Old Town Music Hall

Recent research suggests the architect of this theater was not Edward Leodore Mayberry, Jr., as suggested in the above comment in 2010. In further researching Southwest Builder and Contractor, Mayberry did draw plans for E. L. McMurry for a brick theater in El Segundo. However, if you keep looking, there is a subsequent entry indicating a few months later Architects John P. Krempel and Walter E. Erkes with offices at 538 Bradbury Bldg were drawing plans for Mr McMurry’s El Segundo theater. The listed description and dimensions from this second entry are more consistent with the current theater. Mayberry’s design was for a much larger theater with seating up to 500 and was part two-story to accommodate the extra seating.

This research does not establish John P. Krempel and/or Walter E. Erkes as the architects of the theater still standing today at 140 Richmond Street, El Segundo, CA. This only indicates a set of architectural plans were to be prepared by this second firm for a theater in El Segundo that is of the approximate size of the current structure. Not being able to identify any other brick theaters built around this time in El Segundo, I feel comfortable stating it is LIKELY that this theater may have been designed by the architects Krempel & Erkes.

The information from the below two listings in Southwest builder and contractor was shared with the theater management prior to posting here.

Southwest builder and contractor. v. 55, June 11, 1920, page 13. Brick Picture Theater Building. Arch. E. L. Mayberry, 468 Pacific Electric Bldg., is preparing plans for a part 1-story part 2-story brick moving picture theater building to be erected at El Segundo for E. L. McMurry. It will contain an auditorium to seat 500 people, two storerooms and four office rooms: 50X 150 ft., brick walls, pressed brick and plaster exterior, plate glass, cement and wood flooring, composition roofing, plumbing, wiring.

Southwest builder and contractor. v. 56-57:1, December 10, 1920. Page 16 Brick Theater. Archts. John P. Krempel and Walter E. Erkes, 538 Bradbury Bldg., are preparing plans for a one-story brick moving pictures building, 35X100 ft., to be erected at El Segundo for Mr. McMurry. Concrete foundation, brick walls, stucco exterior, cement floor, opera chairs, plumbing, wiring, heating, ventilating. Day Work.

I just visited this theatre to see “The Great Victor Herbert.” The organ concert before the movie and during the silent comedy was outstanding. I was disappointed that the movie was a DVD, and the quality was poor. There was no contrast in the picture. Blacks were light gray. And the sound and picture were out of sync. I was hoping for a 35mm print, but it didn’t happen. At the end, the letters DVD appeared on the screen.

I love going to the Old Town Music Hall. When you turn on Richmond Street your car suddenly turns into a time machine that brings you back to the 20’s and 30’s. When you walk into the theater you forget that it is 2010. There is nothing like watching a silent movie and hearing the awesome sound of the Mighty Wurlitzer. Where else would you walk outside of the theatre to buy macaroons at the concession stand during intermission? The best and most unique music concerts are there on Sundays. I truly believe that you could find no other place like this on earth.

El Seguno in the caption should be El Segundo, as an aka.

There was a Showcase Cinema in Downey, CA operating in 1968; perhaps Boxoffice misidentifed the location?

The L.A. County Assessor’s office says that this building was built in 1921, with an effectively-built date (indicating major alterations) of 1923. Southwest Builder and Contractor had items in its issue of June 11, 1920, saying that Edward L. Mayberry Jr. was designing a brick moving picture theater at El Segundo for E.L. McMurry.

The State Theatre apparently closed in the mid-1930s, and remained dark for almost nine years. Boxoffice of August 19, 194, said that Norman W. Rowell had renovated and reopened the 350-seat house as the El Segundo Theatre.

Both an architect and an engineer, E.L. Mayberry is most closely associated with Long Beach, but worked throughout Southern California. He is credited as the engineer for architect George Washington Smith’s second Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, a legitimate house which later presented movies. The Lobero today is primarily a music venue, though it also serves as a venue for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Probably a storefront.

Here are some June 2008 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/5pycgh
http://tinyurl.com/5q3xuc
http://tinyurl.com/6pqkfg

It’s still going, apparently. I lived in El Segundo for about six years, but I never went to one of the shows. El Segundo is a nice little town, but location-wise leaves a little to be desired as it’s between the LA airport, a huge Chevron refinery and an equally large sewage treatment plant. Sometimes when the wind blows right you get a nice whiff from all three.

Crime in El Segundo on 10/29/79, according to the LA Times:

Three Arrested in Theater Hold Up

El Segundo police arrested three men on suspicion of robbing the employees and patrons of a silent movie theater at gunpoint, and beating the manager when he attempted to escape.

After robbing the employees and firing one pistol shot at the projection room ceiling, the pair forced the employees into the theater auditorium and told the patrons they were going to be robbed. Moviegoers at first thought it was a Halloween prank, but quickly complied with orders to hand over their valuables when three more shots were fired into the ceiling. Owner William Coffman, 53, was beaten when he tried to escape.

When the bandits fled with their loot in a trash sack, they discovered that El Segundo detectives had been watching the compact car in which a confederate was waiting for them. Coffman was treated at the scene by paramedics and was released for treatment by a private physician.

Visited this special theater on October 2 for the screening of the silent film Nosferatu. The entire event was outstanding. The organist played a pre-movie concert, accompanied the comedy, a sing-a-long, and the movie without ever having a sheet of music in front of him. Amazing!! Can’t wait to return on March 19 for “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. Go experience this fantastic venue.

I went to a screening at this theater last night; they were showing “Song of the Islands,” a little musical with Betty Grable and Victor Mature. Before the feature they had a performance on the Wurlitzer, a silent Laurel and Hardy short, and a singalong to several old tunes. It was a fun show.

The interesting thing about this theater is that the workings of the Wurlitzer are all visible behind the console (the small screen was raised during the performance), and they have been edged in fluorescent paint. Black lights make them glow, and you can see the various drumsticks and tambourines and baffles moving while the organist plays.

p.s. Their popcorn is very good.