La Petite Theatre
508 S. Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90013
508 S. Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90013
2 people
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Not to be confused with the Art Theatre on 551 S. Main Street.
The building currently on this site dates from 1905, and was operating as the Art Theatre by 1910. It was the La Petite Theatre by 1914.
Contributed by
KenRoe
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
Here’s a little about this theater from an LA Times Article:
(June 25, 1910)
The pluck and coolness of F.A. Horton of No. 313 West Third street, a 19-year old boy, in a room filled with thousands of feet of blazing celluloid films, probably saved lives and certainly averted a disastrous fire yesterday afternoon, when a moving picture film burst into a blaze at the Art Theater, No. 508 South Broadway. The little theater which is owned by W.A. Kerr of No. 306 Clay street, was well filled when young Horton began preparations to show a stirring picture story of Sherlock Holmes and his marvelous work.
The Art Theater at 508 S. Broadway, could have been in the Johnson Building, built in 1905, still standing on the site, today numbered 510 S. Broadway. (The Jewelry Trades Building next door was built in the 1920’s.) If so, the theater probably would have been located where the Taco Bell is in the photo (though that picture is from about 2005, the Taco Bell has left and has been replaced by a different Mexican food place). Note: the news item above refers to it as a “little theater,” so maybe it could have fit in this building.
http://www.you-are-here.com/broadway/johnson.html
Also, this theatre might have changed its name to La Petite when the nearby Art Theater opened on Main Street in 1918.
From the LA Times, June 28, 1910:
W.A. Kerr, proprietor of the Art Theater, 508 S. Broadway, who, after a fire in his place, was arrested last week on a charge of employing an unlicensed operator for his moving picture machine, was fined $50 yesterday, but sentence was suspended.