Grand Theater
110 S. Main Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90012
110 S. Main Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90012
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Showing 51 - 62 of 62 comments
Well, Joe, here is a picture from the early twentieth century, as far as I can tell. You can make your own comparisons. The caption by the LA Library mistakenly places the theater at 112 S. Main, which would put it on the opposite side of the street. I did think that the 1936 date seemed a little off given the other picture from the 1930s which shows the wear and tear before the theater was obliterated.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics09/00014009.jpg
I just noticed a typo in the third paragraph of the theatre’s description. The appearance by Edwin Booth was not in 1877 (before the theatre even opened!), but in 1887.
ken mc: The library must have mislabeled the picture to which you linked in your Nov 30 comment. It has to be earlier than 1936. The picture shows above the theatre entrance the name “Grand Opera House” which, by 1936, had not been used for decades. From the pristine condition of the white stone facade (and the floor-length dress of the woman at the far left), I’d guess that the picture actually shows the theatre within a few years of its 1884 opening.
Here are three interesting photos from the LA Library. One is a good view of the interior. The last picture shows the theater at the end of its life, being encroached upon by the twentieth century.
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics34/00036855.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics34/00036853.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics34/00036854.jpg
1936, from the LA Library:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics18/00028669.jpg
Here are some pictures of the Grand, courtesy of the LA Public Library:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015325.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015326.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015327.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics34/00036862.jpg
The Theatre Historical Society of America have details of ‘Child’s Grand Opera House closing on 5th April 1936 and it was soon demolished for a parking lot’.
A book titled Before the Nickelodeon, by Charles Musser (University of California Press, 1991) Gives the Grand Theater’s seating capacity as 1311 (as of 1896, two years after it became the first Los Angeles home of the Orpheum Vaudeville Circuit), giving as its source Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide (New York, 1896.) This seems about right, judging from pictures I’ve seen of the theatre’s interior. It was a good-sized house, with two balconies.
Musser’s book also reveals that on July 6th, 1896, the Grand was the scene of the first theatrical exhibition of moving pictures in Los Angeles, when several short Edison films were shown, fresh from their west coast premier at the San Francisco Orpheum. The projectionist at this event was none other than William S. Porter, who would later go on to become one of the first successful directors of silent films.
The book quotes the almost giddy description of the event which was published by the Los Angeles Times:[quote]
“The theatre was darkened until it was as black as mid-night. Suddenly a strange whirling sound was heard. Upon a huge white sheet flashed forth the figure of Anna Belle Sun [sic ], whirling through the mazes of the serpentine dance. She swayed and nodded and tripped it lightly, the filmy draperies rising and falling and floating this way and that, all reproduced with startling reality, and the whole without a break except that now and then one could see swift electric sparks. Then the picture changed from the grey of a photograph to the color of life and next came the fairy-like butterfly dance. Then, without warning, darkness and the roar of applause that shook the theatre; and knew no pause till the next picture was flashed on the screen. This was long, lanky Uncle Sam who was defending Venezuela from fat little John Bull, and forcing the bully to his knees. Next came a representation of Herald Square in New York with streetcars and vans moving up and down, then Cissy Fitzgerald’s dance and last of all a representation of the way May Irwin and John C. Rice kiss. Their smiles and glances and expressive gestures and the final joyous, overpowering, luscious osculation was repeated again and again, while the audience fairly shrieked and howled approval. The vitascope is a wonder, a marvel, an outstanding example of human ingenuity, and it had an instantaneous success on this, its first exhibition in Los Angeles. A representation of Niagara Falls is now on its way [from the] East, where it was first exhibited only two weeks ago, and this will be added to the bill on Thursday evening.”[/quote]
The Los Angeles Herald of July 14th noted that at least 20,000 people attended the Grand during the first week of this exhibition, and that perhaps a further 10,000 had been turned away for lack of space.
Joe;
Yes, both Film Daily Yearbook’s have it listed as Grand (S. Main) 700 seats, so it is the 110 S. Main St location of Child’s Opera House/Grand.
However, although the F.D.Y. gives great information, not all of it is accurate. I presume for the theatre listings in each edition, they took their lists from film renters/distributers and sometimes it could have taken a few editions for clusures and openings, or even name changes to work their way through into the next edition.
Therefore, your source of information that it was demolished in around 1936/7 could be correct. We could find out more later this year when the Theatre Historical Society of America publish their 2005 Annual, which is covering the history of the four Los Angeles Orpheum Theaters.
Rats! I typed 125 South Main again, which is the wrong address. It’s 110 South Main.
Ken:
Is that the Grand Theater at 125 South Main? My source for the closing date of 1936 was the text accompanying a photograph of the theater at the L.A. public library’s online photo collection (search on “Childs Opera House”.) It’s apparently a paraphrase of the newspaper article that accompanied the picture at the time it was published (in either the Examiner or the Herald), which announced the impending demolition of the theater. (It also says that the theater had been known as El Teatro Mexico for the previous decade, which information I failed to include in my submission of the theater.)
The Film Daily Yearbook’s 1941 and 1943 have the Grand Theater listed. A seating capacity of 700 seats is given.
As a warning to anyone who may go looking for information about the first Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, I have noticed a discrepancy in the address posted for it in different sections of the L.A. Public Library’s online data base. on many text pages in the photo database, the address is given as 125 S. Main Street, though there is at least one photograph of the Grand the accompanying text page for which identifies it as the home of the first Orpheum, and it is a certainty that the Grand was at 110 S. Main. Other sections of the database also clearly identify the Grand as the theater which the Orpheum Circuit leased for its first Los Angeles theater, and give the correct address. I have sent an e-mail to the L.A. Public Library informing them of the repeated error in their photo database, but thus far I have received no acknowledging reply, and there has been no correction made to their web site.