1 Casino Way, Avalon, Catalina Island, CA 90704 |
map |
Opened: May 29, 1929 with the Douglas Fairbanks film "The Iron Mask." Thanks to Nile Hight for locating the 2016 photo of the Casino Building, one of eight appearing in a post for the Belle Epoque to Art Deco Facebook group. He notes: "That's Los Angeles rising in the background."
Website: www.theavalontheatre.com | photo gallery | www.visitcatalinaisland.com | ,,,things-to-do/avalon-theatre |
Email: info@theavalontheatre.com
Shows: The theatre is currently only running feature films for special event bookings. They are, however, showing the one-hour documentary "Hollywood's Magical Island" most Friday and Saturday evenings.
Tours: The Casino building and public areas of the theatre can be visited during the "General Admission" self-guided tour offered every day except Thursdays. The Catalina Island Company's guided "VIP Backstage Tour" gets you backstage and in the booth. Tickets:
www.theavalontheatre.com/casinotours Architects: Sumner M. Spaulding and Walter I. Webber. John Gabriel Beckman did the murals. The site Ask Art has a bit about Mr. Beckman and notes that the Avalon murals were evidently completed in a three month period. Beckman also worked on the Fox Fullerton and the Chinese. The architects and Mr. Beckman were noted in "Dance Hall Nears Completion," an article Mike Hume located in the February 24, 1929 issue of the L.A. Times:
Seating: 1,184. Not the 2,500 noted in the Times article above.
This underwater deco confection is on the ground floor of William
Wrigley Jr.'s monumental Casino Building -- with the ballroom above it.
It's still owned by the Wrigley family and operated by their Santa
Catalina Island Co. Construction was managed by David M. Renton, who did
many other projects for Mr. Wrigley.
The building, which originally cost $2 million, received a restoration in 1994. The Casino was built to replace an earlier dance pavilion on the site, the Sugarloaf Casino, named for the Sugarloaf rock formation it sat on. Much of that rock was removed for construction of the new building. There's never been a gambling operation in the building. In Italian the word Casino means gathering place.
An article about the new "Pleasure Palace" that appeared in the L.A. Times on May 19, 1929.
An ad appearing in the Times on May 25, 1929 - four days before the grand opening. Mike Hume has pointed out that at this point they're just calling it the Casino Theatre, not the Avalon.
"...The Casino also contains a mammoth motion picture theatre, equipped for sound pictures, with a seating capacity of 2,500 people." It's an ad that ran in the Times on May 26.
An article appearing in the L.A. Times on May 26, 1929. No mention of the designer of the murals.
An ad appearing in the Times on May 27.
On the Cinema Treasures page for another theatre in the town of Avalon, the
Riviera, Ken Roe noted: "Tom White, a Hollywood promoter who held the lease on Avalon’s Riviera
Theater, leased the new Avalon Theater in 1929 and also signed on as
general manager of the Casino operation. His lifestyle proved too
flamboyant, and his association with the Casino ended in December 1929."
Listings for the Avalon that appeared in the January 15, 1930 issue of the Catalina Islander.
Tom Reid had taken over as manager after Tom White was no longer involved. He only stayed until March 1930. A March 12, 1930 item in Variety spotted by Mike Hume advised: "A. La Shelle succeeds Tom Reid, resigned as manager Avalon theater, Avalon, Catalina Island." Ken Roe notes that Art La Shelle had managed the Riviera and Avalon theaters for White and, after getting re-hired at the Avalon, stayed on to manage both buildings until 1939.
The theatre was profiled in a May 10, 1930 article in the trade magazine Exhibitors Herald-World:
“Overlooking the bay of romantic Avalon, metropolis (for it is that) of Santa Catalina Island stands the latest of William Wrigley Jr.’s magnificent gestures to wholesome pleasures, a building of steel and stone which yet has all the gossamer unreality of a fairy queen’s palace. It is called the Casino and it houses a fully equipped motion picture theatre and ballroom. The architecture of the exterior is of a Mediterranean pattern, a style that is followed throughout the foyers and corridors inside. It is within the theatre itself that all traditional manners are flung aside to create an original environment in the essential Catalinian spirit-that of make-believe.
