Orpheum Theatre
842 S. Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
842 S. Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
66 people
favorited this theater
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Another photo from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/cu28ta
Here is another USC photo from the same time period:
http://tinyurl.com/dau859
Here is a 1939 photo from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/ct53h9
Here is a 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cldlx2
Since I realized that I couldn’t find this information anywhere on this page, which is the natural place for someone to look:
This Orpheum was the fourth home of the Orpheum circuit in Los Angeles.
The first was at the Grand Theater on Main, now demolished, which housed the Orpheum from 1894 to 1903.
The second location was the Los Angeles/Lyceum on Spring, now demolished, which housed the Orpheum from 1903 to 1911.
The third was the Palace Theatre, which is still standing, that was known as the Orpheum from 1911-1926.
Haha, I remember seeing that commercial during the superbowl, and didn’t put 2 and 2 together.
It also was featured in last year’s superbowl….a pretty funny commercial in which two guys get DRAGGED to an opera by their wives/girlfriends, but one guy says, “I can get through it”….opens his jacket, and had about 10 Bud or Coors Lights in bottles in his jacket….but then the opera hit a high pitch which made all the bottles crack and break…….funny.
The RCA TV projection equipment at the Orpheum Theatre was used for closed circuit boxing & sports events in the 50’s-70’s. The Warner Downtown and Paramount Downtown were also equipped with RCA TV projection equipment during mid 50’s. The images of the war in the 40’s were shown at the Newsreel Theatres along Broadway.
The Orpheum made an appearance during the Super Bowl, in a cars.com commercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt-hK-IzdJ8
In the late 70s, I can remember we had a black and white projection tv that was operated from the booth and hit the main screen. Can you imagine? I think in the 40s, they would broadcast information about the war. Awesome Theater.
Here’s some stills from an episode of the show “Chuck” showing the Orpheum’s interior.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185877/mediaindex
It was playing the part of an L.A. Opera House. They didn’t use the Orpheum’s exterior, but the studio (?) exterior they used had hanging banners that said “La Traviata at the Orpheum,” and had the Orpheum’s logo.
No, it was actually just decorative. There are ads for Grauman’s Chinese, El Capitan and others. The theme of the mall is movies, Oscar night and so on.
I think all the ads were for Los Angeles theaters, so it is probably for the Palace/Orpheum.
Or I suppose it could even be for an Orpheum in some other city!
Of course this 1921 ad would not be for this Orpheum, since it didn’t open until 1926. It would be for the previous Orpheum, now called the Palace, further up Broadway.
This 1921 ad was on the restroom wall at the Hollywood and Highland mall:
http://tinyurl.com/3q463f
Here is a January 1930 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/479yso
Here is a Christmas Day 1930 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/4jbel4
Recent photographs I took of the Orpheum can be seen here:
View link
View link
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The theatre is seen in the background of a scene in Repo Man. The film showing then was Staying Alive.
i thought it was ok. I saw that shot too. My favorite movie with this theater in it will be always Transformers.
I did see part of the Chipmunk movie last week while killing time in a doctor’s office. Interesting shots of the Orpheum, but not worth renting this horrendous film.
There are a bunch of USC pictures showing Shriners parading down Broadway, presumably on their way to the Shrine auditorium. It was always a big deal back then, lots of banners proclaiming “Welcome Shriners!”
I guess William beat me to it!
First of all, those aren’t palm trees. Palm fronds have been attached to the light poles along with the banners. And, no, it’s not Palm Sunday or Flag Day. The Shriners are in town! (Note the Shriners' emblem on each light pole at the bottom of the palm fronds.)
All of the light poles with palm leafs also have the Shriners logo on them.