The Orpheum is about to close its doors for a yearlong restoration project. Here's are three ways you can support the historic downtown Wichita theater.
#1: Take home a seat
Beginning in June, the Orpheum will close for significant interior restorations — including all new seating.
But first, “Seat Week: Preparing for Intermission,” running May 27-29, invites Orpheum fans to take a seat — literally. For three days this week, you can select a seat and take it home or tag it for pick-up in early to mid-June. Learn more about "Seat Week" from the Wichita Eagle and KWCH.
#2: See "Crazy for You
You can support the Orpheum Theatre at no extra cost by buying tickets to Music Theatre Wichita’s production of “Crazy for You,” opening July 9. The storyline of the Tony Award-winning musical centers on a theater given new life. For each ticket purchased using the code ORPHEUM25, $4 will be donated to the Orpheum’s restoration fund.
The Orpheum is the first atmospheric theater in the United States, featuring architectural designs popular in the 1920s–30s and evoking a sense of place.
In “Crazy For You,” a young New York banker is sent to foreclose on a dilapidated theater but falls for the owner’s daughter. He devises a plan to save the theater by putting on a show. Among the musical’s tunes are "I Got Rhythm" and "Someone To Watch Over Me."
The musical’s story, noted Angela Cassette, MTW's managing director, tells "a lively plot about the power of love and community." Stacee Olden, the Orpheum’s executive director, cited the “wonderful synergy” of a show about a theater needing investment and the Orpheum’s restoration project. Find "Crazy For You" info here.
#3: Catch a movie at Century II
The Orpheum may be closing its doors, but its annual classic film series continues at Century II's Mary Jane Teall Theater. Learn more and purchase tickets.
— Anne Welsbacher is the SHOUT's performing arts editor.
"They will also repair the plaster and decorative painting to bring back the original colors throughout the building, remodel the dressing rooms and modernize the theater's technology with improved rigging, lighting and acoustics on the stage for the performers."
(Shelby Kellerman for the Wichita Business Journal)
Support Kansas arts writing
The SHOUT is a Wichita-based independent newsroom focused on artists living and working in Kansas. We're partly supported by the generosity of our readers, and every dollar we receive goes directly into the pocket of a contributing writer, editor, or photographer. Click here to support our work with a tax-deductible donation.
❋ Derby man has the kind of voice that turns heads — and chairs
❋ Socializing while sober: how some Wichitans are cultivating alcohol-free communities
❋ As a small creative business closes, the owner mourns
❋ Painting through it: Autumn Noire on 20 years of making art
❋ How a guy from Wichita resurrected 'Dawn of the Dead'
❋ Bygone Friends University museum housed curious collections
