Orpheum Theatre

Orpheum Theatre (New York). The Off‐Broadway playhouse is one of the few remnants of the once‐flourishing Yiddish theatre district on Second Avenue. It opened in 1905 as the Orpheum Concert Gardens but the vaudeville‐like programs did not sell, so it was converted into a movie house in 1911. From the early 1920s until World War II, the Orpheum housed Yiddish shows, some plays but mostly variety attractions. After serving as a neighborhood movie theatre, the playhouse was renovated in 1959 into a 399‐seat legitimate theatre, and it quickly became one of Off Broadway's favorite houses. Today it mostly features limited engagement guest attractions.