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The Palace Theatre pages: history | vintage exterior views | recent exterior views | ticket lobby | lobbies and lounges | vintage auditorium views | recent auditorium views | booth | backstage | basement support areas | office building |
A look down from stage right. It was a movie day, part of the L.A. Conservancy's June 2024 "Last Remaining Seats" series. Photo: Bill Counter
A stage plan from the September 1911 issue of Architect and Engineer. Thanks to Mike Hume for locating it on Internet Archive. The staircase we see in the upper right is the bottom of an exit from the 2nd balcony. Also see the full main floor plan.
On the left note that there was a stage entrance at the end of that exit
passage. This was later redone with a 10' corridor through the
stagehouse to allow exits to the alley behind the theatre, instead of to Broadway. The stage got new stairs to the basement and stage right's upper levels as well as a new stage door.
A recent stage plan showing the revised layout off right. It's from the Palace's 15 page tech packet PDF. See their website: thedowntownpalace.com. There's a venue specs page as well as a nicely done venue comparison page which includes the Los Angeles theatre.
A 1911 2nd floor plan with a couple dressing rooms offstage right. Note the false proscenium. Off left are the
stairs to the alley from the front of the 2nd balcony. It's a detail from a plan included in five pages of plans and photos in the February 4, 1914 issue of The American Architect. It's on Internet Archive. Thanks to Paul R. Spitzzeri for locating it for "'A Crown Jewel Ablaze...,"
his 2022 article about the theatre for the Homestead Museum. And thanks to Jason Vega for spotting Paul's article. Also see the full 2nd floor/1st balcony plan.
A 1911 3rd floor plan from The American Architect. Note more dressing rooms off right and five electric pipes indicated. Ladders to the grid are on the back wall from both flyfloors. Also see the full 3rd floor/2nd balcony plan.
Proscenium width: 40'
Proscenium height: 35' at center
Stage depth: 31'6" from smoke pocket to back wall
Stage wall to wall: 86'
Loading: Upstage left into the alley. There's also a loading door in the back wall upstage right plus a now-unused stage door.
Wingspace SL: 31' from proscenium to side wall
Wingspace SR: 15' from proscenium to side wall
Orchestra pit: floored over
Rigging: It's a hemp house with a few wire guide sets for
electrics, screen, etc. Many other items are currently just deadhung to
the grid with aircraft cable. The original hemp sets were 3 line sets.
There are flyfloors at +24' on both sides of the stage -- the main
flyfloor is stage right.
Grid height: 68'. It's a steel grid.
Traps: One downstage center and one 6' x 5' stage left.
Dressing rooms: 10 in the basement, 2 on second level up SR, 3 on 3rd level SR
Basement access: Stairs downstage right. There's currently no access to the basement from stage left.
Stage access from the auditorium: Both stage left and stage right.
Wardrobe, catering: The trap room is usable for a variety of functions.
House light control: DSR or in the booth -- a bank of SCR dimmers is in the basement.
Road power: 600A single phase 120/240 DSR. 240V three phase delta is available by cabling from other basement locations.
Projection: Screen width is about 36'. The booth has two Simplex XLs with Simplex 5 Star soundheads + Dolby Digital heads. Lamps are ORC model #4000.
The Palace, called the Orpheum at the time, got covered in "Vaudeville Trails Thru the West,"
also known as Herbert Lloyd's Vaudeville Guide. This data is on page
115 of the 1919 edition. Thanks to Mike Hume for finding it on Internet
Archive.
Heading to stage left:
A nice peek backstage c.2010. Note in this shot that the four borderlights were still intact and that there's the bottom of the asbestos in view. It's a photo by Martin, a photographer from Stuttgart Germany who curated the now-vanished site You-Are-Here.
Following the side aisle onto the stage. There's a similar door on the other side of the house. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - 2014
Downstage left with a look back into the house. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
A wider view down left. On the left it's an original trap used for getting trunks into the basement. The area with the cones is the repurposed sidewalk elevator installed by Metropolitan Theatres when they were using the basement as a projector repair shop. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
A look across. Thanks to Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation board president Mike Hume for sharing this 2017 photo. Visit the Palace Theatre page on his Historic Theatre Photography site for more of his great work. The occasion was a tour that was part of a League of Historic American Theatres convention. The LAHTF advocates for the preservation of the area's historic theatres and frequently offers tours and special events.
A c.2009 view across. This Gary Leonard photo is one of many great views from different photographers on the Palace
Theatre website. See the gallery page to start your tour. This shot appears in the stage album.
