Los Angeles Theatres: El Capitan Theatre: the ticket lobby

The boxoffice windows in 1926. The posters on the left were advertising "Castles in the Air," a show that opened November 2. The Mott Studios photo is in the the California State Library collection, included in a set of 14 exterior and ticket lobby views. It also appeared in a ten page article by G. Albert Lansburgh in the February 1927 issue of Architect and Engineer, available on Internet Archive. The Los Angeles Public Library also has a version of the photo.

Lansburgh did the theatre design with Morgan, Walls & Clements doing the ticket lobby space and the adjoining department store building. The two firms would work together again several years later on the Wiltern. In the Architect and Engineer article Lansburgh praised the ticket lobby design as "most attractive." Unlike his "East Indian" theatre interior, the building facade is Spanish and, as Lansburgh noted, reflects the "clever imaginative mind" of its design team at Morgan, Walls and Clements.

The island boxoffice didn't arrive until 1942. It went away in 1964 and returned in a Disney version in 1991.

A ticket lobby elevation from the plans in the Morgan, Walls & Clements Archive at the Huntington Library. On the left it's the west wall with the ticket windows. On the right it's the east wall with display cases. This detail as well as the two below are from their drawing #4179.

The Huntington has seven sheets of the plans for this project in their collection. Start with drawing #4177 and you can page forward to the end of the batch, drawing #4183. Thanks to Mike Hume for locating these. Visit the Index to the MW&C Theatre Drawings that he compiled for his Historic Theatre Photography site. There's also a 22 page overall index by Mike Callahan on Internet Archive.

Another split elevation. On the left we're looking toward the entrance doors. On the right it's a half view toward Hollywood Blvd. Note the collapsible gate designed to close the space off at the sidewalk line.

The ticket lobby ceiling. The pattern seen in the lower right is the floor tile in the space.

A closer look at the ticket windows. It's a detail from the Mott photo that's at the top of the page.

The ornament below the outer window. It's another detail from the Mott photo.

A glorious 1926 view of the ticket windows and the marquee soffit -- the front part later got chopped off for new marquee treatments. It's another Mott Studios photo in the California State Library set of exterior views.

A November 1929 ticket window view from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. Thanks, Ron!

A list of ticket prices posted near a boxoffice window in the 30s. Note the National Recovery Administration logo on the right. The photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

A display above the entrance doors for the 1941 engagement of "Citizen Kane." Thanks to the Ronald W. Mahan Collection for sharing this photo. See the early street views page for several other photos taken during the run of the film. Bruce Kimmel notes that the film's west coast premiere here was May 8.

The ticket lobby and its new island boxoffice in 1942 after the remodel that turned it into the Paramount. It's a detail from a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

Big changes again in 1964. The remodel done by Statewide Theatres was profiled in a Boxoffice article on February 18, 1965 headlined "Dramatic Effects in Remodeled Theatre." The island boxoffice is gone and a new one was built over to the side. The display cases and marquee were also redone. And disco balls!

Regarding the disco balls, Boxoffice noted they are: "six two-foot and three-foot diameter spheres which revolve, picking up surrounding light and reflecting it to the constantly busy, moving traffic on the boulevard." | article page 1 | page 2 | page 3 |

A Boxoffice magazine photo of the new display case on the east side of the ticket lobby. They say: "Extraordinary is the word for the front lobby display cases in the Hollywood Paramount. This one, on the side opposite the boxoffice, is 27 feet wide by nine feet high, and the back wall is recessed 16 inches from the seven sliding glass panel doors which enables three dimensional displays to be installed."

Another photo from the 1965 Boxoffice article about that remodel. They commented that the boxoffice is "Perhaps one of the most elegant boxoffices in the world..." It had two motor-driven revolving chandeliers that reflected in mirrors nearby. And red telephones to match the color of the boxoffice ceiling.

A 1989 photo from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. Thanks, Ron!

A c.1990 photo of the west side of the ticket lobby after removal of materials from various remodelings. Note one of the original boxoffice windows on the right. Thanks to Mike Hume for spotting the photo on a page about the restoration project from California Restoration & Waterproofing. They comment:

"The exterior lobby walls complete with wonderful gargoyles and fenestrated relief work had been covered with travertine panels as part of a previous modernization. Many holes had been cut through the walls for utilities or doorways resulting in damage to the bas-relief. Solution: Remove the travertine and the mortar. Clean and repair existing details. Create and cast new elements (roundels, shields, etc.) for use where the damage to the walls was more than could be sculpted back into place (i.e. where doors had been cut through the walls). These pieces were fitted in the field, cemented into place and then further reinforced using ¼-inch thick wire ties. Details at damaged gargoyles were successfully re-sculpted.

"The exterior lobby ceiling with its colorful and dramatic stencil art had, likewise, been damaged for the sake of changing tastes and modernization. The ceiling had suffered holes being punched through it to allow tie wires to penetrate for the support of a dropped ceiling. Solution: Carefully repair the holes in the ceiling before the ceiling was cleaned and the artwork was restored. All surfaces were colorized with the intent of using techniques and finishes that were as true to the original as possible (i.e. stencil art, silver foils with orange shellac, gold leaf, etc)."

The Pomona-based firm Restoration Studio did all sorts of reconstruction work during the 1989-1991 restoration. Here Juan Sequeira is creating molds for reconstruction of missing exterior cast-stone details. The photo appeared on the firm's Facebook page.

Sequeira and his staff working on restoring the decorative details on the ticket lobby ceiling. The photo initially appeared on the Restoration Studio Facebook page. Juan Sequeira and J. Ronald Reed got a National Trust award for their work.

The magical resurrection of the ticket lobby has been on display since the Disney restoration in 1989-1991. Photo: Bill Counter - 2007

A view of one of the faces on the of the entrance arch with the ceiling of the ticket lobby beyond. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

A look into the ticket lobby. Photo: Cap Equity Locations - 2010

Cap Equity Locations brokers deals between property owners and companies looking for locations for filming or special events. See their page on the El Capitan Theatre for 213 fine photos of all areas of the building.

Another detail of a bit of the ornate cast stone work above the boxoffice. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

Some of the cast stone work at the west side of the entrance. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

The ticket lobby ceiling. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

The center medallion of the ticket lobby's ceiling. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

Several of the entrance doors. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

Looking west behind the boxoffice. Photo: Cap Equity Locations - 2010. Thanks to Rebecca at Cap Equity for all her photos!

A shot of the head on the east wall as well as other ornament. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for this November 2022 photo, one of ten she took at the LAHTF "All-About" tour of the theatre that are on a Facebook post.

The two cartouches on the south wall above the entrance doors. Note that only the right one is plastered over. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

A closer look at the left cartouche. It used to be an observation window from the office area above. Thanks to LAHTF docent Paul Tolbert for the intel about the peephole. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

The ticket lobby ceiling got more restoration work in 2019 with the project overseen by Building Conservation Associates and executed by Evergreene Architectural Arts. See a report on the work from Mike Hume of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation.

The El Capitan pages: El Capitan overview | street views 1925 to 1954 | street views 1955 to present | back to top - ticket lobby | lobbies and lounges | auditorium | backstage |

El Capitan Theatre: the ticket lobby

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