The Orpheum Theater opened in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

in 1914 on the site of a

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 ...

theater built in 1904.History at Cinema Treasures
/ref> Designed by the Architectural firm

Rapp & Rapp C. W. & George L. Rapp, commonly known as Rapp & Rapp, was an American architectural firm famed for the design of movie palaces and other theatres. Active from 1906 to 1965 and based in Chicago, the office designed over 400 theatres, includ ...

, the Orpheum (also known as The New Orpheum) was built to accommodate both live vaudeville performances and the projection of film. After a series of renovations and changes of ownership, the Orpheum screened its final film in 1986. Preserved from demolition in 1991, the Orpheum is now home to a

children's museum Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feat ...

, the Orpheum Children's Science Museum, and is undergoing restoration.

Design and construction

One of the earliest examples of movie theater architecture, the Orpheum is an early design by the prolific architectural firm Rapp and Rapp, a firm that would later design many famous American "Movie Palaces" in the first decades of the twentieth century. George Leslie Rapp, an 1899 alumnus of the University of Illinois School of Architecture, with his brother Corneilus, founded the firm of Rapp & Rapp. They designed over 400 theaters including the Majestic Theater in Dubuque, Iowa (1910), the Chicago Theatre (1921), Bismark Hotel and Theatre (1926), Mighigan Theatre, Detroit (1926), Oriental Theater, Chicago (1926), and the Paramount Theater in New York City (1926) and Aurora (1931). Rapp and Rapp designed the Orpheum as a scale model of the

opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

.History at Orpheum Children's Museum
/ref> The following year, they designed the

Al. Ringling Theatre The Al. Ringling Theatre in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States, opened its doors in November 1915 and has been operating continuously ever since. Designed by the architectural firm Rapp and Rapp, it was built by Albert Ringling, one of the circus R ...

in Baraboo, Wisconsin, which was also a model of the Versailles opera house. The Ringlings, however, spent considerably more money for decorations. The Orpheum interior style is French Renaissance and Baroque and the exterior is Classical Revival. There were 754 seats and 18 loge boxes. The owners were Joseph M. Finn and Marcus Heiman of F&H Amusement Company. General contractor was Wile Brothers of Chicago, specialists in theater construction. The contract price was between $65,000 and $70,000. Work began in late May 1914. Mandel Brothers of Chicago had the contract for the draperies and other interior decorations. The scenery was done by Sosman & Landis of Chicago, who were considered the best scenery painters in the middle west.

Early history in vaudeville

Opening Night was on October 19, 1914. The performance began with the New Orpheum orchestra, under the leadership of Larry J. Powers, playing the "Illinois Loyalty", followed by "America" and "The Star-Spangled Banner". Mayor Oliver B. Dobbins gave a short speech complimenting the management for its elaborate and expensive effort to provide such an elegant theatre. Five high class vaudeville acts were presented, headlined by singer and comedian

Herman Timberg Herman Timberg (April 18, 1891 – April 16, 1952) was a vaudevillian, actor and songwriter, a writer of sketches and dialogue for vaudeville and musicals,"Herman Timberg, 60, A Theatrical Figure" ''New York Times'' (Apr. 17, 1952), p. 29. "activ ...

, who had appeared a few weeks earlier at Chicago's Palace Theater. The evening closed with moving pictures. The manager was C. S. Harris. The Orpheum was the main vaudeville stop in Champaign and Urbana, and a member of the noted Orpheum Circuit. It played host to many famous vaudevillians, including

Trixie Friganza Trixie Friganza (born Delia O'Callaghan; November 29, 1870February 27, 1955) was an American actress. She began her career as an operetta soubrette, working her way from the chorus to starring in musical comedies to having her own feature act o ...

Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

(1923),

Chic Sale Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology ''Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictiona ...

, Virginia Sale,

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

(1915), the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

(1918),

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson Bill Robinson, nicknamed Bojangles (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the f ...

(1921),

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

(1922),

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

(1928), and Burns & Allen (1929). A few of the now classic films shown during the Orpheum's long history include ''

Birth of A Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Cla ...

'' (1916), ''

Intolerance Intolerance may refer to: * Hypersensitivity or intolerance, undesirable reactions produced by the immune system * ''Intolerance'' (film), a 1916 film by D. W. Griffith * ''Intolerance'' (album), the first solo album from Grant Hart, formerly o ...

'' (1917), ''

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American silent romantic comedy film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and ...

'' (1931), '' Gone With the Wind'' (1940 & 1968), '' Dumbo'' (1941), ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of person ...

'' (1952), '' Mister Roberts'' (1955), and '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964). During the Orpheum's vaudeville period, part of the theater's second floor served as a boarding house, often housing African Americans at a time when local hotels practiced racial discrimination.

As a cinema

In the 1920s

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

began operating the Orpheum Theatre (it also operated the nearby Virginia Theater). Under the management of RKO, the theater was increasingly devoted to the screening of films, rather than to live performance in the vaudeville tradition. In 1967 a major renovation created a modern appearance by adding an aluminum facade and redoing the lobby. In 1971 GKC Theaters purchased the Orpheum, as the theater struggled to remain profitable. In 1982 GKC leased it, as part of an attempt to recast the Orpheum as an

art house An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

. After this attempt failed, the Orpheum briefly returned to screening first run films, before finally closing in 1986, screening the trick slasher film ''April Fool's Day'' as the theater's final showing.

Preservation and Children's Museum

The Champaign Preservation and Conservation Association (PACA) sponsored a public meeting on April 8, 1989, in response to plans to raze the now closed and deteriorating theater. This meeting was held to gauge public interest in saving the Orpheum Theatre. The City of Champaign purchased the Orpheum and adjacent building as a site for a possible parking deck in January 1990. The city allowed 45 PACA volunteers to spend Saturday, July 7, 1990, removing the aluminum facade to reveal the original look of the building and to assess any damage. PACA hired theatre consultant Michael Hardy to do a feasibility study of the Orpheum. He suggested, in July 1990, a children's museum as a possible use for the building. The city did not have a children's museum and there were already several successful performing arts facilities in the area. The City of Champaign razed the adjacent warehouse building in February 1991. In the fall of 1991, the theatre facade was cleaned and painted and the marquee given cosmetic repairs by PACA. The trompe l'oeil cornice reminiscent of the original was painted above the theater entrance. In 1994 the Orpheum Children's Science Museum opened its doors to the public. The museum currently houses interactive exhibits and supports a variety of camps and clubs. The board of the museum has expressed interest in either relocation or expansion of the facility. Proposals for reuse of the facility were requested by the museum board in January 2009. However, by 2013, long-term plans for the museum involved expansion of the current facility.

Air-Maze Project Addition

In the summer of 2014, University Laboratory High School (Uni High)'s teacher Sharlene Denos met with leading members of the museum to discuss a project that could be done in tandem with the high school. Within 6 months, her students materialized the initiative. As of March 2017, this addition is still visible at the museum.

References

Notes

External links

Orpheum Children's Science Museum Homepage
{{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in Champaign, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Champaign County, Illinois Neoclassical architecture in Illinois Theatres completed in 1914 Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Children's museums in Illinois Museums in Champaign, Illinois Science museums in Illinois 1914 establishments in Illinois