The Orpheum Circuit was a chain of vaudeville and movie theaters. It was founded in 1886, and operated through 1927 when it was merged into the Keith-Albee-Orpheum corporation, ultimately becoming part of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) corporation.
History
Early history (1886–1893) The Orpheum Circuit was started by the vaudeville impresario Gustav Walter, who opened the Orpheum Opera House in San Francisco in June 1887. This first Orpheum seated 3500 and quickly became one of the most popular theaters in San Francisco attracting a wide variety of people.
The Orpheum's tickets were scaled to draw a mixed audience. Customers bought tickets to the Orpheum because of its diverse program that ranged from knockabout comedy to opera. It drew a late-night crowd since it was the only theater open late with performances lasting until two in the morning. The Orpheum's shows were advertised to appeal to "elite audiences" and were "suitable for refined young ladies". One reporter noted that upon seeing a show at the Orpheum, he saw just as many female attendees as male.
Despite his success, Walter was in debt, and in 1891, faced with bankruptcy, he leased his theater and its management to John Cort. Cort took over the operations of the Orpheum for two years until his own bankruptcy led to Walter being rehired as manager. This time, Walter had the financial backing of Morris Meyerfeld. Meyerfeld became Walter's business partner, investing $50,000 as his share. As co-owner, Meyerfeld managed the business and financial aspects of the Orpheum while Walter managed the talent and booking for the theater. As partners they re-opened the theater in 1893 and made the Orpheum the place to go for a night on the town. It was regularly sold out, including standing room.
The circuit's beginnings (1893–1900) Following their success in San Francisco, Meyerfeld encouraged Walter to open more theaters. Meyerfeld argued that in order to entice more performers to make the journey to perform at their theater, they needed to make the trip worthwhile. San Francisco was so far removed geographically from the rest of the nation that continuing to attract quality acts was difficult and expensive. By offering more opportunities to perform, Meyerfeld persuaded Walter that they would entice more performers to come to their theater from the east coast and Europe. The next logical city to Meyerfeld was Los Angeles. The pair leased the Grand Opera House and opened the Los Angeles Orpheum to a sold out house in 1894. It was now customary for performers to stop in Los Angeles after playing in San Francisco.
Walter and Meyerfeld continued to expand their operations by opening more theaters on the road between the Midwestern United States and their Pacific Coast theaters. Due to its railroad connections and thriving economy, Kansas City, Missouri was chosen as their next location. The pair leased the Ninth Street Theatre and renamed it the Orpheum. It opened in 1898 to a sold out house. Three months after the Kansas City opening, Walter died due to an appendicitis attack. Business for the theaters continued as usual and all contracts held. Meyerfeld was elected as the circuit's new president.
In 1899 Meyerfeld persuaded Martin Lehman, owner of the Los Angeles theater, to officially fold his theater into the Orpheum's operation and join him in a partnership. With Lehman as a partner, the two continued to expand the Orpheum Circuit throughout the Midwest. They leased the Creighton Theater in Omaha, Nebraska and built the Denver Orpheum at a cost of $350,000. With these five theaters, Meyerfeld now ran the "Great Orpheum Circuit".
Vaudeville associations and alliances (1900–1907) In order to continue expanding the Orpheum Circuit's operation, Meyerfeld made a deal with the Western Circuit of Vaudeville Theaters (WCVT), an association of theater owners based in Chicago. Lehman proceeded to Chicago and established an office there for booking acts into their Orpheum theaters. It was at this point that the pair hired Martin Beck to run the booking operations of the theaters. Beck's goals became to "make the Orpheum circuit bring the highest forms of art within reach of the people with the slimmest purses". This alliance now allowed vaudevillians twenty to forty weeks of performing from Chicago to the Pacific Coast.