Los Angeles Theatres: Globe Theatre: earlier auditorium views

Globe Theatre: earlier auditorium views

A section through the auditorium and stage from the Morgan, Walls & Clements archives at the Huntington Library, drawing #3770. Also see the full image including the lobby and office building. At the time of this 1913 project the firm was called Morgan, Walls & Morgan.

Plans for the building at the Huntington are in two batches. Batch #1 starts on their website with a basement plan, drawing #3760. You can page forward to the end of that group, drawing #3781, ceiling details. Batch #2 starts with drawing #3819 and ends with drawing #3847, a section drawing with a couple of fan details. Thanks to Mike Hume for locating these. Visit the Index to the MW&C Drawings that he's been compiling for his Historic Theatre Photography site. There's also an index by Mike Callahan on Internet Archive.

A main floor plan, drawing #3843 on the Huntington Library's website. Note the open standee area at the back of the seating area with stairs on either end to get to the 1st balcony. Later that area was walled in and doors added at the head of the aisles to create an inner lobby.

A 1st balcony plan, drawing #3844. That's the 2nd floor of the office building on the Broadway end of the plan. That array of symbols along the front of the balcony represents the stud lighting.

A plan of the 2nd balcony, also known as the Gallery, drawing #3845. It still has most of its seats but hasn't been used since perhaps 1930. Note the dedicated stairs at either end of the crossaisle behind the seating risers. That's the office building's 3rd floor seen on the Broadway end of the plan. It's about 10' lower than the balcony crossaisle level.

More stud lighting was called out for this balcony as well. Plus there are fixtures along the cove below the sounding board. The circle in front of the balcony rail represents the ceiling chandelier, with 30 lamps.

Looking toward the proscenium. "Sounding board coffers to radiate from center." It's from drawing #3771. The doorway on the main floor level behind the boxes allowed access from the house into backstage. On the lower right the drawing calls for prism lights in the exit passage to allow some illumination into the basement.

A better look at the proscenium ornament and house right column, from drawing #3779.

The house right box, from drawing #3779.

A closer look at the mini-balcony above the box. It was soon removed and plastered over. See a 2014 photo of the attic side of this area.

A detail of the cornice ornament, indicated near the top of the drawing of the box area as "continue ornament." This again is from drawing #3779.

A detail of one of the sounding board coffers from drawing #3780.

A reflected plan of the ceiling ornament out beyond the sounding board. It's from drawing #3771. The outline of the cove at the base of the sounding board is at the top. In the very center the plan calls for an outlet for "sunburst fixtures." On other drawings it's noted that there was to be a 30 lamp chandelier at that location. It's called out that each circle would be a "vent screen." That curved area at the bottom is the lower ceiling area over the back of the 2nd balcony.

At the top we have a partial plan view of the perimeter of the main ceiling area. Below, it's a section view. This is from drawing #3771.

1912 - Looking across the rear of the main floor to house left during construction. The opening at the left heads out toward Broadway. The photo appeared with a survey of the work of architects Morgan, Walls & Morgan in the January 1921 issue of Architect and Engineer. It's on Internet Archive. Also on the page were views of steel framing going up and the facade near the end of construction. Thanks to Cinema Treasures researcher Joe Vogel for finding the photos.

1913 - This drawing of the house left box area appeared in the January 5 issue of the Times. They devoted nearly a page to illustrations and articles concerning the new playhouse. They advised that for extra heavy playgoers certain rows had larger seats and that the "wide open fan arrangement" of seats "brings the audience closer to the players than in any other theater." Thanks to Mike Hume for including a pdf of the Times coverage on his Historic Theatre Photography page on the Globe.

1975 - A fine balcony shot of the theatre standing in for the fictitious Casino Theatre in Atlantic City in the Herbert Ross/Columbia film "Funny Lady." Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice is in a show produced by Billy Rose, her boyfriend at the time, played by James Caan. Thanks to Michael Garay for figuring out where we were. The film also uses the Orpheum, the Los Angeles and the Pan Pacific Auditorium. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for some shots from those scenes.

