The photo I took of the Orpheum a few weeks ago was one of my favorites. I spent three years as a projectionist in a unrenovated deco movie theater on Hawai’i, operating eighty year old projectors in an asbestos lined box. At least it was still a movie theater. So many of these beauties on Broadway have succumbed to economic reality; hosting boticas, evangelicos, and discount clothing stalls, if they’re not closed altogether. There is a movement underway to recover and restore some of the buildings, and as the population of downtown grows, the theaters will probably benefit.
© 2009 Ele Munjeli
