The Moore Theatre
About
The Moore Theatre and the adjoining Moore Hotel was built by the flamboyant Seattle real estate developer James A. Moore and remains as the oldest operating theater in Seattle.
Designed by the Northwest’s premier architect, Edwin W. Houghton it was first leased and managed by the President of Northwestern Theatrical Association, John Cort.
When the Moore Theatre opened in 1907, it was a lavish social venue for the Gilded Age elite of early Seattle. It was developed in part to capture patrons visiting the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. The Moore Theatre with its 2436 seats and innovative features was foremost a playhouse presenting first-class attractions. Designed without vertical supports for the balcony there were gentle sloping ramps leading to the second level seating. Originally the theatre had an orchestra pit, but unlike many of the early theatres did not have a theatre pipe organ. The theatre had a stylistically neutral exterior compared to its extravagant interior of onyx, marble, stained glass, muses, mosaic floors, with ivory, old rose, olive and gold décor.
The theatre opening was the social event of the season and reporters noted that “…it had seldom, if ever been duplicated in Seattle.” The Moore Theatre has been a home for every type of performing arts, film, art exhibits, speakers, rallies, revivals, minstrel shows, graduations and even boxing matches. The 2nd balcony with its separate side entrance was used during the racially segregated period of its history. The theatre was the original home of the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle International Film Festival.