Omaha, Nebraska Movie palaces Theatres in Omaha, Nebraska Theatres in Nebraska Music venues in Omaha, Nebraska Cinemas and movie theaters in Omaha, Nebraska National Register of Historic Places in Omaha, Nebraska Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska Public venues with a theatre organ Theatres completed in 1927 1927 establishments in Nebraska

History

See also

External links

References