Los Angeles Theatres: Belasco Theatre: backstage

The Belasco's auditorium as seen from onstage in a 1926 Mott Studios photo. Note the illuminated sidewall arches. In the church era they were cut open to become functioning windows. The photo is one of 17 shots in the California State Library set # 001415683.

A section through the stage. At flyfloor level stage left it's a paint shop. Below that, out 7' from the side wall, note the unusual grid of 2" pipe. It also appears on the stage right side. On the house side of the proscenium wall note the catwalk for relamping the dome. Also see the full section drawing. A set of plans for the building is in the Morgan, Walls & Clements Archive at the Huntington Library. This is from drawing #6777 on their site, a sheet that also has several other views. Also see a section view from the structural engineer as drawing #6759.

On the Huntington's site you can start at drawing #6755 and page forward through the full set of 65 sheets which include structural, electrical, HVAC and sprinkler drawings. The set ends with drawing #6819. Thanks to Mike Hume for locating these. Visit the Index to the MW&C Drawings that Mike has been compiling for his Historic Theatre Photography site. There's also a 22 page index by Mike Callahan on Internet Archive.

Proscenium: 42' wide x 28' high

Stage wall to wall: 65'

Footlights to curtain line: 3 1/2' feet in 1949. The theatre now has neither.

Curtain line to back wall: 28'

Traps: The stage floor is shown on the plans as being in removable sections. But we also got a decorative finished plaster ceiling in the green room located below.

Dressing rooms: The original layout was for all of the dressing rooms to be in the basement. A later layout was that there were two at stage level, three added one floor up.

Orchestra pit: It's now covered with concrete. The Times noted in 1926 that the pit was on a hydraulic lift but this was not the case. Structural drawing #6759 from the Morgan, Walls & Clements archive at the Huntington Library shows the pit without a lift.

Grid height: 67' 2 5/8" according to the plans.

Rigging: Originally it was a hemp house with three lines per set. There are flyfloors both stage left and stage right with stage right being the main one. It was a paint shop on stage left. In 1949 they were rigged for 35 sets. The plans show the flyfloors as being 24' above stage level.

Asbestos: It's been removed. It was operated stage left. The upper part of the lattice track for the arbor is still on the proscenium wall.

Paintbridge: Up close to the backwall at flyfloor height. The bridge itself remains in place but the paint frame is long gone.

Power: In 1949 it was noted that they had AC only. Originally they had DC service as well for stage and booth pockets.

Dimmers: The original board was off right. We get a look at it in the 2001 film "Swordfish." There's a drawing of it lower on this page from the 1926 plans. The board was evidently removed in the 2010-2011 renovations.

Some of the tech data comes from the 1949 ATPAM Theatre, Arena & Auditorium Guide. Thanks to Bob Foreman for posting the book on his Vintage Theatre Catalogs site.

A section view looking toward the back wall. It's on drawing #6777 on the Huntington Library site. Note the pipe grids out from the sidewalls below the flyfloors. The four doors we see in the center are to the dressing rooms up against the back wall.

A stage plan. Also see the full 1st floor plan. On the Huntington site it can be seen as drawing #6780.

A section view through the orchestra pit and footlights, from drawing #6785. Also see a view of a ladder and trapdoor for access to the pit from the musicians' room underneath.

The stage at flyfloor level. Note the paintbridge along the back wall. Also see the full plan at balcony level. On the Huntington site this is drawing #6778.

A plan of the grid from drawing #6759 on the Huntington Library site. Note that for the end lines of your three-line hemp sets that you had a choice of two different loftwells spaced 7' apart. You can click on any of these images for a larger view or follow the links to the Huntington site for jumbo versions.

A section view of the grid, also from drawing #6759. This sheet from the structural engineer also contains a section view of the stage and auditorium.

The dimmerboard layout as seen on drawing #6770. As the drawing notes, we don't see the dimmers here -- they were in three rows above the board. Also see a drawing of the contactor board located in the basement. The stage level lighting circuitry is diagrammed on drawing #6766. The layout for the borderlight junction boxes and dome lighting is on drawing #6769.

Stage and auditorium lighting groups and wattages for each. It's from drawing #6770. There were both AC and DC pockets.

A 2002 view offstage left. Note the paint bridge. Thanks to Bob Meza for his photo appearing on the Cinema Tour page about the Belasco.

Another stage left view. Photo: Bob Meza - Cinema Tour - 2002

A peek off to stage right. Photo: Bob Meza - Cinema Tour - 2002. Thanks, Bob!

A balcony view of the empty stage. Thanks to Dave Bullock for this 2007 view. Check out his terrific set of nineteen photos appearing on the Belasco Theatre page of his site eecue.com.

Want to know where the loading doors are? Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler we have this 2008 shot with them open. It's on Flickr. Start at Eric's first Belasco Theatre photo and you can page through 12 of the theatre. His Los Angeles Theatres set has over 500 great photos of many Los Angeles movie palaces and legit theatres.

A 2008 stage left view showing some of the seismic bracing and the remains of the lattice track for the asbestos curtain's arbor. It's an Eric Lynxwiler photo on Flickr. Thanks, Eric!

