San Gabriel Mission Playhouse
320 S. Mission Drive,
San Gabriel,
CA
91776
320 S. Mission Drive,
San Gabriel,
CA
91776
1 person
favorited this theater
This former movie theater opened as the Mission Playhouse in 1927. From about 1932 to the end of World War II, according to movie listings, it was used as a movie theater and was called the Mission Theatre. It is said that during the wartime housing shortage that its dressing rooms were used as apartments.
At the end of the war the Mission Theatre was bought by the city and it became the San Gabriel Civic Auditorium. Today it is used for a variety of the performing arts and is available for rental. It was re-named San Gabriel Mission Playhouse in 2008.
The nearby San Gabriel Mission, dating back to the early-1800’s, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Contributed by
Ron Pierce
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
The Auditorium’s address and phone number is listed above, but the number given actually is for the Box Office only. The MAIN number for the facility is (626) 308-2865.
Here is an undated triptych from the LA Library:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics08/00023833.jpg
Just out of curiosity, what does “triptych” mean?
A multi-panel work. Usually three panels joined together.
Okay thanks. That saved me a trip to Google. :)
Here are more photos from the LAPL:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics08/00023830.jpg
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics08/00023829.jpg
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics08/00023828.jpg
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics08/00023827.jpg
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics08/00023822.jpg
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics08/00023813.jpg
If you want to see this beautiful theater in action, visit the Playhouse on Sun 25th Oct at 2.30pm for a screening of the 1925 silent classic “Phantom of the Opera” starring Lon Chaney snr. Live music on the beautifully restored Wurlitzer. More info on 888-528-6722.
Arthur Burnett Benton drew the original plans for this Mission Playhouse in 1921, and the cornerstone was laid in 1923, but the progress of construction was slow and the building was not completed until 1927, when it opened on March 5.
I’ve come across several sources (a scholarly tome by William Deverell, published by the University of California, for one) claiming that, by 1926, Benton had become too ill (he died in 1927) to complete the project, and it was taken over by William J. Dodd and the firm Dodd & Richards (architects of the Kinema Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, later to become the Fox Criterion.)
Dodd is said to have substantially altered the design, so he should probably be credited along with Benton as the architect. Dodd & Richards also designed a 1929 addition to the playhouse, a project that added a curio shop and exhibition gallery.
Here is a link to a video I made for a friends graduation ceremony a few weeks ago. Shows the exterior, forecourt and interior of the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKl3dywx4rs
Stage dimensions: 50' deep; 100' wide.