"The walls of the theatre, which is located on the first floor, start converging toward the center of the ceiling and stage, almost but a few feet from the floor, and upon them is painted an impressionistic representation of Man unfettered amid a boundless Nature. It is allegory. It is history. And it may be hope. One assumes that it is also Catalina. The auditorium, thus brightly painted in an original allegory and of atmospheric design, is broad and long, but it contains no pillars.
"There are about 1,300 seats, over 200 of them being luxurious three-wing back loge chairs. Seating is by the American Seating Company. The lighting is indirect, being projected upward from a false half-wall just inside the wall bearing the murals, which are thus illuminated. The ballroom is located above the theatre. It is estimated that 2,000 couples can dance there at the same time. The Casino cost $2,000,000. The architects were Webber and Spaulding."
Thanks to theatre historian Cezar Del Valle for the find. He included the piece in a Theatre Talks post about the Avalon. Ken Roe notes:
"Western Amusement Company, which operated a number of theaters
on the mainland, obtained a lease on both the Avalon and Riviera theatres in 1949. The company closed the Avalon Theater during the
winter but kept the Riviera Theatre open all year until it was converted
into a bowling alley in 1961."
Stage: Yes, it's not just a film house. There's a stage with full fly capability. The dimmer system is a Frank Adam / Major installation with house lights on a board in the booth and stage lights on the board backstage. The master on the booth board can be controlled by a motor allowing operation at the booth front wall or from backstage.
The proscenium is 44' wide and 24' high at the center, according to data in "Windle's History of Catalina Island," a chapter of which appeared on page 4 of the September 2, 1931 Catalina Islander.
Pipe organ: Still in place and playable but badly in need of restoration. It's a Page 4 manual 16 rank instrument. A page about it is on the
Los Angeles Theatre Organ Society website. Thanks to Mike Hume for spotting it. The organ was used to accompany a screening of "Safety Last!" in May 2026.
A console photo by Richard Neidich appearing on the LATOS page.
Booth: Projection is now digital but the theatre retains 35mm capability for special events. Scroll down the page for lots of booth photos.
A 1937 flyer from the collection of Dan Seat:
Thanks, Dan! He curates the
Last Remaining Seat group on Facebook. That group is, of course, all about vintage theatre seating.
The theatre was profiled in the August 17, 1940 issue of Showmen's Trade Review:
Thanks to Chip Brenkert for locating the article and sharing it as a comment on a
Brenkert Light Projection Facebook post about the theatre.
The 2019 closing: The Catalina Island Co. ceased regular operations as a first-run film house on December 31, 2019. The theatre had been a year-round daily operation. In a November 2019 post on the Catalina Discussion Facebook page they cited increased costs and declining patronage. Variety had a November 12 story about the closing: "Avalon Theatre Owner Blames Streaming Services..." Thanks to Gary Meyer for spotting it. At the time the theatre remained in use for occasional film screenings and special events.
The theatre reopened in June 2022 as a weekend operation plus occasional special events. Lessee actor-producer Wesley Alfvin offers a mix of classics, new films and occasional
live shows. His vision
was outlined in "The Avalon Theatre To Reopen June 16," a 2022 story on the site Love Catalina Island. Thanks to Sandi Hemmerlein for spotting the news. That operation fizzled after a couple of seasons.
Status: Other than occasional special event bookings, as of 2026 the theatre is open only for tours and weekend showings of the 2003 documentary "Hollywood's Magical Island." The theatre's website: www.theavalontheatre.com
The entrance:
The view south along the entrance colonnade. It's a photo that appeared in the May 10, 1930 issue of Exhibitors Herald-World with this caption: "A corridor of the Casino leading to the theatre, which is located on the main floor of the building. The design here is of Mediterranean motifs, in common with the exterior, but unlike the auditorium."
The west side of the building with entrances to the theatre and ballroom. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
Another boxoffice view. The theatre entrances are on either side of the boxoffice. The doors leading to the ramps up to the ballroom are out of the frame to the left. Photo: Nile Hight -
Belle Epoque to Art Deco Facebook page - 2016
Looking up at the sea-themed mural above the boxoffice. Thanks to Sandi Hemmerlein for the 2016 photo. It's one included in the Avoiding Regret photo essay about her tour of the building "
Come Gather Round All Ye Islanders at the Catalina Casino" where there are many more fine views of both the theatre and the ballroom above. The other two chapters of her Catalina adventure are "
The Island Where the Buffalo Roam" and "
The House of Chewing Gum and Roses." Also visit the
Avoiding Regret Facebook page.
