Pasadena Grand Opera House

SW corner S. Raymond Ave. & E. Bellevue Dr.  Pasadena, CA 91105 | map |

Opened: The $100,000 project opened February 13, 1889. That's Bellevue Dr. on the right. That protrusion above the roof that we see toward the rear of the building is a slot for the asbestos curtain. The c.1889 photo from the Pasadena Museum of History appears on Calisphere. Brian Lee Solar located a February 14, 1889 L.A. Times article commenting on the new theatre:

"The scenery in the house was painted by Seabury & Duran of San Francisco, and is not only elegant, but a real work of art. The whole style of the interior is Moorish, and the drop curtain is after the same mode. The curtain represents a group of females engaged with Terpsichore in her art in the inner court of the Royal Palace. The builders of this magnificent temple are L. J. Rose, Ben E. Ward, F. Minott Ward, G. G. Green, R. M. Furlong, E. C. Webster, G. R. Thomas, W. R. E. Ward, and H. W. O'Melveny."

The Grand Opera House Company had been formed in 1887 by four of the men listed in the Times article: E. C. Webster, Senator L. J. Rose, F. M. Ward, and Roscoe Thomas.

Jake Brouwer notes that the initial attraction was a play titled "Myneer Jan." It's a comment in his article "The Grand Opera House," on the site aaaim.com. The article also appears on the page ThaddeusLowe.name/PYOperaHouse.htm. Jake notes that the architecture of the building was Moorish influenced and mentions the asbestos:

"After being ushered to their seats the patrons feasted their eyes upon the luxurious drop curtain. The scene depicted was an inner courtyard of a Moorish palace, much like the Alhambra, complete with musicians playing tunes on a large carpet while a group of beautiful women watches one of their number dance. Before the chandeliers dim the frescoes on the ceiling would catch the viewer's eye."

Architect: Unknown. One source mentions that the designers of the Grand Opera House on Main St. in downtown Los Angeles were also involved here. They were Ezra F. Kysor and Octavius Morgan.

 

A rendering of the project appearing with Jake Brouwer's article "The Grand Opera House." 

Seating: Originally 1,500 with 900 on the main floor and 600 in the balcony. Later the capacity was advertised as 1,000. The auditorium was on the ground floor.

Stage: The proscenium was 32' wide x 24' high. Stage depth was 38'. Grid height was 45'. 

Jake Brouwer notes that perhaps the two best evenings in the history of the theatre were packed houses for c.1889 performances by Helena Modjeska in "Mary Stuart" and "Camille." Already by 1890 the place was in trouble with declining attendance, complaints about lack of heat and concerns about being too far from the center of town. By 1891 the operating company was bankrupt.

The venture was bought by Thaddeus Sobieski Coulincourt Lowe in 1891. The theatre got remodeled (including a new gas heating system) and he also had an office set up on the first floor for sale of tickets to his Mt. Lowe Scenic Railway. Lowe was also in the utility business and the Lowe Gas and Electric Light Co. had an appliance showroom in the building. Lowe's son Thad Jr. managed the Opera House. Jake Brouwer comments: 

"Professor Lowe made sundry improvements to render the interior more attractive and more advantageous to having other events. He enlarged the stage and made a portable floor so that when it met the stage it provided a level floor over the entire room, so that it could be used for fairs, balls, and other similar entertainment. Once again the Grand Opera House became for a short time a center of community pride. Community shows were put on starring local talent along with a wider variety of entertainment. Minstrel acts and vaudeville shows were put on along with pageants and even graduations. On occasion the hall also held lectures and hosted in the south hall societies such as Odd Fellows, Masons, and Knights of Pythias."

 

 

 

A look at the interior from a May 1893 flyer for the Opera House. The flyer was once offered for sale on Amazon by K. Vanderschult.

 

 

 

An attempt at a better look at the illustration on the flyer. 

 

An 1897 rendering of the plans by architect L. F. Kwiatkowski to add a hotel to the building. Thanks to Jack Brouwer for the image that appears with his article. He comments: 

"In September of 1897 the Professor contacted C. F. Bean about a loan of $15,000 to convert the Opera House to full hotel facilities, adding two stories allowing for over 300 rooms. Plans were drawn up by Pasadena architect L. F. Kwiatkowski but Lowe's Grand plan did not materialize."

