Opening Night at the Elsinore Theatre!

Exactly 90 years ago next weekend - May 28^th 1926 the doors opened at Salem’s grand Elsinore Theatre.  A packed house witnessed Cecil B. Demille’s “The Volga Boatman,” a silent movie.  

Considered the most elegant theater between San Francisco and Portland, the Elsinore was the creation of art loving entrepreneur George Guthrie. In the midst of the Roaring Twenties Guthrie felt Oregon’s capital city was in need of an elegant luxury theater. Portland architectural firm Lawrence & Holford was commissioned to design a theater inspired from Shakespeare’s Hamlet - the castle in the city of Elsinore.

At first the Elsinore was home to silent movies and weekly Vaudeville shows that travelled up the Pacific corridor from Los Angeles to Seattle.   Iconic acts like Edgar Bergen, Clark Gable and John Phillip Sousa’s Marine Band were frequent players on Elsinore’s stage. By the early Thirties “talkies” became the primary entertainment for a society strained by budgets during the great depression. The Elsinore Theatre was Salem’s beacon in the golden era of cinema. 

Technology never sleeps, however. The advent of television changed how American audiences spent their entertainment time and dollars.  TV was simply cheaper and more convenient.  Soon conventional suburban movie complexes replaced America’s elegant downtown theaters. The Elsinore was caught in the middle of this dynamic, but thanks to a city that treasured its history, it survived.  Read more about the Elsinore’s history here: http: Elsinore history

This painting is 18” x 24” mixed medium, acrylic and wax, on canvas. I love experimenting with texture, bright colors and impressionism. I believe this combination creates energy and mood. 

"Opening Night at the Elsinore Theatre"  will be available at the Annual Dream Makers at the Vineyard Auction benefiting the Salem Dream Center.  The event is next Saturday, May 28^th, which as I noted earlier, just happens to be the 90^th Anniversary of the Elsinore Theatre’s opening night! 

The Salem Dream Center is a wonderful organization whose mission is to help underprivileged children through education, mentorship and food sufficiency. Tickets and information are available at: http://salemdreamcenter.org/events/dreammakers/