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Overview

The Seattle-based vaudeville promoter and film exhibitor Alexander Pantages leased second and third floor space in the three-story Germania Hall for his Lois Theatre between 1906 and 1911.

Building History

Greek-born Alexander Pantages (1867-1936), who would go on to open a large chain of theatres across the West, opened the 1,200-seat Lois Theatre at 1118 2nd Avenue in 1906.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist wrote a column about the Lois Theatre just before the building in which it was housed, Germania Hall, was to be torn down: "Theatrical agent Jerry Ross told us that the late Alexander Pantages built the Lois Theater in 1906. He named it for his wife. It was a 'stock house'--a new play every several weeks, done by one and the same cast. Clara Kimball Young, star of the silents, was perhaps the most notable graduate of the Lois. Daphne Pollward, child wonder, played there, too. Ross thought that 'The Spoilers'--a Rex Beach Alaskan epic--enjoyed the longest Lois run." (See Frank Lynch, "Seattle Scene: Exit Laughting from the Burning Theater," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 12/26/1957, p. S13.)

Building Notes

Players in Pantages's Lois Theatre Company would patronize William Bloch, Sr.'s Germania Cafe one floor below.

Demolition

A fire destroyed the Lois Theatre operating in Germania Hall on 12/18/1911. The Seattle Daily Times noted in 1931: "Fire in the building at the southeast corner of Second and Seneca destroyed the interior of the Lois Theatre and damaged Billy Bloch's Germania Cafe underneath it. The fire started during a performance of 'Carmen' but the coolness of the actors prevented any panic in the large audience." (See "From the Times 20 Years Ago: December 19, 1911," Seattle Daily Times, 12/19/1931, p. 6.)

PCAD id: 22526