During the Christmas holidays, Utahns have been flocking to the Capitol Theatre at 50 W. 200 South to enjoy Ballet West's presentations of The Nutcracker. Most audiences find the theatre's Louis XIV comfortable, and well suited to the ballet offerings, aside from a few minor complaints concerning bruised knees due to some crowding of balcony seat rows.

All in all, the Capitol seems to this columnist to suit the needs of both ballet programs and the Utah Opera presentations. Acoustics are better than average -- meaning attending operatic programs as well as drama or musical comedy in this 80-year-old landmark makes for a pleasant evening. There are parking problems occasionally, and crossing 200 South can be a a chore. But all in all, the Capitol Theatre has, since 1978, provided a necessary and a welcome center for pleasant downtown evenings or afternoon matinees.

One wonders at times whether many of today's balletomanes and opera buffs are aware of the history of the Capitol Theatre. It began as the Orpheum Theatre, and when completed in 1913 was considered to be one of the finest, most innovative -- and fireproof -- houses in the entire nation. And, if you've looked up the alley alongside the theater's east wall you may have noted the rear, extra-height section once used to ``fly'' vaudeville scenery. Today it serves to handle ballet or opera settings. Some 80 years ago, of course, vaudeville stars included not only comedians and vocalists but high wire, tumbling and other acrobatic performers who required backgrounds the Orpheum's drops could provide.

Perhaps most important in the Orpheum/Capitols history was the importation to the Salt City of a skilled out-of-state architectural specialist in theater design. He was 36-year-old G. Albert Lansburgh of San Francisco, an architect who graduated from the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and won a Gold Medal Award at the Grand Salon in 1906. Returning from France he designed several Orpheum Theatres in eastern cities, plus the Manx Hotel, Concordia Club and other notable San Francisco buildings. In the wake of the big earthquake he supervised restoration work on the big Temple Emanuel in that same city.

The outside of his Orpheum/Capitol remains an eye-catcher today, with an especially rich facade of tapestry brick and terra cotta. The only other major building in Salt Lake using the new terra cotta material was the Hotel Utah exterior. The overall styling, Italian Renaissance (with perhaps a touch of Spanish), remains unique in the city. Its concrete, brick and steel structure was much enhanced, for safety reasons, by a ``water curtain'' which could spray the area in front of the big asbestos curtain, using water jets operated from both sides and above the stage.

Finally there was a precursor of today's air conditioning. A ``plenum system'' of mechanical ventilation pumped fresh air through grates beneath the seats, after which the ``used'' air exited through ceiling and dome vents. It was claimed the system could cool the house to 60 degrees in summer and keep patrons comfortably warm in winter.

A major stopover on the extensive Orpheum ``wheel,'' the theater housed from 1,800 to 2,000 customers as seats were rearranged. They enjoyed such artists as Will Rogers and Sophie Tucker, Dale & Evans, Joe Frisco and Trixie Friganza after which stars rode trains to Denver and points east, or San Francisco and the northwest. Critics called the Orpheum especially attractive due to its acoustics and the absence of pillars and posts usually needed to support the cantilevered balconies. Admission prices might surprise today's moviegoers, ranging from a thin dime to 75 cents in the early decades of the century.

The miracle of ``talking pictures'' came in 1929, and the house gradually eliminated vaudeville after introduction of the talkies. By that time the Ackerman-Harris vaudeville chain had bought the building which had cost $250,000 to construct. Ackerman-Harris bought the structure in 1923, and sold it in 1927 to the Louis Marcus Chain for $300,000. Marcus, a much-respected mayor of Salt Lake City, phased its shows in with theaters already owned in Ogden, Provo and Boise. Marcus enlarged capacity to 2,260 patrons and installed a ``mighty Wurlitzer'' with Alexander Schreiner (the Tabernacle organist) as its spotlighted musician.

The big house slipped a bit in Depression and pre-war years when the lobby was cut in size. An O.C. Tanner shop occupied the right-hand space, with a printing establishment on the west end. Motion pictures were shown at the Capitol until 1976, when the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency bought and renovated it to the present form.

Meanwhile the new Symphony Hall -- now Abravanel Hall -- and the Salt Lake Art Center came into being along with the Salt Palace to enliven downtown. Stores were ousted, the lobby, with its arched entrance and matching windows was restored, while the big sunburst on the interior ceiling was repaired. The sunburst had been put in place under Louis Marcus who employed the design talents of the R.E. Powers Co.

Vaudeville, silent films, talking pictures, ballet, opera and traveling shows -- the Capitol fitted them all well. Old timers regret one change -- the big steel arch, brightly lighted at night, vanished as a Capitol Theatre landmark when it was moved to Trolley Square almost a quarter century ago.

CREDITS:

SLTribune

Published: 12/25/1994 Category: Features

Page: F2

Keywords: Cityview, Guest Column

Photo/Graphic: Jack Goodman

Now the home of Ballet West and Utah Opera, the stately Capitol Theatre has a long history as a motion-picture palace and vaudeville center for traveling troupes.