Paramount Theatre (Seattle, Washington)
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| Paramount Theatre | |
|---|---|
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
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| Location: | 901 Pine St. Seattle, Washington |
| Built/Founded: | 1928 |
| Architect: | B. Marcus Priteca |
| Added to NRHP: | October 19, 1974 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 74001959 |
The Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington is a 2,807-seat performing arts venue at 9th Avenue and Pine Street in Downtown in the United States of America. Originally built in 1927 as The Seattle Theatre with 3,000 seats, the theater was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1974. It is also an official City of Seattle landmark.[1] The theatre was designed by the Chicago-based firm of Rapp & Rapp, with Seattle architect B. Marcus Priteca collaborating. The Paramount was built expressly for showing film and secondarily, vaudeville. The Paramount is currently operated as a performing arts venue, serving a diverse patron base that attends Broadway theatre, concerts, dance, comedy, family engagements, silent film and jazz. It is considered to be one of the busiest theatres in the region.
It is currently owned and operated by the Seattle Theatre Group, a 501c3 not-for-profit performing arts organization, which also runs the 1,419-seat Moore Theatre in Belltown.
[edit] Features
The Paramount is home to a 1928 4/20 Publix 1 Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ. The organ, #1819, was built on December 23, 1927. The selling price was $46,500, and costs to install it rose to over $100,000 (in 1927 dollars). The Wurlitzer had a secondary slave console, which was loaned to the Tacoma Music Box Theatre, and presumably burned with that theatre. The first House Organist was a popular duo dubbed Ron & Don who were succeeded by Gaylord Carter, who went on to become of the most famous organists of the 1930s and 1940s. The maintainers state it may have been used privately, the organ was not played for a public performance from 1940 until 1963. In 1963 the organ was cleaned and refurbished by members of the Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society for a performance by Dick Schrum. Since then the organ has been played in several notable performances, including by Korla Pandit in 1968, and a return performance by Gaylord Carter in 1987. The Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society has been maintaining the organ since 1963. The current house organist is Dennis James, who regularly plays it for Trader Joe's Silent Movie Mondays.
The Paramount Theatre is also the first venue in the United States to have a convertible floor system, which converts the theater to a ballroom.
[edit] References
- ^ Landmarks Alphabetical Listing for P, Individual Landmarks, Department of Neighborhoods, City of Seattle. Accessed 28 December 2007.
[edit] External links
