La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts
14900 La Mirada Boulevard,
La Mirada,
CA
90638
14900 La Mirada Boulevard,
La Mirada,
CA
90638
2 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Pacific Theatres, Stanley-Warner Theatres
Architects: Drew Eberson
Functions: Performing Arts
Previous Names: La Mirada Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The La Mirada Theatre was opened by Stanley-Warner Theatres on December 20 1962 with Anthony Quinn in “Barabbas”. In March 1968 it was taken over by Pacific Theatres, and used for movies until 1976 when it was purchased by the city and opened in 1977 as a performing arts center. This seems to be a rare conversion where a stage, fly loft, dressing rooms and all the amenities were added to a relatively modern movie theater. Since that time this beautiful theater, with a large balcony, has had success presenting musicals and other community events. Its popularity is shown by the March 2003 appearance of the Smothers Brothers when all 1,264 seats were sold out for their two-day appearance.
However, the center where the theater is located seems incapable of supporting a movie theater for any length of time. After Pacific Theatres gave up the La Mirada Theatre, they built some shoebox-size cinemas in a covered mall on the same property, which lasted until the mall was leveled in the late-1980’s to construct a big-box center.
Contributed by
Ron Pierce
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
The La Mirada Theatre opened on December 20th, 1962.
To fully clarify the property’s second theatre (which is fully profiled, as “Movies 7”, on this site). Krikorian Premiere Theatres built a 7 plex on the opposite end of the property in 93'. It was sold to Regal in 96', closed in 03', and reopened as a discount house by Interstate (now Starplex Cinemas) about a year later. The current discount format has been quite successful.
Michael Coate is correct. The theater opened in December of 1962 with BARRABAS, as the Stanley-Warner La Mirada Theater. I know, because I was there.
I used to work at the La Mirada Theatre in the mid-1970’s. I started at the original theatre, which has now become the Performing Arts Center. Pacific Theatres then opened the La Mirada 4 Theatres in the La Mirada Mall and 2 more theatres were eventually added.
Some of the people I used to work with are Bob R., Dale M., Debbie C., Steve G., Bruce H., Ruth M., Mike P., Lori C., Debbie H., Jodi J., Janet G., Cindy H., Jeannette T., Christie H., many more that escape my thoughts at the moment, and last but not least, the incredible Mr. D.
If there are any former employees out there, I would love to hear from you.
What a great time it was!
I have a lot of fond memories from working there. The manager and employees were a fantastic group of people to work with. If there are any former employees out there or patrons with fond memories, too, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a photo of the entrance and marquee from the “Our La Mirada” website:
http://tinyurl.com/2ynfqf
An LA Times ad dated 11/23/63 lists the address at 14900 Luitwieler Road in La Mirada.
I imagine they changed the street name to the more euphonious La Mirada when they started developing the area.
This November 1983 ad from the LA Times was from the mall phase:
http://tinyurl.com/ynkf8u
Grand opening ad
La Mirada theatre opening Thu, Dec 20, 1962 – 113 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com
another opening ad:
La Mirada theatre opening with Hollywood Premiere Thu, Dec 20, 1962 – 115 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com