File:Metropolitan Theatre, University St, Seattle, circa 1920 (MOHAI 9099).jpg

This south-west facing view of University Street between Fifth Avenue and Fourth Avenue includes the Metropolitan Theater. Though the Metropolitan Theatre was designed originally as a stage house, it began showing movies within two years of its opening, and alternated between presenting live theatre and movies throughout its history. Between 1925 and 1928, the Olympic Hotel was built on three sides of the theatre. The Metropolitan Theatre was eventually demolished so that a new entrance to the hotel could be built. The final performance in the theatre was a stage production of "What Every Woman Knows," on December 4, 1954. Following the last act the entire cast remained on stage while star Helen Hayes addressed the gathered crowd, then led everyone out of the theater with a bagpiper playing "Auld Lang Syne." This image comes from a photograph album entitled "The Swedes: Life and Work in the State of Washington."

Caption information source: "Curtain falls on Seattle's Metropolitan Theatre on December 4,1954," by Eric L. Flom, HistoryLink.org Essay 7138

• Subjects (LCTGM): Motion picture theaters--Washington (State)--Seattle; Theaters--Washington (State)--Seattle