The B. F. Keith Circuit was a chain of

vaudeville theater Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

s in the United States and Canada owned by

Benjamin Franklin Keith Benjamin Franklin Keith (January 26, 1846 – March 26, 1914) was an American vaudeville theater owner, highly influential in the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville. Biography Early years Keith was born in Hillsboro Bridge, New ...

for the acts that he booked. Known for a time as the United Booking Office, and under various other names, the circuit was managed by Edward Franklin Albee, who gained control of it in 1918, following the death of Keith's son Andrew Paul Keith.

History

In 1928 the theaters owned by

and Edward Franklin Albee and

Martin Beck Martin Beck is a fictional Swedish police detective and the main character in the ten novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, collectively titled ''The Story of a Crime''. Frequently referred to as the Martin Beck stories, all have been ada ...

's Orpheum Circuit merged to form the

Keith-Albee-Orpheum The Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation was the owner of a chain of vaudeville and motion picture theatres. It was formed by the merger of the holdings of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II and Martin Beck's Orpheum Circuit. His ...

circuit. The combined theater chain now had over 700 theaters in the United States and Canada. They had a combined seating capacity 1.5 million. 15,000 vaudeville performers will be booked through the new entity.

Notable performers

Rita Bell Rita Bell (, Bell; after first marriage, Crittenden; after second marriage, Redlich; December 16, 1893 – January 8, 1992) was an American lyric soprano and entertainer in vaudeville, musical theatre, radio, and "talkies". She was the principal ...

(1893-1992), singer, entertainer

References

{{theatre-stub Movie theatre chains in the United States Vaudeville theaters

History

Notable performers

See also

References