Part 510: Thomas G. Moses and the Orpheum Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri
In 1905, Thomas G. Moses recorded that Sosman & Landis provided drop curtains and scener for the Salt Lake Orpheum and the Kansas City Orpheum. The Kansas City Orpheum was advertised as “Kansas City’s Society Vaudeville Theater and located at W. 9th Street and May Street. (Kansas City Journal, 10 Sept. 1899, page 14). The building, originally H. D. Clark’s 9th Street Theatre, was leased by the Orpheum Theatre and Realty Co. in 1898.
In 1905, Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide listed that Kansas City had a population of approximately 200,000 people with six performance venues – the Willis Wood Theatre, the Grand Opera House, the Gilliss Theatre, the Auditorium, the Century and the Orpheum. The Century was a burlesque house while the Orpheum was a vaudeville theater.
The Kansas City Orpheum was managed by M. Lehman, with standard ticket prices at 15 cents to 75 cents. Located on the ground floor, the venue was illuminated with electricity (Volt. 110, Edison). The seating capacity was 2,084, with 594 in the parquet, 556 in the balcony, 556, 850 in the gallery, and 84 in the boxes. The theater did not have a scene room, but the stage had one bridge; it was located along the upstage wall.
Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical guide for 1903-1904 noted that the proscenium measured 40 feet wide by 36 feet high, with 63 feet the stage to the rigging loft and 40 feet between fly girders. The height of grooves for wings was 22 feet in height, yet the number of sets was not listed The depth of the stage was 44 feet from the footlights to the back wall. The distance between the sidewalls of the stage was 72 feet. The depth under the stage was 18 feet with seven traps.
Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide for 1905-1906 included a few changes to the technical specifications of the stage, likely why the new scenery was added at the time. When Moses was working for the Kansas City Orpheum, it had just undergone a partial renovation to the stage area. In 1905 the depth under the stage was decreased from 18 feet to 12 feet. The number of traps was also reduced from seven to two. The grooves height of grooves was also shortened from 22 feet to 20 feet. Additionally, the venue was no longer listed as being illuminated with a combination gas and electric system; it was solely electric. I have located no reason for the alteration to the building during 1905.
On December 26, 1914 a second Orpheum Theater was completed at an expense of $500,000. The new building was located at 1214 Baltimore Avenue. The previous Kansas City Orpheum Theater fell into misuse, became neglected, badly vandalized, and was eventually razed by 1922. The new Orpheum’s auditorium included a domed roof that was painted blue and highlighted with artificial stars, suggesting a nighttime atmosphere. The main stage curtain was made of wire woven asbestos painted to resemble velvet drapery and weighed in excess of 1,200 pounds.
Moses painted a few wire curtains throughout the course of his career. He wrote that they were “hard to paint.” A wire fireproof curtain in 1886 was for Jacob Litt at the Academy of Music in Milwaukee, and another was for Cleveland. In 1913, Moses painted a woven wire asbestos curtain that became damaged during shipping. Of the experience, Moses wrote, “big dents killed my picture.” He later explained that there was no remedy to repair any dented wire curtain, especially after folding one. Moses explained that “they should never be folded, always rolled.”
To be continued…
