About
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Address: 910 Hennepin Avenue
Neighborhood: Downtown West
Construction Date: 1920-21
Contractor: Thompson-Starrett Company
Architect: Kirchhoff and Rose
Architectural Style: Beaux-Arts
Historic Use: Culture/Recreation – Performing Arts Theater
Current Use: Culture/Recreation – Performing Arts Theater
Date of Local Designation: 1986
Date of National Register Designation: N/A
Area(s) of Significance: Social History; Architecture
Period of Significance: 1921-1945
Historic Profile: When the Hennepin Theatre opened its doors in 1921, it was the second largest vaudeville theater in the nation, with a capacity of 2,741 people. The best seats in the house sold for only 47 cents. With its palatial auditorium and ornate lobby, the Hennepin typifies the extravagance with which vaudeville theaters were designed and constructed. The façade of the theater, designed in the Beaux-Arts style, is colorful and heavily ornamented. Similarly, the lobby with its terrazzo floors, solid brass light fixtures, and intricately molded plaster was lavish. The auditorium’s coffered ceiling and a recessed dome, feature a wide proscenium stage. Owned by the Orpheum Circuit, a company responsible for booking and operating theaters throughout the western part of the country, the Hennepin drew major vaudeville acts such as George Jessel, Jack Benny, "Dainty June" Havoc, and many more. In the 1930s, talking motion pictures replaced vaudeville at the Hennepin, and beginning in 1937, the primary attraction was the appearance of live orchestra onstage. In 1959, local theater entrepreneur Ted Mann purchased the Hennepin, attracting an average of twelve Broadway touring productions each year until 1965. The Orpheum still brings in Broadway shows as well as rock concerts, performance artists, jazz presentations, beauty contests, corporate meetings, and public service events.
Photo Credits:
1930, Lee Brothers, courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
Circa 2002-2007, Courtesy of the Hennepin Theatre District
Works Cited:
"National Register of Historic Places – Nomination Form," December 1985.
Updated: February 2007