A detail of the boxoffice metalwork. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - 2016
South along the entrance colonnade. Thanks to Chiffonade for her 2006 photo on
Flickr.
A closer look at the mural at the south end of the colonnade. Photo: Chiffonade -
Flickr - 2006
A colonnade light fixture. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
Another one of the eight tile murals. Photo: Chiffonade -
Flickr - 2006
A detail of the mural in the photo above. Photo: Chiffonade -
Flickr - 2006
Looking north toward the Ballroom entrance doors. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
The Ballroom's entrance doors on the north end of the colonnade. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
A detail from the mural on the north end of the colonnade. Photo: Chiffonade -
Flickr - 2006
One set of theatre entrance doors. Thanks to Mike Hume for his 2021 photo. This one originally appeared with eight others on a
Facebook post. For a real treat pay a visit to Mike's
Historic Theatre Photography site for thousands of terrific photos as well as historical data on the many theatres he's explored in the L.A. area and elsewhere. And don't miss his page about the
Avalon.
Lobby views:
Looking to house left. Photo: Chiffonade -
Flickr - 2006. Thanks!
A lobby ceiling fixture. Thanks to former Cinema Treasures contributor Hollywood 90038 for the 2009 photo.
A lovely look to house left in 2014 from David Prasad on
Flickr.
Looking toward house left in the lobby with a peek into the auditorium. It's a photo Nile Hight borrowed for his 2016 post about the building on the
Belle Epoque to Art Deco Facebook page. It's from the Catalina Island Company's web page about the
Avalon Theatre.
A detail of the sign above the entrance to the center aisle. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
The house right end of the lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
The auditorium:
A 1929 view of the auditorium from the
Los Angeles Public Library collection. The photo made an appearance in the May 10, 1930 Exhibitors Herald-World article with this caption: "Auditorium of the theatre looking toward the stage. Observable here is the manner in which the walls, short way from the floor, begin to converge, quickly becoming the ceiling, forming a sky-like canopy." Yes, there are twinkling stars in the ceiling.
A look down the aisle in May 2013. It's a photo by John Bernstein. Thanks to Davis Zornig for locating this for a 2019 post on Cinema Treasures. He notes that it was taken during a Catalina Museum Silent
Film benefit screening of "The Immigrant," a 1917 two reeler with
Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance.
A luscious wide angle view of the auditorium that appeared on an earlier version of the Catalina Island Company's page about the
Avalon Theatre.
A vista down the center aisle. Photo: Hollywood 90038 - c.2009
The auditorium under different lighting. It's a 2013 photo that appears on the Catalina Island Company's Avalon Theatre
photo gallery page.
A postcard of the theatre's auditorium from Cezar Del Valle's Theatre Talks collection. See some of his other finds on the
Theatre Talks blog. The card also appears, with many other Catalina views, on a page of cards from the island on the site
Penny Postcard from California.
A closer look at the proscenium and organ grilles from the Catalina Island Company website's Avalon Theatre
photo gallery page. The painting on the asbestos is called "Flight of Fancy Westward."
A closer look at the Botticelli-inspired girl atop the proscenium. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - Avoiding Regret - 2016. Sandi comments: "Apparently the acoustics are so good—and the auditorium is
so sound-proof—that a full band could be playing for a room full of
dancers upstairs, and it would never interrupt the sound of the movie
being projected below."
A time exposure taken in 1993 by Hiroshi Sugimoto. The image appears on a Connections/Endings page from Chris Coulson at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's also on the website of the
Whitney. Several of his shots, including a view of the Cinerama Dome, appear on a
Theaters page of his website. Some of his other theatre views appear on a page from
Fraenkel Galleries in San Francisco.
A view from house right. Photo: Mike Hume - 2021
A look at the house left wall from a 360 degree panorama by Carel Struycken. It's on the site
Spherical Panoramas where you can pan around and zoom in on details.
A postcard detail of the house left wall. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing the card from her collection.
The house right wall. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
Another back wall view. It's a 2018 photo from Pancho Ds included with a post on the Facebook page
Projectionists International. Thanks to Woody Wise for spotting it.
