Pantages Theatre

6233 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA 90028

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Showing 101 - 125 of 149 comments

JSA
JSA on November 3, 2006 at 9:13 pm

William,

I know this may be heresy to some, but what about the Egyptian? Granted, it is not the grand palace it used to be, but from time to time, their programming is quite good. Hollywood Blvd boasts the Chinese, El Capitan, Egyptian, Hollywood Pacific (closed for now) and Pantages, and all within a half-mile stretch.

I look forward to the day when the Norelcos are put to use at the Pantages!

Regards,
JSA

Vito
Vito on November 3, 2006 at 4:06 pm

Oh yes, I did not mention some of still functioning legit theatres and of course the Beacon. There is also the St.George,
a fairly well restored palace on Staten Island which is used as a concert venue. I think the Brooklyn Paramoun twhich except for the main audutorium floor (a gym I nelieve) is also mostly intact. Also in Brooklyn, the Loew’s Kings which is still intact but in bad shape and in desperate need of some love and resoration.

William
William on November 3, 2006 at 3:19 pm

Vito, don’t forget the Beacon (concerts/special events) and the Mark Hellinger (church) and the Loew’s Wonder Theatres (churches except the Jersey City (films/special events).

I’m jealous, I use to live there. Now I’m here in NYC too.

Vito
Vito on November 3, 2006 at 3:08 pm

Oh well now your just showin off :)
All the old great NY theatres: Roxy, Paramount, Rivoli,
Loew’s State, and Capital are sadly gone.
All that remains is Radio City Music Hall, which is for the most part used for concerts, and the Palace, which runs very much like the Pantages. Also there is the Ziegfeld, which is a movie house and while it cannot be considered a palace. It is one of, if not the last, single screen theatre in NY.
Thanks for info William, I am so jealous.

William
William on November 3, 2006 at 1:41 pm

Yes, Los Angeles still has a good number of palaces still in operation whether it be film or touring Broadway shows.
In Hollywood:
Pantages (Broadway/Concerts)
Chinese (Film)
El Capitan (Film/Special Events)

In Los Angeles:
Wiltern (Concerts/Special Events)
Los Angeles (Special Events/Filming Location)
Orpheum (Special Events/Filming Location)
Palace (Special Events/Film Location)
United Artists (Church)
Million Dollar (closed)
State (church)

In Beverly Hills:

Wilshire (Special Events/Concerts)

Others:
Hollywood Pacific (closed/maybe planning tobe restored soon)
Warner Huntington Park (closed/people are interested in it)
Warner Grand (San Pedro) (Movies/Concerts/Special Events/Filming)
Village (Movies)

Those are some of the true places that are still standing and operating.

Vito
Vito on November 3, 2006 at 12:48 pm

It must be nice to have so many grand theatres still intact.
Here in New York, with the exception of Radio City Music Hall, all of the wonderful old theatres have either been torn down or converted into small little movie theatre boxes. The young New Yorkers will never experience the thrill of watching a movie in a real movie palace.

William
William on November 2, 2006 at 12:21 pm

The four Norelco DP70’s are still there. You can see alittle bit of the lobby in the movie “Phat Girlz”, during a dream at the start of the movie.

The Pantages has been doing the touring Broadway show route and has had a few concerts and been a site for awards shows and filming locations in recent years

Vito
Vito on November 2, 2006 at 11:57 am

Recently, on television, I saw the magnificent Pantages in a horror/sci fi award show which was held there. I had not seen the theatre since the last time I was in LA back in 1958. What a beauty she is! I was not interested in the award show but watched it in order to see what the theatre looked like. I must say, seeing it restored and looking so grand was a thrill.
William mentioned in another post that the theatre was still capable of showing film and I wondered if that was still the case and when the last time the theatre was used for that purpose. Are those Norelco’s still in the booth? Also what type of stage curtain is in use now?

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on July 14, 2006 at 11:06 pm

Here is a 1937 photo from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/nx2ue

clvee
clvee on February 28, 2006 at 11:24 am

The last time I went to the Pantages it was a double feather in the after noon. Must have been 1960. They were ‘Sink the Bismark" and “The Blob”. Lots of free parking but not many cars. The price was about 60 plus cents. What a come down for the grand ole theater?

frankie
frankie on January 11, 2006 at 5:09 pm

JustOldBob: Patty McCormack & Robert Wagner NEVER
took home the “magic statue”, although Patty was nominated.

