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♪♪

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-I remember just being like
awestruck, jaw dropping to

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the floor and being like, “Holy
cow, there's so much to look at.”

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-I've made many memories here
with the people I've had the

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opportunity and the good
fortune to work with.

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♪♪

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-This is a pretty unique place.

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♪♪

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Not just in the Northwest,
but in this entire country.

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♪♪

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-It's a place that makes
an impression long before

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you find your seat.

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♪♪

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But the story behind Seattle's
historic Fifth Avenue Theatre

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is as compelling as any show
that's ever crossed its stage.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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In the mid-1920s, Seattle is
home to several grand theaters,

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including the Coliseum and the
Liberty near First and Pike.

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But on the block between Union
and University, something

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unlike anything the city had
ever seen was about to be built.

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♪♪

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David Edward Skinner made his
fortune in ship building.

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In the fall of 1925, he started
constructing something else,

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an eight-story building
in downtown Seattle that

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would bear his name.

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♪♪

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It was the work of
architect Robert C.

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Reamer, whose resume includes

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Yellowstone's Old 
Faithful Inn and

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Lake Quinault Lodge in Washington.

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♪♪

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But the heart of the building
was to be an opulent new

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theater, named for the
street running right outside

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its doors, Fifth Avenue.

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Reamer designed the venue, but
it was Gustav Liljestrom who

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was behind the theater's
ornate Chinese interior.

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Influenced by a
recent trip to China,

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Liljestrom took inspiration
from historic places

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around what was
then called Peking.

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The Chinese theme
also paid tribute

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to Seattle's growing trade
partnership with the Far East.

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- Some people will say it was
built as a vaudeville house.

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It wasn't really built
as a vaudeville house.

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It was built as what
would have been called

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a presentation house.

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It incorporated vaudeville, but
always vaudeville and a movie.

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♪♪

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The auditorium is filled
with eye-catching designs,

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but the centerpiece
of the theater stares

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down from high above,
a massive, five-toed

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imperial Chinese dragon,
modeled after the one found on

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the ceiling of the throne
room in the Imperial Palace.

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Clutched in its teeth is
a glass chandelier known

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as the Pearl of Perfection.

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♪♪

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-The scale of this is much
larger than the actual palace,

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but the chandelier
and the dragon,

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all of those are elements
that came from that location.

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The other interesting thing
about everything we're seeing,

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which looks like it's
been intricately carved;

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everything is plaster work.

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♪♪

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-After 11 months and a
cost of $1.5 million,

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the Fifth Avenue Theatre
made its public debut

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on September 24, 1926.

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-Opening night was
apparently, like, insane.

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The number of people
exceeds anything

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that I can even comprehend
happening today.

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-Estimated between 50
and 100,000 people,

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the massive crowd
filled seven blocks.

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“A human sardine can,” the
Post-Intelligencer called it,

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jammed with more people
than downtown Seattle

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had seen in years.

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-And the street is just packed
with people and there's

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Klieg lights going and
it looks like it was

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just a huge party atmosphere.

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♪♪

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-Those lucky enough to get
inside the 3,000-seat theater

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were treated to a night
of entertainment,

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starting with future
Oscar-winning composer

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Oliver Wallace on the
Fifth's Wurlitzer Organ,

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followed by dancers from
Fanchon and Marco's

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vaudeville production
of “The Night Club.”

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♪♪

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The program concluded with
the silent film “Young April,”

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capping off an evening that
lasted till after midnight.

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-In its heyday, they
were doing, I believe,

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it's like nine
performances a day,

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because this is a time when
if you wanted entertainment,

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you couldn't stream
it into your house.

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You had to go and experience it.

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♪♪

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-When the curtain closed
on vaudeville acts,

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the theater began
showing films full-time.

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But it wasn't enough
to just show a movie.

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The Fifth tried to turn every
new release into an event.

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The entrance would be
elaborately decorated.

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Inside, giant studio displays
towered in the lobby.

