This handsome theater was built in 1917 by St. Louis millionaire Louis Cella. Architect Albert Lansburgh designed the building in the Beaux Arts style. As such both the interior and exterior are highly decorative. The theater, which can seat 1,500 people, operated as a venue for vaudeville acts until 1930, when Warner Brothers bought and converted into a movie theater. By that time, the popularity of vaudeville acts was in decline; movies began to take over as a major form of entertainment in theaters. The Orpheum reopened in 1960 as the American Theater and became a performance venue. Artists such as Pearl Jam and Alicia Keys performed here. Real estate developers Michael and Steve Roberts eventually bought the theater, invested money into renovation, and changed the name to the Roberts Orpheum Theater. In 2012, they sold it to another developer, UrbanStreet Group, which then sold it to the current owners, Jubilee World, which presents Christian-themed music, in 2016.
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