The Orpheum Theater was constructed at the corner of 9 th Street and St. Charles in 1917 by St. Louis self-made millionaire Louis A. Cella.  The lead architect was Albert Lansburgh, and artist Leo Lentelli was responsible for the ornate sculptures that are still magnificent today.  Lansburgh had already designed seven previous theaters for the Orpheum franchise.  Lentelli had began working in Rome in the early part of the twentieth century before moving to New York City where his works were commissioned for many projects, including Rockefeller Center. 

When it joined the more than two dozen theaters of the national "Orpheum vaudeville circuit" on its Labor Day opening, the $500,000 "Parisian style" theater was considered an "architectural masterpiece and technological wonder."