Los Angeles Theatres

On a Mobile Device: If you're missing the right column navigation bar or links at the top you can go to the bottom of any page and click on "View Web Version." Still can't find what you're looking for? Send me an email at counterb@gmail.com. See you at the movies! -- Bill Counter

Downtown L.A. Historic Theatres

The survey page gives a rundown on the 20 major surviving theatre buildings in the Downtown Theatre District. There are links to pages about each of them for more detail. You might also want to consult alphabetical rundowns on pages for Hill St. and farther west, the Broadway Theatres, Spring St. Theatres and Main St. and farther east. Those pages give you more detail, including discussions about all the theatres that have vanished. In addition, there's a downtown alphabetical theatre list with alternate names and a theatre list by address.

Historic Hollywood Theatres

Hollywood wasn't just about the movies. Starting in the mid 20s it was also a center for legitimate theatre and musical revues at four newly built playhouses. You'll find an alphabetical list of the theatres in the district on the Hollywood Theatres overview page that includes a bit of data on each and links to pages for more details. Down below this list there's also an alternate name directory. Also of possible interest is a separate page with a list of theatres by street address.

Westside Theatres

The Westside started booming with retail and housing in the mid 20s and the theatres followed. Many theatres along Wilshire Blvd., in Beverly Hills, and in other neighborhoods became prime venues for everything from small foreign films to major roadshows. It's a huge territory. The Westside Theatres overview page gives you both a list by neighborhood as well as a survey arranged alphabetically. Also see the list of Westside Theatres: by street address and the Westside Theatres: alphabetical list page which includes alternate names.

Westwood and Brentwood

Westwood Village was the third significant theatre district to evolve in Los Angeles, after Downtown and Hollywood. With the construction of the UCLA campus beginning in the late 20s there was a chance to develop a unique shopping and entertainment district for faculty and students. By the 1970's the area had evolved so that Westwood had the largest concentration of first run screens of any neighborhood in Los Angeles. The Westwood and Brentwood Theatres overview page will give you a tour of the area.

Theatres Along the Coast

Santa Monica had a vibrant theatrical life even in the days when it was a small town isolated from the rest of Los Angeles. And that's just the beginning. The Along the Coast section will give you links to discussion of theatres in Ocean Park, Venice, Hermosa Beach, San Pedro, Long Beach and other communities.

[more] L.A. Movie Palaces

This section fills in all the other areas of Los Angeles County. Hundreds of terrific theatres were being built by the studios and independents all over the L.A. area in the 20s and into the 30s. You'll find coverage of theatres north and east of Downtown as well as in Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena, the San Gabriel Valley, Pomona, Whittier, Long Beach and many other far flung locations. Some of those listings have been upgraded and appear on this site, many other links will take you to pages on an older site hosted on Google. The index page has links to all these theatres organized by area.

Searching by theatre name

If you don't find it in the right hand column, head for the Main Alphabetical List, which also includes the various alternate names each venue has used. This list includes those pages recently updated for this site (in bold face) as well as the write ups on an older website. For a narrower focus you'll also find separate lists for Westside and Downtown. As well, there are lists by name on the 10 survey pages for more limited areas like Pasadena, North of Downtown, Long Beach, etc. that are listed on the [more] Los Angeles Movie Palaces page.

Searching by address

If you know an address or street head to either the Main Theatre List by Address, the San Fernando Valley List by Address, the San Gabriel Valley, Pomona and Whittier List by Address or the Long Beach List. If what you're looking for isn't there, you should find a link to take you to a more localized list by address for Downtown, Westside, Hollywood, etc. Also see the survey pages for more limited areas that are listed on the [more] Los Angeles Movie Palaces page.

1927 - Exotic destinations: Grauman's Chinese | Mayan Theatre |

1948 - 1951 - Skouras-ized older theatres: California - Huntington Park | El Portal | Fox Westwood Village | Mesa Theatre |

855 Elm Ave. Long Beach, CA 90813 | map |

Opened: The building was dedicated in September 1926. The c.1927 photo by Winstead is from the Long Beach Public Library collection. See the Long Beach Press-Telegram's September 11 story about the dedication at the bottom of the page.

