This is the beach side of the State in 1940, from the LAPL. Most if not all photos show the street side, which admittedly was where the theater entrance was: http://jpg1.lapl.org/00077/00077455.jpg
The LAPL has posted a new photo of an Alhambra Theater which they claim is in San Pedro. I’m not adding this as they seem a little vague on the details. http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079035.jpg
I thought about that Joe, but the two buildings appear dissimilar. Did you see the large add-on in the back of the Oriental? I don’t think that was ever part of the LaShell.
This is the front page of a Long Beach paper on 1/9/53, when a Greyhound bus swerved to avoid another car and drove into the front of the theater: http://tinyurl.com/djapzh
If you shut your eyes tightly, close your mind to all else and listen attentively, you just might be able to hear the distant echo of soprano Jacqueline McFadden singing, “How Are Things in Gloccamorra?”
And if the nostalgia of the moment, the plaintive air of the song, does anything to stir your body chemistry â€" you’d better keep your eyes closed, your mind a blank. For, to capture this mystical memory, you’d have to be standing in the once-proud theater where Miss McFadden’s rendition of the song from “Finian’s Rainbow” was among the last performances ever staged, back in 1959.
And a sight of your surroundings, the recollection of what used to be, would shatter your reverie forever. You’d see crumbling walls, rotting stage curtains, theater seats ripped out, the ugly scars of a bonfire, the shattered remains of a fallen chandelier, electrical fixtures dangling from ripped cords, pigeon excrement peppering the whole floor. You’d see a theater interior smothered in a delapidation, matched in ugliness only by the building’s exterior affronting 219 E. Seaside Way, under the sign: “Tracy’s.” Of course, you wouldn’t be able to walk into the theater now. The boarded up windows and doors, the trash littering its sidewalks, its smashed window panes, would tell you that this building across from the Municipal Auditorium does not welcome the legitimate visitor.
But beyond the barriers, the empty wine bottles, the cache of stolen credit cards in a pipe, are tipoffs to the clientele it now accommodates. And like an orphan, disowned by the city, neglected by its owners, forgotten by the community, it apparently will remain in this state for the foreseeable future. But no matter how gloomy its future, inglorious its present, there are many in the city who’ll long recall its splendid past.
Tracy’s was built in 1924 at a reputed cost of $225,000, as a legitimate theater with 1,200 seats. In its early years it played host to legions of international stars and earned a reputation as one of the finest acoustical and aesthetic theaters around. In addition to the theater proper, there was an attached three-story building which included six stores on the ground floor, a 4,000-square-foot balcony and cafeteria on the second, and two penthouse apartments with a private elevator from the ground floor street entrance.
After several years of use as a legitimate theater it was converted into a movie house with a projection and sound room. In the early 1950s it became the home of the Youth for Christ movement for about two years. Then in 1953 it became idle. For six years it stood dark until 1959 when the hope of a new life was fostered by the Long Beach Civic Light Opera Association.
But their dream of a future home remained only in their hearts. When the curtain rang down after a show on October 14, 1959, it closed the last performance ever staged at Tracy’s and the dream never bore wings because the necessary funds could not be raised.
Three years later, in March 1962, it appeared the shroud of darkness would be lifted at Tracy’s. Fred Anthony Miller, who owned the adjacent Wilton Hotel later renamed the Breakers International announced purchase of the Tracy building. Miller said he planned to remodel the theater and convert it into 1,200-seat convention hall. The plans never saw fruition. And the building has been empty ever since.
Current owners are listed in the city assessor’s office as Miller and Albert B. Parvin. Parvin’s firm of Parvin Dohrmann owns the Fremont Hotel and Casino, the Stardust and the Aladdin in Las Vegas. He also is the man who established the Parvin Foundation in 1961 that paid Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas $12,000 a year as president â€" dealings which have generated congressional attempts to impeach Douglas.
A February 1976 article in the High Point Enterprise stated that in the early and mid 1970s the Towne ran heavily edited versions of adult films such as “Deep Throat” and “Devil in Miss Jones”.
OK, Joe, I guess that’s a second opinion. I will add it to the San Pedro theaters. Thanks.
News item from April 2007. It doesn’t appear that the Vogue has reopened as of yet.
The historic Vogue Theatre, a 7,130-square-foot retail building at 226-230 Third Ave., in Chula Vista 91910, has been sold for $1.45 million.
If you’re correct the new listing would have to be deleted and Oriental given as an AKA for this theater.
Here is a 2007 photo from the U of Washington collection:
http://tinyurl.com/dgg5kw
Here is another LAPL photo that appears to be from the 1940s:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079033.jpg
Here is a 1958 photo from the LAPL:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079034.jpg
Here is an undated photo recently added by the LAPL:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078396.jpg
Here is a 1931 photo recently added by the LAPL:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078395.jpg
The LAPL recently added this view of an unidentified premiere in 1948:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078398.jpg
This is the beach side of the State in 1940, from the LAPL. Most if not all photos show the street side, which admittedly was where the theater entrance was:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00077/00077455.jpg
The LAPL has posted a new photo of an Alhambra Theater which they claim is in San Pedro. I’m not adding this as they seem a little vague on the details.
