The Orpheum Theatre opened in 1921 as the Hennepin Theatre, a large Beaux-Arts vaudeville house on Hennepin Avenue. It later became a movie palace before returning to live performance, and a major renovation in the 1990s prepared it for touring Broadway productions and concerts.
Even if you are not seeing a show, the building is part of the historic theatre row that gives downtown Minneapolis some of its old entertainment-district character.