TheBroadway Theater District in theHistoric Core ofDowntown Los Angeles is the first and largest historic theater district listed on theNational Register of Historic Places (NRHP).[2] With twelvemovie palaces located along a six-block stretch ofBroadway, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States. The same six-block stretch of Broadway, and an adjacent section of Seventh Street, was also the city's retail hub for the first half of the twentieth century, lined with large and small department stores and specialty stores.
NRHP refers to the district as theBroadway Theater and Commercial District,[1] while the City of Los Angeles Planning Department refers to theBroadway Theater and Entertainment District.[3]
Los Angeles's Broadway Theater District stretches for six blocks from Third to Ninth Streets along South Broadway inDowntown Los Angeles, and contains twelve movie theaters built between 1910 and 1931. In 1986,Los Angeles Times columnistJack Smith called the district "the only large concentration of vintage movie theaters left in America."[4]
The district's first theater was built in 1910, and by 1931, the district had the highest concentration of cinemas in the world, withseating capacity for more than 15,000 patrons. At the time, Broadway was the hub of L.A.'s entertainment scene – a place where "screen goddesses and guys in fedoras rubbed elbows with Army nurses and aircraft pioneers."[5] In 2006, theLos Angeles Times wrote:
"There was a time, long ago, when the streets of downtown Los Angeles were awash in neon—thanks to a confluence of movie theaters the world had never seen before. Dozens of theaters screened Hollywood's latest fare, played host to star-studded premieres and were filled nightly with thousands of moviegoers. In those days, before World War II, downtown L.A. was the movie capital of the world."[6]
Los Angeles Times columnistJack Smith recalled growing up a mile from Broadway around this time and spending his Saturdays in the theaters:
"I remember walking into those opulent interiors, surrounded by the glory of the Renaissance, or the age of Baroque, and spending two or three hours in the dream world of the movies. When I came out again the sky blazed; the heat bounced off the sidewalk, traffic sounds filled the street, I was back in the hard reality of the Depression.[4]
In the years afterWorld War II, the district began to decline, as first-run movie-goers shifted to the movie palaces in Hollywood, in Westwood Village, and later to suburban multiplexes. After World War II, as Anglo moviegoers moved to the suburbs, many of the Broadway movie palaces became venues for Spanish-language movies and variety shows. In 1988, theLos Angeles Times noted that without the Hispanic community "Broadway would be dead"[7] and that Broadway had been "rescued and revitalized" by "the Latino renaissance."[4]
The district has been the subject of preservation and restoration efforts since the 1980s. In 1987, theLos Angeles Conservancy started a program called "Last Remaining Seats" in which the old movie palaces were opened each summer to show classic Hollywood movies.[5][8] In 1994, the Conservancy's associate director, Gregg Davidson, noted: "When we started this, the naysayers said no one will go downtown to an old theater to see an old movie in the middle of the summer, but we get a number of people who have never seen a movie in a theater with a balcony. The older people (go) for nostalgia. And the movie people—seeing a classic film on a big screen is a different experience."[8] After attending a Conservancy screening, one writer noted: "The other night I went to the movies and was transported to a world of powdered wigs andhoop skirts, arococo fantasy of gildedcherubs andcrystal chandeliers. And then the film started."[5]
Despite preservation efforts, many of the theaters have been converted to other uses, including flea markets and churches. The Broadway movie palaces fell victim to a number of circumstances, including changing demographics and tastes, a downtown location that was perceived as dangerous at night, and high maintenance costs for aging facilities. With the closure of theState Theater in 1998, the Orpheum and the Palace were the only two still screening films.[9]