1976 - Michael Caine is looking down to the stage as he tries to find Natalie Wood in the Peter Hyams/20th Century Fox film "Peeper." Sadly, we don't get any great views of the auditorium.

1976 - Wood and Caine in the orchestra pit. The third person is the theatre manager. He's been chasing Caine all over the theatre telling him he needs to buy a ticket. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for ten more shots from scenes at the Globe.

c.1985 - A John Miller photo from the collection of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. Mr. Miller was a co-founder of the organization. The LAHTF is actively involved in the study and preservation of the vintage theatres in the L.A. area. The group maintains an archive and frequently supports events and offers tours of the buildings. www.lahtf.org | group Facebook page | official FB page

c.1985 - Note the plastered-in area above the box, once with a tiny decorative balcony and grille. See a 2014 shot of the back of opening taken in the attic with part of what had been the grille still in place. Photo: John Miller - LAHTF collection. Also see a black and white version of this shot from the Los Angeles Conservancy collection.

c.1985 - Photo: John Miller - LAHTF collection

c.1985 - Photo: John Miller - LAHTF collection. Thanks to the LAHTF for the use of these photos.

c.2008 - A look toward toward the stage from the rear of the auditorium in the building's Club 740 days. Note the leveled floor. Thanks to Ralph Verdugo, proprietor of Club 740, for the photo. It's one that originally appeared on the club's website.

c.2008 - The house right Club 740 bar. Photo: Ralph Verdugo - Club 740 website

c.2008 - The house left box. Photo: Ralph Verdugo - Club 740 website

c.2008 - A view to the rear. Photo: Ralph Verdugo - Club 740 website

c.2008 - Another view to the house left box and up to the balconies. Photo: Ralph Verdugo - Club 740 website

c.2008 - One version of the setup during the Club 740 days. It's a photo that once appeared on the club's website.

2009 - A later Club 740 view. Photo: Don Solosan - LAHTF

2009 - Investigating the Globe at a Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation "all-about" tour. Thanks to Wendell Benedetti for his photo, one that appears in his Historic Los Angeles Theatres set on Flickr.

2009 - Another look at the left proscenium box. Before the floor of the auditorium got leveled those two arches below the balcony level box were once the entrance to a box slightly elevated above the main floor. Thanks to Don Solosan for his photo taken for the LAHTF.

2009 - A face on the box. Photo: Don Solosan - LAHTF

2009 - A proscenium view with part of the fire curtain in sight. Photo: Don Solosan - LAHTF

2009 - Looking up to the sounding board. Photo: Don Solosan - LAHTF

2009 - A detail from the previous photo. Thanks, Don!

2010 - A look over the edge from a post about an event called "Mindshare" by Mark Frauenfelder on the site Boing Boing.

2013 - A view of the stripped out rear of the main floor house right. At the extreme right we're heading out into the newly reopened ticket lobby leading to Broadway. It had been used as retail space for decades. For Club 740 the entrance was in the alley. Thanks to Hunter Kerhart for the photo. Keep up with his recent explorations: HunterKerhart.com | on Flickr

2013 - The stage from the rear of the main floor house left. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2013 - The house left proscenium box plus a peek backstage. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2013 - Lighting up one of the faces on the house left proscenium box. It's not a spotlight but sunlight coming in from a small window above the grid. Thanks to Eric Chol, then the proprietor of the Globe, for the photo. At the time of the photo, he had just embarked on the multi-million dollar restoration project.

2013 - The bottom of the fire curtain and a peek backstage. Beyond at the left we see the stage right flyfloor. Across the center of the upstage wall is the paint bridge. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2013 - House right from onstage. Before the floor was leveled those two arches on the left were the exits from the main floor boxes into a corridor behind. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

That room with the porthole in the first balcony at the top center of the photo is where you can see a portion of the original balcony risers that didn't get removed. Another chunk is viewable in a similar strange room on the house left side.