A postcard view of the back wall. Thanks to Hank Zeletel for posting it on
Cinema Treasures.
A closer look toward the booth ports. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - Avoiding Regret - 2016
Looking to house left. It's a Christina House photo taken for the L.A.
Times that appeared with Gustavo Arellano's December 2019 L.A. Times
article about the closing: "
This theater has attracted movie stars..." Thanks to Jon Frugoli for spotting the story.
A detail house left. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - Avoiding Regret - 2016
A look along the back wall to house right. Photo: Hollywood 90038 - c.2009
One of the 1929 vintage end standards. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - 2016
The end standard used back in the loges, the last six rows. Thanks to Dan Seat for sharing his photo. He curates the
Last Remaining Seat group on Facebook. Dan comments: "It always bothered me that the seat standards were an afterthought. They could have used one that better fit the design/style of the theatre. Knowing the history of delays and cost overruns, they may have just taken what they could get."
On the stage:
A look across the footlights. It's a photo that appeared in the May 10, 1930
issue of Exhibitors Herald-World. Thanks to Cezar Del Valle for
locating it for a post about the Avalon on his
TheatreTalks.wordpress.com site.
A look across the foots nine decades later. Photo: Mike Hume - 2021
A view to the downstage portion of the grid. That's the back of the asbestos above the proscenium. In the upper left is a bit of the movie screen. Photo: Mike Hume - 2021
Off right looking along the Frank Adam/Major dimmerboard. It's a split system. There's also a board in the booth. Note the curtain motor mounted above the onstage end of the board. Photo: Mike Hume - 2021
A detail of the board. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - 2016
Offstage right for a view of the board and some of the arbors of the wire-guide counterweight system. On the far right is an old audio rack. Photo: Mike Hume - 2021
The lockrail from the front. Photo: Mike Hume - 2021
Another lockrail view. Photo: Mike Hume - 2021
A detail of the lockrail. Note the cue lights and the unique racheted locking tension blocks. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - 2016
Dressing rooms wrap around the curve of the building. This is one of the chorus rooms. Photo: Mike Hume - 2021
One of the smaller dressing rooms. Photo: Mike Hume - 2021
In the spot room:
The spot room is on the house left end of the booth. On display at the far left is a spare Brenkert projector. The pole mounted unit is a Brenkert hand feed arc spotlight. Note the color boomerang on the front. On the right it's a Brenograph effects and slide projector, also manufactured by Brenkert, a Detroit company. Photo: Mike Hume - 2021
The Brenograph effects projector in 2005, when it was still operable.
That's the arc followspot beyond. Photo: Mxslick -
ECN Electrical Forum
Another view of the theatre's Brenograph. It's a
c.2013 photo that appears on the Catalina Island Company's web page
about their
Behind the Scenes Casino Tour.
A Simplex E-7 with an Ashcraft lamphouse on display in the spot room. Neither this nor the Brenkert machines currently installed would have been original equipment for the theatre. Photo: Pancho Ds -
Projectionists International - 2018
In the booth:
A booth view that appeared with the 1940 Showmen's Trade Review article that can be seen higher on this page. The Brenkert Enarc lamps seen here are still in the booth. The article noted that they were using Simplex projectors at the time of the photo.
A wide angle view from the back of the booth in 2021. Thanks to Mike Hume for this photo and the others appearing on the page. Check out the thousands of wonderful shots of theatres he's explored on his ever-growing Historic Theatre Photography site. And don't miss his page about the Avalon.
Before the theatre went digital they were using a platter system plus a Xetron console (with a 2Kw lamp)
with a Century SA on it. The soundhead was a Century R3 with a red LED
retrofit. This equipment is seen on the far left. In the center are two Brenkert BX-40 (or 80) heads with RCA 1040 soundheads and Brenkert Enarc lamps. On the far right it's a Christie digital projector.
