842 S. Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90014 | map |
The Orpheum Theatre pages: history | vintage exterior views | recent exterior views | lobbies and lounges | vintage auditorium views | recent auditorium views | booth | backstage | lofts
"Spicy and Thrilling!" The Orpheum was standing in for NYC's Ambassador Theatre during the run of the musical "Chicago" for a film shoot. The Warner Bros. "Hollywood Made Here" team was there. Photo: Bill Counter - September 30, 2025
Broadway views 2002 - 2025:
2002 - The rear of the roof sign sign, a view that's part of the LA Sign Structures collection from Mark Swope Photography.
2002 - An end view by Mark Swope. Thanks, Mark!
2007 - The famous roof sign from street level. Photo: Bill Counter
2007 - A look north. The building this side of the Orpheum is the 9th
& Broadway Building, a design of Claud Beelman that opened in 1929.
Photo: Bill Counter
2007 - A view south toward the United Artists. Photo: Bill Counter
2007 - The soffit neon. Thanks to Bud Care for sharing his photo on Flickr.
2010 - A look over toward the theatre included in Corey Miller's Theatre Signs set on Flickr.
2011 - Thanks to Stephen Russo for this fine view he took from a building on Hill St. It originally appeared on the L.A. Conservancy Facebook page.
2012 - The building just north of the Orpheum is the 1927 vintage Platt Music
Co. Building by Walker & Eisen, architects of the United Artists
building. And, in yellow, Two Boots Pizza, a fine spot that's now gone. Photo: Bill Counter
2012 - A view from the 6th floor of the Bullock's Building at 7th &
Broadway. The upper floors are now parking. That's a bit of Loew's State
on the right. Farther down are the Garland Building/Globe Theatre, the
Tower Theatre and the Orpheum. Thanks to Hunter Kerhart for sharing his photo. Keep up with his recent explorations: HunterKerhart.com | on Flickr
2012 - South across 8th St. At this point the Rialto still had down-market retail in the lobby. Photo: Bill Counter
2012 - South toward the United Artists. That's the Eastern Columbia Building on the right. It's a design of Claud Beelman that opened in September 1930. The Majestic Theatre used to be in that area now occupied by the Eastern Columbia's garage. Photo: Bill Counter
2012 - A "Chinatown" screening for the L.A. Conservancy. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2012 - Another marquee shot. Photo: Bill Counter
2012 - A different angle on the Orpheum and Eastern Columbia. The building in
the upper right is the 1929 expansion to the Hamburger Department Store /
May Co. building. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2012 - Terracotta details on the facade. Photo: Bill Counter
2012 - A view with all three signs lit. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2012 - North from the Orpheum toward the Rialto and Tower theatres. Photo: Bill Counter
2012 - A great shot from the top of the United Artists looking down in the
canyon of Broadway toward the Orpheum. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2012 - The sign gets its closeup at dusk. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2012 - The sign later in the evening. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2012 - Up in the air looking south. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2012 - South on Broadway later in the evening. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2012 - Gazing toward the Orpheum from the north fire escape of the United
Artists building. The UA building was under renovation at the time and
hadn't yet morphed into the Ace Hotel. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2012 - The view looking east from Hill St. Photo: Bill Counter
2012 - A Hill St. vista at night. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2012 - The Orpheum and the Eastern Columbia Building. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2012 - A line around the block for the L.A. Conservancy's December screening of "A Christmas Story." The Conservancy's Facebook album about the event includes this photo by Larry Underhill.
2012 - That circle at the top used to say "RKO." Photo: Bill Counter
2013 - The vertical at night. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2013 - A view north taken by Hunter Kerhart.
2013 - A look upward. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2013 - A detail of that distinctive Orpheum circuit script. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2014 - It was the "Day On Broadway," the celebration
of the 6th anniversary of Jose Huizar's decade-long Bringing Back Broadway
initiative. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - January 25
2014 - Another January 25 "Day On Broadway" photo. It was perhaps the first time in years the Rialto, Tower,
and Globe marquees had all been lit. Photo: Hunter Kerhart - LAHTF Facebook page.
The Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation is actively involved in the study and preservation of the
vintage theatres in the Los Angeles area. The group frequently supports
events and offers tours of the buildings. www.lahtf.org | group Facebook page | official FB page
2014 - Thanks to Wendell Benedetti for this terrific "Day On Broadway" photo with a view all the way down to the Palace.
2014 - A drone's eye view of the sign from Ian Wood's "Downtown Los Angeles"
on Vimeo. He spent several months shooting downtown theatres
and other historic buildings from a drone that resembled "a mutant
chicken." It's four minutes and forty five seconds of wonder that's not
to be missed.
2014 - A drone view south toward the United Artists from Ian Wood's 5 minute 2015 epic "Downtown Los Angeles" on Vimeo.
2015 - A center panel detail. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2016 - Thanks to Shawn Dudley for this photo. You can see the rest of his thirteen photo Orpheum set on the LAHTF Facebook page.
2017 - The January "Night on Broadway." Many thanks to Michael Frey for sharing his photo. It popped up, uncredited, on a DTLA Town Square Facebook post by Tony Hoover.
