Majestic Theatre, also known as Asher Hamburger’s Majestic Theatre, was a theater located in

downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

History

Majestic Theatre was designed by Edelman & Barnett and built by Mayberry & Parker for

Asher Hamburger Asher Hamburger (1821–1897) was an American businessman who was the founder of the A. Hamburger & Sons department store, the largest department store in the Western United States at the beginning of the 20th century. After selling the departmen ...

in 1908.

Oliver Morosco Oliver Morosco (June 20, 1875 – August 25, 1945) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, film producer, and theater owner. He owned the Morosco Photoplay Company. He brought many of his theater actors to the screen. Frank A. Garbut ...

was the

lessee A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

. The theater sat 1600 and its interior was decorated by Antoon Molkenboer. Its first showing, on November 23, 1908, was a Shubert production of '' The Land of Nod'' starring Knox Wilson. Majestic Theater quickly became the preferred venue for traveling

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

productions. It was also the venue of choice for

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor and makeup artist. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often gr ...

in 1910 and Ramon Navarro worked as an usher here before becoming a film star. In 1913, on the opening night of the Kolb and Dill show, Lon Chaney's wife Cleva interrupted the performance and attempted suicide onstage. She survived but the scandal did irreparable harm: it ended Cleva's singing career, Lon Chaney was forced out of live theater and into the movies, and the theater itself lost its favor with Broadway. In 1915, the theater was converted to a moviehouse. In 1926, the theater partnered with Orange Grove Theatre to show

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

and

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

, after which it was subject to numerous police raids for indecency violations. The theater closed in 1931 or 1933. It was demolished in 1933.

Design

Majestic Theatre originally featured a 40x80-foot stage with a 36-foot

proscenium A proscenium (, ) is the virtual vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame ...

, and a larger-than-life sixteen figure

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

painted by Molkenboer was located above the proscenium. Seating was located in one orchestra and two

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

ed horseshoe balcony levels. The basement housed a cafe.

References

{{Movie theaters in Los Angeles Former cinemas and movie theaters in Los Angeles Demolished theatres in Los Angeles Theatres completed in 1908 1900s architecture in the United States 1908 establishments in California 1931 disestablishments in California 1933 disestablishments in California Buildings and structures demolished in 1933 Broadway (Los Angeles)