Los Angeles Theatres: Orpheum Theatre: backstage

This great 1926 view from onstage appears with "Life o' the Show-House: Light," an article by Nellie Barnard Parker from the publication "Light" that was reprinted in the February 19, 1927 issue of Exhibitors Herald. The article also comments on the Egyptian, Carthay Circle and Forum theatres. Ms. Parker discusses the Orpheum:

"Another of the gorgeous theatres [in L.A.] is the new $1,500,000 Orpheum. Over 9,000 lamps outside give promise of a brilliant performance within where 17,000 lamps, reflected by the gold ceiling, copper finished doors, and copper fixtures presents a spectacle of brilliant colorfulness. A thousand cove lights around the dome, changing from color to color, contrast or blend with the various set-ups which transfigure the auditorium. The ceiling is of gold and tan with walls of the same effect.

"Care has been taken not to have the coloring in the drapes or decorations conflict with the lighting effects. By kaleidoscopic changes of colored light countless combinations are secured making of this theatre a splendid example of the electrician's art and technique. By the use of mirrored reflectors on the border and foot lights, the Orpheum claims to obtain twenty percent more useful light for the wattage than any other stage on the coast."

The photo was also used in a July 10, 1926 Exhibitors Herald ad for Heywood-Wakefield seating. Thanks to Mike Hume for finding both the ad and the article. 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.

A more recent view from onstage. Thanks to the Orpheum for the photo. It was a 2017 post on the Orpheum Facebook page.

Proscenium: 50' wide 28'6" high

Stage depth: 29' from smoke pocket to back wall

Apron depth: 3'

Stage wall to wall: 81'

Grid height: 60'10"

Linesets: 20 available with 750 lb. capacity arbors, 52' long pipes

Lockrail: At stage level stage left. The system was a 1926 Peter Clark installation that's been upgraded.

Theatre historian (and former Orpheum Theatre general manager) Ed Kelsey notes that this was the first counterweight system installed on Broadway. When the Orpheum circuit built the Hillstreet Theatre in 1922 it also had a Peter Clark counterweight system.

Loading: The doors offstage left go to the alley and a large parking lot beyond.

Dressing rooms: In the basement or on 6 levels stage right, all served by an elevator.

Trap room: 20' x 40'

Orchestra pit: 5' below stage level, no pit lift. The pit capacity is about 16 musicians. There's also an 8' x 10' scissor lift from auditorium to stage level rated 4,000 pounds.

Organ: The Orpheum's Wurlitzer is the only one remaining in a downtown theatre. The console of both the original organ and the 1928 Wurlitzer replacement were positioned at the house left end of the pit and not on a lift. The console can now use the scissor lift at the center of the pit or be disconnected for storage backstage.

F.O.H. hanging points: 24' out from apron, 54' above seating area.

Hanging points at proscenium: 34' above stage level

House mix position: Rear of main floor. Cable run to the apron: 118'

Stage power: There are 3 400 amp 3 phase switches, a 60 amp 3 phase disconnect on the grid and a 100 amp 3 phase audio disconnect.

Balcony Rail: 30 circuits. Throw to apron at centerline: 42'

F.O.H. Truss: 60 circuits. Throw to stage with truss 35' high: 37'

Box Booms: One per side, each with 12 circuits. Throw to apron at centerline: 52'

F.O.H. Circuits: all patchable on fly floor S.R.

Original dimmer board: still in place stage left

Stage Dimmers: 288 2Kw Colortran ENR

Projection: 2 Simplex XL with 4.2 Kw lamps, 1 16mm Norelco with a 2K lamp. A 4K digital unit was installed on the front of the balcony in 2019.

More Information: See the general information on the Orpheum Theatre's tech page down below the form that's at the top of the page.

A look down the center aisle toward the bare stage. Thanks to Don Solosan for his c.2009 photo taken for the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. No bare concrete here. Note the nice green tile we get on the upstage wall.

A peek over toward the counterweight system T-wall stage left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017

The stage door in the alley. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

In the vestibule just inside the doors. The alley is off to the left, the stage through the doors on the right edge of the image. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A closer look at the backstage elevator and the stairs to the upper dressing room levels stage right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

An upstairs dressing room offstage right. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

A look out at the parking lot behind the Orpheum from one of the dressing rooms stage right. The 2010 photo was once on the Orpheum Theatre Facebook page but seems to have pulled a disappearing act.

On the grid upstage right. Yes, the dressing room elevator gets you there. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

Looking toward the proscenium wall. That's the stage right wall on the right. Above the stage were half a dozen floors of offices, now rental apartments. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

Offstage right:

Stage right with the loading doors toward the left and the back wall where the ladders are. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

The up right corner. That's a 400 amp company switch on the wall. There's more power, and the house dimmer system, on the flyfloor above us. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A wider view toward up right, this time with the door open to the stairs. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

Looking into the stairwell from stage right. That's the elevator beyond. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

Downstage right. Not a lot of space offstage of the blacks. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A clearer look down right. Another 400A switch on the side wall. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

A closer look at the striplight built into the proscenium. To the right of the strip that red ring on the green peg is a release for the fire curtain. On the far right it's the fire curtain's operating line for manual control. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

A look onstage from down right. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

Another peek into the house from stage right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The back wall at the left and a view across the screen on the right. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

Offstage left:

Looking onto the stage from under the box area house right. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

A peek back into the house from downstage left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The panorama of the T-wall stage left. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

A lockrail detail from the previous photo. The counterweight system was a 1926 Peter Clark installation. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

A T-wall detail from Dejon Ellis Jr. It was one of five views of the theatre in a post on the Facebook page Photos of Los Angeles.