The house from stage left. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for sharing the
photo by August Bradley. It's in the theatre's stage album.
The proscenium striplight stage left. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography - 2018
Another look across. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography - 2017
Upstage left. That
diagonal line is the exit stair from the front of the 2nd balcony. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
A view from up left with the stage set for the June 2024 L.A. Conservancy "Last Remaining Seats" film screenings of "From Russia With Love" and "Mi Vida Loca." The latter had a Dolby mix. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography
The loading door and the stage left flyfloor. Photo: Bill Counter
- 2010
The trap downstage center. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography - 2017
The setup for an LAHTF sponsored screening of "Die Hard" in 2018. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography
Off stage right:
Off right looking toward the dressing rooms. It's a prop room behind the fire door on the right. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - 2014. Keep up with Hunter's latest explorations: HunterKerhart.com | on Flickr
The dressing rooms and the underside of the flyfloor. It's a c.2009 Gary Leonard photo. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for sharing it in their Palace Theatre website photo gallery's stage album.
Upstage right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
A look into the prop room. The unused door with the taped "X" goes to the alley. This room used to extend another 10' to the left before the 1929 renovations re-routed the path of the house left exits to the alley rather than onto Broadway. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
A peek into the house. Thanks to the Palace Theatre for the photo. It's one that appeared on the Palace Facebook page in 2014.
The proscenium striplight stage right. That's the smoke pocket for the asbestos curtain to the right of the strip. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography - 2018
A c.2009 view across by Gary Leonard. Thanks to
Broadway Theatre Group for sharing this in their photo
gallery's stage album.
The board:
The dimmerboard in 1911. It's one of 21 photos of the theatre that appeared
with the article "The New Orpheum Theater Building, Los Angeles" in the
September 1911 issue of Architect and Engineer. Following the main
article, G. Albert Lansburgh adds "An Architect's Tribute to Domingo
Mora," the artist who did the sculptural work on the project. Thanks to
Mike Hume for finding the articles. The issue can be viewed on Internet Archive.
There are now no live circuits on the front of the board. But when there still were, it was caged. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010. Also see three 2009 detail views by Will Campbell that appear in his A Morning at the Palace Theater album on Flickr: knife switches for houselights | switches for stage circuits | fuses and buses behind |
Looking onstage onstage in 2014. Thanks to Hunter Kerhart for sharing his photo.
A 2024 view. Thanks to LAHTF board member April Wright for sharing this photo and four others in a Facebook post about the organization's April 13 "all-about" tour.
The stage right dressing rooms and flyfloor:
A look up toward the flyfloor. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography - 2017
A stair detail. It's a c.2009 Gary Leonard photo from Palace Theatre's stage album.
The stairs at stage level were redone during the 1929 remodel when they
were moved onstage 10' and an exit passage was carved out of stage
space. Previously the passage along the north side of the building had
exited onto Broadway.
Dressing rooms on levels two and three, the flyfloor above. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - 2014
On the stairs. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
A stair detail stage right. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
A 100+ year old dressing room on the 2nd floor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
Another dressing room view. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
Across the stage from the 2nd floor dressing room level. We're looking
at the back of the movie screen. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
A view from the 3rd floor. Thanks to Albert Domasin for sharing this photo he
took at a 2012 LAHTF tour of the building. It's one of 63 photos in his
LAHTF Tour of the Palace set on Flickr.
A look at the board. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
Top of the house right stairs, looking toward the pinrail. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
Discarded sheaves and other rigging gear near the stairs. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
The downstage view toward the stage left flyfloor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
The upstage wall and the ladder to the grid. Those are old borderlights are on the floor to the left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
Looking downstage. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
Another view downstage. Note the attic access door on the right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
Peering across across toward the stage left flyfloor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
A view back toward the stairs in the downstage corner. The sliver of light is a door near the stairs that goes out onto the fire escape.
Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
In the basement:
Downstage right. Thanks to Claudia Mullins for sharing this 2024 photo, one of 28 in a Facebook post about the April 13 Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation "all-about" tour of the theatre.
Note that "door to nowhere" leading into the prop room. The stairs to the basement were originally farther offstage. They were
reconfigured when the stage lost 10' of width due to a c.1929 reconfiguration
of the exit passage along the north side of the building. See a 1911 floorplan.
Half way down. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
At the bottom of the stairs stage right. We're looking north toward the side wall of the building. The opening in the foreground is a recent modification for easier access to the trap room. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography
A stage basement plan. This started as a 2008 plan from the theatre's tech pdf. We've erased several wall sections to represent later renovations and added the red annotations. The "X" area is the decommissioned lift mechanism. There is an original trap not shown on the plan just upstage of dressing room 12 that was used to lower trunks to the basement. Also see the full basement plan on the basement support areas page.
