Portal
Where to go if you want to time travel
Spoiler alert: As a Gen X-er raised by television, this should be boilerplate language on anything I write or say: spoilers herein. In this instance, specifically for The X-Files, Battlestar Galactica, Fringe, and The Last of Us. But you should be caught up on all of those by now anyway.
This is a lesson in doing the thing. What is that place you wonder about and want to see? Can you make it happen?
I admit that “time travel” isn’t exactly an accurate phrase for the title here. Technically, it is travel to a parallel universe – same time, different space – but you’ll forgive a little creative license.
The particular place in question is the Orpheum in Vancouver, BC. Aside from its marquee, the fairly nondescript street-level view of the exterior is easy to miss, especially if you are watching where you’re walking or blinking against a misty rain.
I first saw its interior on my TV. It’s the place where the valiant guardians of the future from “Fringe” visited their counterparts in an alternate universe. But it is also holy ground for a bunch of monotheistic sentient robots and the place where Agent Scully was used as bait to catch that guy with the salamander hand. (IYKYK.) It even made a beautiful but brief appearance in the second season of “The Last of Us.” Like much of downtown Vancouver, it has been a background player or a central figure just a few spots down on the call sheet for more appearances than IMDB could hold. But that’s only a small part of its vibrant life.
So yes, I wanted to see if this place could possibly be as beautiful in person as it looks in the midst of TV magic. I mostly maintained a spirit of decorum when I saw that it did indeed exceed my expectations.
The Orpheum is home to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra – catch you next time, VSO – and is coming up on its centennial in 2027. I’ll be honest, with limited time in the city, I thought about pulling the press card on this one, asking if I could just peek in, take a few photos, promise not to make it weird. But when I went online to see what might be on the schedule during my visit, I saw that tours were back. Ten bucks – loonies? – (in 2024) and I’ve never clicked anything so fast.
The building’s interior is as elegant and ornate as I imagined, every inch permeated with the decades of joy and music and laughter that it has held gently and uproariously. The sweat and tears of performers and the unbridled joy of those who delight in seeing humans transcendent in their talents. Fred Astaire, silent movies, even Paul Simon this very summer have been a part of the wide-ranging, deep bench of talent and extraordinary performances that have graced the venue. The tours offer a hint of that, led by representatives from the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame. Our guides were retired performers who were “retired” only in the professional sense. They delighted us and clearly enjoyed themselves during the tour as they were transported to their days on stage. Maybe there was a little time travel involved after all.
Theaters are living, breathing beings. You can’t convince me otherwise. Each has its own lifeblood and memory bank. I had a glimpse of the delight and awe that this particular building has inspired for generations, but it is replicated in grand, ornate concert halls and on wooden platforms cobbled together in parks, anywhere the music starts or the curtain rises.
I like to think there is a symbiosis between the structure, the performers, and the audience that stays with each. I carry a little bit of the Orpheum with me now and I am better for it. I hope you will visit if you can. It’s pure magic, in any time and in every universe.
Photos by me, taken at The Orpheum, 2024
Values check: awe, adventure (Wondering what I’m talking about? Start here.)
