This first Orpheum seated 3500 and quickly became one of the most popular theaters in San Francisco attracting a wide variety of people.

San Francisco was so far removed geographically from the rest of the nation that continuing to attract quality acts was difficult and expensive.

[6] Beck's goals became to "make the Orpheum circuit bring the highest forms of art within reach of the people with the slimmest purses".

[2] Managers of the Eastern and western wings of the VMA often bickered over issues and goals of their enterprise and so by the end of 1904, the alliance split into two separate booking circuits-the WVMA and EVMA.

These meetings were interrupted on April 18, 1906 when a devastating earthquake and fire hit San Francisco and destroyed the Orpheum theater.

In May, negotiations for the new east-west alliance continued until finally, mid-June 1907, an agreement was reached and the Combine in trade was formed.

By the end of 1909, Orpheum theaters had opened in Atlanta, Memphis, Mobile, Birmingham, Salt Lake, Ogden, and Logan.

In addition, Beck and Meyerfeld made an agreement with the smaller Sullivan-Considine vaudeville chain in 1908 that allowed the Orpheum to book artists in their theaters in Seattle, Spokane, Portland, and Butte.

He became obsessed with opening a large Orpheum theater in New York and started to put plans in place to build the Palace right up the street from the Victoria owned by Albee.

In addition, Beck decided he wanted to build a new circuit of Orpheum theaters in the east, all of which violated the territorial agreement of the Combine.

[7] As early as 1908, rumors of Beck's intention to put Orpheum theaters on the east coast were printed and tensions rose between the eastern and western managers.

Each side of the circuit pushed to increase their territories and in 1910, the eastern managers purchased controlling interest in Cincinnati, Louisville, and Indianapolis.

At the end of 1911, Beck officially obtained a multi-year lease on a large piece of property in Times Square, New York where construction for the Palace Theater began in February 1912.

With this purchase, the Orpheum Circuit now had interests in New York and its surrounding areas and a new territorial agreement was made.

He threatened to take legal action against Meyerfeld and Beck claiming that their ownership of the Palace was a violation of their new territorial agreement.

[2] In 1919, twenty-seven small-time Vaudeville theaters located in middle-sized cities in the Midwest joined the Orpheum Circuit.

Beck preferred the big-time traditional model of live vaudeville acts while Heiman wanted smaller theaters that favored the new trend of a vaude-film combination.

Heiman realized that movies were capturing a larger audience and began to give more priority and top billing to featured films rather than live acts in the Orpheum theaters.

But the Orpheum found it difficult to obtain first-run films since it was not allied with a major motion picture studio.

[2] By 1927, the circuit's box office revenue fell and profits stagnated due to competition from movie palaces and production houses.

It was clear that a merger of the circuits would bolster their financial footing and allow them to continue to compete in the changing entertainment industry.

Pantages owned theaters in almost every city where the Orpheum had venues and offered quality entertainment for low-admission.

VMA members, including the Orpheum, viewed this growing organization as a threat and would blacklist any performer who joined the rats.

Bookers tried to arrange fast paced playbills showcasing acts which would dovetail together to create a harmonious show.

Successful programs delivered diversity and Orpheum managers avoided similar types of acts on the same playbill.

The third spot was sure-fire entertainment such as a humorous playlet or fast paced revue featuring singing or dancing spectacle.

The entire playbill was built around the star and was the show's high point that was meant to wow the audience and send them home happy.

During the early stages of the circuit, Walter would travel to find the best talent making the Orpheum's playbills among the most electric in the nation.

[2] Managers also reported on the artist's behavior such as drinking, gambling, and cursing as well as any offensive material that was eliminated from their routines during rehearsal.

The Orpheum managers went to extreme lengths to not offend their audiences and risk their reputation for wholesome entertainment.