1927 Egyptian Revival movie palace at Capitol and Main in downtown Boise, still operating; haunted by Joe, a projectionist who died on the stairs to the booth.
700 W Main St, Boise, ID 83702
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by event - film screenings, concerts, Opera Idaho performances, and special programs each set their own pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic theater with main level access; balcony reached by stairs.
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1927 · Opened April 19, 1927 as a flagship Egyptian Revival movie palace · Designed by Frederick C. Hummel of Tourtellotte and Hummel · National Register of Historic Places (added November 21, 1974) · Operated as Fox Egyptian, the Ada Theater, and now the Egyptian · Home venue for Opera Idaho performances
The Egyptian Theatre opened in 1927 as part of the wave of Egyptian Revival cinemas built across the United States following Howard Carter's 1922 discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb. Frederick C. Hummel of the Boise firm Tourtellotte and Hummel - the same office that designed the Idaho State Capitol and several other Boise landmarks - designed the building at 700 West Main Street, on the corner of Capitol Boulevard and Main. The theater opened on April 19, 1927.
The interior leans heavily into the Egyptian Revival vocabulary: lotus-bud pillars with ornate polychrome frescoes drawn from those at Karnak, truncated pyramid forms framing the proscenium, and pharaonic mural cycles around the auditorium walls. Local press at the opening described the building as embodying 'the characteristic features of the land of the Nile, from the truncated pyramids which form the great pylons, to the lotus bud pillars.'
The theater operated under several names through the twentieth century - Fox Egyptian, simply 'Fox,' and from 1937 to 1979 as the Ada Theater - before reverting to its Egyptian Theatre name in 1979. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1974. A major remodeling in 1999 and restoration work by Conrad Schmitt Studios returned much of the original Egyptian interior to view.
In the current era the Egyptian operates as a mixed film, concert, and performing-arts venue. It has hosted Bourne franchise premieres (Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum), and in 2013 Boise native Aaron Paul livestreamed a Breaking Bad episode 14 watch party from the auditorium. Opera Idaho stages performances at the venue.
Sources
The Egyptian Theatre's named-entity case is Joe, a projectionist who according to ghost-directory and walking-tour retellings worked at the theater from the 1920s into the 1950s and died of a heart attack while climbing the stairs to the projection booth. The story is repeated consistently across Idaho Haunted Houses, the Haunted Places listing, US Ghost Adventures' Boise top-ten roundup, and on-stage tour narration, though contemporary newspaper documentation of the death has not been independently located in publicly accessible archives.
Reports attributed to Joe cluster in three areas of the building: the stairs and projection booth, the upper balcony, and the area near the stage. Staff and patrons describe lights turning on and off, doors opening and closing on their own, disembodied laughter, phantom touches, and unexplained shifts in aroma. A widely-told retelling notes a 2016 incident during a Brothers Osborne concert when sections of the ornate plaster ceiling fell to the stage; in the room's narrative tradition this was attributed to Joe expressing displeasure.
A second, separate apparition is described as a cheerful female figure thought to date to the late 1920s. She is reported in the aisles and is sometimes accompanied by a distinctive scent, according to the local ghost-directory and walking-tour narratives.
As an active, well-attended performing-arts venue, the Egyptian's paranormal lore is delivered primarily through ghost-walk narration and seasonal coverage rather than through staff-led ghost-hunt programming. Boise rock station 1035 KISS FM has published the projectionist legend as part of its Boise haunted-places coverage.
Notable Entities
Attend a current screening, concert, or Opera Idaho performance in a fully restored 1927 Egyptian Revival auditorium with lotus-bud pillars and pharaonic frescoes inspired by King Tutankhamun's tomb.
The Egyptian is a primary stop on the US Ghost Adventures Boise Ghost Tour and Lizzie Borden Ghost Tours Boise. Guides discuss the Joe-the-projectionist legend from the public sidewalk at Capitol and Main.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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