Saenger Theatre

The Saenger Theatre opened on February 4, 1927 — a $2.5 million house that took three years to build and drew thousands to parade along Canal Street. The top ticket was 65 cents. You got a silent movie, a stage play produced by Paramount-Publix, and music from the Saenger Grand Orchestra. Architect Emile Weil designed the interior as an atmospheric theatre to recall an Italian Baroque courtyard. He installed 150 lights in the ceiling, arranged in the shape of constellations, and employed special effects machines to project moving clouds, sunrises, and sunsets across the interior. The 4,000-seat house was the flagship of Julian and Abe Saenger's theatre empire. Julian Saenger sold it to Paramount Publix for $10 million in 1929. In 1964, ABC Interstate Theatres built a wall in front of the balcony, dividing the larger space into two smaller theatres. The Saenger was designated a historic landmark by the New Orleans Landmark Commission on September 29, 1977. A year later it sold for slightly more than $1 million to E.B. Breazeale, who spent an additional $3 million with co-investors Zev Buffman and Barry Mendelson renovating it into a performing arts center. The Saenger reopened in 1980 with a reduced seating capacity of 2,736. Johnny Carson performed at the grand reopening. When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, the water line reached approximately a foot above stage level, filling the basement and orchestra seating area. Construction on a $51 million renovation began in January 2012. The Saenger reopened September 27, 2013 with three performances from Jerry Seinfeld. The final price tag was $53 million. The theatre features an approximately 2000-pipe Robert Morton theatre organ installed at opening — one of the largest instruments ever built by the Robert Morton Organ Company of Van Nuys, California, and the prototype for the company's "Wonder Morton" line. The organ has a four manual console and 26 ranks of pipes. According to theater historian Ben M. Hall, the famed organist Jesse Crawford said the Saenger's Morton was the finest instrument he had ever played.