Panorama / Adolphus / Hippodrome Theatre

320 S. Main St. Los Angeles, CA 90013 | map |

The building began in the 1880s as a two story office, retail and meeting hall building fronting on Main St. Later it was known as the Panorama Building after a huge a circular structure (actually 16-sided) was added behind for exhibition of the panorama "The Siege of Paris." 

The location was on the east side of the street mid-block between 3rd and 4th. Across the street would soon be the Belasco / Follies Theatre, the Turnverein Hall / Regal Theatre, and the Wonderland / Jade Theatre.

In 1911 the front building was retained but a new auditorium constructed where the panorama had been for the Adolphus Theatre. In 1913 it was renamed the Hippodrome. The theatre closed around 1950 and the auditorium was demolished in 1952, leaving the building in front as a 'drive-through' entrance to a parking lot in back. In 1984 the building fronting on Main was demolished as well. Decades later, the site is still a parking lot. 

 

The location as The Panorama Building:  

One of the big attractions in the late 1880s at the Panorama was a huge circular painting titled "The Siege of Paris."

 

c.1887 - A "catalog" for "The Siege of Paris." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for posting it as a comment on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. Note the nice illustration of the building on Main St.  

 

1888 - A typical ad that for the attraction. This one appeared in the April 4 issue of the Los Angeles Herald. 

 

 

c.1888 - A C.C. Pierce photo looking east from City Hall toward the Main St. side of the Panorama building. The photo from the California Historical Society appears on the USC Digital Library website. 

c.1888 - A detail of the C.C. Pierce photo giving a closer look at the circular building and the building in front of it on Main St. with Panorama Book Store signage on the north wall. The attraction was a huge circular painting titled "The Siege of Paris." The lettering on the building called it "The Battle of Paris." 

The roof of the Panorama Building can also be seen on the far right of a 1907 C.C. Pierce photo in the USC collection that was taken from the Pacific Electric Building at 6th and Main.

1888 - A look at the Los Angeles St. side of the Panorama building. That's a Germain Fruit Company greenhouse in the foreground. We're looking north with the spire at the back of St. Vibiana Cathedral in the 200 block of S. Main on the right. It's a photo by Martin Behrman in the California State Library collection. The Los Angeles Public Library also has a copy.

1889 - The Panorama fell on hard times. The May 13, 1889 issue of the Los Angeles Herald carried this article titled "The Siege of Paris. It is Attached and Closed to the Public." The page with the article appears on the website of the California Digital Newspaper Collection. Thanks to panorama researcher Gene Meier for locating this.

The article mentions "The Battle of Gettysburg," a second panorama in town that had been located at Washington Gardens. That park at Washington and Main was later known as Chutes Park and then Luna Park. 

1889 - Carl Browne had painted one version of "Gettysburg" that was exhibited in a Tent Panorama in San Francisco in 1886. Perhaps he had also painted the L.A. version but, if so, it's strange that he doesn't mention the L.A. showing in an October 5 letter he wrote to Captain Dan Freeman, one of the owners of this building at 320 S. Main. In the letter, located by panorama researcher Gene Meier in the Loyola Marymount University collection, he noted that he had seen the Herald article about "The Siege of Paris" coming down and proposed that he paint a Yosemite panorama, a project he could do for a bit over a thousand dollars. That would include not just the painting but all the foreground foliage and other stuff necessary to get the doors open. That project didn't happen. 

1889 - The Los Angeles Evening Express had their offices in the portion of the building that fronted on Main St. Their letterhead said "Panorama Building, Up Stairs." The editor, H.Z. Osborne, wrote the building owners Walter S. Maxwell and Dan Freeman an October 1 letter that Gene Meier located in the Loyola Marymount collection. Osborne was looking for a rent reduction as prices city-wide had declined and he was paying more than some newer tenants. Also, he was unhappy with the premises: 

"You are hereby notified that the building... is now in an unsafe condition and is rapidly becoming worse, owing to its faulty and careless original construction."

 

1890 - A June 30 item in the L.A. Times located by Jeff Bridges called it the Panorama Amphitheatre and noted that they'd be having a cavalry drill for boys in the building. Within a year or two the building became the Empire Stables.

 

1894 - A detail from a Sanborn insurance map showing that the Panorama days were over and the building had been converted into stables. The Sanborn people kindly give us several ideas of the height of the building: 50' to the eaves and 80' in the center to the bottom of the cupola. A larger view of the map can be seen on the Library of Congress website.

c.1895 - The building on Main during the Empire Stables days. You could ride your horse and buggy in through what had been the Panorama entrance. About 50 years later it would be a drive-through entrance to a parking lot after the theatre was demolished. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1906 - A May 9 L.A. Times ad for the Panorama building reopening as the Panorama Skating Rink. Thanks to Jeff Bridges for locating the ad. He has it on Flickr.  

