This Day in History - 18 June 2013

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: JUNE 18, 1917

  Ninety-six years ago, Alexander Pantages opened a new theatre at 20 West Hastings.

  Vancouver was in the midst of an economic recession brought on by the First World War, but Pantages was undeterred. He spent $300,000 on the 1,800-seat vaudeville palace, an opu­lent neo-classical building done up in the"Pantages Greek" style.

  "The building has an ornate front in various stucco effects and the general arrangement shouts 'house of entertainment' to all who approach near," not­ed The Vancouver Sun, which ran a two-page spread on the new theatre, in a 12-page newspaper.

  The design was by architect B. Marcus Pritica, who also did the Orpheum. "The central portion (of the facade) consists of orna­mental fluted Ionic columns and three windows in front of which is a small balcony," said the Province, which also had a big spread. "Over the windows are heavy cartouches, and the whole is surmounted by a heavy cornice and richly orna­mented parapet with a massive urn at each end."

  The new theatre boasted Vancouver's largest sign, a five-foot-high, 29-foot-wide marvel that spelled out the Pantages name in 1,114 light bulbs" ranging from seven-and-a-half to 25 watts." The elabo­rate ornamental plasterwork in the interior was done by Vancouver's premier sculptor, Charles Marega. And the audi­torium was designed to have the best sightlines and sound possible — a performer was supposed to be able to talk in a normal voice from the stage and be clearly heard way up in the rafters.

  The theatre was an instant suc­cess, selling out two shows at 7 and 9 p.m. The opening lineup featured the "superb dancing spectacle" of Mademoiselle Bianca, the "up-to-the-minute burlesque" of the Magazine Girls, and the "dancing xylo­phonist" Alberto.

  The new theatre replaced an earlier, smaller Pantages that the vaudeville impresario had built at 144 East Hastings in 1907-08.

  Alexander Pantages was a man in a hurry. He opened a vaudeville theatre in Dawson City during the Klondike gold rush, then opened a theatre in Seattle in 1902. He quickly built a vaudeville empire — by the time he opened his second Pantages theatre in Vancouver, there were 30 other Pantages theatres throughout North America. At its peak, the chain had 84 theatres, but his empire fell apart after Pantages was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in 1929. He was acquitted, but he was finan­cially ruined.

  The 1917 Pantages would go by other names over its life, includ­ing the Beacon, the Majestic and the Odeon Hastings. It was torn down in 1967 for a parking lot. The 1907-08 Pantages was demolished in 2011.

John Mackie, Vancouver Sun