English: Orpheum Theater, (1906-1924) vaudeville theater, North 6th and Linden Streets, Allentown, PA.
The Orpheum was the first major vaudeville theater in Allentown (Capacity: 1,421 seats). The permit for its construction was issued on March 21st, 1906 and it opened on August 8th, 1906. The theater presented live Vaudeville variety shows, it mixed jugglers, song-and-dance teams and acrobats, comedians and other live performers. Allentown was a tryout venue for vaudeville acts and those who did well went to major cities such as Philadelphia, New York and Boston. Famous performers such as Eddie Cantor, Fred and Adele Astaire, Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, Buster Keaton and Will Rogers all played at the Orpheum.
During World War I, the Oppheum began to show silent movies mixed in with live Vaudeville. After the war ended, Vaudeville began to fade out and by 1920, the Orpheum had been taken over by silent films. In 1924 the Orpheum was sold and renamed the State movie theater. It was fully converted to showing silent films and was the third largest theater in Allentown. Converted to sound films in the early 1930s, closed in December 1953 due to declining attendance caused by Television. Purchased for $50,000 by Park and Shop Inc. and torn down in April 1954 to make way for a parking lot