Adler Theatre

The Adler Theatre in downtown Davenport began as the RKO Orpheum, a combined cinema and vaudeville theatre that opened in 1931. Financier George Bechtel had announced the hotel-and-theatre development five years earlier, commissioning the architects A. S. Graven and Mayger. Henry Dreyfuss shaped its coordinated Art Deco interiors, whose geometric ornament, chandeliers and unobstructed sightlines remain distinctive features. The restored theatre took the Adler family’s name in recognition of their financial support. Its history connects the era of the great American movie palaces with the later revival of live performance in the centre of the Quad Cities.