THIS DAY IN HISTORY: MARCH 18, 1913
The Orpheum Theatre has been a beloved Vancouver institution since it opened in 1927. But it isn’t the first local theatre to bear the name: It’s the third. The first local Orpheum opened in 1906 in the former Alhambra Theatre at 804 West Pender. It was operated as part of the Sullivan and Considine vaudeville circuit, which rivalled the Pantages chain in the early 1900s. Big Tim Sullivan was a politician/ financier from the east, while Considine was a vaudeville impresario. Considine was famous in his day for killing Seattle police chief William Meredith in a 1901 shootout. He was acquitted of murder because Meredith had blasted Considine with a shotgun before Considine shot back in selfdefence. In 1913, Sullivan and Considine took over the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Opera House at 759 Granville. After an extensive renovation — which one Sun story says was $ 400,000, another says was $ 750,000 — it opened to rave reviews. “High class bill opens fine house,” reported The Sun on March 18, 1913. “If the first programme offered in the new Orpheum may be taken as a criterion, Vancouver is to have a new era of high- class vaudeville. The ‘ turns’ were bright, original and more or less clever; some of them were mirth- provokers of a high order, and there was never a dull moment — which is saying quite a deal for vaudeville.” The opening act was the Aeroplane Ladies, who performed “marvellous mid- air gymnastics.” “Eccentric comedienne” Agnes Kayne “won her place in the hearts of the audience” with her “frank” rendition of a song called I Want To Be a Man, then “Australian bush whip marvels” William and Marion Wayte dazzled the audience by using their whips to slice paper, light matches and cut cigarettes in two. Four thousand Vancouverites turned out for the two opening night performances, but the second Orpheum didn’t last long as a Sullivan and Considine venue. Sullivan was declared insane in 1913, and the chain fell apart. After the current Orpheum opened, the old Opera House was renamed the Vancouver Theatre, then the International Cinema, and finally the Lyric Theatre. It was torn down in 1969 when a new Eaton’s was built on the site.