Architects: Parker O. Wright and Francis H. Gentry of the Long Beach firm Wright and Gentry, "Architects and Engineers." Of course both were 32nd degree Masons. The ornamental terracotta was done by the Los Angeles Pressed Brick Co. The building has been a City of Long Beach landmark since 1980.

There's a ballroom on the ground floor. The theatre, called the Ernest Borgnine Theatre, is on the second and third floors. There are other meeting rooms also available for rent.

Theatre capacity: 800

Online: www.lbscottish-rite.com | photo gallery | on Facebook | Ernest Borgnine Theatre website |

Phone: 562-436-4983

Stage specs:

Proscenium: About 35' wide.

Stage depth: About 30 feet from the smoke pocket to the back wall, plus a thrust with steps across the front down to audience level.

Rigging: About 80 wireguide counterweight sets operated from a low flyfloor off right. Some of the equipment is original, with wood-framed arbors and no rope locks, approximately 5" centers and 1/8" lift lines -- typical of many Masonic installations of this era. Some sets have been upgraded, including the sets for electrics.

Asbestos: Still in place, motorized. The arbor is off left, the motor is on the grid. Of course there's a cut rope on either side of the stage.

House traveler: Motorized for both lift and travel.

Lighting: It's a 5 scene Century system installed in the 60s that uses about 40 6Kw SCR dimmers. The board is off right, the dimmers are in the basement.

Loading: The upstage right door is up in the sky on the back of the building.

Pipe Organ: It's a Reuter 3/17. It's their opus 156, with 17 stops, 24 registers.

A photo of the console appearing on a Pipe Organ Database page about the instrument.

Status: Open and available for rentals of all sorts. One interesting perk is that you can chose from about 70 vintage backdrops for your event, some dating from the 1880s. Among other users, the theatre is a home for the Children's Theatre of Long Beach.

Many thanks to Susan, the theatre's technical director, for enthusiastically providing a tour of all the backstage and support areas of the building.

In the lobby:

The ballroom, with a small stage and a big kitchen, is straight ahead on the main floor. An elevator is through the portal and to the left. The stairs get you to the theatre's main floor. The balcony is on the third floor. Photo: Long Beach Scottish Rite website

Peeking in to the ballroom. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing this 2023 photo and her many others appearing on the page. See 69 images from her explorations of the building on a Facebook post.

The main floor ballroom. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2023

The second floor landing. Photo: Long Beach Scottish Rite website

Ornament in the center of the ceiling. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2023

A railing detail. Photo: Long Beach Scottish Rite website

Auditorium views:

A 40s proscenium view. Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing this photo from their archives. Thanks for sharing this, Ron.

A more recent proscenium shot appearing on the Ernest Borgnine Theatre website.

A balcony soffit fixture. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

Looking toward house right. That's a bit of the fire curtain visible in the proscenium. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

A proscenium detail. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

The organ console over in the house right corner. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

A house left grille view. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

The house left side of the proscenium. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

An early look to the rear of the house by Inman that's in the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. Note the 1926 vintage lighting array on the front of the balcony and the projection ports upstairs, now covered with soundproofing material.

An undated Winstead Brothers photo looking to the back of the house from the Long Beach Public Library collection.

A recent view to the rear from the Long Beach Scottish Rite website.

A lone spectator waiting for the show. Oh, that's Steve Gerdes! Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

A ceiling detail. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

The view from the house mix position. Photo: Mike Hume - July 2023

Thanks to Mike for sharing the many photos of his appearing here. Some of his Scottish Rite shots appeared as a post on the Archiving Technical Theatre History Facebook post. Visit his Historic Theatre Photography site for hundreds of great photos of the theatres he's explored. And don't miss his page about the Scottish Rite.

