Clune's Auditorium

427 W. 5th Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90071

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Showing 1 - 25 of 81 comments

drb
drb on May 21, 2010 at 3:06 am

Here’s a 1920 photo of Pershing Square (with actual trees!) and the Auditorium.
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And while I’m at it, here’s updated links for the other photos from dead USC links above.

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kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 15, 2010 at 6:51 pm

Here is a 1958 photo from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/2bntmb6

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on April 19, 2010 at 8:20 pm

LA Times reports that the development of this parcel has been delayed due to the recession. Not much of a market now for a luxury hotel and condos as planned.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on April 11, 2010 at 8:47 pm

To belatedly answer Heidi DD’s question: Yes, I’m sure the program you have is for this Auditorium, before Billy Clune took over its operation. Sparks Berry was manager of the Auditorium during its early years. It seems likely that the April 24 performance in your program took place in 1907. See the newspaper item in the right hand column near the bottom of the page here.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 15, 2009 at 5:52 am

Here is a January 1940 ad from the LAT:
http://tinyurl.com/qvbtx2

HeidiD
HeidiD on August 14, 2009 at 2:34 pm

Hi – I recently purchased a program that says: Auditorium Los Angeles, Sparks M Berry Manager. On the inside it says: Auditorium “Theater Beautiful” only fire proof theater in the city – program published by T. Newman, 204-207 Mason Opera House. On the back there’s an ad: After the Theatre is over dine at The Angelus Grill

Do you think this is the same theatre to which you are referring here? I don’t know the year but the date was Wednesday 4/24 and the play was: The Confederate Spy

Thanks.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 1, 2009 at 1:09 pm

Here is a July 4, 1918 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/lqrtrj

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 1, 2009 at 2:40 pm

This is from a 1938 article about the planned renovation of the theater:
http://tinyurl.com/dj8r22

drb
drb on May 1, 2009 at 2:07 pm

Christmas tree lighting in Pershing Square
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courtesy of LA Metblogs

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on November 16, 2008 at 6:53 pm

Right into the ground. Nice idea, anyway.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on November 16, 2008 at 6:48 pm

Here is part of an April 12, 1979 article from the LA Times about renovation of the Philharmonic:

For nearly sixty years, the names of Galli-Curci, Tito Schipa, John McCormack, Mary Garden, the Ballet Russe, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and of course the Light Opera Association, as well as many others, graced the marquee above 5th Street.

All that changed in 1965, when, except for an occasional production of a Broadway musical, the theatrical lights dimmed at the Philharmonic and the scene changed to the new Music Center.
Since then the 2,600-seat auditorium with its vast stage, ceiling of concentric sound circles and acoustically perfect interior has been dark-and silent-except on Sundays when the faithful attend Temple Baptist Church worship services.

Now that is changing. The auditorium and its adjoining nine-story office building overlooking Pershing Square have been sold by the church to Auditorium Management Company for a reported $3 million. The new group of entrepeneurs, investors and developers has started to renovate the old auditorium to return it to its original grandeur as a showcase for Broadway-type productions.

David Houk, president of the management company said the auditorium-office building had been for sale for five years but his group had doubts about purchasing it because, as he put it, “Downtown is dead”. Enter Stephen Rothman, a specialist in theater restoration who has done similar work at the old Paramount Theater in Aurora, Ill., and the Hartman Theater in Stamford, Conn. “This is a true Broadway stage”, said Rothman, “It just needs a little sanding. Otherwise it’s in incredible shape”.

vokoban
vokoban on September 30, 2008 at 5:38 pm

This is from June….I don’t know if they still have the money:

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kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on September 30, 2008 at 5:27 pm

What bugs me is that I was in LA for a year before it was torn down and never checked it out. Lost opportunity. Same for the Hippodrome on Main Street.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on September 23, 2008 at 10:22 pm

Geopolitical lecture in March 1947:
http://tinyurl.com/5xk5jo

There was some discussion last year of a retail/housing complex being built on this space. Obviously with the economy circling the drain nothing further has been mentioned.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 16, 2008 at 12:58 pm

Here is an undated postcard from the NYPL:
http://tinyurl.com/66ba6f

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 16, 2008 at 9:30 am

Here is a 1960 photo from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/5cv42w

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on April 25, 2008 at 6:38 pm

Here is a 1927 photo from the UCLA collection;
http://tinyurl.com/6fwqbm

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on April 13, 2008 at 9:23 pm

There is a series of photos on the LA Times “Daily Mirror” blog, if you scroll about halfway down. I didn’t remember the scene from “Double Indemnity”, though:
http://tinyurl.com/3kbexg

reluctantpopstar
reluctantpopstar on December 4, 2007 at 2:45 am

That 1985 photo posted by Ken on August 6th shows the San Carlos Hotel, and on the ground floor can be the roof of Googie’s Coffee Shop, which started the “Googie architecture” style in the 1950’s, though I believe it was the other branch next to Schwab’s Drugstore on Crescent Heights in Hollywood that had all the wild stylistic elements in the architecture. I don’t remember any of this first hand, I think I read about it somewhere along the way.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on November 11, 2007 at 7:02 pm

Here is a 1951 photo from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/yowm37

vokoban
vokoban on October 28, 2007 at 5:17 pm

Here’s an interesting article on that early color process. This quote from the page is especially interesting:

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“Kinemacolor was a moderate success in the early 20th century. It made millions in Europe but was completely stymied in the U.S. due to the shenanigans of the Patent Trust, an organization of film producers that worked desparately to prevent outsiders from making an inroad in the film business. The Patent Trust was the main reason why independant producers migrated from the U.S. east coast to California.