Los Angeles Theatres: Mark Taper Forum

The News: The Center Theatre Group, in a June 15, 2023 announcement, reported that the house would go dark on June 25 at the end of the run of "A Transparent Musical." The closure, expected to last at least a year, is due to financial difficulties and a need for restructuring. The Ahmanson remains open and CTG will offer "select programming" at the Kirk Douglas for the 2023-24 season.

Opened: April 1967. This March 1966 view of the Taper and the Ahmanson under construction taken by Palmer Connor is in the Huntington Library collection. Thanks to James J. Chun for finding it for a post for the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.

Phone: 213-628-2772 Website: www.centertheatregroup.org

Seating: 739

Stage: It's a thrust configuration with a depth of 30' on the centerline.

Architect: Welton Becket and Associates

A first floor plan of the Taper from the architects. Thanks to Mike Hume for including the drawing with the fine page about the Music Center on his Historic Theatre Photography site.

A second floor plan.

A section of the theatre. Again thanks to Mike Hume for locating the drawings.

Interior views:

The lobby as viewed from house right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The house left end of the lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The auditorium from the top. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

Toward house left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

Peeking offstage right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A view to the grid. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

Another view across the house. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

Ceiling catwalks and lighting positions. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The view from upstage center. It's a photo by Craig Schwartz taken for the Center Theatre Group that appeared with a June 2023 TheatreMania article about the Taper's temporary closure. Thanks to Mike Hume for spotting the article.

More exterior views:

A late 1966 view with the colonnade being completed. It's a slide taken by Palmer Connor that's in the Huntington Library collection.

A December 1966 construction view. Thanks to Art Siegel for finding it for a post on the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles.

North on Grand toward the Taper with the Ahmanson Theatre beyond. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

Across Grand Ave. from the Taper. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The Taper from the Dorothy Chandler. The plaza was getting a makeover. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The back of the theatre as viewed from in front of the Ahmanson. That's the Department of Water and Power Building in the background. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The entrance faces south toward the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Here we're looking east toward it. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A closer view of the entrance. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The Taper's moat decorated for Christmas. That's a bit of the Ahmanson Theatre on the right. Photo: Mike Hume - 2018

End of a Christmas season with no shows. The tree was being taken down on January 7, 2021. Photo: Bill Counter

Waiting for a fall 2021 opening. Thanks to Tony Hoover for sharing this photo on a Facebook post in August.

The Ahmanson, the Taper and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Christmas Day 2023. Photo: Bill Counter

The Mark Taper Forum in the Movies:

Elvis is a photographer on a shoot at the Music Center in Norman Taurog's "Live a Little, Love a Little" (MGM, 1968). The film features Michele Carey, Don Porter, Rudy Vallee, Dick Sargent, Sterling Holloway and Celeste Yarnall. The cinematography was by Fred J. Koenekamp. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for two more Music Center views plus an earlier shot on Wilcox Ave. in Hollywood looking toward the Warner/Hollywood Pacific.

Los Angeles Theatres

Mark Taper Forum

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