The rink had an orchestra directed by a Mr. Frankenstein, music director at the Orpheum. The owners expected the local business and professional men and women to come in for skating during their lunch hour. The story was covered in the May 10, 1906 Los Angeles Herald. 

The July 30, 1906 Herald talked about a masquerade skating carnival at the rink. The articles are on the website of the California Digital Newspaper Collection. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality for spotting the stories for his Noirish post #50689.

1906 - A Sanborn insurance map of the block between 3rd and 4th showing the Panorama building in use as the skating rink. Many thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Jeff Bridges for posting the map on Flickr.

1906 - A closer look at the Panorama building from the Sanborn map. Also see Image 22 from Volume 2 of the version of the 1906 Sanborn Map that's on the Library of Congress website.  

1907 - A January 6 L.A. Times item located by Jeff Bridges mentioned that the "skating rink feature of the place was eliminated" so they could hold a week-long poultry and pigeon show. 

 

 

1910 - The lot strewn with rubble where the Panorama building had been appears in this detail from a C.C. Pierce photo taken from a balloon. Thanks to Joe Vogel for finding the California Historical Society photo in the USC Digital Library collection.

That's Main St. running left to right. Across the street from the Panorama location note the Belasco / Republic / Follies Theatre at 337 S. Main. Just to the left of its stagehouse, note the stagehouse of the Casino/Empress Theatre on the 300 block of Spring St., a theatre later known as the Capitol. 3rd St., with its jog at Main, is on the right. In the lower right note the Empire Theatre, 128 E. 3rd. The stagehouse has a single smoke vent and "...Keene.." something or other is on the side of the building.

1910 - This detail from a map by Birdseye View Publishing that's on the Library of Congress website shows a green field where the Panorama had been. The map, with art by Francis Lawrence and "compiled" by Birdseye staffer Worthington Gates, was first issued in October 1909 and shows a 1909 copyright date. 

The printing this detail is from incorporated 1910 revisions. Also see an earlier version of the map, also carrying a 1909 copyright date. The Belasco and Turner Hall are in the upper left. The latter had an auditorium known by many names including as the Regal Theatre. The Empire Theatre is seen on 3rd St. 

 

1910 - The "Panorama Building" fronting on Main and the "Exposition Building" behind are seen in this detail from Plate 002 of the 1910 Baist Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works. 

The new theatre was underway at the time the map was issued -- or at least they had seen the plans. What they're calling the "Exposition Building" was the outline of the new Adolphus Theatre's auditorium on the site of the circular Panorama structure. The older two-story building fronting on Main St. remained. It got a facade remodel and a new lobby for the theatre. 

 

 

The Adolphus / Hippodrome Theatre: 

Opened: November 27, 1911 as the Adolphus Theatre, running vaudeville and films. This wonderful view looking north on Main in 1946 shows the Hip running "Road to Utopia" with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. Thanks to Sean Ault for finding the photo on eBay. It's been around in several versions including from Ken McIntyre on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

The auditorium was on the site of the Panorama Building with the entrance through a remodeled two-story building fronting on Main that was retained from the Panorama days. From about 1911 to 1914 there was a nickelodeon called the Rex Theatre at 324 S. Main, in the south storefront of the building. The building also housed a second floor dance hall that in the teens and 20s was known as Eagles Hall. In 1952 it became a gym.

The project was contemplated as early as 1907. A June 3, 1907 article in the L.A. Times located by Jeff Bridges noted that Adolph Ramish and Philip Wilson were planning a new theatre on the site of the Panorama building and it would specialize in melodrama. John Blackwood was to be the manager. Joe Vogel found an August 15, 1907 Los Angeles Daily Journal article noting that Adolph Ramish had been issued a permit to demolish the Panorama building.

Architects: Edward Leodore Mayberry Jr. and Llewellyn Adelbert Parker of the firm Mayberry & Parker did the 1911 design for the Adolphus Theatre constructed behind the older building fronting on Main St. Thanks to Bill Gabel for the data. He notes: "Seating was provided for 1,450, all on a single level together with 12 seats in each of the single boxes located at the side of the proscenium. The stage was 50 ft. deep."

