Seattle to Paramount Theater United States Tour
Approx. Time: 2 hoursActivity Level: Easiest
The Paramount Theater opened on March 1, 1928 at the end of an era. Thomas Edison first introduced "Motion Pictures" to Americans in 1896. By the 1910s, opportunistic playhouse managers grasped their money-making potential--Americans would pay for the chance to escape from their ordinary lives into the movies' glamorous worlds of drama, beauty, and wealth--and theaters built specifically to show movies soon appeared throughout the country. During the "Roaring 20s," competition for audiences in cities grew fierce; in order to keep pace, each new theater grew larger and more ornate than the last. These "Movie Palaces" projected an aura of extravagance and fantasy that added to the illusions that appeared on screen.
The Paramount Theater represents Movie Palace architecture at its height, just before the Great Depression made the construction and upkeep of such buildings impossible. Designed by Coliseum Theater architect B. Marcus Priteca, the Paramount boasted crystal chandeliers, marble stonework and luxurious velvet draperies. Priteca's design skillfully allowed the patron to observe increasingly more of the elaborate building as the patron proceeded through the theater. In effect, the architecture was a significant part of the theatrical impact. Unlike many similarly elegant buildings, the Paramount has remained open throughout the years, playing host to movies, concerts, musicals and even rock concerts. In the 1990s, it underwent restoration, and the building once again evokes the wonders of a 1920s Movie Palace.
Photo courtesy of National Park Service