2018 - A busy time during that year's January "Night on Broadway" event. Thanks to Mike Hume for his photo. Visit his Historic Theatre Photography site for tech data and hundreds of terrific photos of the theatres he's explored. And don't miss his page on the Orpheum.
2019 - The marquee paint job underway. Here they were about 40% finished. Photo: Bill Counter - July 16
2019 - Working on the teal blue around the Orpheum letters on the front section. They were using small rollers to work around the tubing in many areas. Photo: Bill Counter - July 16
2019 - A look at the gleaming white interior of the freshly painted channel for the "Orpheum" letters. The neon tubing had been removed as there wasn't sufficient room to paint around it. Photo: Bill Counter - July 25
2019 - Most of the "Orpheum" tubing was back in place after the painting of the the sheet metal channel. At this point there was still some painting left to do, for example in the upper right. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2
2020 - Theatre life at a halt due to the Coronavirus. Orpheum owner Steve
Needleman advised us what he was doing. Photo: Bill Counter - March 17
2022 - Work in progress on the vertical. Thanks to Brady Hunsberger for the photo, a January 31 post on the DTLA Town Square Facebook page.
2022 - A
closer look at the deco vertical. The sign once had "RKO" in that top
circle. The letters have sockets for incandescent lamps, no longer used.
Photo: Brady Hunsberger - January 31
2022 - The vertical lit again in February. Thanks to Troy Barbu for his photo, a post on the DTLA Town Square Facebook page.
2022
- The Roof Sign: scaffolding
going up as work began. Thanks to Brady Hunsberger for spotting the
activity and getting this April 12 photo. It appeared on the DTLA Town Square Facebook page. The sign once had a line saying "Vaudeville" at the bottom. Originally it was double sided.
2022
- Mark Fugina caught this April 12 shot late in the afternoon. Note the
three guys in the upper right and two in the middle of the sign.
Thanks, Mark!
2022 - A detail of the sign before painting began. Photo: Bill Counter - April 13
2022 - Painting the trim. Thanks to Don Goldberg for this April 18 photo.
2022 - A detail from Don's April 18 photo.
2022 - Looking very yellow after getting a new coat of paint on the "Orpheum" script. Photo: Bill Counter - April 21
2022 - A street view taken when Wanda Sykes was appearing as part of the "Netflix
is a Joke" festival. Photo: Bill Counter - April 30
2022 - The north side of the vertical. It's animated. The the blue outline of the
letters is on continuously, the trim around the perimeter flashes.
Photo: Bill Counter - April 30
2022 - The roof sign scaffolding being taken down. Thanks to Troy Barbu for sharing his May 3 photo on the DTLA Facebook page.
2022 - Relamped and back in business. Thanks to Don Goldberg for the photo. See his his May 3 video clip taken the first night the sign was back in action.
2022 - A glorious photo taken by Mark Fugina on May 3. See it in action on the video clip he posted on the DTLA Town Square Facebook page.
2022 - A detail from a photo Brady Hunsberger took on May 4, the day after the sign's debut.
2022 - Another angle. Photo: Brady Hunsberger - May 4. See a third shot from Brady on his DTLA Town Square Facebook post. Thanks!
2022 - The sign as seen from Hill St. in July Photo: Bill Counter
2022 - A November look across from Level, a building at 9th and Olive.
Thanks to Sam Curtis for this evening shot. He also included a morning
view in a 2023 post on the DTLA Photo Group on Facebook.
2022 - A
last look at changeable letters on the marquee before the digital
conversion. Thanks to Margot Gerber for sharing her December photo
taken from the Eastern Columbia building. It's one of eight views of the
theatre's signage she included on a Facebook post.
2023 - Digital readerboards: the
project begins. The contractor was Martinez Sign, Inc. This version
of the marquee has been on the building since the early 1940s. In
recent decades they used flat letters, not three dimensional ones.
Photo: Ken McIntyre - January 7
Thanks
to Wendell Benedetti of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation for
researching the permit: "Issued November 18, 2022 for the Orpheum:
Exterior alteration / conversion of existing illuminated letterboard
panels of historic theatre marquee to digital panels in compliance with
the Broadway Historic Sign District (ordinance 184056) Section 9.11. No
architectural changes to marquee - changing out letterboards only."| application 9/22/22 | permit 11/18/22 |
2023 - Work underway but taking a break. Photo: Bill Counter - January 8
2023 - A closer look at the center panel. Photo: Bill Counter - January 8
2023 - Back in action after several days called on account of rain. Photo: Bill Counter - January 11
2023 - The center digital panel in place and getting secured. Photo: Bill Counter - January 11
2023 - A
peek at part of a long-hidden terracotta arch via a hole they cut in
the back of the south panel. Photo: Bill Counter - January 11
2023 - Sign man #3 on the crew working inside to secure the new digital display in the center bay. Photo: Bill Counter - January 11
2023 - Positioning the new digital panel on the south side of the marquee. Photo: Bill Counter - January 12
2023 - Dodging
sparks as some grinding is going on with men inside the marquee working
to align and support the new panel. Photo: Bill Counter - January 12
2023 - The
north panel was getting stripped out. The white readerboard face that
was on it is getting loaded onto the truck. Thanks to Troy Barbu for
capturing the moment and sharing his January 12 photo on the DTLA Facebook page.
