Your gaze lands on the Orpheum, opened in 1921 as a vaudeville palace, one of three grand theaters built along this stretch of Hennepin Avenue — the others being the State and the Pantages, now the Goodale. The Orpheum seated 2,800 and was designed to make every person who walked through the door feel like they had entered a European opera house, with gilded plasterwork, marble lobbies, and a Wurlitzer organ that could simulate an entire orchestra. Vaudeville gave way to movies, then the theaters sat dark for decades as downtown hollowed out.
The city of Minneapolis purchased the Orpheum in 1988 and contracted with the Hennepin Theatre Trust to restore it. Today it is the crown jewel of Hennepin Avenue's theater district, hosting Broadway touring productions, major concerts, and events that anchor the cultural life of the city. The renovation cost $10 million and every dollar shows.
If you can see inside during the day, look up at the ceiling — the plasterwork is extraordinary. Minneapolis decided that this architecture was worth saving, and the result is a theater that major touring productions choose over many larger cities.