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 across from stage left. Thanks to Mike Hume for his 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.
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
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
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.
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.
A wide angle look into the house from upstage left. Thanks to Wendell Benedetti for his photo of the LHAT tour that appeared on the LAHTF Facebook page.
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
The proscenium striplight stage left. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography - 2018
The trap downstage center. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography - 2017
Offstage right looking toward the dressing rooms. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - 2014. Keep up with Hunter's latest explorations: HunterKerhart.com | on Flickr
The board:
The 1911 vintage switchboard stage right. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - 2014
Another switchboard view. The upper horizontal axle carries the dimmer handles. There used to be a row above, now removed. The house light circuits were transferred to motorized dimmers decades ago and are now on some old SCR dimmers in the basement. All the lower items are live-front knife switches that controlled the dimmer circuits as well as non-dim items such as work lights and floor pockets. Thanks to Robert Rosenblum for this 2013 photo that he posted on the Los Angeles Theatres Facebook page.
There are now no live circuits on the front of the board. But when there still were, it was caged. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
A look through the cage at switches for houselight circuits. Thanks to Will Campbell for his 2009 photo on Flickr. It's one of 65 photos in his 65 photo album A Morning at the Palace Theater.
There are now no live circuits on the front of the board. But when there still were, it was caged. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
A stage section of the then-caged board. Photo: Will Campbell - 2009
Fuses and bus bars. Photo: Will Campbell - 2009. Thanks, Will!
The board 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.
Views from stage right:
A peek into the house from offstage right. Thanks to the Palace Theatre for the photo. It's one that appeared on the Palace Facebook page in 2014.
The vista from upstage right. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the photo by August Bradley. It's one of many great views on their Palace Theatre website. See the gallery page to start your tour. This photo appears in the stage album.
A c.2009 Gary Leonard photo looking across to stage left. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the photo, one appearing in their photo gallery's stage album.
The vista from upstage right. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the photo by August Bradley. It's one of many great views on their Palace Theatre website. See the gallery page to start your tour. This photo appears in the stage album.
A c.2009 Gary Leonard photo looking across to stage left. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the photo, one appearing in their photo gallery's stage album.
Looking toward the loading door and the stage left flyfloor. That diagonal line is an exit stair from the 2nd balcony. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
The stage right dressing rooms and flyfloor:
A c.2009 Gary Leonard photo of the dressing room stack. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the photo, one appearing in their Palace Theatre website photo gallery's stage album.
A look a bit farther downstage. It's a c.2009 Gary Leonard photo from Palace Theatre's stage album.
The stage right dressing rooms and flyfloor:
A c.2009 Gary Leonard photo of the dressing room stack. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the photo, one appearing in their Palace Theatre website photo gallery's stage album.
A look a bit farther downstage. It's a c.2009 Gary Leonard photo from Palace Theatre's stage album.
A look upward toward the flyfloor. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography - 2017
Dressing rooms on levels two and three, the flyfloor above. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - 2014
Looking up from stage level. 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 3rd floor dressing room level. We're looking
at the back of the movie screen. Note the JBL speakers rolled up against
the back wall. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
On the flyfloor stage right -- looking downstage. Note the attic access door to the right of center. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
A novel use for a pinrail -- light bulb storage. Thanks to Sandi Hemmerlein for her photo. Don't miss her Avoiding Regret photo essay about the July 2012 LAHTF tour to see the rest of her set of 28 photos: "Downtown LA's Palace Theatre, Restored (But Not Completely)."
Another view looking upstage on the flyfloor stage right. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
Another pinrail view. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
Old sheaves and other rigging gear. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
A retired sheave. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
A stage view from the flyfloor. Thanks to Albert Domasin for his photo taken 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 to stage left. Photo: Albert Domasin - Flickr - 2012
Another look across from the stage right flyfloor. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - Avoiding Regret - 2012. Thanks, Sandi!
Peering across across toward the stage left flyfloor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
The view downstage right from the flyfloor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
More views from stage left:
A c.2009 view across to stage right. It's a Gary Leonard photo in the Palace Theatre photo gallery's stage album.
A view across the stage and into the auditorium. Photo: Wendell Benedetti - LAHTF Facebook page - 2012
A view across the stage and into the auditorium. Photo: Wendell Benedetti - LAHTF Facebook page - 2012
The house from stage left. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the photo by August Bradley. It appears on the Palace Theatre website in their photo gallery's stage album.
Out in the house:
A nice peek backstage from Martin, the photographer from Stuttgart, Germany who curated the now-vanished site You-Are-Here.
The bare stage from the auditorium. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the August Bradley photo, one that appears in the Palace Theatre website photo gallery's stage album.
In the basement:
The stairs down on the stage right side. Note that "door to nowhere." It was originally an entrance from the passage on the north side of the theatre but was abandoned when the stairs were reconfigured -- originally it was a spiral staircase. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
The basement animal room upstage right. Note the drain in the floor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
The trap room from stage right. The orchestra pit and auditorium ate 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. See her Palace Theatre set on Flickr for many more views.
A c.2009 photo looking toward stage left. That midget door halfway along the right wall goes into the room under the pit. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the Gary Leonard photo. It appears in the Palace Theatre website's green room and dressing rooms album.
The electric room. The rack of SCR dimmers at the end are for the house lights, replacing a 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
An earlier view of the electrical gear. To the left are motorized house light dimmers, now replaced. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
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' assembly 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. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
The lift at the stage left end of the trap room gets its closeup. Hillsman Wright, 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." Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
A detail of some hollow tile construction on an interior wall. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011. Thanks for all the photos, Michelle!
The Palace Theatre pages: history | vintage exterior views | recent exterior views | ticket lobby | lobbies and lounges | vintage auditorium views | recent auditorium views | booth | back to top - backstage | basement support areas | office building |
Another look across. Photo: Mike Hume - Historic Theatre Photography - 2017
Out in the house:
A nice peek backstage from Martin, the photographer from Stuttgart, Germany who curated the now-vanished site You-Are-Here.
The bare stage from the auditorium. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the August Bradley photo, one that appears in the Palace Theatre website photo gallery's stage album.
In the basement:
The stairs down on the stage right side. Note that "door to nowhere." It was originally an entrance from the passage on the north side of the theatre but was abandoned when the stairs were reconfigured -- originally it was a spiral staircase. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
The basement animal room upstage right. Note the drain in the floor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
The trap room from stage right. The orchestra pit and auditorium ate 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. See her Palace Theatre set on Flickr for many more views.
A c.2009 photo looking toward stage left. That midget door halfway along the right wall goes into the room under the pit. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the Gary Leonard photo. It appears in the Palace Theatre website's green room and dressing rooms album.
A basement dressing room. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
Downstage right, looking into the electric room. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
The electric room. The rack of SCR dimmers at the end are for the house lights, replacing a 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
An earlier view of the electrical gear. To the left are motorized house light dimmers, now replaced. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
Another view of some of the electrical service gear. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
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' assembly 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. Photo: Bill Counter - 2014
The lift at the stage left end of the trap room gets its closeup. Hillsman Wright, 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." Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011
A detail of some hollow tile construction on an interior wall. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011. Thanks for all the photos, Michelle!
The Palace Theatre pages: history | vintage exterior views | recent exterior views | ticket lobby | lobbies and lounges | vintage auditorium views | recent auditorium views | booth | back to top - backstage | basement support areas | office building |
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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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