Announcement of the closing of the Orpheum Theatre as a result of the owners decision not to correct fire and safety hazards cited by state and city officials rang down the curtain of a show house that was the city’s chief place of entertainment during most of its more than a half century of operation.
Built in 1921, it was constructed as both a movie house and a theatre for presentation of live productions. The publicity published about its opening said that it was constructed for both “movies” and “talkies”. “Talkies” in that day meant live actors on stage. Talking pictures did not come to the Orpheum until eight years later.
The description of the new $100,000 theatre at the southwest corner of the Public Square said that its 65-foot front had an arcade entrance with a canopy suspended from huge chains. The front was finished in pressed brick, terra cotta and cut stone. The windows and doors were set with leaded glass. The lobby floor was tile and was surrounded by wainscoting of marble.
There were two ticket offices, one in the center of the lobby for the sale of tickets to the “moving picture shows” and another at the northwest corner of the building for the sale of tickets for road shows and advanced sales of reserved seats.
The stage had a proscenium width of 36 feet and the total depth was 30 feet while the height of the arch over the front of the stage was 23 feet, 6 inches. An orchestra pit to accommodate 45 musicians was in front of the stage, and beneath the stage were six dressing rooms.
The theatre was constructed by the firm of Reid, Yemm and Hayes, composed of three DuQuoin business men whose organization operated a theatre chain in 10 Southern Illinois cities. First manager was Frank Ellis who had owned and operated the Isis movie house in a building that spanned the creek that runs under the 700 block of West Main Street. He was succeeded in June, 1922 by W.A. Erwin.
In its early years, the Orpheum presented numerous stage shows which included traveling attractions and an occasional home talent production. Numerous prominent Marion persons have memories of taking part in minstrel shows and operettas presented under auspicies of local organizations. ‘The Marion Township High School Class of 1923 rented the theatre for its class play.
Numerous shows which hit the road during the depression years played one night stands. Among them was one obviously influenced by the acclaim won by Sally Rand, the fan dancer, at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1932. Climax of the performance in the Orpheum version was the appearance of an apparently nude fan dancer who was designedly careless with her fans in the finale. Manipulation of the spotlight however left the audience in doubt as to whether it was a female figure in tights, but it was the talk of the town.
Once a group of Oklahoma Indians appeared on stage. On August 27, 1930 the theatre was the scene of one of the oddest parties ever held on stage or off. Thirty sets of twins were guests of the theater management. Hostesses were Violet and Daisy Hilton, the famous San Antonio Siamese Twins who appeared on stage that afternoon and night.
The depression brought “Bank Night” to the Orpheum, and for years there was a lottery each week as the theatre management shared the wealth with the lucky holder of the stub of a ticket drawn from a spinning drum. The practice was halted as the result of a call from the ministers’ association to the state’s attorney.
An outstanding feature of the Orpheum in its first years was the pipe organ. Silent movies required music which in the pre-Orpheum days was provided on a piano that played the score recommended for accompaniment of the film being presented. The pipe organ, manned by a full-time professional musician on the theatre staff, was a big improvement.
However, its use faded away with the coming of sound. The first talking pictures were shown here in 1929 and, a year later, new equipment was installed for a “greater talkie season.” In 1953, Cinemascope equipment was installed.
Speaking here on the occasion of announcing a $10,000 improvement in the theatre’s equipment and fixtures on April 22, 1963, Elmer C. Rhoden of Kansas City, Mo., president of Fox Midwest Theatres, Inc. which had acquired the property a few years after it was built, discounted the effect of television upon the movie theatre. He predicted television would be of “great benefit” to the movies.
Once in 1936 there was an order from the owners to close the theatre. That was soon after the city council permitted the theatre to open on Sunday and doubled its license fee of $200 a year. A compromise was worked out, however, and the show house kept going 37 years longer.
Many managers have had charge of the Orpheum since it opened. Tenure of some was brief. Others remained for years, and become prominent figures in local activities. The list includes Erman Alred, Al Spargur, Byron Buchanan, Jr., Tom Coggins, Larry Johnson, Jon Davis, Paul Braggs, Gene Gloomburn, Edgar Jones, Harold Burnett, Edgar French Gallagher, Hugh McCullough, G.S. Pinnell and William Keigley.
Robert Norman, 613 S. Virginia Ave., retired projectionist, probably holds the record as the employee with the longest period of service. In 1954, he and the late Ruel Bracy, also a projectionist, and Manager Erman Alred, now a Carbondale Theatre manager, received awards for 25 years’ service with the Fox Midwest Corp. Norman retired in 1970 after 47 years on the Orpheum staff. He estimated he saw 12,000 movies during 17,000 nights in the projection booth.
See also, Orpheum Theater 1922-1971, containing a history and photos.
(Glances at Life by Homer Butler, published 1971)