Orpheum Theater (St. Louis)

The Orpheum Theater in St. Louis, Missouri is a Beaux-Arts style theater, built in 1917. It was constructed by local self-made millionaire Louis A. Cella and designed by architect Albert Lansburgh.[2] The $500,000 theater opened on Labor Day, 1917, as a vaudeville house.[2] As vaudeville declined, it was sold to Warner Brothers in 1930, and served as a movie theater until it closed in the 1960s.[2]

American Theater
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
St. Louis Landmark
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Location	416 N. 9th St., St. Louis, Missouri
Coordinates	38°37′48″N 90°11′34″W
Built	1917
Architect	Lansburgh, G. Albert
Architectural style	Beaux Arts
NRHP reference No.	85000617[1]
Added to NRHP	March 18, 1985

The Orpheum Theater in 1917

In the 1980s, the theater was restored and renamed to American Theater in the 1980s[2] and was listed under that name on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.[1] In 1993, the rock band Phish played two concerts at the venue - one in April and the other in August - both of which were released in full on the band's 2017 live album St. Louis '93.[3]

The theater was later sold to local businessmen Michael and Steve Roberts, who renamed it the Roberts Orpheum Theater. The Roberts brothers sold the theater in 2012, and it closed.[4] The Chicago developer, UrbanStreet Group, plans to restore the theater.[5]