 

 

"Theatre of Exits Beauty and Comfort." A November 1911 opening week ad. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a post for the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles. 

  

 

An item appearing about the second week's offerings at the Adolphus. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it.   

 

A 1912 ad regarding controversy about a dance called the Texas Tommy. It's one item Ken McIntyre located for another thread about the theatre, and Mr. Ramish, on Photos of Los Angeles. 

 

 

22 features! This discussion about a March 1912 program is another item located by Ken McIntyre. 

 

A writeup about another program in 1912. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the item.

Getting a rebuild: On August 31, 1913 the Adolphus re-opened as the Hippodrome after a remodel designed by Otto Janssen that added a 700 seat cantilevered balcony of concrete and steel. Thanks to Joe Vogel for locating the data in the April 12 issue of Southwest Contractor & Manufacturer. 

Seating: 2,150 after the balcony was added. Not a great Los Angeles movie palace but it was the largest theatre on Main Street. Later it was listed as 1,508 seats.

Pipe Organ: The theatre didn't get one until 1925. A June 28 L.A. Times article located by Ken McIntyre noted: "Hippodrome Installing New Organ - Special Dedicatory Service to Mark Completion of Work on Huge Instrument - The Hippodrome Theater in Main street, can be classified as one of the last of the larger downtown theaters in Los Angeles to install a pipe organ, to be used in connection with its presentation of feature pictures. After operating all these years with a large orchestra." Ken Roe reports that it was a Moller 3/14.

Stage specifications: 

Proscenium width: 49'    Stage depth: 45'    Depth of "one": 8'

Wall to wall: 220' (!)    Grid height: 68'    Rigging: 40 hemp linesets

Dressing rooms: 14, with 5 at stage level.    Power: 110 volts DC

The data comes from page 114 of the 1919 edition of "Vaudeville Trails thru the West," also known as "Herbert Lloyd's Vaudeville Guide." Thanks to Mike Hume for finding it on Internet Archive. The Hippodrome was doing new shows every Sunday and Wednesday. The daily schedule at the time was a matinee at 3 plus two evening shows. On Sundays they ran five shows. The theatre's orchestra numbered nine pieces.

 

More Hip history: The theatre was under the direction of the San Francisco firm of Ackerman and Harris, headed by Irving C. Ackerman and Sam Harris. That firm would later manage Loew's State when it opened on Broadway in 1921. A Times article on the 1913 Hippodrome opening day noted:

 

"Hippodrome To Open Today - Biggest Vaudeville and Circus Shows On Coast - Handsome New Playhouse on Main Street Between Third and Fourth Seats 3000 People—Every Seat in House Ten Cents—First Performance at One. With a show as mammoth as is the theater itself, the Hippodrome, located on Main street, between Third and Fourth, and the largest theater on the Pacific Coast, will throw open its doors at 12:30 this afternoon...

 

"Boasting the biggest stage west of Chicago the Hippodrome will be all that its name implies, presenting such acts as only an immense stage can handle, thus permitting of animal acts and aerial work seldom seen outside of the circus. In addition to these 'jumbo' acts, which can be staged nowhere else in Los Angeles, a complete vaudeville show with more acts than any other house in town, and three photoplays will be given..."

Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding this Christmas Day 1913 ad in the Times. That 3,000 number for seating was a bit of an exaggeration.

 

The buildings are identified as the Hippodrome in this detail from Plate 002 of the 1914 Baist Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works. The Rex nickelodeon is indicated as "Theatre" in the south storefront, 324 S. Main. 

 

The cover of a 1915 program. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. 

 

A 1915 ad in the Times. 

 

A 1918 ad.

In 1919 Marcus Loew bought the Ackerman and Harris circuit. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding this Times article. It was added as a comment to a post about the theatre on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. When Loew opened his Loew's State Theatre on Broadway in 1921, Ackerman and Harris was the initial operator for him. Nat Holt, who had been managing the Hippodrome, moved over to the State. It's unknown how long Loew kept an interest in the Hippodrome.

 

A vehicle used to ferry the theatre's performers around town. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Godzilla for finding the photo for Noirish post #51253. 

 

 

A 1920 ad. 

 

 

"Main at Fourth - Almost." It's another 1920 ad.  

A detail from a 1923 Sanborn insurance map showing the theatre property combined with a photo of the much later parking lot that it became. Thanks to Jeff Bridges for the work. See his much wider view of the block on Flickr.

 

A 1941 ad appearing in the Eastside Journal. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. 

