BROADWAY'S HISTORIC THEATERS
Broadway is home to the largest concentration of historic theatres in the country. Once Los Angeles' most popular gathering place - the spot for movie premieres, ticker-tape parades and shopping at the region's top department stores - it is a district filled with unique architecture, character and culture. Among the most prized treasures of the area are Broadway's twelve historic movie palaces, which in their heyday evoked - and often surpassed - the magic of stage and screen. Ticket booths, lobbies, auditoriums, staircases, sidewalks and even restrooms are magnificent works of art, rich in decorative details borrowed from foreign cultures and the distant past.

The splendor of these theatres remains amazingly intact today and they are available as a stunning setting for performance and entertainment events. While the condition of their technical and stage equipment runs the gamut from state-of-the-art to almost nonexistent, their architecture can transport audience members as they step through the door. A performance in a Broadway theater, whether dance, music, drama, or film, is a fantastic opportunity for artistic creativity and imagination.

Broadway's theaters already are home to Last Remaining Seats, the Los Angeles Conservancy's phenomenally successful classic film series, and are the focus of both City and Conservancy efforts to create a nighttime cultural-entertainment district that brings together history, architecture, entertainment and the arts. Join the Conservancy, the Mayor, the Cultural Affairs Department, downtown Business Improvement Districts and a growing number of arts and entertainment organizations in leading a cultural renaissance on Broadway.

The theaters also are available for filming, weddings, business meetings, religious services, graduations, fashion shows and special events.

Photographs Of Broadway's Historic Theaters
Theater photos courtesy of Robert Berger and Anne Conser.
(Click on photos to view full photographs)

Palace Theater
Downtown

Built in 1911 as the third home of the Orpheum vaudeville circuit in Los Angeles, this theater at Sixth St. and Broadway, a work of architect G. Albert Lansburgh is now the oldest remaining original Orpheum theater in the country. Loosely styled after a Florentine Renaissance palazzo, the façade of this brick and concrete structure features terra cotta flowers, fairies and theatrical masks illustrating the spirit of entertainment. Downtown developer Tom Gilmore has recently purchased the Palace and plans to re-introduce live entertainment.

Photo courtesy of Tom Zimmerman