In 2006, theLos Angeles Times wrote: "Of all of L.A.'s many hidden gems, maybe none is as sparkling nor as hidden as the Broadway theater district downtown."[5] Bemoaning the possible loss of such gems, the same writer noted: "L.A. gave birth to the movies. To lose the astonishing nurseries where the medium grew up would be tragic."[5]
In 2008, the City of Los Angeles launched a $40-million campaign to revitalize the Broadway district, known as the "Bringing Back Broadway" campaign. Some Latino merchants in the district expressed concern that the campaign was an effort to spread the largely Anglo gentrification taking hold in other parts of downtown to an area that has become the city's leading Latino shopping district.[10]
Palace – Vaudeville theater and movie palace – 630 S. Broadway. Designed byG. Albert Lansburgh andRobert Brown Young, opened in 1911, originally part of the Orpheum circuit, sat 2,200 at opening, converted to movies in 1926, currently seats 1,068. Florentineearly Renaissance design.[1][2][13]
State – Vaudeville theater and movie palace – 703 S. Broadway. Designed byWeeks and Day, opened in 1921, sat 2,450, converted to a church in 1998.Beaux Arts design.[1][2][14][15]
Orpheum – Vaudeville theater, concert hall, and movie palace – 842 S. Broadway. Designed byG. Albert Lansburgh, opened in 1926, originally part of the Orpheum circuit.Beaux Arts design.[1][2]
Of these theaters, only United Artists was not included in the 1979 NRHP listed Broadway Theater and Commercial District.[1] That theare, however, was added when the district was expanded in 2002.[20]
Regent – Movie theater then concert venue – 448 S. Main St. Designed by an unknown architect, opened in 1914 as National Theater, sat 600, remodeled early 1940s, closed as a movie theater in 2000, re-opened as a 1,100 seat concert venue in 2014.[22][23]
Burbank – Legitimate theater then movies and burlesque – 548-550 S. Main St. Designed byRobert Brown Young forDavid Burbank, opened in 1893, sat 1,027, demolished in 1973 or 1974.[37][38]
Tally's Electric – Movie theater, later added vaudeville – 262 S. Main St. Owned byThomas L. Tally, opened 1902, closing and demolition date unknown.[39]
Mason – Legitimate theater then movies – 127 S. Broadway. Designed byBenjamin Howard Marshall, opened in 1903, sat 1,600, remodeled byMeyer and Holler in the 1920s, converted to movies in 1945, demolished in 1955.[40]
Follies Theater – Legitimate turned vaudeville and movies turned burlesque – 337 S. Main Street. Designed byAbram M. Edelman forDavid Belasco, opened 1904, sat 1,200 later reduced to 900, converted to vaudeville and movies in 1912 and burlesque in 1919, remodeled in the 1930s byS. Charles Lee, demolished in 1974.[45][46][47][48]
Majestic – Legitimate theater then vaudeville, movies, and burlesque – 845 S. Broadway. Designed byEdelman & Barnett forAsher Hamburger, opened in 1908, sat 1,600, demolished in 1933.[49]
Shell, 547 S. Broadway. Opened in 1909, demolition date unknown.[50]
^abcdJack Smith (September 30, 1986). "Los Angeles Theater: Flashback to yesteryear ... and a Latino renaissance on Broadway".Los Angeles Times.
^abcdeDan Turner (June 11, 2006). "Our So-Cal Life: Faded glory on Broadway".Los Angeles Times.
^Cara Mia DiMassa (February 17, 2006). "Movie Tradition Fading to Black; Seventy years after its neon heyday, downtown Los Angeles is struggling to keep its last cinematic venue afloat".Los Angeles Times.
^Dan Sullivan (August 21, 1988). "L.A.'s Grand Old Broadway Theaters".Los Angeles Times.
^abRobert Levine (June 12, 1994). "Silent Screens: Encore for Carter, Old Movie District".Los Angeles Times.
^John Regardie (November 2, 1998). "State of Darkness: Another Movie Palace Quits Screening Films".Los Angeles Downtown News.
^Samudio, Jeffrey; Lee, Portia (2001).Images of America: Los Angeles, California (trade paperback). Chicago, IL: Arcadia Publishing. p. 106.ISBN0-7385-0812-8.
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