Opened:
It opened as the Santa Monica Opera House on December 12, 1911. It was
initially used for legitimate theatre and silent films. It soon became
known as the Majestic Theatre. J. Euclid Miles, a prominent
real estate man in Santa Monica, was one of the backers of the theatre.
Charles Tegner, a founding father of Santa Monica was also involved.
The photo is a view from UCLA's L.A. Times Photographs Collection. There's also a version on the Santa Monica Public Library website. The theatre, on the right, here still has its original facade. They're running "The Lotus Eater," a November 1921 release with John Barrymore and Colleen Moore. The initial street address was on Oregon St., later renamed Santa Monica Blvd.
Architect: Henry C. Hollwedel. The Santa Monica History Museum, in a post on the SMHM Facebook page, notes that Hollwedel's office was on the second floor and that he also designed the Santa Monica Bay Womens Club near 4th and Wilshire and Henshey's Department Store at 4th and Oregon, another property owned by Mr. Tegner.
Seating: Initial capacity is unknown. Later it was down to 602 seats, with a balcony.
In the early 20s the operators were A.J. Fyhn and a Mr. Armour of the Fyhn and Armour Theater
Company. At the time they also had the Crown/Sawtelle Theatre, a venue they replaced in 1924 with the Tivoli, now called the Royal.
The Majestic got a revamped facade in 1928 reflecting the new craze for Spanish
revival buildings in southern California. As a movie theatre, the
Majestic was architecturally stunning but didn't have the class of the
larger theatres such as the Elmiro or the Criterion.
A June 2, 1929 photo spread in the Santa Monica Evening Outlook featuring the area's most prominent men in the amusement business. At the time Robert Armour was managing the Majestic. He's in the bottom row, the second in from the right. Thanks to Samuel Dórame for finding
the article. For fine research relating to the Sawtelle area visit his blog Sawtelle 1897-1941.
A November 1972 ad in the Times. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating these.
It closed as a movie theatre in July 1973 and later that year became the Mayfair Music Hall under the direction of Milt Larsen, of Magic Castle and Variety Arts Center
fame. It was a showcase for comedy acts and variety presentations and
revues. Larsen used some decorations from the closed Fox Belmont Theatre
to enhance the look of the Mayfair. Some of the inside paneling was
doors salvaged from other buildings.
At the time, it was reported to be
the oldest legit theatre still operating in the Los Angeles area. Larsen
gave up the theatre in 1985 and it was then operated by a succession of
other promoters. Second City performed at the theatre for about two years with their first show on April 16, 1990. Richard Long notes that at this time the venue was called the Second City Comedy Club. Comedy Central also did shows originating at the Mayfair.
Status:
It suffered damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and closed at that time. It then sat vacant. In 2010 the building was demolished with only
the facade remaining.
The new structure rising behind the
20s facade is retail on the ground floor, parking below and 34
apartments above. Karl Schober has owned the building for many years and
has spent a number of them trying to negotiate a design that would be
approved by city hall. Schober is the grandson of Charles Tegner, one of the original owners. He
purchased the shares of the other inheritors in 1986.
More exterior views:
1911 - A drawing of the facade of the Santa Monica Opera House. It's in the Santa Monica Public Library collection.
1920s - Another early postcard from a bit farther west. The Majestic is over on the right, just beyond the big vertical for Fred's Peerless Cafe. It's a card from the Bill Counter collection.
1929 - A view from the Look Out News. Note the new Spanish Revival facade. The photo appears with the April 2007 article "Strolling Through Downtown's Past." The theatre was running "Sacred Flame" with Pauline Frederick and Conrad Nagel. Also see the March 2008 story "Rebirth of a Landmark."
1946 - A photo by L.G. Allen. Thanks to Ben Golomb for sharing it on the "You Know You're From Santa Monica If..." Facebook page. They were running Edwin L. Marin's August release "Mr. Ace" with George Raft and Sylvia Sidney. The co-feature was Douglas Sirk's "A Scandal in Paris" starring George Sanders, Signe Hasso and Carole Landis.
1977 - A photo in the collection of the Santa Monica History Museum. It also made an appearance on the SMHM Facebook page in a 2021 post and in a 2023 post.
1979 - "The West End Revue." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this one for a post on the Facebook page Photos of Los Angeles.
2013 - During construction: the restored facade with the new building behind. Photo: Bill Counter
2016 - Just the facade is left -- behind it's all new condos and retail. Well, at least they put up a marquee and a vertical sign for the main floor retail tenant, Shoe Palace. Photo: Bill Counter
The Majestic / Mayfair in the Movies:
Reginald LeBorg's "Models, Inc." (Universal-International, 1952) did a lot of filming in Santa Monica and included one quick shot of the Majestic. The film, starring Howard Duff and Colleen Gray, is a "startling expose" of a racket in which of models marry for money. Thanks to Mike Hume for the screenshot. His report: "Sadly there's nothing more than this to be seen of the Majestic. It's a background shot 66 minutes in as our heroine Rusty Faraday, played by Coleen Gray, anxiously looks out for the car which is picking her up from outside Bank of America, from where she's just withdrawn a large amount of cash as part of a money racket. That's it!"
Elvis and his band mates are hauling a boat around downtown Ft. Lauderdale during Spring Break and somehow go west on Santa Monica Blvd. so we get a view of the Majestic in "Girl Happy" (MGM, 1965). In the boat is Shelley Fabares, the daughter of a mob boss they're working for, and she needs to be back at her motel before daddy calls to check in. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for two views of the Criterion seen during the drive around town.
The Mayfair appears in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" (20th Century Fox, 1974). We get a look at the back of the house prior to Irving Berlin's song "Puttin' on the Ritz."
A view of the stage area during the theatre scene with Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle in "Young Frankenstein."
Back in the corner filming a conversation with Oja Kadar in "Someone To Love." See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for fifteen more shots of the theatre from the film.
The Mayfair on TV: The theatre appears in the 1974 pilot for "The Rockford Files." Trav S.D. tells all about it in "Vaudeville in 'The Rockford Files' Pilot?!," a 2017 post on his blog Travelanche. James Garner goes into the Mayfair in several scenes and
in the background we see variety acts on stage including a dog act, a
wire walker and chorus girls. Trav also discusses some of the performers that appeared there during Milt Larsen's tenure. Thanks to Robert Nedelkoff for spotting the story.
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Mayfair for lots of fond recollections and links to many more exterior photos. See the Santa Monica Landmark Properties Mayfair Theatre page for more history of the building.
Cinema Treasures researcher Jeff Bridges (aka Vokoban) has discovered some interesting facts about the theatre. They're on his Majestic / Mayfair Theater Flickr page. His photo set has shots taken in January 2010 during the demolition.
The blog Doves 2 Day offers many interesting snippets of Santa Monica history in the blog post "Searching for ABW - Santa Monica" from March 2009. Wikipedia has a short article on the Mayfair Music Hall.
If you're looking for information on an earlier Santa Monica Opera House, see the page for Steere Opera House.
"...Some forever, not for better."
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