Torrance Community Theatre

1522 Cravens Avenue,
Torrance, CA 90501

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Additional Info

Architects: Clifford A. Balch

Styles: Art Deco

Previous Names: Grand Theatre

Nearby Theaters

Grand Torrance

Opened in 1939, the Grand Theatre was a single screen movie house until its closure. It then became the Torrance Community Theatre. It was later demolished.

Contributed by 'Manwithnoname'

Recent comments (view all 11 comments)

William
William on November 13, 2003 at 1:43 pm

The Grand Theatre address is 1522 Cravens Ave., it seated 654 people.

JeffofTorrance
JeffofTorrance on May 12, 2005 at 8:37 pm

I attended the Grand and Stadium as a young kid in the early 1950’s. It was a drive through mostly un-occupied Torrance in those days, with hundreds of oil wells, from my house in Southwest Torrance. I am back in the old neighborhood. Later, as I got older, we kids usually went to the Fox Redondo and Strand. Later, still, we went on dates to the Torrance Drive-in. They are all gone now.

KYLEGIRL
KYLEGIRL on August 15, 2005 at 1:58 am

During the 1960’s, after the Grand closed as a movie theater and before it became a community theater for stage plays, it was a venue for teen age dances with live music. Bands such as the Midnighters performed there on Friday and Saturday nights.

xtapa999
xtapa999 on January 8, 2006 at 5:40 pm

I was involved with the “Hampton Players” when they moved into the Grand in 1969. We added tiered theatre seating, fixed up the exterior lights and box office, added lighting and sound, and opened our first production late in ‘69. We were in rehearsal and stopped to watch the first Apollo moon landing on a little b/w tv sitting on the set.

Lots of great memories – like wandering around the rafters in the attic while searching for the theatre ghost.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 29, 2007 at 9:53 am

In 1963, the Grand was operated by Grand Theatres, Inc, 1653 Cravens Avenue in Torrance. President was Harry Milstein. Other Grand theaters at the time were the Stadium in Torrance and the Park in Gardena.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on September 8, 2007 at 2:40 pm

I saw a photo today of a Torrance Theater on Marcelina Avenue. Is this an unlisted Torrance theater?

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 15, 2010 at 4:24 am

Boxoffice of June 3, 1939, said that the Grand Theatre at Torrance had opened. The house was operated by Pacific States Theatres, a company controlled by Adolph Ramish and the Gore brothers.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 31, 2013 at 3:05 am

The four other theaters known to have been built for Pacific States Theatres- the El Rey on Wilshire Boulevard, the San Clemente (Miriamar) in San Clemente, the La Mar in Manhattan Beach, and the Studio City in the San Fernando Valley- were all designed by architect Clifford Balch. Though I haven’t found any sources saying that Balch designed the Grand, I’d be very surprised if he didn’t.

Anthony L. Vazquez-Hernandez
Anthony L. Vazquez-Hernandez on November 29, 2015 at 1:43 pm

Listed in the Film Daily Yearbook of 1942 as seating 600

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