The basement animal room upstage right. Note the double doors and the drain in the floor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014. This space is now a laundry room.
A detail of some hollow tile construction in a curious niche downstage right near the bottom of the stairs. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011. See her Palace Theatre set on Flickr for many more views.
Downstage right, a 2011 look into the electric room. On the right is the door to a storage room. Photo: Michelle Gerdes
On the left, a closer look at the house light dimmers in the back corner. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
Underground service feed and disconnect switches. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
A later look into the electric room. The rack of SCR dimmers in the center are for the house lights, replacing the set of motorized auto transformers. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
Switchgear on the north wall of the electric room. This area is on the auditorium side of the proscenium wall, under the proscenium box area. The large enclosure allowed transfer of the houselight feeder to a DC service in case of the AC service failure. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
The trap room from stage right. The orchestra pit and auditorium are off to the right. The dressing rooms we see at the left are along the building's back wall. Note the lift at the end of the space. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011.
Dressing room #2, a large room upstage right made by combining three smaller dressing rooms. Photo: Claudia Mullins - 2024
The shower end of dressing room #2. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024. Also see Bill's shot of the other end of the room from 2014
A restroom upstage center still with original marble. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
One of the four smaller basement dressing rooms. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
Another one of the rooms along the upstage side of the trap room. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
The downstage wall of the trap room. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the c.2009 Gary Leonard photo. It appears in the Palace Theatre website's green room and dressing rooms album.
At the far end there's a firedoor to head along the south side of the
building toward the lounge area under the lobby. That midget door
halfway along the right wall goes into the room under the pit. The fire
door on the far right just goes into a storage room.
In the trap room: the doorway to the space under the orchestra pit. Note the interesting firedoor with the second section that would drop down when the door closed. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
The musicians' assembly room under the pit. We're looking south -- the curved wall at the right mimics that of the front of the pit above us, now covered. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
Looking north in the musicians' room under the pit. Through the doorway we see racks for storage of sheet music. The ladder gets you up into the pit itself -- now covered over. The doorway at right leads back out into the trap room. The toilet? No, that's not the musicians' toilet facilities. It's just sitting there after removal from another room. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
The trap room from downstage left. The orchestra pit and auditorium are to the left. Dressing rooms are to the right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
The trap room from upstage left. The entrance to the musician's room under the pit is hidden behind the lift in the foreground. Out of the frame to the left is a firedoor leading around the south side of the building through mechanical rooms to the lounge area under the lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
In the trap room: the doorway to the space under the orchestra pit. Note the interesting firedoor with the second section that would drop down when the door closed. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
The musicians' assembly room under the pit. We're looking south -- the curved wall at the right mimics that of the front of the pit above us, now covered. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
Looking north in the musicians' room under the pit. Through the doorway we see racks for storage of sheet music. The ladder gets you up into the pit itself -- now covered over. The doorway at right leads back out into the trap room. The toilet? No, that's not the musicians' toilet facilities. It's just sitting there after removal from another room. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
The racks for sheet music. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
The trap room from downstage left. The orchestra pit and auditorium are to the left. Dressing rooms are to the right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
The trap room from upstage left. The entrance to the musician's room under the pit is hidden behind the lift in the foreground. Out of the frame to the left is a firedoor leading around the south side of the building through mechanical rooms to the lounge area under the lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
Hillsman Wright, co-founder of the of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre
Foundation, notes: "This lift was installed by Metropolitan Theatres.
Their projector repair shop was in the Palace basement. The lift was one
of the original sidewalk lifts moved from the front basement. The arch
on top lifted the sidewalk panels as it rose. You'll still see a bunch
of these steel panels on sidewalks around Bway." See a shot of Eddie Murphy coming up on the lift in "Dreamgirls."
The lift at the stage left end of the trap room gets its closeup. The drive motor has been removed. Back in the corner there once were stairs up to stage left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
Dressing room #12, stage left, near the lift. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024
Leftovers from the booth in a storage room downstage left, on the house side of the proscenium wall. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011. Thanks, Michelle!
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I'd love to attend one of these trips to these beautiful theaters in DTLA.
ReplyDeleteWell, if you're in LA, the best way to see many of these historic theatres is to buy a ticket to a show. The Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation will occasionally offer a tour to a theatre. The L.A. Conservancy has a Broadway Commercial District walking tour that, schedules permitting, may get inside a theatre or two.
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