Memphis's 1928 grand vaudeville house at Main and Beale, said to be haunted by 'Mary,' a young girl whose favorite seat C-5 on the mezzanine is reserved for her.
203 S. Main St., Memphis, TN 38103
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by production; Broadway-touring shows, concerts, ballet, and community events. Guided historical tours offered seasonally.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Restored historic theater with elevator access to mezzanine; accessible seating available.
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1928 · 1928 Rapp and Rapp grand theater · Successor to 1890 Grand Opera House / 1907-1923 Orpheum vaudeville circuit · Saved from demolition in 1977 · 2,308-seat Broadway touring house
The southwest corner of South Main and Beale streets has hosted a major Memphis theater since 1890, when the Grand Opera House opened on the site. The Grand joined the Orpheum Circuit in 1907 and was renamed the Orpheum, becoming a leading vaudeville stop for acts traveling the country. In 1923, following a performance by singer Blossom Seeley, a fire started in the building and the theater burned to the ground.
The Orpheum was rebuilt and reopened on November 19, 1928, at twice the size of its predecessor. The new building, designed by the Chicago firm Rapp and Rapp, cost approximately $1.6 million and featured ornate finishes and a Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ. Originally seating roughly 2,300 patrons, the theater continued as a vaudeville house through the 1930s and gradually transitioned to a movie palace under Malco Theatres in subsequent decades.
In 1977 the Orpheum was saved from threatened demolition by the Memphis Development Foundation, and the building underwent major restorations in 1982-84 ($5 million), 1996-97 ($8 million), and 2014-16. The foundation was renamed the Orpheum Theatre Group in 2016, the same year it completed construction of the adjacent Halloran Centre for Performing Arts and Education.
Today the Orpheum Theatre seats 2,308 and hosts Broadway touring productions, Ballet Memphis, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, concerts, films, and community events. The venue is one of Memphis's most prominent surviving examples of early-20th-century theatrical architecture.
Sources
According to the Stranger Dimensions feature on Orpheum lore, 'Mary' is a 12-year-old girl in an old-fashioned dress who appears most often at her favorite seat — C-5 on the mezzanine level. Reports describe her playing the pipe organ, singing, and running through the aisles, along with disembodied voices, footsteps, and doors that open on their own. Two competing origin stories circulate: that she died in an accident on Beale Street in 1921, or that she perished in the 1923 fire that destroyed the previous theater on the site.
Action News 5's 2021 feature on the theater quotes Orpheum president Brett Batterson describing Mary as 'wanting to play' — citing an incident during a production of 'Annie' in which a dollhouse prop disappeared from backstage and reappeared in the balcony. Batterson's wife reported repeated shoulder taps while sitting in box one during a Jerry Seinfeld performance, with no one behind her. Batterson also reported watching a door in the Broadway Donor Lounge open and close on its own.
A second, more melancholy spirit — sometimes called Eleanor — is said to weep in the upper balcony when visitors venture there alone. Staff list seven total spirits associated with the building, though Mary and Eleanor are the most consistently described. The Orpheum has openly embraced its ghost stories in marketing, ghost tours, and seasonal programming.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Backstage and historical tours of the 1928 Rapp and Rapp-designed theater highlight the venue's vaudeville and Orpheum Circuit history, the 1923 fire that destroyed the previous Grand Opera House, and the theater's ghost lore around 'Mary.'
Attend a Broadway touring show, concert, or ballet at the Orpheum and watch for seat C-5 on the mezzanine — said to be reserved for Mary's ghost.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Joliet, IL
The Rialto Square Theatre opened May 24, 1926, designed by Chicago firm Rapp & Rapp for the six Rubens brothers. Its Neo-Baroque interior — modeled in part on the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles — earned it a place on the American Institute of Architects's '150 Great Places in Illinois' and a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
El Paso, TX
The Plaza Theatre opened September 12, 1930 on Pioneer Plaza in downtown El Paso. Developer Louis L. Dent commissioned the Spanish Colonial Revival movie palace in 1927, and the inaugural night drew a crowd of 2,410. Its lavish interior was designed to evoke 'the fabled beauty of Old Spain and the charm of Old Mexico.' After decades of decline, the theatre was extensively restored and reopened as a performing-arts venue, now home to the Plaza Classic Film Festival and a wide range of touring performances.
Knoxville, TN
The Bijou Theatre at 803 South Gay Street in Knoxville occupies a structure dating to 1817, built as a hotel by developer Thomas Humes on land purchased in 1801. The building served as Union General William Sanders' headquarters during the 1863 Siege of Knoxville; Sanders was shot by a Confederate sharpshooter and died in the bridal suite on November 19, 1863. The venue has operated as a performance space since the early 20th century.