GWaterman
GWaterman on December 27, 2005 at 12:18 am

When I first came to Los Angeles, one of my first jobs was working as a stagehand running a followspot for Riverdance at the Pantages. What an incredible building! My spot was mounted on a vertical tower set just in front of the proscenium. It was really something to be sitting up on top of a piece of steel so close to the plaster.

This is an incredible theatre. I remember how magnificent the lobby was! When we ran control cable for the PA system, I was sent down into the plenum below the seats to run the cable. Found several old theatre programs down in there, from other Nederlander shows.

In later years I sat in the audience for “The Producers”, and was just in awe of my surroundings.

Just idle curiosity —– is this the Pantages in the lyrics of the Ricky Lee Jones song?

God knows there are plenty of Pantages theatres on the west coast, but I am assuming she meant the Hollywood one in the song.

stevebob
stevebob on November 11, 2005 at 9:35 am

For ken mc: Warners Hollywood > Warners Cinerama > Hollywood Pacific > Pacific 1-2-3. It’s already listed as one of your favorites: /theaters/18/

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on October 25, 2005 at 11:32 pm

Can someone place these two theaters on Hollywood Boulevard for me? They must be here under different names, particularly the Warner’s theater. Thanks. The photo is from yesterdayla.com:

View link

VincentParisi
VincentParisi on July 12, 2005 at 5:39 pm

Biography(Leslie Ann Warren) last night showed a bit of the Pantages at the time of the world premiere of Disney’s Happiest MIllionaire.

teecee
teecee on July 12, 2005 at 5:29 pm

View link

Caption: “Academy Awards: 31st Annual,” Pantages Theater. 1959.
Source: MPTV

LarryGardner
LarryGardner on June 8, 2005 at 10:43 pm

Just wished to comment that in the new Academy Award nominated film, “The Aviator”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, we see DiCaprio as Hughes attending a premiere at the Pantages in 1939. How do we know it is 1939? Because a poster in the Boxoffice street lobby has a poster advertising as a coming attraction, MGM’s “The Women”! This is an error. Being an MGM production, “The Women” never played at this theater, an RKO property. Further, at that time and through the second world war years, all posters at the first run theaters in Hollywood had specially made, unique, and expensive hand-cut posters that were NOT paper sheets printed by National Screen Service, as was the case with all other theaters everywhere.
The Director of “The Aviator”, Martin Scorsese, never caught this error. LarryGardner

BhillH20
BhillH20 on June 5, 2005 at 1:25 am

It is a pleasure to see this magnificent art deco masterpiece reach its milestone 75th anniversary today!!!

uncleal923
uncleal923 on April 2, 2005 at 3:27 am

I just visited California and saw the Pantages. I come from Long Island, New York. I would like to say that this is still a beautiful theater from the outside. I did not go inside.

teecee
teecee on April 1, 2005 at 9:42 pm

The Florodora Girl (1930) was the first film which opened the famous Pantages Theater at Hollywood and Vine.

bruceanthony
bruceanthony on February 28, 2005 at 7:57 pm

The Pantages was showcased on Good Morning America on ABC as the morning after the Oscars. They really showed off the theatre during the interviews which took place in the Lobby. The Oscars were held here from 1949-1959.They also took you into the Auditorium and mentioned the theatre during the whole hour of the telecast. brucec

trooperboots
trooperboots on February 8, 2005 at 3:25 am

brucec…. Just wanted to say that I own the DVD of the restored “A Star is Born” and even though still shots were used, the movie shows what an enormous talent Judy Garland was. The range of emotions and her singing and dancing run through the entire picture. Vic and Ron did a great job and the film is as much a tribute to them as it is to Judy. She must be smiling in heaven with them. Thanks for the note.

bruceanthony
bruceanthony on January 31, 2005 at 6:24 pm

I saw the movie “Klute” with Jane Fonda and Danald Sutherland at the Pantages with my cousin Vic who passed away yesterday. He was head of the Audio Visual Dept at the LA County Museum of Art for a number of years. He introduced me to all the great movie palaces in the LA area when I would make trips to LA when I was a child.He worked with Ron Haber at the museum who was responsible for the restoration of “A Star is Born” with Judy Garland which had a huge premiere at the Pantages in 1954. I will miss my cousin who always took me to the movies in Hollywood and Westwood and sometimes Downtown.It will always be a magical time in my life and I was fortunate to have such a wonderful cousin.brucec