Looking toward the back wall. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

A detail of the upstage end of the index strip. It's a 2022 Mike Hume photo. He calls our attention to the fact that the theatre initially had 5 borderlights which he notes was quite unusual for a vaudeville house.

Also of interest is that the two sets closest to the back wall were labeled "Carpet" and "Carpet." Evidently they were rigged as a carpet hoist, a system using two arbors so that you can let a piece of scenery (or perhaps a roll of carpet) in, detach it from the batten, and fly the batten back out without having to unload the arbor or have a dangerously unbalanced situation. There's an illustration and description of the system from Jay O. Glerum's Stage Rigging Handbook on Google Books. For lots of discussion see Mike's carpet hoist post on the Archiving Technical Theatre History Facebook page.

Looking toward the dimmerboard from up left. The lit doorway leads to stairs going both upstairs as well as down to the basement areas. The passage into the auditorium is between the doorway and the left end of the board. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A detail of the downstage end of the index strip. It's a 2022 Mike Hume photo. He calls our attention to the old labeling of the downstage sets: GRAND (grand drape), 1 (lineset 1), TEA (a teaser or border), 1 BL (the first borderlight), BRAIL (presumably a braille or Austrian drape style title curtain), PICT (the screen frame), 1, the first lineset upstage of the 1st borderlight -- the numbering starts over after each border.

A wider view from up left. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019.

The 1926 vintage dimmerboard. New dimmer racks for stage lights are up on the flyfloor stage right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A look onstage across the board. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A detail of the board. It's a Major board built by Frank Adam Electric Co. of St. Louis. Note that in addition to an "on-off-manual" switch for individual use, each dimmer also has 5 smaller switches. This pre-selective capability allowed the operator to preset which dimmer circuits will be on or off for 5 individual scenes. All the switching controlled relays on the clapper board in the basement. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The dressing room call system at the onstage end of the board. The stage manager could buzz any one of 30 dressing rooms and a performer in the room would hit a button to signal that the call had been received. To the left of the clock it's the control station for the annunciator panels in the proscenium. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

A closer look at the annunciator controls, no longer in use. Below this are old controls for a rising microphone center stage near the footlights. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022.

Motors in the annunciator panel on each side of the stage could move a number of cards up and down, each with the name of an act on it. Presumably the "OP" and "P" switches above "Change Cards" were rotary switches (now missing their knobs) that allowed you to select which card would be moved. See a Mike Hume photo of the house right annunciator panel, right behind this area. It's now with an electronic display. "P" is the prompt side of the stage, where the stage manager was. It's stage left at the Orpheum. "OP" refers to the other side of the stage -- opposite prompt.

The striplight built into the stage left side of the proscenium. It's a 2022 Mike Hume photo. He notes that the strip goes up to a height of 12' and uses 300W lamps.

A view across to stage right from the interactive tour on the Orpheum Theatre website's gallery page.

Thanks to Ken Roe for this 2005 photo on Cinema Treasures. On the right those are the loading doors to the alley.

A look across during a rehearsal. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A view across from upstage right with the stage set for a film screening. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

A grid view from stage left. Note the flyfloor stage right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

To the basement:

Stairs offstage left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The bottom of the stairs stage left. A production office is through the doorway at the far right of the image. The trap room is straight ahead. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The production office upstage left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The trap room. We're looking across from stage right. The door to the room under the pit is between the TV monitor and the red curtains. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

Another trap room view from stage right. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

Under the pit. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A chorus room just off the stage right end of the trap room. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The dressing room corridor in the basement downstage right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A dressing room photo from the Orpheum Theatre website's gallery page.

From in the auditorium:

A Gary Leonard photo looking onto the bare stage. It was featured in the DTLA News article "2016 Best of LA: Miscellany." They gave the Orpheum the nod for Most Beautiful Historic Theatre.

A view from the front row. Photo: Mike Hume - 2017

In the balcony during a load-in. Thanks to Mike Hume for his 2017 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.

Backstage in the Movies: The John Travolta film "Staying Alive" (Paramount, 1983) begins with an audition scene in a New York theatre that was shot at the Orpheum. See the L.A. Theatres in Movies post.

We spend a lot of time backstage at the Orpheum for a folk music concert supposedly at Town Hall in New York City in Christopher Guest's folk music satire "A Mighty Wind" (Warner Bros., 2003). See the L.A. Theatres in Movies post for shots from the film.

Los Angeles Theatres

Orpheum Theatre: backstage

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