Hippodrome Theater: Difference between revisions
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The '''Hippodrome Theater''', later the '''Orpheum Theater''', was a Vaudeville house located on the southwest corner of [[17th Street North|17th Street]] and [[3rd Avenue North]], diagonally opposite the [[Birmingham Auditorium|Bijou Theater]], in the 1900s. | The '''Hippodrome Theater''', later the '''Orpheum Theater''', was a Vaudeville house located on the southwest corner of [[17th Street North|17th Street]] and [[3rd Avenue North]], diagonally opposite the [[Birmingham Auditorium|Bijou Theater]], in the 1900s. | ||
In March [[1911]] the [[Alabama Child Labor Committee]] hosted sessions of the [[1911 National Child Labor Committee Conference]] at the Orpheum | In March [[1911]] the [[Alabama Child Labor Committee]] hosted sessions of the [[1911 National Child Labor Committee Conference]] at the Orpheum. | ||
The theater, owned by [[O. D. Burnett]], was originally used as a roller skating rink. In February [[1916]], as the roller-skating fad returned in force, owner [[J. H. Edmondson]] decided to pull out the seats, lay a new leveled Maple floor, and buy 1,000 pairs of skates to rent to customers. The new '''Hippodrome Rooler Skating Rink''' [sic] opened on [[April 2]]. | In [[1912]] the theater, managed by [[Martin Seamon]], was listed as seating 1,200 people and offering two evening Vaudeville performances at 7:30 and 9:00 PM for 20 cents and a daily matinee at 2:30 PM for 10 cents. The stage was 70 feet wide and 38 feet deep with the curtain 8 feet behind the footlights. The rigging loft was 50 feet tall with the fly gallery at 25 feet and a 4-foot space below the stage. That year [[Jake Wells]] hired Richmond, Virginia-based architect C. K. Howell to design a $10,000 renovation for the theater. | ||
<!--The theater, owned by [[O. D. Burnett]], was originally used as a roller skating rink.-->In February [[1916]], as the roller-skating fad returned in force, owner [[J. H. Edmondson]] decided to pull out the seats, lay a new leveled Maple floor, and buy 1,000 pairs of skates to rent to customers. The new '''Hippodrome Rooler Skating Rink''' [sic] opened on [[April 2]]. | |||
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Revision as of 15:41, 7 June 2016
The Hippodrome Theater, later the Orpheum Theater, was a Vaudeville house located on the southwest corner of 17th Street and 3rd Avenue North, diagonally opposite the Bijou Theater, in the 1900s.
In March 1911 the Alabama Child Labor Committee hosted sessions of the 1911 National Child Labor Committee Conference at the Orpheum.
In 1912 the theater, managed by Martin Seamon, was listed as seating 1,200 people and offering two evening Vaudeville performances at 7:30 and 9:00 PM for 20 cents and a daily matinee at 2:30 PM for 10 cents. The stage was 70 feet wide and 38 feet deep with the curtain 8 feet behind the footlights. The rigging loft was 50 feet tall with the fly gallery at 25 feet and a 4-foot space below the stage. That year Jake Wells hired Richmond, Virginia-based architect C. K. Howell to design a $10,000 renovation for the theater.
In February 1916, as the roller-skating fad returned in force, owner J. H. Edmondson decided to pull out the seats, lay a new leveled Maple floor, and buy 1,000 pairs of skates to rent to customers. The new Hippodrome Rooler Skating Rink [sic] opened on April 2.
References
- The Tradesman (July 25, 1912), p. 56
- "Orpheum Will Be Opened Once More As Skating Rink" (February 21, 1916) Birmingham Age-Herald