Silent Era : Theaters

Alhambra Theatre Wilkes Theatre	Photograph: courtesy Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society.
Address	Pine Street at Westlake Avenue (or 5th Avenue)
Opening Night Seating Capacity	1600
Original Theatre Owner	John G. von Herberg C.S. Jensen
Original Theatre Architect	Charles Willard Saunders George Willis Lawton
Years of Operation	Opened 12 July 1909 Operated 1909 through 1922 Closed 1922
Type of Musical Accompaniment	Kimball theatre pipe organ
Current Status	Demolished
Alhambra Theatre was not the same as the Alhambra Theatre opened in Pioneer Square as a live performance venue in the 1880s. Originally eastablished under Schubert management as a combiniation live performance and motion picture venue, the theatre began full-time operations as a movie house in 1911. The theatre was leased to the Orpheum Theatre Company and two-a-day Orpheum Circuit vaudeville performances began on 24 September 1916 (motion picture showings may have continued in-between live programs). In 1917, Orpheum vaudeville was moved to the Moore Theatre, and the Wilkes Stock Company, previously at the Orpheum Theatre, assumed the lease (renaming the venue the Wilkes Theatre) and resumed their live theatre performances there. Motion picture exhibition likely stopped under Wilkes management. The theatre closed in 1922. References: Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society website.