Orpheum Theatre Tours a Trip Back in Time

NEWS 1130
John Streit July 24, 2014

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – You gaze at its majestic grandeur today on Granville Street and marvel that this was almost torn down in the ’70s and turned into a multiplex.

Luckily, the 1927 Orpheum Theatre – orginally built as a moviehouse – is still with us and continues to attract top acts from around the world.

Doug Cameron is a volunteer with the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame and conducts tours of the building on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through till the end of summer.

The 90-minute experience takes you right up to the catwalk near the giant, iconic dome and down through subterranean hallways where entertainment legends like Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny and WC Fields once walked.

All sorts of secrets are revealed about the building on the tour which takes you through areas basically unchanged since the late ’20s.

Cameron believes it’s not only important for people here and elsewhere to see what things were like in the past, but also how a community can pull together.

“Our history in Vancouver has not been very positive in terms of saving things and restoration and this is a fine example of people getting together and saving something as valuable as this.”

Cameron speaks about the Orpheum’s legendary acoustics on the tour, including a special moment at a Tony Bennett concert.

“Apparently, Bennett told the orchestra to put their instruments down and asked that anything electronic be turned off. He stood centre stage and sang Fly Me To The Moon, totally acapella. You could have heard a pin drop in the theatre because the acoustics are so clear.”

Cameron says Bennett commented on the fact that this is one of the few theatres in North America that has such great acoustics and that we really should be really proud as a city to still have such a relic.

The $10 tours run till the end of August with all proceeds going to the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame to recognize performers in the province.