This south-west facing view of University Street between Fifth Avenue and Fourth Avenue includes the Metropolitan Theater. Though the Metropolitan Theatre was designed originally as a stage house, it began showing movies within two years of its opening, and alternated between presenting live theatre and movies throughout its history. Between 1925 and 1928, the Olympic Hotel was built on three sides of the theatre. The Metropolitan Theatre was eventually demolished so that a new entrance to the hotel could be built. The final performance in the theatre was a stage production of What Every Woman Knows, on December 4, 1954. Following the last act the entire cast remained on stage while star Helen Hayes addressed the gathered crowd, then led everyone out of the theater with a bagpiper playing "Auld Lang Syne."
This image comes from a photograph album entitled "The Swedes’ Life and Work in the State of Washington."
Caption information source: "Curtain falls on Seattle's Metropolitan Theatre on December 4, 1954," by Eric L. Flom, HistoryLink.org Essay 7138
ID Number: 2016.59.40
Date: Circa 1920
Physical Description: 1 photographic print mounted on paper : b&w ; 7.5 x 9.5 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State. View the finding aid for this collection at https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv63388
Credit: MOHAI, "The Swedes' Life and Work in the State of Washington" Photograph Album, 2016.59.40