2013 - The rear of the auditorium after removal of the Club 740 paraphernalia. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2013 - Another view to the rear. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2013 - Looking up toward the dark balconies from the main floor. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

January 2014 - Across the rear of the main floor after some demo. The area behind the columns was originally an open standee area, later a full height wall was installed at the column line making it a separate lobby. The stairs go up to the 1st balcony -- but not the 2nd. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

January 2014 - A 1st balcony soffit detail. Thanks to Sandi Hemmerlein for her photo. It's one of many fine views appearing with her Avoiding Regret photo essay "The Globe Theatre Under Construction."

January 2014 - The view toward the stage. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

January 2014 - A look upward at the center ornament on the house right box and the ante-proscenium cove above. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

January 2014 - The passage from backstage behind the house right proscenium box. The stairs around the corner to the left get you to the balcony level box. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein

January 2014 - The main floor box arches. Note the raised floor level here on the auditorium side. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein

January 2014 - Across toward house right during a LAHTF tour of the theatre. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

January 2014 - A wide angle view from the house right box. Photo: Wendell Benedetti - LAHTF Facebook page

January 2014 - A light fixture of uncertain vintage in the house right proscenium box. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein

January 2014 - A look up at the 2nd balcony and back of the ceiling from the main floor. The attic stops about where the decorative plaster does -- it's a lower roof over that very back section of the 2nd balcony. Thanks to Stephen Russo for his photo.

January 2014 - Down a little lower across the faces of both the 1st and 2nd balconies. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

January 2014 - A 1st balcony plaster detail from Hunter's photo. Note the sockets still remaining on the face of the balcony for light bulbs.

2014 - A view from the 1st balcony after Erik Chol had cleared off the stage. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - A look along the 1st balcony rail and the built-up terrace at the front. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - The balconies as seen from the house right box. That area at the back of the 1st balcony was a glassed-in VIP room. The glass was later removed. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein

2014 - The sidewall at the front of the balcony house right. Note the height of the added terrace in reference to the abandoned exit door. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - The view down into the house right box. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - Across the 1st balcony at original crossaisle level. This is the level one enters the balcony on at the top of the stairs. It's now just two terraces. Up the steps and you're in the glassed-in former VIP area. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - On the front terrace house left. The exit door went once onto a fire escape, no longer used. The two sets of stairs from the rear of the main floor are the only currently used exits and entrances to this level. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein

2014 - A look across from house left. Photo: Wendell Benedetti - LAHTF Facebook page

2014 - Looking down onto the front of the 1st balcony. Between the brass rail and the added riser is the space where the front row of seats used to be. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein

2014 - Looking inside the 1st balcony at the hidden risers from the house left box. The daylight you're seeing is where that flexible duct is supposed to connect to a hole in an exit door. Portable AC units had been positioned out on the no longer used fire escape. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - The rear of the 1st balcony toward house left. All the risers above the crossaisle were removed except for a bit left in rooms at the extreme ends. A new new lower height floor slab replaced them. The projection booth installed in 1930 in this area is long gone. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein

2014 - Looking out to the crossaisle. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - The rear of the 1st balcony looking toward house right. In that strange room with the porthole (and in a similar one behind us house left) one can see a portion of the original balcony risers that weren't cut away. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - A light fixture in the upper section of the balcony. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - The porthole room house right. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - Original seating risers remaining in the porthole room house right. Photo: Bill Counter

March 2014 - A view from the stage as construction begins. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

March 2014 - Framing going up house left for a bar and ice machine room. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

April 2014 - Erik Chol on the lift cleaning the exhaust diffuser. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

April 2014 - A test of lighting gear for the theatre. Thanks to Erik Chol for the photo

April 2014 - Testing some programmable instruments. Photo: Erik Chol

April 2014 - Another look house left. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

May 2014 - Painting restoration on the face of one of the proscenium boxes.Thanks to Erik Chol for the photo.

June 2014 - Drywall up on new bar areas at the rear of the main floor. Thanks to Rebecca Reynoso of Cap Equity Locations for this photo as well as the others that appear here. The firm brokers deals between property owners and those seeking a venue for filming or special event uses.

