Neptune Theatre (Seattle)

The Neptune Building, which houses the Neptune Theatre and several small businesses, is described as a "vaguely Renaissance Revival style", three-story building with a brick facade. Its north facade, facing NE 45th Street, has a prominent marquee with the word "Neptune" in neon lighting; the final letter "e" in the marquee is stylized as a trident that appears to pierce the other letters.{{cite report |date=November 21, 2012 |title=Report on Designation: Neptune Building |url=http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/Neighborhoods/HistoricPreservation/Landmarks/RelatedDocuments/neptune-building-designation.pdf |publisher=City of Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board |access-date=March 23, 2017}} It was designed by Henderson Ryan, a Kentucky-born architect who also worked on the Moore Theatre and Ballard Carnegie Library.{{cite web |title=Seattle Historical Sites: 1303 NE 45th St NE |url=https://web6.seattle.gov/DPD/HistoricalSite/QueryResult.aspx?ID=5 |publisher=Seattle Department of Neighborhoods |access-date=March 23, 2017}}

The interior of the Neptune Theatre features a nautical theme, with a central concession stand shaped like a boat, marble finishes, and statues of Neptune.

The "U-Neptune Theatre" was opened by the Puritan Theatre Company on November 16, 1921, featuring the silent movie Serenade and seating an audience of 1,000 people.{{cite news |date=November 16, 1921 |title=Films: New Film House Opens; U-Neptune Theatre Ready at University |page=9 |work=The Seattle Times}}{{cite news |last=Ho |first=Vanessa |date=November 12, 2012 |title=Should Neptune Theatre be a Seattle landmark? |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Should-Neptune-Theatre-be-a-Seattle-landmark-4010432.php |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |access-date=March 21, 2017}} The theater was built with a Kimball orchestral theater organ, which was removed in 1943.

By the end of the 1940s, the theater was renamed the Neptune, given a small renovation and changed ownership.{{cite web |last=Thrasher |first=Lynn |title=History of the Neptune Theatre |url=https://www.stgpresents.org/neptune/history |publisher=Seattle Theatre Group |access-date=March 21, 2017}}

The theater went through several management changes during the coming decades, suffering from erratic bookings and poor equipment. It was kept afloat in the 1970s by showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a cult classic film.{{cite news |last=Hartl |first=John |date=December 13, 1981 |title=Movie houses undergo shuffle as bookers, owners trade properties |page=E13 |work=The Seattle Times}}

In 1981, the Neptune came under the ownership of the Landmark Theatres chain, which also owned the Harvard Exit Theatre in Seattle. The company renovated the theater with a new sound and projection system, hoping to bring out the venue's "long-sought potential".{{cite news |last=Hartl |first=John |date=October 27, 1981 |title=Slow-witted characters aren't funny in 'Saturday the 14th' |page=C7 |work=The Seattle Times}} Landmark renovated the theater again in 1994, replacing seating and adding a Dolby Digital and Sony Dynamic Digital Sound system,{{cite web|title=Neptune Theatre |publisher=Landmark Theatres |url=http://landmarktheatres.com/market/Seattle/NeptuneTheatre.htm |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102014531/http://landmarktheatres.com/market/Seattle/NeptuneTheatre.htm |archive-date=January 2, 2010 |access-date=March 21, 2017 }} along with a 16 mm film projector.

In 1991, the theater set a record by playing The Rocky Horror Picture Show every week for 14 years, longer than any other movie had played in Seattle. By 1993, it was one of four U.S. theaters which had played the show the longest, according to the National Rocky Horror Fan Club in New York,{{cite news |newspaper=The Seattle Times |date=October 24, 1993 |title=Let's Do The Time Warp Again and Again and Again and Again and Again |first=Marc |last=Ramirez|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19931024/1727636/lets-do-the-time-warp-again-and-again-and-again-and-again-and-again |access-date=March 21, 2017}} one of several U.S. theaters playing it in a midnight movie format.{{cite book |title=The Moviegoing Experience, 1968–2001|first=Richard W. |last=Haines|publisher=McFarland|year=2003|page=168|isbn=978-0-7864-8074-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qe-myrvrzOUC&pg=PA168}}

File:Neptune Theater (Seattle, Washington).jpg

Landmark lost its lease in 2010 to the Seattle Theatre Group, a non-profit organization that also operates the Moore Theatre and Paramount Theatre.

