Downtown Dozen

The Palace

The Palace Theatre, located at 630 South Broadway

By Erik Jay

Walking down Broadway in Los Angeles today is a distinctively American experience, a journey through a glorious Hispanic melting pot in the greater multicultural melting pot of our ever-evolving culture.

The predominantly Spanish sounds – language, music, laughter, even car horns – carry a number of different accents, as the store owners, street vendors, shoppers and movie patrons are from Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador, as well as Mexico. All the colors of the human rainbow are represented here, and there are few places outside of the U.S. that such a mix would seem normal. It feels absolutely right in this place, probably because the area has always been a melting pot, just with different ingredients.

Broadway in the early 1900s was a different place ethnically, but even before the many fine theatres were built it was where the locals would go for some vaudeville, dancing, dining, and early-20th-century nightlife. The sights, sounds, and smells of the street back then were similar to today’s, from a distance, at least – the chatter, the music wafting through the air, the aroma of food. When you got closer, though, you would hear Hungarian and Italian, instead of today’s Spanish dialects. As "Ethnic Los Angeles" – a four-part, 15-chapter study produced by over 20 researchers for UCLA's School of Public Policy and Social Research – states, "The top five countries of origin [for L.A. immigrants] between 1980 and 1996 were Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, El Salvador and China. The top five countries of origin between 1901 and 1920 were Italy, Austria-Hungary, Russia, UK and Ireland."

The great theatres of Broadway were built between 1910 and 1928, with many of these European immigrants working construction. During this time the area was the epicenter of Hollywood premieres. However, the film moguls lived in Beverly Hills and Los Feliz and, for their sakes, Sid Grauman – who opened his first Broadway venue in 1918 – built the Egyptian and Chinese Theatres (the latter in 1927) on Hollywood Boulevard. It made for a shorter drive, and signaled the beginning of Hollywood’s “alienation of affection” vis-à-vis the Broadway Theatre district.

The dozen theatres that give Broadway its eternally hip ambience tell some great tales. Here is your personal introduction to the places where hoi polloi met the new American royalty, the movie stars, at the dawn of filmdom’s Golden Age.

The Arcade Theatre: This theatre opened its doors in 1910 and featured a vaudeville show produced by the famous Pantages performing company. The Pantages firm leased the location for years and provided a great deal of the energy that transformed Broadway into Southern California’s premier performing venue through the first two decades of the 20th century. Located at 534 South Broadway, it now houses retail vendors.

The Cameo Theatre: Early film impresario William H. "Billy" Clune built this marvel of a playhouse and movie venue in 1910. Clune made his own movies, distributing them to his own chain of movie houses. Clune Studios, his original production location, went through a number of name and ownership changes (it’s now Raleigh Studios) but is still located on Melrose. At 528 South Broadway, the original Cameo also houses retail spaces now.

The Palace: Originally named The Orpheum, this theatre opened in 1911 and is the oldest existing Orpheum Theatre in the U.S. It got a new name in 1926 when the Orpheum vaudeville troupe moved into a new home down the block. Located at 630 South Broadway, The Palace is reopening soon for live performances and is available for special events.

The Globe Theatre: This theatre opened in 1913 as The Morosco Theatre, since it was built for play producer Oliver Morosco. In the 1930s the theatre was refurbished and revamped for movie projection, and once specialized in newsreel programs. Located at 744 South Broadway, a swap meet presently occupies the building.

The Rialto: Opening for business in 1917, the Rialto was specially built for movies and was originally called "Quinn's Rialto." The original façade was a Greek revival style, removed in the 1930s so that Broadway's longest marquee could be installed. It is still there for the viewing at 812 South Broadway, although the movie viewing is long gone and the space now houses retail shops.

The Million Dollar Theatre: Built by showman Sid Grauman as a film house, not a vaudeville venue, this theatre opened in 1918 with the William S. Hart cowboy epic, The Silent Man. In the 1950s, businessman Frank Fouce made it the premier Latino venue by exhibiting top Spanish-language films and presenting musicians and dancers in vaudeville-style shows dubbed "variedades." After being used as a church in the early 1990s, the location was renovated by the Metropolitan Theatre Co. and reopened in 1999 – once again featuring the popular "variedades." Located at 307 South Broadway, this theatre’s exterior was featured in the film Blade Runner.

The State Theatre: Built by Marcus Loew, an early filmdom mogul, this theatre opened in 1921. Several years later Loew merged his company, Metro Pictures, with both Goldwyn Studios and Louis B. Mayer’s firm, forming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). At 703 South Broadway, The State Theatre is still operating.

The Orpheum Theatre: This is the 1926 Orpheum theatre, operated by the Orpheum vaudeville circuit, to which the firm moved after outgrowing The Palace. The story goes that theatre employee Jack Benny courted his wife Mary Livingston here, as she was a salesperson at the May Company across the street. Special movie screenings still take place at The Orpheum, even silent films accompanied by a restored Wurlitzer organ. The Friends of the Orpheum, a volunteer group, helps to maintain this historic venue. Located at 842 South Broadway, it is still in operation.

The United Artists Theatre: The “crown jewel” of the United Artists Theatre Circuit was built in 1927. D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks joined forces in 1919 to reassert control over their films and careers, forming United Artists. At 933 South Broadway, the building houses the late Gene Scott's Los Angeles University Cathedral.

The Tower Theatre: This venue opened in 1927 with the silent film, The Gingham Girl. The Tower was the first of the Broadway theatres built expressly for exhibiting the “new” talking pictures and is immortalized in film lore as the site for the world premiere of the very first "all-talking" film, Warner’s The Jazz Singer. At 802 South Broadway, it is presently unoccupied and closed to the public.

The Los Angeles Theatre: This location’s 1931 opening featured Charlie Chaplin in City Lights. Although built in the first years of the Depression, the baroque facade and interior are supposedly modeled on the style of the French Sun King, Louis XIV. At 615 South Broadway, this venue is also closed.

The Roxie Theatre: The last of the “Broadway Dozen” was built on the site of Quinn's Superba Theatre, torn down in 1932. The building of the Roxie signaled the end of Broadway as the L.A. capital of movies and entertainment, as local audiences began to prefer such Hollywood Boulevard venues as Grauman's Chinese and The Egyptian. Located at 518 South Broadway, it has been converted to retail spaces.

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