1634 N. El Centro Ave. Hollywood (Los Angeles), CA 90028 | map |
Opened: The Troupers Club moved into this building in 1931. The location was on the east side of the street just south of Hollywood Blvd. It was adjacent to the American Legion Stadium. The Music Box Theatre was just around the corner on Hollywood Blvd. The photo comes from a 1934 L.A. Times article that's reproduced below.
The Troupers Club had been formed in November 1926, initially meeting in the back room of a restaurant. Or was it 1925? Stories differ. In 1929 they took over the
Hollywood Community Theatre at 1742 N. Ivar. In the 1930 city directory that location was listed as the
Troupers Green Room.
Originally they required 30 years
experience on stage or screen to join. By 1930 that had been reduced to
20 years. That year they had 700 members. In 1934 the experience requirement became five years.
This new location on El Centro had once been a church. The 1934 Times article about the club commented:
"This they have transformed -- just how, no one knows -- into a cosy clubhouse. It contains a tiny stage where the pulpit used to be, and the former choir loft is the 'gallery' with the 'box office' in front for their business dealings, if any. A kitchen is installed, and from hither and yon they have accumulated scenery, a curtain, piano, lights, a lot of chairs, tables and other accessories. They cost just about nothing, but -- they'll do."
At various times this location was referred to as the Troupers Club, the Troupers Theatre, the Troupers Clubhouse, Troupers' Greenroom Theatre, Troupers' Green Room Club and Troupers Hall.
A review of "Hand-Cuffed," an early show at this new Troupers Club location. This appeared in the February 7, 1931 issue of the L.A. Times.
An item about a visit from the Mayor appearing in the Times on February 14, 1931.
Shakespearean Day in 1931. This was in the Times on April 17.
Another item about the tribute to the Bard. This one appeared April 19.
The Buddy Cole Players were doing Booth Tarkington's "Seventeen" at the Troupers Club in 1931. This item appeared in the August 9 issue of the L.A. Times.
News about a 1931 production of "His Potential Wife" at the Troupers.
A Society of Magicians meeting was noted in the Times on March 26, 1932.
Carnival time in 1932. This story appeared in the Times on September 25. It's unknown if the club ever built anything on their tract of land in Riverside.
The Troupers got a big writeup in "Lost Hosts of the Footlights," a March 11, 1934 L.A. Times story by William Hamilton Cline:
This article gives a November 1925 date for the club's founding. A
January 29, 1929 Times story said it was December, not November, and that the original membership was eleven, not nine. A May 30, 1930 Times article said the founding date was November 1926.
Although the place of the initial meetings is noted as Dinty Moore's Restaurant in Hollywood, various city directories have not been helpful in revealing its location. Perhaps it actually used another name. There were, however, Dinty Moore's locations downtown in the mid-20s at 214 W. 8th St., 524 S. Spring and 742 S. Hope. These were licensees of the Dinty Moore chain of New York restaurateur James "Dinty" Moore. The January 1929 Times story noted that after a spell at the Writers Club, the group also met at an Elks lodge before settling on Ivar Ave. at what had been the
Hollywood Community Theatre.
A Troupers Green Room Bazaar in 1933. This item appeared in the Times on December 11.
An April 1, 1935 item about a production of "College House" at the Troupers.
"The theater knows no yesterday..." The Troupers Club was being used as a rehearsal hall for a 1936 production of "The Old Woman's War" that was to be presented at the Shrine Auditorium. This story appeared in the Times on February 11.
Calling all guppy lovers. This item appeared in the Times on July 5, 1937.
Closing: It's unknown when the club left this El Centro location.
Later Troupers locations: By 1940 they had taken over
the
Las Palmas Theatre
and had renamed it the
Troupers Theatre. In 1943 the group moved into a new home at
1723 N. Highland Ave. Beginning in 1948 the Troupers Club was located at
1625/27 N. La Brea
where they occupied a house and an adjacent auditorium building. There's
now an apartment complex on that site.
The location is seen as a vacant lot just north of the Stadium in the center of this detail from sheet 1054 of a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map that's on the
Library of Congress website. This copy had been updated as late as 1950. That north/south arrow is in the middle of El Centro Ave. Gower St. is over on the far right. That "Fox Guild Theatre" on Hollywood Blvd. had been called the
Music Box. It's now going by the name Fonda Theatre.
Status: The lot is now occupied by a cube-like addition to the back of the building on the southeast corner of Hollywood Blvd. and El Centro.
The lot that that been the Troupers location is now occupied by an addition onto the end of that black building. On the left we're looking north toward Hollywood Blvd. At the center it's the back of the Music Box/Fonda Theatre. On the far right it's part of what had been the Hollywood Legion Stadium, now a branch of L.A. Fitness. Image: Google Maps - 2024
Another look at the Troupers' former location. Image: Google Maps - 2024
More information: See Lisa Kouza Braddock's post about the Troupers for the Lost Angeles Facebook group.
| back to top | Other Troupers locations: 1929 - Hollywood Community Theatre - 1742 N. Ivar | 1940 - Las Palmas Theatre
- 1642 N. Las Palmas | 1948 - Troupers Club and Auditorium - 1625/27 N. La Brea |
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