 

The rendering also makes an appearance as a comment added by Roger Charles Delight to a 2021 post about the building on the Facebook page Los Angeles Relics. 

The listing for the Opera House appearing in the 1900-1901 edition of "Julius Cahn's Official Theatrical Guide." It's on Google Books. H.C. Wyatt, here listed as manager, had quite a history managing many Los Angeles theatres including the Grand Opera House and the Mason Theatre.

In the 1906-1907 edition of "Julius Cahn's Official Theatrical Guide" it's listed as the Lowe Opera House. The publication is on Google Books.

The city's population continued to grow. This listing appeared in the 1907-1908 edition of "Henry's Official Western Theatrical Guide." It's on Google Books. In the 1910 Pasadena section of the Los Angeles phone book the theatre is listed as "Opera House, Bellevue & Raymond."

Lowe had many financial reverses and eventually lost the building to foreclosure. It then had a number of different owners and was at one point called the Auditorium, featuring hotel accommodations and a restaurant.

Closing: Evidently it was sometime around 1910 or 1911. The occasion of its last use as a theatre is unknown. An article in the June 29, 1911 Monrovia Daily News mentions the theater had just been sold and "will be converted into a warehouse or factory." Thanks to Brian Lee Solar for the research.

Status: It was demolished in 1923 according to the Pasadena Museum of History. The Royal Laundry building is now on the site.

A c.1889 look west toward Raymond Ave. A sign above the parapet on the right side of the building says "Furniture," advertising the first tenant in the building's storefronts. The photo is from the California State Library collection. 

A c.1890 photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The Huntington Library has a fine version of this one where it's seen in a mount identifying it as being from the Pasadena photography firm Jarvis Gallery. The Pasadena Public Library has a version they credit to Albert Hiller. It had been on the website of the Pasadena Digital History Collaboration but seems to have been lost in a site makeover.

A c.1891 look at the facade from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Note that the Mt. Lowe Railway has moved into the storefront on the right.

A view appearing with the Spring 1997 issue of the Echo Mountain Echoes newsletter. For the text they direct you to Jake Brouwer's fine article "The Grand Opera House."

An 1893 map of Pasadena from the California State Library collection. It was drawn by Bruce Wellington Pierce and published by the firm of Wood and Church. The Opera House is in the upper right corner. The Library has a large image of the map in TIF format in case you want to explore details.

This drawing of the Opera House from the 1893 map gives us a nice look at at the roof and side wall of the building.  

A 1902 view of the stage end of the building from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Their caption reads: "Bellevue Drive looking west [sic] at Raymond Avenue. The bridge in the foreground is a section of the Dobbins Cycleway, a visionary project to link Los Angeles with Pasadena, built by Horace M. Dobbins. The building at right is the rear of the Pasadena Grand Opera House." We're actually looking east on Bellevue. The building's facade was facing Raymond Ave. and we see the train crossing beyond that is east of Raymond Ave. The photo also appears on the website of the Pasadena Digital History Collaboration.

The first (and only) segment of the California Cycleway opened in 1900. See another view from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. In Pasadena the Cycleway's path was from the Green Hotel south to Glenarm between Raymond and Fair Oaks Avenue. It was to then go down the arroyo, past Highland Park and on into downtown Los Angeles. It only got built as far as South Pasadena. See Mdiederi's Noirish Los Angeles post #2706 about the Cycleway. Also see Wikipedia's article on the California Cycleway. 

More information: See "The Grand Opera House" by Jake Brouwer for a fine history that includes a discussion of performances at the venue and several drawings. The Pacific Coast Architecture Database has a page on the building.

For more on Mr. Lowe head to the Google books previews of two Arcadia Publishing titles: "Mount Lowe" and "Mt. Lowe Railway." See the Mt. Lowe Preservation Society site and the Mt. Lowe History page for more about Mr. Lowe.

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