2023 - The
north side of the marquee with fluorescent tubes, sockets and ballasts
stripped out. Ready to go home for the day. Photo: Bill Counter -
January 12
2023 - The panel for the north side of the marquee rigged and ready to fly. Photo: Bill Counter - January 13
2023 - The back side of the panel. Photo: Bill Counter - January 13
2023 - A peek at some terracotta hidden for over six decades. Photo: Bill Counter - January 13
2023 - The north panel up in the air. Photo: Bill Counter - January 13
2023 - Easing the panel toward its position. Photo: Bill Counter - January 13
2023 - A happy foreman. This phase would be done before the rains returned. Photo: Bill Counter - January 13
2023 - Ready for the men behind to secure the panel to new steel. Photo: Bill Counter - January 13
Regarding
the use of the panels for ads, Escott O. Norton researched the Broadway
sign ordinance: "It’s a total of 4 minutes of off-site ads per hour,
and the screen can only change every 8 seconds. So that still means no
crazy animation, but you can do the math, there will be some ads
possible." He notes that there are more details on page 24 of ordinance
184056, available as a PDF from the City's Planning Department.
2023 - One of the Martinez Sign team putting in a few jumpers around missing pieces of tubing. Photo: Bill Counter - January 17
2023 - The
south panel on for its first test. Chula Vista Electric was the
contractor on the job for this phase. Photo: Bill Counter - January 18
2023 - The
full 3-panel digital extravaganza with the whole display fired up. The 2
side panels were unchanging, the center one at the time of the photo
was cycling between a "Welcome To the Orpheum" that mimicked a real
readerboard, one that gave you the time and date, and this one with the
photo. Photo: Bill Counter - January 19
2023 - The
Orpheum double feature: a first look at the digital panels plus the
neon. Still a few neon problems to fix here and there. Photo: Bill
Counter - January 21
2023 - Changeable
letters are back! Well, no. But it's a good simulation with the panel
programmed to look like a traditional readerboard. Photo: Bill Counter -
January 24
2023 - The
south readerboard nicely trimmed out in pale blue. At the time of the
photo the north side was also done but work remained around the center
panel. Photo: Bill Counter - March 3
2024 - A
shoot for a TV show in December. Thanks to Virginia Hoge for this
shot she took, one of a dozen she included in a post for the DTLA Photo Group on Facebook.
2025 - Taking down a sign over the center portal that was advertising the musical "Chicago." A Warner Bros crew was there for a shoot with the Orpheum standing in for the Ambassador in New York City. Photo: Bill Counter - September 30
Around the back:
2007 - A view from Spring St. The green fire stairs at left are for some of the dressing rooms and the house left organ chamber access. Note the roof sign at the Broadway edge of the building. The stagehouse, with more dressing rooms -- and 7 floors of what are now loft apartments above, is the rust colored structure at the far left of the image. Photo: Bill Counter
2007 - A view from Spring St. The green fire stairs at left are for some of the dressing rooms and the house left organ chamber access. Note the roof sign at the Broadway edge of the building. The stagehouse, with more dressing rooms -- and 7 floors of what are now loft apartments above, is the rust colored structure at the far left of the image. Photo: Bill Counter
2012 - A great rainy day view of the rear of the Orpheum roof sign. Photo: Yasmin Elming - Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page
2016 - How do you spell "Orpheum" backward? At one time you didn't need to read it backward -- it was a double faced sign with one on this side directed to travelers arriving by train. Photo: Shawn Dudley - LAHTF Facebook page
2016 - Thanks to David Israel for this terrific photo of the rear of the theatre and adjoining buildings as seen from Main St. It was a post on the SoCal Historic Architecture private Facebook group.
2016 - Thanks to David Israel for this terrific photo of the rear of the theatre and adjoining buildings as seen from Main St. It was a post on the SoCal Historic Architecture private Facebook group.
The ticket lobby:
Also see some vintage views of the ticket lobby on the vintage exterior views page.
2007 - A look in from the street. Photo: Bill Counter
2010 - The south display cases. Photo: Bill Counter
2010 - The ticket lobby ceiling. Photo: Bill Counter
2014 - Looking north. The structure on the right, now a boxoffice, used to be
operated as a snackbar accessible from the street. The brass boxoffice
was originally over on the right and was reconfigured and moved when
they wanted a boxoffice closer to the street. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2014 - Another look at the former snackbar that's in the original boxoffice location. Photo: Hunter Kerhart
2018 - The back of the boxoffice as seen from the entrance doors. Thanks to Yasmin Elming for sharing her photo.
2025 - "Chicago - The Longest Running American Musical - 27 Years." For a film shoot the Orpheum was standing in for NYC's Ambassador
Theatre during the run of the musical "Chicago." Photo: Bill Counter -
September 30
2025 - A peek through the doors toward some Ambassador Theatre "Chicago" signage during the strike following a shoot. Photo: Bill Counter -
September 30
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