Seattle: 1900-1920 -From Boomtown, Through Urban Turbulence ...

The cartoon’s caption fromArgus reads, “Mr. Pantagesis not an actor—not evena ‘bad actor.’ He is a manwho, alone and unaided,in spite of all trusts andcombinations, has built up astring of vaudeville theatersextending throughout thenorthwest. The artist got himmixed up with the leadingman at the Lois, one of Mr.Pantages’ Seattle theaters.”Popular Entertainment53was owned by the University of Washington. The university hadvacated the ten-acre tract when it moved to its present locationin 1895. Cort retreated from the booking business, content tomanage his Seattle holdings. Klaw and Erlinger then agreed torun its shows through the Cort houses.When the Spokane City Council passed an ordinance in1897 barring women from employment in box-house theaters,John Considine abruptly left his managerial position at thePeople’s Theater to return to Seattle. After being acquitted forthe shooting of Chief Meredith in 1901, Considine “crossed theLine and established himself as one of Seattle’s most successfulbusinessmen,” in the historian Murray Morgan’s words.Considine bought a half interest in the city’s first movie house,Edison’s Unique Theater. The theater historian Eugene Elliottcredits Considine with establishing the first popularly pricedvaudeville chain in the world. While his theaters fanned outacross the city, Considine decided to expand outside the PacificNorthwest by joining forces with the Tammany Hall leaderTimothy Sullivan in 1906. They opened the Lyceum in SanFrancisco and the Grand in Tacoma. Altogether they accumulatedtwenty-one houses in the Northwest and affiliated with twentymore in California; they booked heavily in the Midwest aswell. Considine then formed the Northwest Orpheum Circuitto allow the rotation of shows from San Francisco to Minneapolis; it became the firsttranscontinental, popularly priced vaudeville service in the United States. When Sullivandied in 1914, Considine reorganized, selling all except the Northwest Orpheum Circuit.A notable newcomer to the city’s theater business was Alexander Pantages, whosoon rivaled Considine. Pantages arrived in Seattle in 1902 and with the grubstake that hehad made by shipping entertainment to Alaska saloons he opened his first theatre here, theCrystal. It prospered and he promptly opened his namesake Pantages Vaudeville House atthe northeast corner of Second Avenue and Seneca Street in 1904. The Greek immigrantwas, at least, rumoredto be illiterate and yetwas able to conversein several languages.And he hired almost noone, performing nearlyevery function himself.The ordinary fare wasabbreviated vaudeville,spiced between actswith fast-flying movingpictures—all for tenPantages Vaudeville House