The Downtown Palace opened with the words: “The Standard Orpheum of Vaudeville announces the opening tonight of its fine new theatre between sixth and seventies streets. All seats for tonight are sold, but for the balance of inaugural week as well as in the future they maybe obtained at the Box Office of the New House.” This proclamation revealed arguably the most charming, intimate venue in the storied Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles.
And now the old entertainment soul pushes into the new, carrying a legacy starting with a June 26th, 1911 inaugural performance by Sophie Tucker through subsequent star attractions such as Harry Houdini, Sarah Bernhardt, and Fred Astaire (even the greatest animal acts had their run!), to more recent marquee names like Julian Casablancas, Lucent Dossier Experience, Bill Nye (The Science Guy), Eugene Mirman, Tig Notaro, Last Remaining Seats, and Cinespia, to name a few.
No longer an Orpheum (a word derived from the Greek mythological poet and musician Orpheus, whose skills could charm animals, plants, and even rocks) nor a newsreel iteration known as the “Palace Newsreel Theatre,” (including a visible ghost sign which can still be seen on the back alley wall), but a fully restored Broadway gem—the charming and lavish Palace Theatre, one of the oldest theatres in Los Angeles and the oldest surviving vaudeville circuit Orpheum theatre, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the historic Broadway corridor of downtown Los Angeles, California.
On June 26, 2011, the “new” Palace celebrated its centennial by unveiling a $1 million restoration by Shahram Delijani, stirring Linda Dishman, executive director of the LA Conservancy to herald, "The Palace is one of the jewels of Broadway . . . and we're thrilled that they've done such a magnificent restoration.”
While the Palace has embraced it's authenticity, it has also been technically upgraded with new audio, lighting, and electrical renovations, the heart of which is a matched and calibrated, state-of-the-art Midas III/d&b audiotechnik sound system intended to coax the naturally excellent acoustics across the one thousand fully restored, plush velvet wrapped seats, none of which are more than eighty feet from center stage. The Palace is one of the few venues to juxtapose an architecturally and historically significant structure with a state of the art sound system and classic 35 mm Simplex E7 celluloid projectors. Coupled with expanded bar, lounge, artist, patron, and VIP areas, the Palace is prepared to bring it’s legacy of cultural engagement and live performance into fully modern times,
With its beautifully preserved architecture and decor modeled after the great opera houses of 17th Century Europe, or conversely as “something out of Tom Waits song,” restored and improved interior areas and cutting edge technical capabilities, the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles can transform your next special event or live concert into a truly unforgettable, even magical experience. Exciting times lay ahead.
Please direct special event and concert inquiries to:
Events/Programming Department
Broadway Theatre Group:
Palace, Los Angeles, Tower Theatres
ph: 213-488-2009
email: [email protected]
General info: 213-488-2010
Theatre Manager and Location Filming:
Edward Baney
office: 213-629-2939
The Downtown Palace
Quick Specs:
Seating capacity:
Main Auditorium: 608
Mezzanine: 460
Total: 1068
Sound Reinforcement:
Midas III FOH console
d&b audiotechnik V-Series line array (flown) w/B2 subs
Trussing:
3 x 40' on stage truss
1 x 10' downstage truss.
Power:
500 amps/3phase on stage
200 amps Stage Right
300 amps Stage Left
Stage:
40’ wide at proscenium
31’ 6” deep from smoke pocket to back wall
36’ from stage to top of proscenium arch at center
Projection:
Dual Strong International Simplex E7 35 mm projectors with Xenon lamp houses
***Full specs, seating chart, pricing available upon request.
Architectural Highlights:
G. Albert Lansburg, an American architect known for his work on luxury cinemas and theatres, with assistance by Robert Brown Young, designed The Palace. The décor was elegant and subdued, with shades of gold, pink and blue predominating. Marble walls and mosaic tiles were used throughout the lobbies, and the basement featured a paneled lounge with a fireplace. The former ladies lounge upstairs has windows overlooking the outer lobby reminiscent of a lovely Florentine early Renaissance palazzo. Landburg enlisted noted Catalonian architectural sculptor Domingo Mora, who also worked on New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House, to design and create the striking brick and polychrome terra cotta facade—the first use of multi-colored stone in that era—formed into flowers, fairies, and theatrical masks, illustrating the spirit of entertainment. Four bas relief panels depicting the four muses of vaudeville -- Song, Dance, Music, and Drama—as well as a Troubadour figure, all illuminated by the polychromatic glow of an original “modern” neon marquee and accompanying neon vertical blades.
The interior decoration is distinctly French Renaissance, with garland-draped columns and lit painted domes floating above like drifting luminous planets, and a color scheme of pale pastels, reflecting off the shells which illuminate the walls casting a soft lit ambience inside the auditorium. The auditorium was designed with excellent acoustics for the pre-amplified age. The intimate vertical design comprises of two balconies ensuring that no pair of ears or eyes are far from the stage. On the two walls surrounding the stage, hang two massive framed pastoral murals by painter Candelario Rivas and his crew working under the interior design direction of master American muralist Anthony Heinsbergen, the foremost designer of North American movie theatre interiors.
To view a more extensive history of the Downtown Palace, please see the excellent web archive by Bill Counter:
https://sites.google.com/site/downtownlosangelestheatres/palace-theatre
also on FB:
https://www.facebook.com/losangelestheatres
And these other great historical resources:
Los Angeles Historical Theatre Foundation
http://www.lahtf.org
LA Conservancy
https://www.laconservancy.org
Cinema Treasures
http://cinematreasures.org