 

 

Although Adolph Ramish hadn't operated the theatre himself in decades, he still owned the property at the time of his death in 1944. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding this November 1944 obituary appearing in the Honolulu Advertiser. It's one item Ken has in a thread about the theatre, and Mr. Ramish, on Photos of Los Angeles.

 

An Eastside Journal ad in 1946. It was a find by Ken McIntyre.

 

 

In the 40s the theatre was operated by Popkin & Ringer. This listing in the 1947 Film Daily Yearbook shows the extent of Harry Popkin's theatre holdings. His company at one time was also called Circle Theatres. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting the listing. 

 

Popkin buys the property in 1948. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the news item.

Closing: It closed sometime around 1950. At the time it was just advertised as the Hip.

 

 

A 1952 article about the fate of the building that was located by Ken McIntyre.

The auditorium was demolished in September and October 1952 for a parking lot but the building fronting on Main remained. An October 27 L.A. Times story located by Ken McIntyre commented: 

"The last wall of the Hippodrome Theater, onetime vaudeville house of Los Angeles, crumbled to earth yesterday in a cloud of powdery concrete to make way for a new parking lot."

Upstairs became the Olympic Gym after after they were forced to vacate the former Regal Theatre auditorium across the street following a 1951 fire. The November 13, 1952 Times noted the opening. In the 1956 phone book it's still the Olympic but by 1959 it had been renamed the Main St. Gym.

 

 

What was left got sold in 1961. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the story.

 

Status: The front building survived until November 1984 when it too became a parking lot. It's still a parking lot. A building called the Medallion with apartments above and retail and restaurants on the ground floor now occupies the northeast corner of 4th and Main where the Westminster Hotel once was. 

 

More exterior views as a theatre:

c.1920 - A postcard view looking south toward 4th St. with the Hippodrome and its fancy new facade on the left. The Follies, 337 S. Main, is the second building in on the right. The card is in the California State Library collection.

c.1920 - A detail from the postcard. On the marquee: "The Sex Circus." If that was a film, IMDb isn't helpful with any information.

1923 - A look north with the Hippodrome on the right playing "Shifting Sands." On the left is the Turnverein Hall, formerly the Regal Theatre at 323 S. Main. By this time it had become a gym. That vertical arrow at the extreme left of the photo is on the Follies Theatre. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the photo for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. A somewhat fuzzier version is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

c.1928 - Looking south at the east side of the block from 3rd. The theatre is down there in the middle of the block. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo. 

1928 - A photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. 

1940 - "Closed For Alterations." Note the "Dancing" vertical at the far end of the building for the dance hall upstairs. The photo from Marc Wanamaker's Bison Archives appears on page 28 of the fine 2008 Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres in Los Angeles" by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, Amy Ronnebeck Hall and Mr. Wanamaker. The book gets a preview on Google Books. It's available from Amazon or your local bookseller.

c.1940 - A view of  the stagehouse of "Los Angeles' Greatest Place of Amusement." The men are exercising on the roof of the Midnight Mission, 396 Los Angeles St. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1942 - We get a look north on Main St. toward what was then called The Hip in Life's portfolio shot in May for a spread called "Streetcar Party." It's a Bob Landry photo on Google/Life Images where the "related images" selection allows paging through other views from the shoot. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Tourmaline for including this photo and others from the set in Noirish post #35591.

1943 - A Zoot Suit Riots newspaper photo. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo. It also makes an appearance on Noirish Los Angeles contributor Mdiederi's Noirish post #2580 dealing with the riots and the 1942 Sleepy Lagoon murder case. On the left note that we have a bit of the marquee of the Follies Theatre.

1948 - A look at the Hippodrome by noted photographer Arnold Hylen. The Hip is running "The Big Clock" and "Casbah." Note the "Hip Cafe" to the left of the entrance. The photo comes courtesy of Hylen's grand niece, Greta Gustafsson. For more about Hylen see the Arnold Hylen Photographer Facebook page.

1952 - The facade just before demolition of the auditorium. Note the Cleveland Wrecking sign just above the marquee. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding L.A. Times photo. It makes an appearance on a 2007 post by Larry Harnisch on the Times blog The Daily Mirror.

1952 - A sad photo of the demolition of the Hippodrome's proscenium. A bit of the auditorium's plasterwork is still visible on the left. Only the auditorium and stagehouse were demolished at this time. The two story building fronting on Main stayed up until the 80s. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the L.A. Times photo by Jack Carrick. It was published on October 26, 1952 and made an appearance on a 2007 post by Larry Harnisch on the Times blog The Daily Mirror.

c.1956 - The theatre's vertical sign redone to say "Auto Park." You had the fun of driving through the former lobby. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. 