The ornament above the proscenium. Photo: Long Beach Scottish Rite website

Up the balcony's center aisle. Photo: Long Beach Scottish Rite website

The house left corner. Photo: Long Beach Scottish Rite website

The view from the back row. Photo: Long Beach Scottish Rite website

A booth level view. Photo: Mike Hume - July 2023

Backstage:

Looking into the house. Photo: Mike Hume - July 2023

A closer view down right. Photo: Mike Hume - July 2023

A 20s vintage Brenkert plano, onstage as set dressing for the Children's Theatre of Long Beach production of "Pirates of Penzance." Photo: Mike Hume - July 2023

The flyfloor, off right. Photo: Mike Hume - July 2023

The upstage end of the flyfloor. Photo: Mike Hume - July 2023

Looking across the back wall. Note the fiberglass soundproofing. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

Looking downstage. The electric battens are on the sets against the wall. Photo: Mike Hume - July 2023

Downstage checking out the rigging. Photo: Mike Hume - July 2023

A peek at some of the vintage drops. Photo: Mike Hume - July 2023. He calls our attention to the thunder sheet in the upper left.

A downstage look across. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

To the attic, booth and house left organ chamber:

In the unused projection booth. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

In the low attic at the lobby end of the building. The auditorium is off to the right. The plank walkway takes a turn to the right and heads along the house left side of the auditorium. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

Along the side of the auditorium headed to to the house left organ chamber. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

In the house left organ chamber. Photo: Mike Hume - July 2023

Surplus counterweights in use. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

A look to the rear corner of the chamber. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

The house right chamber isn't accessed through the attic. For that one there's an access hole in the ceiling of the exit corridor that runs along the house right side of the auditorium at balcony level.

Back in the center of the low attic. The doorway leads to the attic above the auditorium. Up at the top is a door out onto the roof. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023

The attic above the auditorium. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - July 2023. Thanks, Michelle!

Vintage backdrops: Many of the 70 or so drops in the theatre's collection pre-date the building as they were acquired from older facilities. All of the photos in this section come from the Ernest Borgnine Theatre website.

More exterior views:

1934 - Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing this photo from their archives.

c.1934 - Ornament over the entrance arch. Photo: Ronald W. Mahan Collection.

c.1935 - A postcard that popped up on eBay.

1940s - A card available from the site HipPostcard.

c.2020 - The ornament above the front doors. Photo: Long Beach Scottish Rite website

c.2020 - The top of the stagehouse. Photo: Long Beach Scottish Rite website

2022 - A view from Google Maps. On the right we're looking west toward Long Beach Blvd.

2023 - The bronze plaque next to the entrance. Photo: Michelle Gerdes

2023 - The ornament at the top of the facade. We're looking north. Photo: Mike Hume

2023 - Theatre explorers at work: Steve and Michelle Gerdes, Ron Mahan, Bill Counter. Photo: Mike Hume

2023 - The view southeast across the corner of the Elm Ave. parapet. Photo: Michelle Gerdes

2023 - South toward downtown. Photo: Michelle Gerdes

2023 - Looking west toward the stagehouse. Photo: Michelle Gerdes

2023 - Along the south side of the stagehouse looking toward the back of the building. Photo: Mike Hume. Thanks! Visit Mike's Historic Theatre Photography site for hundreds of great photos of the theatres he's explored. And don't miss his page about the Scottish Rite.

2023 - The view to the southwest. Photo: Michelle Gerde. Thanks for the photos, Michelle! See 69 images from her explorations of the building on a Facebook post.

The Long Beach Press-Telegram's September 11, 1926 story about the dedication:

Thanks to Mike Hume for locating the story and Ron Mahan for going on the search for a version that was actually readable.

More information: The Arts Council of Long Beach has a page but there's not much on it. There's an article about the building on Wikipedia. Of course Yelp has a page.

Los Angeles Theatres

Navigating Your Tour of Historic Los Angeles Theatres

Scottish Rite / Ernest Borgnine Theatre