Moore Theatre Seattle

The Moore Theatre Seattle is the city's oldest remaining theater.

It is a beautiful historic landmark that is rather simple and unassuming on the outside but opulent and majestic on the inside. Unlike many other historic landmarks, the Moore is still a vibrant and functioning theater thanks to the efforts of the Seattle Theatre Group.

Moore Theater Seattle

Throughout the year, the Moore Theater hosts a variety of performances. These include local dance, comedy, or musical groups as well as touring musicians and theater shows. Recent performances include:

Bob Dylan
"Hair"
"Rent"
Last Comic Standing
Pet Shop Boys
Anthony Bourdain
Ian Anderson (flutist from Jethro Tull)

Because of its age, the Moore is not as comfortable perhaps as a modern theater. The seats are smaller than modern seating, and it can get a little toasty during a long show. It's awfully steep in the upper balconies, and there's a little peeling paint here and there. But its age and history are part of the charm and ambience. Come to the Moore not just to see the show, but to experience the historic surroundings as well.

Tour the Mooore:

The Moore Theater Seattle

One of the best deals in town is the free tour of the Moore Theatre. Seattle Theatre Group conducts these 90 minute tours on the second Saturday of each month. If you are interested in local history or historic buildings, or are just looking for things to do on a rainy day, I highly recommend this tour. You get the opportunity to see all the areas of the theater that you don't see when you are just there for a show.

Stepping through the front entrance takes you back in time to 1907, when the Moore Theatre Seattle opened as the third largest theater in the United States. Hard to imagine that as it is small by today's standards! The program for the theater's opening night called the Moore the "epitome of architectural elegance".

The foyer opens up into a grand lobby with high ceilings, carved wood detailing, marble, and Mexican onyx. The floors are a mosaic of small pieces of marble, obviously laid by hand. High up on the walls carved statues of eight of the nine Muses encircle the room. In Greek mythology, the nine Muses were the patron goddesses of the arts. Apparently the architect of the Moore Theatre didn't think that Urania, the muse of astronomy, had much to do with theatre arts and so left her out!

Memorabilia

Hanging in the hallways are framed photos, posters, tickets, and programs from the Moore's past. There is a heating duct suspended from the ceiling in one of the backstage areas where the crew and cast hang out. Many of them would stick posters and programs up on top of this duct instead of cleaning up properly.

Moore Theater Seattle

A locked closet stored stacks of tickets and programs. Programs and tickets fell through the cracks in the floor in the balcony. All of this lay undiscovered for up to a hundred years until major cleanups or repairs and renovations brought them to light. Much of what is known about the shows, performances, and stars that played at the Moore came from these discoveries!

A little Moore Theatre Seattle history...

The Moore opened in 1907 on the site of the former New Washington Hotel. That hotel was only open for three years before it was razed for the Denny regrade. The Josephina Hotel and the Moore Theater were built in preparation for the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition. There was a swimming pool in the basement. It's no longer open, but you can see photos in the lobby of the hotel next door to the Moore. Many Seattleites took swimming lessons there! The Moore Theater was built by James Moore who was a prominent developer in Seattle at the time. He built many of the buildings downtown and on Capitol Hill. His house still stands at the corner of 14th and Aloha.

Over the years the Moore has been home to a variety of genres, from vaudeville and live plays to comedy and rock concerts. It was even host to a series of art exhibitions which included murals on the walls in the stairwells and a whole room full of watermelons. Pictures of some of the murals, including the Moore Theater ghost are below. To find out more about the watermelons, you'll have to take the tour!