 

1957 - A view by William Reagh looking north from 4th toward the Hippodrome vertical sign. The building on the corner is the Westminster Hotel. It was demolished in 1960. The photo is in the California State Library collection. Also see a similar c.1954 view in the California State Library collection.  

 

c.1958 - A lovely look south on Main. That's the Higgins Building, 2nd and Main, in the lower center. The first intersection we see is 3rd St. with the vertical sign and marquee of what was left of the Hippodrome a half block beyond. The top of the Follies Theatre is visible across the street. In the distance note the sign on the side of the Santa Fe Building at 6th and Main. Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting this one when it was offered for sale online.

 

 

c.1958 - A detail from the previous photo showing the Hippodrome signage in the center and the Follies on the right. That's the Van Nuys / Barclay Hotel at 4th and Main just beyond the Follies. Ken McIntyre notes that the Westminster Hotel is visible across the street from the Barclay on the NE corner of 4th & Main. It was demolished in early 1960. That bus seen just beyond the theatres is turning onto 4th St. Thanks, Sean!

1974 - Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting this shot on eBay. 

 

1974 - Another view from the same photographer as the previous photo. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing this.

 

1974 - The part of the theatre building fronting on Main all alone on the block. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo. 

 

 

 

c.1975 - The building that was the front half of the Hippodrome can be seen in the upper left in this view of a sea of parking lots. Thanks to Sean Ault for locating the photo. That's Broadway over on the right. Looking up just beyond the Bradbury Building at 3rd one can see the marquee of the Cozy Theatre, 320 S. Broadway. 

 

c.1975 - A detail from the aerial shot. In the upper center is the building that was left after the auditorium of the Hippodrome was demolished for parking. That sea of cars across the street had been the site of the Follies Theatre at 337 S. Main, demolished in 1974. The large building in the center has been demolished with the Reagan State Office Building now on the site. 

The building the Electric Theatre was once in is at the center of the left edge of the image. Just beyond is the wedge of a building remaining after partial demolition of the Liberty Theatre, 266 S. Main. In the lower left we have the roof of the building once housing the Crystal Theatre, 247 S. Main. Just beyond is the roof of the Linda Lea, 251 S. Main -- now the site of the Downtown Independent. Thanks, Sean! 

c.1975 - The Hip as a parking lot operated by Joe's Parking. It's a photo by Victor Plukas in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. 

1975 - Looking north from 4th toward the south side of the forlorn Hippodrome. It's a photo by Victor Plukas in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1976 - A  facade detail by Marilynn K. Yee for the L.A. Times.

1976 - Another facade detail by Marilynn K. Yee for the L.A. Times. This photo and the one above make an appearance on "Main Street Gym," a 2007 post by Larry Harnisch on the Times blog The Daily Mirror. It's not funny anymore, but "Comedy" is still on the facade in terracotta.

1979 - A William Reagh photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Also see a 1980 photo by James Roark of the gym's entrance that's in the Library's Herald Examiner collection.

 

c.1981 - We still have comedy, music and drama on the facade. But no more marquee or vertical sign. It's a photo Ken McIntyre located. 

 

c.1981 - A detail from the previous photo. It's from a version of it Ken used to lead a thread about the building on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

1983 - A look-through view from the now-vanished American Classic Images website.  

2019 - The theatre's site as a parking lot. We're looking east to Los Angeles St. The pink building in the distance is the same one seen looking through the Hippodrome's entrance in earlier photos. On the right it's the parking garage for the Medallion apartment building on the northeast corner of 4th and Main. Photo: Bill Counter

2019 - Looking south from 3rd St. toward the Hippodrome site. On the corner two encampments. A few tents of the homeless and a more prosperous group of trucks in the parking lot as a base camp some filming nearby. The Hippodrome was in the middle of the block. Down at the end at 4th it's the Medallion apartments. Photo: Bill Counter 

 

The Hippodrome in the movies:

The Follies and the Hippodrome are seen 7 minutes into nearly 11 minutes of 1950 footage intended for use as process shot backgrounds in film or TV shows. A lovely colorized and remastered version is on YouTube from NASS as "1950s - Views of Los Angeles in color..." The original footage is on Internet Archive as Pet 1067 R 4. On Main St. we also get views of the Muse, Burbank, Optic, Gayety, Regent, and Liberty theatres. 7th St. footage includes the Warner and Loew's State.  

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Hippodrome for lots of discussion.

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