Los Angeles Theatres: Palace Theatre: ticket lobby

A 1911 photo looking into ticket lobby. Note the boxoffice window on the right behind the brass rail. This is 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. The issue can be viewed on Internet Archive.

Thanks to Mike Hume for finding the articles in Architect and Engineer. Visit his Historic Theatre Photography site for hundreds of great photos of theatres he's explored. And, of course, there's a lovely page on the Palace.

The boxoffice window. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

The September 1911 Architect and Engineer article comments: "...The marquise of wrought iron over the entrance, the wrought iron lamps and bronze frames finishes the picture and attract us forcibly to the most beautiful of lobbies, handsomely furnished in expensive imported marble from the Nile and Italy, a Caen stone vaulted ceiling and lovely bronze frames and balcony rails, most luxuriantly illuminated beautifiul and original chandeliers, the costliest of mosaic floors and a box office window in carved marble that without any trouble relieves us of the price of admission and ushers us into the most satisfactory and charming auditorium that the West has yet seen, so vast, and yet so homelike, that the last row seems to be on top of the orchestra leader's rail, so deceptive is the arrangement of the floor and so perfect the sightlines and acoustics..."

A look a several of the display cases. Photo: Architect and Engineer - September 1911. There's also a version of the photo in the collection of the Los Angeles Public Library.

A detail of several of the bronze plated cast iron display cases. Photo: Architect and Engineer - September 1911

A c.1990 ceiling detail from Berger Conser Architectural Photography. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the photo. It makes an appearance in the Palace Theatre website's photo gallery.

For more great work by Anne Conser and Robert Berger's see their book "The Last Remaining Seats: Movie Palaces of Tinseltown." It's available on Amazon. The Robert Berger Photography website has a portfolio of sixteen photos to browse from "The Last Remaining Seats."

A c.2005 Gary Leonard photo of the 40s vintage boxoffice, now removed. Thanks to Broadway Theatre Group for the photo. It's in the Palace Theatre website's photo gallery.

The south side of the ticket lobby. Photo: Gary Leonard / Broadway Theatre Group - c.2005

The view toward Broadway with the island boxoffice still in place. Photo: Gary Leonard / Broadway Theatre Group - c.2005

A January 2006 look at false-front panels being removed at the entrance to expose long-covered display cases. It was work done after the Palace was used as the "Detroit Theatre" in "Dreamgirls." Thanks to Ed Fuentes for sharing his photo on Flickr.

The ornate polychrome heads on view once again. Thanks to Ed Fuentes for the January 2006 photo on Flickr.

A column detail taken at a 2006 Los Angeles Conservancy film screening. It's included in a 48 photo '06 Last Remaining Seats set by Pleasure Palate on Flickr.

Metal ornament below one of the display cases. Photo: Pleasure Palate - Flickr - 2006

A ceiling detail. Photo: Pleasure Palate - Flickr - 2006

A look toward the windows of the lounge. Note that we no longer have the ornate railing that was once in place. Photo: Bill Counter - 2007

Another 2007 view. Thanks to Nick Bradshaw for the photo from his Dead Cinemas, Downtown Los Angeles set on Flickr.

A 2008 Ed Fuentes photo of the ticket lobby being cleaned and retouched by artist Debbie Cable. Note that she's in front of the area where the original boxoffice wwindow was located. The photo was featured in a post by Ed on his now-vanished blog [view] fromaloft.

Looking out toward Broadway from the lounge. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011. The occasion was the theatre's 100th birthday celebration. See Michelle's Palace Theatre set on Flickr for many more views of the theatre.

One of the heads below a poster case after restoration work. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011

A column detail -- with part of the original finish left for comparison. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011

The smiling terracotta faces keeping watch at the sidewalk line. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - 2011

A 100th birthday view of the ticket lobby ceiling. Thanks to Stephen Russo for his photo, one originally appearing in 2011 on the L.A. Conservancy Facebook page.

Looking out onto the crowd coming in for the L.A. Conservancy screening of "La Bamba." Photo: Leo Quijano II - 2013. Thanks, Leo!

A ceiling detail. Thanks to Steve Shriver for his 2015 photo, included in his "Night on Broadway"
Facebook album.

The south wall poster cases. Thanks to Claudia Mullins for her 2018 photo, one in a set of 26 on Facebook.

The view toward Broadway before an October 2018 screening of "Die Hard" sponsored by the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. Photo: Claudia Mullins. Thanks, Claudia!

The ticket lobby decorated for a Cinespia screening of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in December 2018. The photo appears in a photo gallery from the event on the Cinespia website.

Looking toward the doors in 2024. The occasion was the April 13 Los Angeles Theatre Historical Foundation's "all-about" tour of the theatre. Thanks to LAHTF board member Wendell Benedetti for sharing his photo, one of fifteen in his Facebook post about the event.

That scagliola panel near the door covers the area of the original 1911 boxoffice window. Thanks to Claudia Mullins for sharing her 2024 photo, one of 28 in a Facebook post about the LAHTF tour.

Looking out from the mezzanine lounge. Thanks to LAHTF board president Mike Hume for sharing this 2024 photo and nine others in a Facebook post about the organization's April 13 tour.

Los Angeles Theatres

Palace Theatre: ticket lobby

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