700 W. 32nd St. / 665 W. Jefferson Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007 | map |
The Shrine Auditorium pages: history | exterior views | lobby areas | auditorium | backstage | expo hall + support areas |
The Expo Hall is on the north side of the Auditorium portion of the complex with doors connecting the Hall with the Auditorium's stage. One can enter the south end of the space via Royal St. or from doors on the house left end of the Auditorium's lobby. The main entrance is on 32nd between Figueroa and Royal.
The Max Reinhardt production of "The Miracle" played the Expo Hall beginning January 31, 1927. The only other Pacific Coast engagement was at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.
Vintage Expo Hall views:
This c.1926 photo by Mott Studios appears with the article "Unusual Engineering Features of the Al Malaikah Temple, Los Angeles" by R. McC. Beanfield, structural engineer for the project. The article, from The American Architect, is on Internet Archive. Thanks to Mike Hume for going on the search to find it.
The caption: "The roof over the Banquet Hall is supported by reinforced concrete arches of 90 ft. clear span. Bending stresses in columns are reduced by the cantilevered balcony. Decorations are painted on concrete."
A c.1930 auto show. The photo was shared as a post by the Los Angeles Auto Show Facebook page.
A 1934 view, with the hall evidently being used for scenery storage. The open doorway leads directly onto the stage of the Auditorium. It's a photo from Los Angeles Public Library Herald Examiner collection.
Recent Expo Hall views:
The west entry area leading into the Expo Hall. Photo: Mike Hume - 2018. Visit his Historic Theatre Photography
site for hundreds of terrific photos of the theatres he's explored in
the Los Angeles area and elsewhere. And don't miss his page on the Shrine Auditorium.
Looking south from the west entry area of the Expo Hall into the main floor lobby of the Shrine Auditorium. The stairs through the right doorway go to the basement level for restrooms. Thanks to Claudia Mullins for sharing her 2022 photo. For a fine time browse the 32 photos in her Open House at 1926 Shrine Auditorium album on Facebook.
Another west entry view. Photo: Shrine Auditorium website. It's in the photo gallery section of their history page where you'll get a fine tour of the building.
A look in from the southwest corner of the empty hall. At the far end there's a ticket lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
Another look north toward the lobby end of the building. Yes, that's a carousel down at the end. It was a setup for a Shrine Circus engagement. The main performance was in the Auditorium. Photo: Floyd Bariscale - Flickr - 2008
Fun little Moorish boxoffices in the ticket lobby on 32nd St. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing this shot and her others appearing here. Check out
her Shrine Auditorium 3.5.2022, a lovely set on Facebook that features 49 photos she took at the March 2022 open house.
The windows over the 32nd St. entrance. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2022
The doors into the hall from the 32nd St. ticket lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2020
Another view north to 32nd. St. Photo: Mike Hume - 2018
Turning around 180 degrees, it's a view through onto the Shrine Auditorium stage. Photo: Mike Hume - 2018
On the landing up to the balcony. Photo: Mike Hume - 2018
The balcony on the south end of the hall. Photo: Mike Hume - 2018
Power off in a nook in the southeast corner. Photo: Mike Hume - 2018
Along the west side of the hall at balcony level. Photo: Mike Hume - 2018
Looking north toward the 32nd St. entrance doors. Photo: Mike Hume - 2018
The north end of the balcony. Photo: Floyd Bariscale - Flickr - 2008
A concrete beam detail. Photo: Mike Hume - 2018
More stencil work and a balcony rail grille. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2022
On the balcony above the north entrance doors. The stage of the auditorium is behind the wall at the far end. Photo: Shrine Auditorium website.
Another look toward the south end of the hall. Thanks to Floyd Bariscale for his photos. They're included in his 46 photo Shrine Auditorium set on Flickr. And don't miss the fine article about the Shrine Auditorium on his blog Big Orange Landmarks.
Expo Hall basement support areas:
Another look toward the south end of the hall. Thanks to Floyd Bariscale for his photos. They're included in his 46 photo Shrine Auditorium set on Flickr. And don't miss the fine article about the Shrine Auditorium on his blog Big Orange Landmarks.
