Mayan
1040 S. Hill Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90015
1040 S. Hill Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90015
34 people
favorited this theater
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CALLING ALL THEATRE / MOVIE ENTHUSIASTS!!!
T'he Los Angeles Theatre' on South Broadway, LA is playing host to the UK television show ‘Dead Famous LIVE’. We are currently looking for people who would like to come along as part of the studio audience.
‘Dead Famous LIVE’ is a studio entertainment show all about Hollywood History and the paranormal. We will be welcoming celebrity guests on to the show and investigating famous locations around Hollywood which are rumoured to be haunted including the Los Angeles Theatre itself.
This is an invaluable chance to get access to the Los Angeles Theatre, the place where Charlie Chaplin’s ‘City Lights’ premiered in 1931 and to have a thoroughly great day out! (And its free!!)
We’re transmitting ‘Live’ back to the United Kingdom so expect it to be exciting and fun!
We will be filming on three days from 11th – 13th November between 11.30am – 4pm. If you are interested in coming on one or all of these days then email me for tickets!
.uk
I look forward to your responses!
Here is a picture of the Mayan in shabbier days, courtesy of the LA Library:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics18/00028706.jpg
My grandfather, Jean Klossner was on the original Meyer & Holler construction crew that built the Egyptian, Chinese, Mayan and American theaters (among others) ….. After the opening of the Chinese, he performed the footprint ceremonies for over 40 years. He said Sid Grauman always wanted to open a complete chain, each theater with a different theme …. So different than the “Multiplex Giants” of today ……
I actually was in the Mayan Theatre a few times during my adolescent when it was owned by Carlos Tobalina. My buddies and myself would go down and watch “Infrasexum” which ran over a year at the Mayan in the late sixties. We would seat in the balcony and while the movie was running,you could the radio from the projection room. Usually a Dodger game if memory serves me well.
I was young and my hormones were raging and soft core movies were a adventure, in a way. Nevertheless, The Mayan and it’s architecture was a joy to behold.
Exterior shots used in the Ramones' movie Rock n' Roll High School (1979).
Nice close up photo:
http://you-are-here.com/theatre/mayan.html
Prior to it’s 1950s run a a Spanish language movie house, the Mayan showed second-run fare and then in the late 1940’s tried arthouse fare.
The Mayan Theatre, inside and out, was also used in the 1936 Chesterfield picture “It Couldn’t Have Happened….But It Did”
At some time in the 60’s, perhaps just before it became an adult films theatre, it had a stage production in Spanish of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”.
07/21/04 Wednesday Bill Sims
A few years ago, when I was working at the nearby Transamerica Center, it was necessary to go past this “adult” movie house. Through the years, the exterior has remained well-kept. I heard that Sarah Bernhard performed there MANY years ago, when it was a legitimate theater.
The mayan I heard was the sh*t so go to it. I know I will. For all you other people that wan’t a good club go to Level 3 off of Highland and Hollywood Blvd. on the 3rd level of the chineese theatre center. It’s good and has that nice official rich club vibe. 20.00 to get in but worth it lot’s of hot chicks especially my girl
I enjoy going to the Mayan because of the Music and because its a nice building inside, although it does need to make its hip hop room more spacious for the clubbers. I also think that it needs to have better drinks, the cadilacs aren’t that great. They also need to ENFORCE their dress code. If it was to fix these three things…it would be a perfect club..but i still like to go there for the music.
ROFL interesting info Moviemanforever. So as I take it there is still seats and an auditorium still in place that they use?
The Mayan Theatre was part of Francisco Fouce’s chain of Mexican film venues when I worked there as relief propjectionist in the 1950s. The booth’s main entrance was via an outside stairway on the south side that served also as a fire escape. Upon entering the door, one climbed a long steel stairway, suspended in an vast open attic space, to a landing and the booth door. Equipment was first rate, and both the maroon main drape and the gold title curtain were motorized and operable from the booth, though the house lights were not on a dimmer. The emergency exit from the booth was at the north end, via a trapdoor in the floor and a ladder on the wall down to the last row of balcony seats, there being no seat at the ladder’s location. The Fouce people saw the Mayan as the crown jewel in the chain, and lavished much care on it.
Contrary to the description, the Mayan hasn’t been used for the Last Remaining Seats series, at least not since I started attending in the late ‘80s or early '90s. As far as I know, there haven’t been any films shown there since the nightclub conversion. The place is definitely worth a visit, no matter what’s booked there for the night. The interior has a wonderfully garish paint job that I understand is far more extreme than any color scheme the hall actually had in its original glory days.
The Mayan theatre opened in 1927. The architects were the firm of Morgan, Wall Morgan.
I live in San Jose CA, and I make it a mission to visit The Mayan every single time I visit L.A. I love the variety of music, and the variety of people that I meet. I always make it a point to tell friends to visit the club, and they do!!! See you soon.
I really enjoy going to The Mayan. The music is good, I recommended for all of those party people out their.
The Mayan needs to make a bigger hip-hop room. More variety of music in the main room on the main floor.