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Even the Fifth's
usherettes got in on it.

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Their outfits would often change
with whatever was playing,

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turning the staff into
part of the show.

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Some films, like 1933's
"Tugboat Annie,"

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inspired by Puget Sound's
own tugboat culture,

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even held their world
premiere right here.

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But the golden age of the
movie palace wouldn't last.

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By the 1950s and ‘60s,
television was bringing

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entertainment into living rooms.

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And new movie theaters were
popping up closer to where

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people actually lived.

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-Things changed and movies
started having multiplexes.

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Downtown was not necessarily
the place everyone

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wanted to come to anymore.

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♪♪

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-In January 1978, the
Fifth closed its doors.

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Rumors swirled that the
one-time entertainment palace

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would become a
Chinese restaurant,

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but a coalition of
local business leaders

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had other ideas.

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-A group of civic-minded
leaders got together and said,

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"Well, wait a minute, we
don't want this beautiful

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jewel to disappear."

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-No longer would it
be a movie house.

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The newly formed Fifth
Avenue Theatre Association

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raised millions to convert
it into a permanent home

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for live theater and
touring productions.

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♪♪

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On June 16th, 1980, The Fifth
had its second grand opening.

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The following month, the
theater would host a sold out

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10 week run of the
Broadway musical “Annie.”

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But the comeback wasn't instant.

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A recession in the early
‘80s forced the theater

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to scale back.

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♪♪

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A turnaround came in '89,
a new partnership with

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Theatre Under the Stars
in Houston, Texas.

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Co-producing shows that
played both cities gave

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The Fifth the footing to
build its own musicals

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from the stage up.

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-They hired our first
ever artistic director,

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David Armstrong, and David
started really the producing

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arm as we know it today...

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♪♪

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and invited pre-Broadway
engagements to try their

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shows out at the Fifth Avenue.

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-Since 2001, The Fifth has
premiered 25 new musicals.

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Out of those, 10 have made
the leap to Broadway.

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-It's a marriage of that great
audience and that theater-going

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culture that exists in
Seattle married with the real

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craftspeople that
can do this work.

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-It's theography and the artisans
and the craftspeople and

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the stagehands and everybody
who works together and they

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know their drill and they all
have the common goal of we're

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going to make this as
amazing as possible.

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♪♪

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When you do a Broadway show or
show that goes on to Broadway,

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you feel like you can go back
and say, I helped work on that.

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And even though it has gone
on to three other iterations,

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I was still a part of that.

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And that's real pride.

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♪♪

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- Today, the theater is going
through its latest act,

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an alliance with the nonprofit
Seattle Theatre Group.

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- And adding the
Fifth Avenue Theatre

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to the STG's umbrella of
venues, I think it gives

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us the opportunity to
stay strongly connected

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to historic preservation,
to ensuring that this

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facility remains in service
to our community for

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another hundred years.

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♪♪

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-The number of new audiences
that have come in

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since STG is working here
now, I've heard people say,

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"Oh, when did this...

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I've never seen this
building before."

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And you're thinking, “It's
been here for a while now,”

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but it's introducing
new audiences.

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And I think that is amazing.

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- The Fifth Avenue Theatre
has gone through many

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changes in its first century,
but through it all, its

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purpose has stayed the
same, to provide a welcome

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escape to everyone who
walks through its doors.

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♪♪

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- In a hundred years, the Fifth
Avenue will still be here

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as a heartbeat of
downtown Seattle.

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It'll still be a place
that people gather in

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and experience amazing things
together in community.

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♪♪

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When you sit inside here,
you have magical moments.

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It was built as a
place to tell stories,

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and I think we'll still
be here doing that.

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♪♪

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♪ ♪

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-Watch CityStream Tuesday
nights at 7

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00:09:16,656 --> 00:09:17,757
on the Seattle Channel,

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00:09:17,757 --> 00:09:21,594
or find us anytime online
at SeattleChannel.org.

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♪ ♪