Turner Hall / Angelus / Star / Bijou / Royal / Regal Theatre

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

Opened: The cornerstone was laid on October 22, 1893. Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality has an October 22 Los Angeles Herald article and a photo on his Noirish post #50660. There was an article about the event in the October 23 Los Angeles Herald.

The January 1, 1894 Herald reported it was nearing completion. The building opened in April 1894 as Turn Halle, also known as Turner Hall, a German social hall. The Herald issues appear on the website of the California Digital Newspaper Collection. The photo, possibly from the opening, is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

The building was on the west side of the street mid-block between 3rd and 4th. Later the Hippodrome would be across the street and the Belasco/Follies just down the block. This was the third building for the organization. The first Turnverein Hall was a wood frame building at 1345 S. Figueroa St. The second c.1879 building at 231 S. Spring was later known as Lyceum Hall. It was just south of the Los Angeles Theatre, later called the Lyceum Theatre, at 227. 

The theatre was on the building's 2nd floor with a wrap-around balcony on 3. 

Architect: Capitain and Kremple. Thanks to Nathan Marsak for the data on Noirish Los Angeles post #50672 where he has photos of other buildings by the two architects. See "A History of California..." by James Miller Guinn on Google Books for additional information on John Paul Kremple.

Use as a theatre: The auditorium in the building was operated as a commercial venue, the Angelus Theatre, beginning in 1905.

 

This item appeared in the May 7 issue of the L.A. Times. The 1905 city directory listed William P. Allan as the proprietor. He didn't stay long. 

 

 

Rube Welch announced plans to rename the venue Welch's Star Theatre in this September 1905 story.  It needed a bit of proofreading -- both those "Spring" mentions should have said "Main." The Casino Theatre, where Welch was coming from, was on Spring St. between 3rd and 4th. His new venue, formerly the Angelus, was on Main between 3rd and 4th. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for researching this chapter of the theatre's history for a thread on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group. 

 

 

Welch's Star opened September 17. This September 18, 1905 item was located by Ken. 

 

 

A February 3, 1906 ad. 

 

 

A February 25, 1906 mention of "Who's a Liar" updates that was spotted by Ken McIntyre.

 

Welch evidently went on to other things. On April 22, 1906 it reopened as the Hecla Theatre under the management of J.J. Cluxton, who had earlier been with the Unique Theatre on Broadway. 

 

Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this Times item for a comment on a thread about the theatre on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group. Another item appearing after the Hecla's opening noted that the Star had been of "unlamented reputation."

Later in 1906 was known as the New Star Vaudeville Theatre. The copy for a June 6, 1906 ad in the Times located by Jeff Bridges: 

"New Star Theater - 323 South Main St. - A Carload of Pretty Girls, A Barrel of Good Singing and a Bunch of Fun-Real Burlesque Up To Date - Prices -10c, 20c, 30c, and a few at 50c."

 

A detail from the 1906 Sanborn fire insurance map nicely annotated by Jeff Bridges and posted on Flickr. He's got the New Star outlined in the upper right. Of interest is that the map is showing us the 2nd floor layout where the theatre was. The balcony was on 3. In the upper middle it's the Hotchkiss, later known, among many other names, as the Capitol, 334-338 S. Spring. Backing up to it down on Main is the Belasco at 337 S. Main, later known as the Follies. Thanks, Jeff!

 

Another look at the New Star from the 1906 Sanborn map. It's from Image 8 of Volume 2 of the copy of the map that's on the Library of Congress website.

 

By 1907 it was the New Bijou, "...the largest and best.." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding this 1907 Times ad for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group. In 1908 it was just the Bijou. 

 

A February 1908 ad. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for adding it as a comment on a Photos of Los Angeles thread about this building and the Hippodrome across the street. A February 19 Times ad located by Jeff Bridges had this copy: 

"Bijou Theater 323 South Main St. This afternoon and evening, all this week. The Tommy Burns-Gunner Moir fight pictures taken at London, England, ten rounds and knockout. Admission 25c, any seat."

In the 1908 city directory it's become the Theatre Royal and from 1909 onward was the Regal. In the 1909 directory we get a listing for Charles M. Bockoven & W. A. Dean running the place. Bockoven had earlier been in partnership with Billy Clune as Southwest Amusement Co. A May 2, 1909 Times item located by Jeff Bridges gives some idea of the programming:

"The Main-street Regal Theater programme for the coming week will include the first appearance of the Sisters Petite, singers and dancers; Warren Ellsworth, story-teller and monologist; James Heatherington, in illustrated songs and travelogues; new moving pictures, and music by Ransom’s orchestra."

It's still listed in the 1918 city directory as the Regal. It ceased being a theatrical venue in 1919 and was turned into a men's club and gym called L.A. Men's Club, a project of the City of Los Angeles. The L.A. Times ran a story about the transition in their September 4 issue. Later it was known as the Main Street Gym. 

Status: Demolished. The building had a fire in 1951 that led to its demise. The Times covered the story in their February 5 issue. At the time of the fire, believed caused by defective wiring in the attic, the gym was operated by Willie Orner. The building's owner was his sister, Mrs. Sadie Shelnart. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Flying Wedge for including the article in his Noirish post #50659.

The L.A. Times had a July 28, 1951 article about the opening of the building's cornerstone. Cleveland Wrecking did the demo job. Noirish Los Angeles contributor Brent Dickerson has it on his Noirish post #50665. The site is now part of the Reagan State of California Office Building.


Interior views: 

An undated view of the auditorium after it had been turned into a gym. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting the photo. It's a Daily News photo that's in the UCLA Library collection.

The Regal in the Movies: We see lots of the interior in "The Street with No Name" (20th Century Fox, 1948). See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for six more screenshots at the gym. We also see the Regent, the Muse and the Optic. The film, directed by William Keighley, stars Mark Stevens and Richard Widmark in a tale of an FBI informant trying to infiltrate a mob of gangsters. The cinematographer was Joseph McDonald.

A look to the rear of the house after a 1951 fire. It's a Herald Examiner photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. 


More exterior views:  

c.1894 - A postcard view of the building whose auditorium would later be the Regal Theatre (and many other names). Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor BifRayRock for finding the photo in the California State Library collection.

1923 - A look north with the Turnverein Hall, formerly the Regal Theatre, on the left just beyond the bookstore. The Hippodrome on the right at 320 S. Main is playing "Shifting Sands." That vertical arrow at the extreme left of the photo is on the Follies Theatre, 337 S. Main. 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.1932 - A look south on Main toward the building formerly housing the Regal. Also in the picture near us are the Wonderland Theatre at 315 S. Main (later called the Jade) and, down the block, the "Burlesque" vertical at 337 S. Main on the Follies. It's a photo by Anton Wagner in the collection of the California Historical Society.

c.1932 - A detail from the Anton Wagner photo. Note the "Boxing" signage on the marquee -- and dancing someplace upstairs! Wagner took hundreds of photos of the L.A. area in 1932 and 1933 for a thesis topic having to do with the way the area's topology influenced the character of its inhabitants. The CHS has collected over 400 of them for their album "Anton Wagner: Los Angeles 1932-33."

2019 - The Reagan State Office Building on the site of the Regal. We're looking south toward 4th St. The sole historic survivor on either side of the 300 block is the Van Nuys/Barclay Hotel on the far left. Photo: Bill Counter

More Information: Lots of research by Jeff Bridges and others appears on the Cinema Treasures page devoted to the Regal.

The building can be seen on an 1894 Sanborn insurance map on the Library of Congress website. 

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