The Neptune was closed for a $700,000 renovation in January 2011 and re-opened on September 25, 2011, becoming a performing arts and music venue in addition to a movie theater.{{cite news |author=Paul de Barros |date=September 6, 2011 |title=Neptune Theatre grand opening starts Sept. 25 |page=B3 |url=http://old.seattletimes.com/html/musicnightlife/2016094548_neptune06.html |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=March 21, 2017}}

The 2011 renovation saved the building from demolition for the adjoining U District Link light rail station on NE 45th Street. Sound Transit was forced to re-engineer the station to avoid the theater building, and to underpin the Neptune's foundation.

After the theater's 2011 renovation, its first act was Pacific Northwest musician Mark Lanegan at a soft opening in June; the official opening in September was marked by a screening of Rocky Horror.

The building was nominated to become a city landmark in 2012. The Seattle City Council passed an ordinance in 2014 designating the Neptune Building as a city landmark, levying certain protections on the property.

• Clinton Street Theater, a theatre in Portland, Oregon, also known for screening The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show cult following

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite journal |title=The Kimball orchestral organ in the Neptune Theatre, Seattle...|journal=Motion Picture Daily|volume=11|publisher=Exhibitors Trade Review|date=February 11, 1922|page=772|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7EdJAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA772|access-date=March 21, 2017}}

{{cite web |author=Beatrice Dornfeld (dornfb)|work=PNW Archaeology Lab blog|publisher=University of Washington|title=How to Survive the Test of Time: By Seattle's Neptune Theatre|date=February 2, 2017|url=https://blogs.uw.edu/gonzalsa/2017/02/02/how-to-survive-the-test-of-time-by-seattles-neptune-theatre/|access-date=March 21, 2017}}

{{cite journal |title=Theatre Organ Bombarde|volume=9–10|publisher=American Theatre Organ Enthusiasts|year=1967|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CVRYAAAAMAAJ|pages=25,31|access-date=March 21, 2017}}

{{cite book |title=Lonely Planet Seattle|chapter=U District|author=Brendan Sainsbury |author2=Celeste Brash |year=2014|publisher=Lonely Planet Publications |isbn=978-1-74321-827-3|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IKRWAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT342|access-date=March 21, 2017}}

{{cite news |title=At Neptune, 'Rocky Horror' Marks A Local Milestone|author=John Hartl|date=August 23, 1991|newspaper=The Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19910823/1301432/at-neptune-rocky-horror-marks-a-local-milestone|access-date=March 21, 2017}}

{{cite news |last1=Matson |first1=Andrew |last2=de Barros |first2=Paul |date=November 27, 2011 |title=Is the new Neptune Theatre a rock scene hog? |page=H1 |url=http://old.seattletimes.com/html/musicnightlife/2016828787_neptune27.html |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=March 21, 2017}}

{{cite news |last=Tu |first=Janet I. |date=November 30, 2010 |title=Neptune Theatre to gain new life, live performances |page=B1 |url=http://old.seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2013552510_neptune30m.html |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=March 21, 2017}}

{{cite web |title=Henderson Ryan's Neptune Theater|publisher=The Johnson Partnership|location=Seattle |date=April 18, 2012 |url=http://www.tjp.us/blog/?p=1882 |access-date=March 21, 2017}}

{{cite web |title=Neptune Theatre Designated a Seattle Landmark!|date=November 21, 2012|publisher=Historic Seattle|url=https://historicseattle.org/neptune-theatre-designated-a-seattle-landmark/|access-date=March 21, 2017}}

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Category:1921 establishments in Washington (state)

Category:Theatres completed in 1921

Category:Buildings and structures in University District, Seattle

Category:Cinemas and movie theaters in Washington (state)

Category:Former cinemas in the United States

Category:Landmarks in Seattle