The left end of the booth with one of the Brenkerts and the Xetron console and Century projector beyond. Photo: Mxslick - ECN
Electrical Forum - 2005
Mxslick is the gentleman who at the time was
servicing the booth. He noted that the Brenkerts still ran beautifully and were used only a few times a
year -- occasionally for nitrate prints at their Silent Film Festival. His photos, along with many comments, appear in
four parts on the ECN Electrical Forum: |
Part 1 - booth dimmerboard |
Part 2 - dimmers and fuses |
Part 3 - motor generator set & controls |
Part 4 - projectors |
A look inside one of the Brenkert heads. It's an RCA 1040 soundhead. Photo: Mxslick -
ECN Electrical Forum - 2005
Tour time in the booth. On the far right it's the theatre's digital projector. Thanks to Pancho Ds for posting the 2018 photo on the Facebook page
Projectionists International.
A closer look at the #2 Brenkert Enarc lamphouse. Photo: Pancho Ds -
Projectionists International - 2018
Looking in between the #2 Brenkert machine and the digital projector currently used. Photo: Pancho Ds -
Projectionists International - 2018
One of the control stations. We're at the left side of the booth next to the Century projector, the machine in daily use before the house went digital. Photo: Pancho Ds -
Projectionists International - 2018
The Frank Adam / Major board on the right end of the booth for controlling house lights. Another board is backstage for the stage lights. Photo: Mxslick -
ECN Electrical Forum - 2005
Another view of the board with a bit of the digital projector on the left. The large switches on the right are for the arc lamps. Photo: Pancho Ds -
Projectionists International - 2018
The controls for the booth exhaust fans and the DC generator voltage, located on the right end of the board. Photo: Mxslick -
ECN Electrical Forum - 2005
Some of the branch circuit fuses for houselights. The panel is in a room behind the dimmerboard. Photo: Mxslick -
ECN Electrical Forum - 2005
Contactors and fuses for several of the house light and stage circuits, in the room behind the board. Photo: Mxslick -
ECN Electrical Forum - 2005
The Westinghouse motor-generator set to provide DC for what originally was a complement of seven arc lamps. Photo: Mxslick -
ECN Electrical Forum - 2005
The DC switchboard. The multiple knife switches for each arc allow different amounts of ballast resistance to be cut in or out. Photo: Mxslick -
ECN Electrical Forum - 2005
Another porthole view. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - Avoiding Regret - 2016. Thanks, Sandi!
The Ballroom:
Looking toward the bandstand. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
A ceiling detail. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
Across to the south wall. All the doors open to the promenade outside. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
On the promenade looking toward Los Angeles. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
More exterior views:
c.1910 - An early postcard view from the collection of Brent Dickerson showing the harbor before either of the Casino buildings had been constructed.
1928 - A view of the bay in January from William Wrigley's home showing the first Casino building on the site. The present building began construction later in 1928. It's a photo from the California Historical Society collection appearing on the
USC Digital Library website.
1928 - Steel going up for the new building in a June 25 photo by Crescent Photo in Avalon. Thanks to Bruce Dunseth for locating this for a post on the
Southern California Nostalgia private Facebook group.
c.1929 - A water view from the
Los Angeles Public Library collection.
c.1929 - The entrance from above. It's a photo that's in the
Los Angeles Public Library collection.
c.1935 - Thanks to Brian Michael McCray for sharing this card from his collection.
c.1935 - A postcard from the site
Penny Postcards from California that appears on their page of cards from Catalina.
2016 - A look down on the Catalina Casino Building. Thanks to Sandi Hemmerlein for the photo. It's one included in her Avoiding Regret photo essay about her tour of the building "
Come Gather Round All Ye Islanders at the Catalina Casino" where there are many more fine views of both the theatre and the ballroom.
2018 - The Casino from the south. Downtown is off to the left. It's a photo from Pancho Ds post on the Facebook page
Projectionists International.
2018 - The building from the north. Photo: Bill Counter
2018 - The west side of the building. Photo: Bill Counter
The Casino in the Movies:
We get a look at the Casino as a boat nears the island in "Catalina Caper" (Crown International, 1967). Onboard is a thief who has stolen an antique scroll and is bringing it to the island for a wealthy collector. The
only really tolerable parts of the film are musical appearances by
Little Richard ("Scuba Party"), Carol Connors ("Book of Love") and a
band called The Cascades ("There's a New World"). Lee Sholem claims
credit for directing, Ted V. Mikels was the cinematographer. The cast includes Tommy Kirk, Del Moore, Brian Cutler, Peter Duryea, Ulla Strömstedt, Lyle Waggoner and Sue
Casey. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for a shot of the El Encanto Playhouse building from later in the film.
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