The El Rey Theatre is a live music venue in the

Miracle Mile Miracle Mile may refer to: Places in the United States * Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, a district of Los Angeles * Miracle Mile (Coral Gables), a shopping area in Coral Gables, Florida * Miracle Mile (Manhasset), New York, a premium sh ...

area of the

Mid-Wilshire Mid-Wilshire is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is known for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Miracle Mile shopping district. Geography City of Los Angeles bound ...

region in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. This

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

building was designed by Clifford A. Balch (who designed over twenty classic art deco movie theatres around

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

). Much of the theatre, including the lobby, still retains its art deco roots, admired for its Zigzag and

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

design.

History

El Rey was built in 1936 as a single-screen movie theatre and functioned as a cinema for nearly 50 years. From the 1980s to the early 1990s, El Rey Theatre was a dance-music club called Wall Street, but since 1994 this theatre has been a live music venue which is now exclusively booked through Goldenvoice. The capacity is 771 and it also has a VIP balcony in the back. The theatre was designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 520 on February 26, 1991. In 1995, it was featured as the main setting of the music video for the

Cowboy Junkies Cowboy Junkies are an alternative country and folk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1985 by Alan Anton (bassist), Michael Timmins (songwriter, guitarist), Peter Timmins (drummer) and Margo Timmins (vocalist). The three Timminses ...

' song "Angel Mine" from the '' Lay It Down'' album, featuring

Janeane Garofalo Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...

. The exterior of the theatre can be seen in the 1984 film ''

Night of the Comet ''Night of the Comet'' is a 1984 American science fiction comedy horror film written and directed by Thom Eberhardt. It stars Catherine Mary Stewart, Robert Beltran, and Kelli Maroney as survivors of a comet that has turned most people into ei ...

'' and serves as the location where main character Regina (played by

Catherine Mary Stewart Catherine Mary Stewart (; born 22 April 1959) is a Canadian actress. Her film roles include '' The Apple'', ''The Last Starfighter'' and ''Weekend at Bernie's''. She was also the original Kayla Brady in ''Days of our Lives''. Early life Stewar ...

) works. The theatre's exterior is a central plot point of the link segments of the 1986 horror compilation film ''Zombiethon''. In January 2008, comedy rock band

The Aquabats The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1994. Throughout many fluctuations in the group's line-up, singer the MC Bat Commander and bassist Crash McLarson have remained the band's two constant fixtur ...

shot part of the pilot for their television series ''

The Aquabats! Super Show! ''The Aquabats! Super Show!'' is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created ...

'' in the theater as part of an exclusive partial concert for members of the band's fan club.

References

Notes

Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) Report

Theatres designed by Clifford A. Balch

External links

* * Cinemas and movie theaters in Los Angeles Music venues in Los Angeles Theatres in Los Angeles Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles Event venues established in 1936 Theatres completed in 1936 1936 establishments in California Art Deco architecture in California Streamline Moderne architecture in California {{LosAngeles-struct-stub