Los Angeles Theatres: Warner Grand San Pedro: stage + basement

Looking toward stage right. Yes, it really is a shallow stage. Like other Warner theatres of this vintage, it was built with a stage but never fully equipped. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014

Proscenium width: 50'

Proscenium height: 32'

Stage depth: 20' 8" from the upstage edge of the smoke pocket to the face of the backwall columns.

Apron depth: 10' at the center with the pit cover in place. The total usable stage depth is 30' 8" if one doesn't need the pit.

Stage wall to wall: 80'

Grid height: 65'

Rigging: The earlier wireguide and hemp system was replaced with a new counterweight system in 2007. There are 16 linesets. The system is operated at stage level stage right. Some sets are 1,000 pound capacity, some 1,900. There's provision to add more sets on the T-wall, up to a total of 25. The asbestos also operates from the lockrail.

Lighting: The theatre got an upgrade in 2019 by contractor Kinetic Lighting that featured a conversion to all-LED fixtures including Elation Artiste DaVinci compact LED moving instruments, ETC Lustr 2 Source 4 ellipsoidals, Chroma-Q Color Force II 72s and Martin Rush Par 2 Zooms.

Power: 1 - 600A 3 phase, 1 - 400A 3 phase, 1 - 200A 3 phase. All are located downstage right.

F.O.H. circuits: Patchable DSR

Dimmers: 72 2.4Kw Strand CD80.

Lighting Console: ETC Ion Xe 20, new in 2019

Followspots: Chauvet Ovation SP-300CW LED units, new in 2019.

Booth to proscenium: 122'

Balcony rail to proscenium: 61'

Screen size: 21' x 48'

Sound console: 96-channel DiGiCo, new in 2019.

Speakers: 2 VUE Audiotechnik al-8 line arrays, installed in 2020 by Bell Event Services. The system includes as-418 subs and hm-112 stage monitors.

House mix position: Main floor house left, 2/3 of the way back

Loading: On 6th St. east of the storefronts.

Dressing rooms: All the dressing rooms are in the basement.

Pipe organ: Chambers were included in the design but the house never got an organ installation as the theatre came along too late.

More information: The theatre's technical director is Mark King, Sr. Victor Prudeaux is master electrician. See the articles on the Grand Vision Foundation website about the 2019 lighting system revamp and the sound system upgrade done in 2019 and 2020. There's also a 2008 tech PDF from the site.

A main floor plan showing the stage layout. The dimmerboard shown stage right is no longer there. Also see a section view. Thanks to Mike Hume for finding the plans.

Another look across to the right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014

The switchboard nook offstage right. The original dimmerboard is now in storage in the basement. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013

The view upstage right across the rigging. The 2007 counterweight system installation by Tru-Roll replaced the inadequate gear originally installed. By the time the theatre opened Warner Bros. knew the stage wasn't going to get any serious use. The new installation includes a caged ladder to the grid and a loading bridge. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013

A view from upstage right. Thanks to Dave Newey for his photo, one that appeared in a set of nine on the LAHTF Facebook page. Dave took his shots at an August 2013 open house at the theatre.

A look into the house from from off right. That's the edge of the screen frame we see on the left -- it was a movie night. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013

A look across toward the open loading doors onto 6th St. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - 2014. Thanks, Hunter! Keep up with his recent explorations: on Facebook | hunterkerhart.com | on Flickr

Off to stage left with an emptier stage. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014

A view from the house. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014

A photo by Taso Papadakis taken for the Warner that appears on the cover of the January 2021 issue of "San Pedro Today," an issue dedicated to celebrating the Warner's 90th birthday. It's on the site Issuu. Thanks to Mike Hume for spotting the coverage.

In the basement:

The upstage right stairs down to the basement dressing rooms. Thanks to Sandi Hemmerlein for her photo. Don't miss her two 2013 Avoiding Regret photo essays on the Warner. You'll find more photos, a history of the building, and lots of information about her exploration of the theatre. There's one on the public spaces, "Open to the Public," and one on the non-public areas, "Behind Closed Doors." Thanks, Sandi!

A basement plan. Thanks to Mike Hume for including the plans on the Warner Grand page of his Historic Theatre Photography site.

The basement dressing room corridor. Here we're at the bottom of the stage right stairs looking toward stage left. Halfway down you can take a right and go into the orchestra pit. Go all the way and take a right to check out the mechanical room.

Behind us is an exit to outside the north side of the building. Also on this side, under the front of the auditorium, is the main electric room. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013