A view down showing the effects of the 2011 renovations. Thanks to Mike Hume for his photo. It was taken during the visit to the theatre as part of the Theatre Historical Society Conclave in the summer of 2017. Visit Mike's Historic Theatre Photography site for hundreds of fine photos of the theatres he's explored. And don't miss his page about the Belasco.

A look up to the grid. Photo: Mike Hume - 2017

The stage right end of the grid as seen from the stage right VIP box. Note the diagonal seismic bracing in the upper center of the photo at the stagehouse backwall. The cables coming down diagonally from this area are to support the paint bridge. The bridge itself is seen on the lower right. Photo: Mike Hume - 2020

The headbeam area off right. The hemp headblocks are still in place. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

The view across to stage right. The little balconies onstage had been installed by some previous tenant but they only got the fancy railings and faux-decorative plasterwork added during the 2011 renovations. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017

A wider look across to the stage right flyfloor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017

Another look to the stage right flyfloor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

Off right, formerly the dimmerboard location. The door goes to the exit passage between this theatre and the Mayan. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

Working on the 1st electric. It's on chain motors -- there's no counterweight system. Above, note the diagonal bracing between the sidewall and the proscenium. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017

Looking offstage left. With the auditorium floor leveled and brought up to stage height, they had to build a new platform to serve as a stage. The ornate panel for the face of the VIP box was created from castings of auditorium plasterwork. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017

In the stage left VIP box. The flyfloor level can be seen in the upper left. It's a 2020 photo by Mike Hume that appeared on the Archiving Technical Theatre History Facebook page.

Another from the VIP box. Thanks to Wendell Benedetti for his 2020 photo on Facebook.

The grid as seen from the stage left VIP box. Photo: Mike Hume - 2020

At flyfloor level:

Upstage right. On the right we're looking along the double pinrail. The large tubular thing is an HVAC duct. At the left it's a view along the paint bridge. Photo: Mike Hume - 2020

The downstage end of the stage right flyfloor. Note the abandoned arbors for three wire guide counterweight sets. Photo: Mike Hume - 2020

Looking along the paint bridge toward stage left. Photo: Mike Hume - 2020

In the basement:

A detail from the basement plan in the Huntington Library collection. The elecrtrical room, with the clapper board, is in the upper left. Note the musicians' room under the pit, flanked by two chorus rooms. An additional chorus room, along with the stagehands' room, are under the house left side of the auditorium. Also see the full basement plan. On the Huntington site that one is drawing #6781.

Some dressing room revisions dated August 17, 1926. You can click on this for a larger view. They decided to make the director's room, off the stage right stair landing, a bit nicer. And four really small rooms became a pair of larger ones. This is one of several updates on drawing #6815.

A detail of half the musicians' room and, at the top, a look at one of the two sets of steel stairs to get into the pit via a trapdoor. It's from drawing #6785. Also see a cross section through the pit, from the same drawing.

A 1926 Mott Studios look at one of the Belasco's dressing rooms. It's one of 16 photos of the theatre in the California State Library set # 001415656.

A 1926 Mott Studios look at the green room. We're right underneath the stage, shown on the plans as being in removable sections. The doors at the right go to dressing rooms. The photo is one of 17 shots in the California State Library set # 001415683. The set includes two other takes of this view. This was one of four photos of the theatre in the August 1927 issue of Architectural Record. A version of it is also in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

Green room wall elevations from drawing #6795 on the Huntington site. You can click on these images for a larger view. Or follow the links to the Huntington's site for jumbo versions.

On the left in this image, also from drawing #6795, it's the green room ceiling. On the right it's the floor treatment. The dressing rooms seen at the top are those along the back wall with the stage left star room on the right.

The condition of the green room in 2008. Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for his photo on Flickr.

A ceiling detail. Photo: Eric Lynxwiler - Flickr - 2008

A closer look at one of the faux wood beams. Photo: Eric Lynxwiler - Flickr - 2008

A detail of the restored green room ceiling. Thanks to Albert Domasin for his photo on Flickr. Check out all 44 views taken at a 2011 LAHTF tour in his Belasco Theatre set.

A closer look at the faces on the beams. Thanks to Steve Shriver for his 2011 photo on Flickr. It's included in his fine 75 photo "Belasco Theater and downtown walkabout" album.

Another green room view. How nice, they painted it green. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017

The upstage wall as seen from the bottom of the stage left stairs. The trap room was remodeled in 2022 by Live Nation. In 1926 this area behind the columns was built out as separate dressing rooms. Photo: Bill Counter - 2023

Part of the 2022 project involved building out the downstage side of the space into separate dressing rooms. We're looking toward stage right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

One of the new dressing rooms. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

Another of the dressing rooms. Note that the walls only go part way up, with the 1926 vintage ceiling preserved. Photo: Bill Counter - 2023

A ceiling detail. Photo: Bill Counter - 2022

At the stage right end of the trap room, a doorway through the proscenium wall into the former plenum space under the auditorium. It's now a separate events space Live Nation is calling "The Chamber." Photo: Bill Counter - 2023

A look under the now-covered orchestra pit, what had once been a musicians' room. The downstage wall, under the curve, got removed to make the area part of the club space in the plenum. See the support areas page for more views. Photo: Bill Counter - 2023

Looking to trap room level from the stage right stairs. Photo: Bill Counter - 2023

The view up to stage level. Photo: Bill Counter - 2023

Los Angeles Theatres

Belasco Theatre: backstage

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