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079035.jpg
Here is a 1931 photo from the LAPL:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079552.jpg
I thought about that Joe, but the two buildings appear dissimilar. Did you see the large add-on in the back of the Oriental? I don’t think that was ever part of the LaShell.
Here are some 1931 photos from the LA library:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079036.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079037.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079038.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079039.jpg
Here are some 1925 views:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014888.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014890.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014891.jpg
Here is an expanded version of the photo at the top of the page, along with another photo, both from the LA library:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014907.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014906.jpg
This is the front page of a Long Beach paper on 1/9/53, when a Greyhound bus swerved to avoid another car and drove into the front of the theater:
http://tinyurl.com/djapzh
The Tracy was finally demolished over the course of a few days in late March, 1974.
Here is a condensed version of the article:
If you shut your eyes tightly, close your mind to all else and listen attentively, you just might be able to hear the distant echo of soprano Jacqueline McFadden singing, “How Are Things in Gloccamorra?”
And if the nostalgia of the moment, the plaintive air of the song, does anything to stir your body chemistry â€" you’d better keep your eyes closed, your mind a blank. For, to capture this mystical memory, you’d have to be standing in the once-proud theater where Miss McFadden’s rendition of the song from “Finian’s Rainbow” was among the last performances ever staged, back in 1959.
And a sight of your surroundings, the recollection of what used to be, would shatter your reverie forever. You’d see crumbling walls, rotting stage curtains, theater seats ripped out, the ugly scars of a bonfire, the shattered remains of a fallen chandelier, electrical fixtures dangling from ripped cords, pigeon excrement peppering the whole floor. You’d see a theater interior smothered in a delapidation, matched in ugliness only by the building’s exterior affronting 219 E. Seaside Way, under the sign: “Tracy’s.” Of course, you wouldn’t be able to walk into the theater now. The boarded up windows and doors, the trash littering its sidewalks, its smashed window panes, would tell you that this building across from the Municipal Auditorium does not welcome the legitimate visitor.
But beyond the barriers, the empty wine bottles, the cache of stolen credit cards in a pipe, are tipoffs to the clientele it now accommodates. And like an orphan, disowned by the city, neglected by its owners, forgotten by the community, it apparently will remain in this state for the foreseeable future. But no matter how gloomy its future, inglorious its present, there are many in the city who’ll long recall its splendid past.
Tracy’s was built in 1924 at a reputed cost of $225,000, as a legitimate theater with 1,200 seats. In its early years it played host to legions of international stars and earned a reputation as one of the finest acoustical and aesthetic theaters around. In addition to the theater proper, there was an attached three-story building which included six stores on the ground floor, a 4,000-square-foot balcony and cafeteria on the second, and two penthouse apartments with a private elevator from the ground floor street entrance.
After several years of use as a legitimate theater it was converted into a movie house with a projection and sound room. In the early 1950s it became the home of the Youth for Christ movement for about two years. Then in 1953 it became idle. For six years it stood dark until 1959 when the hope of a new life was fostered by the Long Beach Civic Light Opera Association.
But their dream of a future home remained only in their hearts. When the curtain rang down after a show on October 14, 1959, it closed the last performance ever staged at Tracy’s and the dream never bore wings because the necessary funds could not be raised.
Three years later, in March 1962, it appeared the shroud of darkness would be lifted at Tracy’s. Fred Anthony Miller, who owned the adjacent Wilton Hotel later renamed the Breakers International announced purchase of the Tracy building. Miller said he planned to remodel the theater and convert it into 1,200-seat convention hall. The plans never saw fruition. And the building has been empty ever since.
Current owners are listed in the city assessor’s office as Miller and Albert B. Parvin. Parvin’s firm of Parvin Dohrmann owns the Fremont Hotel and Casino, the Stardust and the Aladdin in Las Vegas. He also is the man who established the Parvin Foundation in 1961 that paid Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas $12,000 a year as president â€" dealings which have generated congressional attempts to impeach Douglas.
This is a photo from a 2/15/71 story in the Press-Telegram. I am posting the story separately.
http://tinyurl.com/cfzoyw
Here is an October 1947 ad from the Long Beach Press-Telegram:
http://tinyurl.com/cpm3nh
Here is an October 1947 ad from the Long Beach Press-Telegram:
http://tinyurl.com/dkow67
I actually plugged in Center Street and then followed it over to 3rd. The introduction says Third just south of Center.
A February 1976 article in the High Point Enterprise stated that in the early and mid 1970s the Towne ran heavily edited versions of adult films such as “Deep Throat” and “Devil in Miss Jones”.
Google won’t map N. 3rd, keeps changing it to South 3rd, which is a residential area. I guess it’s a moot point if the theater was never built.