Expo Hall basement support areas:
The Expo Hall service switchboard. Photo: Dave Bullock - 2007. See the great set of 29 photos of the building on his website eecue.
The boiler room. Photo: Dave Bullock - eecue - 2007
A peek inside one of the boilers. Photo: Dave Bullock - eecue - 2007
A chiller. Photo: Dave Bullock - eecue - 2007
Basement storage under the Expo Hall. Photo: Dave Bullock - eecue - 2007
Another supply fan. Bill Counter - 2020 
Auditorium basement mechanical areas stage left:
The theatre's service switchboard. We're on the south side of the basement about even with the proscenium wall. The four main ITE breakers along the top of the board are for the three-phase power service (at the far end) and three single-phase lighting services. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
The
left end of the board. We're looking south. On the left it's the door to the DWP transformer
vault. Straight ahead is a sump with access doors above that are in the
Jefferson Blvd. sidewalk. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022
The three-phase breaker on the far left end of the board. It's set for about 1200 amps. The 3-phase service is 480 volts. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022
A closer look at the left end of the board. The switches below that 3-phase breaker are for distribution panels and individual motor loads. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2022
Looking north along the board. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2022
The main breaker for the A-phase lighting loads. The lighting service breakers are set for about 2400 amps.
Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2022
The switch for the feed for the house light section of the stage dimmerboard, located in the A-phase section of the board. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2022
The C-phase lighting service breaker on the right end of
the board. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022
A wider view looking north. The door leads to a corridor. Take a left and you're wandering through various mechanical rooms heading toward the lobby end of the building. Take a right to go under the stage. If you take a right before the door you'd be looking at the emergency generator and heading to the prop room upstage left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022
The emergency generator. We're looking east. Through that door it's a prop room in the far upstage left corner of the basement. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
The organ blower. We're in the room just west of the electrical room. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
Another look at the organ blower. Bill Counter - 2020
One of the supply fans. Bill Counter - 2020
Another look at the organ blower. Bill Counter - 2020
One of the supply fans. Bill Counter - 2020
A closer look into one of the fans. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2022
Another supply fan. Bill Counter - 2020
Part of the pneumatic Johnson temperature control system. Photo: Michelle Gerdes. Thanks! Check out
her Shrine Auditorium 3.5.2022 set on Facebook for 49 photos taken at the March 2022 open house.
The mechanical areas stretch along the south side of the building. Here we're looking back toward the stage end of the building. The plenum under the seating area is off to the left. A bit behind us and off to the left is a short corridor leading to the house right end of the basement level lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2020
The Expo Hall in the Movies:
We're in the Expo Hall for the 1912 Democratic convention in
Henry King's film
"Wilson" (20th Century Fox, 1944). The
film stars Alexander Knox, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas
Mitchell, Ruth Nelson, Mary Anderson, Ruth Ford, Madeleine Forbes,
Charles Coburn, Vincent Price, Eddie Foy Jr. and Cedric Hardwicke. The
cinematography was by Leon Shamroy and an uncredited Ernest
Palmer. Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for identifying this venue as well as the
Biltmore Theatre, seen earlier. He's also responsible for the
twenty-nine screenshots of the two venues appearing on our Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies
post.
We're
in New York at a rally to raise funds for the defense of a kid
wrongly accused of murder in the Mark Robson Film "Trial" (MGM, 1955).
They used the Expo Hall but augmented it a bit to
appear like it's a much larger three-balcony venue. The story is a
chaotic mix involving a murder trial, the KKK, a thwarted lynching,
Communist front
organizations, and an unscrupulous lawyer. It stars Glenn Ford, Dorothy
McGuire and Arthur Kennedy. The cinematography was by Robert Surtees.
See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for three more shots from the scene at the Expo Hall.
The
scenes in the main hall at the 1924 Democratic National
Convention for the end of
"Sunrise at Campobello" (Warner Bros., 1960) were shot in the Expo Hall. The actual convention was in New York at Madison Square
Garden. The film, directed by Vincent J. Donehue, stars Ralph Bellamy as
FDR,
Greer Garson as Eleanor, and Hume Cronyn as Louis Howe. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for three more shots from the scene.
The Shrine Auditorium pages: history | exterior views | lobby areas | auditorium | backstage | back to top - expo hall + support areas |
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