June 2014 - A wider view to the rear of the house and out toward Broadway. Note the new paint on the riser at the front of the 1st balcony. Photo: Cap Equity Locations

June 2014 - The front of the main floor -- and another look at the bar construction. Photo: Cap Equity Locations

June 2014 - Across from the house right box. Photo: Cap Equity Locations

January 2015 - A proscenium column and box detail. The photo by Elizabeth Daniels appeared with "Touring the Secret Passages of Broadway's 101-Year-Old Globe...," a Curbed L.A. article by Bianca Barragan. The theatre was open for the "Night on Broadway" at the end of January.

Heading up to the 2nd Balcony:

2014 - The bottom of the stairs up to the 2nd balcony. We're at the end of the exit passageway along the south side of the building. There was once also an entrance from Broadway that connected to these stairs but that later got filled in with expanded retail space. Presumably there was a small boxoffice and restrooms also tucked in somewhere.

This south passageway exits toward the alley. There's also a similar stairway at the west end of the north passageway but that one never had a connection to Broadway -- it was only an exit to the alley. There was never any connection of the 2nd balcony to the rest of the theatre's lobby areas, quite typical of two-balcony theatres of the era.

2014 - Up the south stairs. The window would have looked out into the south exit passageway toward the alley. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - Another view on the south stairs to the 2nd balcony. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein

2014 - Looking back down from the top of the south stairs. Note that although this stairway wasn't used as access to the second balcony since the 30s, we have emergency lighting. It was used as a fire exit for the wax museum on the 4th floor of the Garland Building in the 70s and 80s. At the right are the added steps up from balcony level to get into the Garland Building. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - The hall into the wax museum space. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - At the left are the steps down from the 4th floor of the Garland Building. Straight ahead, through an added doorway, and you're at the back of the 2nd balcony. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - One enters the 2nd balcony at a crossaisle along the back. In addition to the two exits you see that go onto a fire escape, back in the corner to the left is the top of the internal stairway. All lead to the exit passageway on the north side of the building. The exiting situation is similar on the south side. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - The view from partway down. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - Checking out the seats. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - An end standard detail. Yes, the wire thingies underneath are a holder for your hat. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - Over the edge. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - Part of the house right sidewall. The upper exits onto the fire escapes got bricked in, the lower ones didn't. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - A proscenium view from the house right corner. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - A detail of the ante-proscenium cove house right. This cove was lit at one time. There's conduit and electrical boxes visible from the attic side. But no rear access. Evidently one leaned a ladder up to the side of the cove from the second balcony and slithered along on the belly to relamp. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - A proscenium frieze detail. Photo: Stephen Russo

2014 - The house right end of the frieze. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - Looking over the edge of the ante-proscenium cove spying a few fluorescent tubes. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - A proscenium view taken during a LAHTF tour. Thanks to Don Solosan for his photo, one that appeared on the LAHTF Facebook page.

2014 - Down the center aisle. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - A lovely shot giving us a good idea of the slope of the 2nd balcony. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein

2014 - A view to the rear. The attic above stops about where that band of molding is. Above the back crossaisle the roof steps down and there's no attic above. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - One of the 1913 vintage hanging fixtures along the crossaisle. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - Another back crossaisle view. The duct was the exhaust from the long-gone projection booth on the 1st balcony. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - The original wall stencil design is revealed where a piece of ductwork was removed. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - A closer look at the stencil pattern. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - A wall sconce house left. This appears to be original and is perhaps the last of twelve. There was once one on each side of the six balcony exits. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - A ceiling detail house left. This grille near us is one of two that are just open to the attic. The one off to the right, on the house centerline, is ducted up to the exhaust fan. There's also a winch above it for a now-missing chandelier. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - The vista from house left. Back in the upper corner is the top of the interior stairway down to the south exit passage along side the building. It was the 2nd balcony's main entrance. It's been boxed in a bit to isolate it from the balcony from the time when it was used as a fire exit from the 4th floor of the Garland Building. Photo: Hunter Kerhart

2014 - Another look at the seats. It appears they got a cheap coat of paint during the Club 740 days. Photo: Bill Counter

2014 - The exit to the north interior stairs at the top of the balcony house left. Photo: Bill Counter

Los Angeles Theatres

Globe Theatre: earlier auditorium views

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