Photo: Orpheum Theater Interior

This is a photo of the interior of the Orpheum Theater just a few minutes before the start of Lewis Black's appearance.  This view shows the side wall of the theater, with the stage at the left.

The red glow at the bottom of the ceiling transitions into a night sky directly overhead.  The City and private donor spent $14 million for a 12-year renovation project to transform the theater from and old movie theater into a performing arts venue.

It is hard to imagine how the previous owners painted black paint over the interior fixtures and even the murals on the side walls.

This week we are showing photos of the people of the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

PHoto: Orpheum Theater side wall decor

This is the final installment in my little series of photos from the Orpheum Theater.  Part of what made the renovation of the theater possible is that the CIty of Phoenix built a new City Hall on the remainder of the same block as the Orpheum.  That allowed the City to use a combined air conditioning system that services both the Orpheum and City Hall.

This week we are showing photos of the people of the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Orpheum Theater Stage

Last weekend we saw a performance at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Phoenix.  It was renovated about 25 years ago to be a venue for  live performing arts, after decades of neglect.

It was built during the late 1920's in the era of "movie palaces" and it has a very ornate interior, as shown by this view of the stage.  Astonishingly, when the theater was used to show Spanish language movies in the 1960's and 1970's, the owners painted the interior moulding black because they thought the ornate decor detracted from the movies.

The lighting was designed to simulate the night sky on the ceiling. Tomorrow I will show who the performer was.  Well, sort of.

This week we are showing photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.