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Mayan Theatre: stage

1038 S. Hill St. Los Angeles, CA 90015 | map |

The Mayan Theatre pages: history | vintage exterior views | recent exterior views | ticket lobby | main lobby | balcony lobby | vintage auditorium views | recent auditorium views | booth and attic | stage | basement |


An auditorium view toward the stage right sidestage. The blue glow is from behind a bar that's along the stage right wall. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010



Offstage right looking up at the 1927 vintage dimmerboard. Underneath, we're looking out onto the stage right side stage and through to the auditorium. The green exit sign on the left is at the rear of the auditorium. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010


Proscenium width: 43'

Sidestage prosceniums: 12' wide

Stage depth: 38'

Stage floor: Originally all wood, trappable from the proscenium to the backwall for a full 43' width. It's still at the original level (even after the "clubbing") but the surface has been covered with masonite painted black.

Loading: Upstage left. The alley is about 3' below stage level.

Basement access: Wide stairwells both downstage left and downstage right.

Grid height: 70' ? The grid wraps around and is over the sidestages as well.

Grid Access: A ladder downstage right gets you to the dimmerboard, up a bit more to the flyfloor and on to the grid.

Flyfloors: One each, stage left and stage right at about 30'. Access to the one stage left is up through the two levels on that side. The flyfloor is atop the 2nd floor dressing rooms.

Rigging: In 1927 it was both hemp and wire-guide counterweight. Hemp lines could be set up from either flyfloor. Stage right got the main double pinrail. All the counterweight sets were stage right. At present only 8 sets are rigged. Originally it was at least twice that many.

Lockrail:  There are two sets of rope locks -- along the stage right wall at stage level and up on the flyfloor.

Paint Bridge: There was one along the back wall. Access was from either flyfloor. Go up 5 steps and you're at bridge level. It's gone but you can still see the I-beam supports sticking out of the back wall.

Asbestos: Well, there are three -- the main and one for each of the sidestages. The three lattice track counterweight sets operate downstage left, up against the dressing room wall. The curtains are all operable and very colorfully painted.

Dressing rooms: The theatre originally had a star dressing room on stage level stage left and several rooms on a second level. Those areas are now used as a bar (part of the stage level area) and various tech shops and storage spaces. Everything else was in the basement. The basement dressing room space encompassed the area under the stage, of course, but also forward under the pit and a portion of the auditorium as well.

Orchestra pit: Well, it had one, of course, as the house was intended for musicals. It's covered. Musicians and conductor's room are under the pit with ladders originally up to openings in the pit floor. No pit lift, of course.

Pipe Organ: Nope, this was a legit house. And the first film it ran, in 1929, was a talkie.

Main electrical service: In the basement downstage right.

Original dimmerboard: Still on its elevated platform downstage right. It has an 800A feed and was built by Safety Electric Mfg. Co of Los Angeles. Dimmers, handles and linkages are by Ward Leonard. Type of dimmer? Resistance, of course.

They've added a lot of electrical distribution and equipment for the club operation. New panels are visible at stage level downstage left and downstage right. And several are up on the stage right flyfloor, with some circuits having Socapex outputs on the side of the panel.

Current lighting and sound control: Front of the balcony.



A closer look up toward the board. The location up a level allowed unobstructed movement of props and performers from backstage onto the sidestage. The thing we see hanging down in the sidestage is not the asbestos but a digital display screen with a black drape behind it.

Thanks to Mike Hume for his 2016 photo. Head to his first Mayan view on Flickr and you can page ahead to see all 30 photos he took during the July 2016 LAHTF "all-about" tour. Visit Mike's 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 Mayan.



Another look at the board. Thanks to Wendell Benedetti for his 2014 photo appearing on the 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



The view underneath the board out into the house. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



Looking through the stage right sidestage. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



Counterweight sets hiding behind the drapes that are behind the stage right bar. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



Looking up at the back of the board from downstage right. The things hanging from the grid are sound absorbent material. Note the grid construction - it takes an angle as it heads out to the stage right sidestage. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



A view along the board. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



Looking up to the stage right flyfloor. The counterweight system is masked by the sound absorbing material. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



The view into the house from the flyfloor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016 



A look down to the stage right sidestage. In the lower left that's a lamp sitting on the bar that's up against the stage right wall. The opening below the exit sign leads to the exit passageway along the north side of the building. The stairs at the bottom of the photo go to the basement.  Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



A look down to the dimmerboard from the flyfloor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



Looking upstage along the stage right flyfloor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



The view downstage on the flyfloor. That's the lockrail along the right wall. No, there's not much space between the flyfloor and the side wall. The sets are really squeezed in there. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016


A look toward the dimmerboard from upstage. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



A bit of the auditorium as seen from the upstage end of the stage right flyfloor. In the front row it's Escott O. Norton, executive director of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. The event was an "all-about" tour of the theatre organized by the LAHTF.  Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



The vista across the back wall from the stage right flyfloor. Those I-beams sticking out once supported the paint bridge. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



The permanent set that's up against the back wall. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



We're stage left looking across the stage and, at the left, looking out through the stage left sidestage. The grid continues around to the two sidestages at full height. Photo: Mike Hume - 2016



Offstage left looking up to the grid. On the left those are the lattice tracks for the asbestos curtains. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



A closer look at the lattice tracks for the three asbestos curtains. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



A tech storage room on the 2nd floor stage left. Want to go to the flyfloor? Take the ladder. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



The view onto the stage from the stage left flyfloor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



Looking upstage along the stage left flyfloor. The steps at the back wall got you up to the level of the now-missing paint bridge. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



A look across to stage right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



Back down at stage level. A view into the house from stage left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016



The auditorium from center stage. What looks like piles of sandbags up in the balcony are actually clouds painted on the face of the risers. For shows when they have the balcony open, they have cushions to sit on. Thanks to Wendell Benedetti for his 2020 photo, a post on Facebook.

The Mayan Theatre pages: history | vintage exterior views | recent exterior views | ticket lobby | main lobby | balcony lobby | vintage auditorium views | recent auditorium views | booth and attic | back to top - stage | basement |

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