Detailed Information

That said, just prior to the Orpheum’s opening Eberson was quoted in the 3rd September 1922 edition of The Wichita Eagle as saying that the new Orpheum Theatre in Wichita, with his plans to “treat the interior as an exterior” would make it “one of only three of these theaters in the United States”. The report went on to cite the Indiana Theatre in Terre Haute, Indiana and the Palace Theatre in Flint, Michigan, as the other two.

Although the Orpheum features a symmetrical auditorium design (a feature typically eschewed in Eberson’s later designs), a cerulean blue sky sweeps overhead, bordered at the sidewalls by faux tiled roofwork and lit with concealed cove lighting. There are star-lights in the sky ceiling, and being original to the theatre they are highly significant as being the first time Eberson creates the illusion of a sky ceiling with twinkling stars.

Eberson stated that his objective with the Orpheum was to create “an atmosphere which surrounds the audience with an affect of coolness and repose, of depth and distance...to treat the interior as an exterior”. Eberson’s conception was that of a Andalusian garden or court – a garden of old Andalusia – made festive by music and torch light.

Following completion of this third and final proto-Atmospheric theatre, Eberson would next go on to complete the Majestic Theatre in Houston, Texas, his first self-proclaimed Atmospheric theatre and which opened roughly four months after the Orpheum in Wichita.

The Orpheum was originally conceived by a group of 10 local and publicly-spirited businessmen, each contributing $20,000 to kickstart the theatre building project, which was projected to cost $700,000.

When construction completed on the 1,800-seat theatre and its surrounding office building, the final cost had reached $750,000. Vaughan Construction Company of Omaha was the general contractor for the building.

The theatre was leased to Karl Hoblitzelle , the operator of the $6 million theatre chain Interstate Theatres Company, and opened on 4th September 1922 with five acts of vaudeville on stage and the silent movie The Three Must-Get-Theres (1922)  starring Max Linder and accompanied on the Orpheum’s Kilgen pipe organ.

At its opening, The Wichita Eagle reported that “the color scheme of the interior is considered one of the distinct features, boldly reflected in the sunlight but softened and blended harmoniously under the glow of colored lights prevalent throughout the theater. This unique color scheme was the first of its kind in the territory.”

The theatre was an integral part of the famous “Orpheum Circuit”, and in its heyday virtually every major vaudeville star graced its stage, including such luminaries as Houdini, Eddie Cantor and Fannie Brice.

During its vaudeville period, more than 17,000 acts appeared with the playbill changing three times each week. Just 7 years after opening, the Orpheum changed to a talking pictures only policy.

The theatre retains its original fire/safety curtain: a hand-executed painting on asbestos, designed specifically for the Orpheum Theatre by John Eberson and rendered by Fabric Studio of Chicago. When the theatre undergoes a renovation project in 2025/26 it is planned to stabilize the fire curtain in order to be able to exhibit it more frequently.

In May 1929 the theatre was equipped for the talkies and the first sound films to be screened were Mary Pickford in Coquette (1929)  & Kenneth Harlan in The Alibi (1929) .

According to the theatre’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places , in October 1929 the Orpheum was sold to the Fox Film Company of California.

Operation of the theatre changed over to Mann Theatres in 1973 when Ted Mann purchased the theatre division of National General Corporation, themselves successors to the earlier era of Fox ownership of movie theatres across the country. The deal affected 266 movie theatres across the United States and was for around $67 million.

The theatre operated as a movie house until mid-November 1976 when it ceased regular film screenings. It continued to host occasional concerts and live events, and in 1978 showed Spanish-language movies however this proved unsuccessful.

The City of Wichita designated the Orpheum Theatre as an historic landmark in 1978, and in recognition of its historical significance the theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

In 1992, non-profit organization the Orpheum Performing Arts Centre Ltd. assumed ownership, initiating renovations and reviving the building as a venue for shows.

The theatre maintains a running list  of restoration projects that have taken place at the theatre since the 1990s, including pivotal moments such as replacement of the theatre’s roof in 1996, a new marquee in 2001, installation of ADA restrooms in 2009, digital film projection capabilities added in 2016, and boiler/fire detection systems upgraded/replaced in 2021/2022.

In the Fall of 2024 it was announced  that 75% of the required $10 million to restore the Orpheum Theatre had been raised. Plans called fo new flooring, seats, stage lights, and rigging. Dressing rooms backstage would also be remodeled, crumbling plaster repaired and twinkling “star” lights in the theatre’s ceiling would be repaired.