Los Angeles Theatres: Turnabout / Court Theatre

716 N. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90069 | map |

Opened: The Turnabout Theatre opened in 1941. The building is on the west side of the street between Melrose Ave. and Santa Monica Blvd. This 1942 photo looking in toward the courtyard and the theatre entrance is from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

The first half of a show was an adult marionette comic drama, usually revolving around themes of current interest. The seats flipped around for the second half facing the other end of the room where there was a stage for a musical revue. Performers of note included the Yale Puppeteers, Harry Burnett, Forman Brown, Richard Brandon and Elsa Lanchester. Previously Burnett and Brown had set up shop in the 30s on Olvera St. at the 80 seat Teatro Torito.

A look at a model of the Turnabout that was constructed around 1950 by Charles Taylor that's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The image is one appearing on "The Turnabout Theatre," Part 4 of the Library's web pages devoted to the theatre and the Yale Puppeteers.

Seating: 180. The seats were reupholstered Red Car seats that could be flipped to face either direction. They were all given dual names like "Salt & Pepper, "Sugar & Spice," "Man & Woman."

A look at the seating chart -- with the humorous names of the seats. Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for locating this for a post on Flickr.

An invitation for the July 10, 1941 opening. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a thread about the theatre on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

An early Turnabout advertising piece from the collection of Hollywood Heritage.

A 1941 newspaper article about the theatre that was located by Ken McIntyre for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

An item appearing on the Elsa Lanchester Fans page on Facebook. They comment that her two-week guest star gig lasted a decade. Thanks to Claudia Mullins for spotting the post.

A 1942 ad. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for locating it.

A program cover of unknown date located by Ken McIntyre.

"The only theatre of its kind in the world." Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler on Flickr for this 1944 Playgoer magazine ad for the theatre.

A column of 1945 L.A. Times ads that included the Turnabout. It was a post from from Kliph Nesteroff on the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles.

Lotte Goslar was part of the show in 1949. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo.

The cover of a c.1951 program reproduced on the site Worthpoint.

A fine illustration of the double ended action at the Turnabout. Again thanks to Eric Lynxwiler. He shared this this image on Flickr. It's one of many treasures in his Paper Ephemera album. And don't miss his equally wonderful 400+ item Los Angeles Theatres set.

A new revue in 1955: "Tom and Jerry" and "About Face." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the news item.

Closing as the Turnabout: It closed in 1956.

A March 7, 1956 story about the closing that appeared in the Valley Times. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for his thread about the theatre on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

In March the operation moved to California Hall on Polk St. in San Francisco. Later they were in what had been the Native Sons Hall, the downstairs space in the Stage Door Theatre building on Mason St. in San Francisco. After that there was a Turnabout engagement in Balboa Park in San Diego.

This building was later in use as the Court Theatre, with a 722 address. The site About the Artists lists a number of productions at the Court from 1989 until 2002. That site lists the seating capacity as 90.

Linda Starr, in a post on the Los Angeles Theatres Facebook page, notes that it in 2002 the Court got good reviews for a production of "J For J" with performers named John Ritter, Jeff Kober and Jenny Sullivan as the three Js. It was a moveover from the Laurel Theatre and ran at the Court from March 14 until April 21. See a page about the production on the site Playbill. Joseph Fuqua directed.

Theatre Mania lists productions as late as 2005.

Status: The 1941 vintage building is still there, although now with non-theatrical tenants.

Interior views:

On the live stage looking toward the puppet stage at the opposite end of the room. Yes, those are fake spectators in the dummy box on the right. It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

A 1955 view from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. That's co-founder Harry Burnett on stage.

Flipping the seats around at intermission. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for spotting the photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

Another look at the seats. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this 1942 shot.

More exterior views:

c.1942 - A photo of the courtyard and entrance from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Also see a similar view but in color.

1956 - A courtyard view during packing for the move to San Francisco. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1956 - "Tommy Turnabout's Circus" and an upcoming move to San Francisco. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Also see a closer view of the "Moving To San Francisco March 31st" banner.

2021 - The building survives. Photo: Google Maps

More Information: The Turnabout Theatre Archive is included in the collections of the Los Angeles Public Library. You can search the archive or, for an overview, take the abbreviated virtual tour. They have over 1,200 images in the collection.

Also see "Life on a String," the pages about the history of the Turnabout and the Yale Puppeteers appearing on the Library's website that were created in conjunction with a 2021 exhibit. Brody Levesque had a nice post about the exhibit on the site Los Angeles Blade.

1 comment:

Jeanne Rathbone aka Sheela-na-GigSeptember 5, 2020 at 1:12 PM
Thank you for the post and photos of the Turnabout Theatre. I am doing a talk on Elsa Lanchester in Battersea where she was raised. It will be followed by a screening of Bride of Frankenstein for Halloween. Elsa still resonates as a cult siren, singer of bawdy cockney songs and cabaret performed, as character actor on stage screen and TV and in challenging heteronormativity for her marriage to Charles Laughton who was gay and her wonderful years with the Yale Puppeteers whose decades long ménage a trois is inspiring.