The Mayan Theater in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, California, is a landmark former
movie palace
A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is a large, elaborately decorated movie theater built from the 1910s to the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 1925 and 1930. Wi ...
and current nightclub and music venue.
History
The Mayan Theater opened in August 1927 as a performance arts theater specializing in
musical comedy
Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...
.
rented out the Mayan Theater downtown Los Angeles to produce the Sweet N' Hot, "Greatest Negro All Star Musical to Hit Coast." His business partner was Curtis Mosby, and the featured performer was
Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an American actress and singer. She was the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for '' Carmen Jones'' (1954). Dandridge had a ...
. The show had a run of eleven weeks and was reported as going to New York. It closed to rave reviews and was covered by 20 different newspapers all over the country.
From 1971 to 1989, the theater was owned by
pornographic
Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...
filmmaker
Carlos Tobalina. In the 1980s, the theater showed pornographic films.
The theater has been a location in many films, including ''
Sally of the Scandals'', ''
The Bodyguard'', ''
Save the Tiger'', ''
Unlawful Entry
''Unlawful Entry'' is a 1992 American psychological thriller film directed by Jonathan Kaplan, and starring Kurt Russell, Madeleine Stowe and Ray Liotta.
The film involves a couple who befriend a lonely policeman, only for him to develop an un ...
'', ''
Rock 'n' Roll High School
''Rock 'n' Roll High School'' is a 1979 American musical comedy film directed by Allan Arkush, produced by Michael Finnell, and starring P. J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, Clint Howard and Dey Young. The film features the punk rock group Ramones ...
'', and ''
A Night at the Roxbury
''A Night at the Roxbury'' is a 1998 American comedy film based on a recurring sketch on television's long-running ''Saturday Night Live'' called " The Roxbury Guys". ''Saturday Night Live'' regulars Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Molly Shannon, ...
''. The Mayan was the filming location of the music video for
The Pointer Sisters
The Pointer Sisters are an American female vocal group from Oakland, California, who achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. They have had a repertoire with many genres, they have sold around 50 million records throughout their ...
hit
Neutron Dance. It was also featured in the eighth episode of the first season of ''
GLOW''.
In 1990, the Mayan Theater, with most of its lavish ornament intact, became a nightclub and music venue. It is designated as a Historic Cultural Monument.
In 2022,
Daft Punk
Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...
also streamed a video recording of a show at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles from their 1997
Daftendirektour.
Architecture and design
Designed by Stiles O. Clements of
Morgan, Walls & Clements, the façade of the Mayan Theater includes stylized pre-Columbian patterns and figures designed by sculptor
Francisco Cornejo.
This was his major work.
The Mayan Theater is a prototypical example of the many ornate exotic revival-style theaters of the late 1920s,
Mayan Revival
Mayan Revival is a modern architectural style popular in the Americas during the 1920s and 1930s that drew inspiration from the architecture and iconography of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures.
History
Origins
Though the name of the s ...
in this case. The well-preserved lobby is called "The Hall of Feathered Serpents," the auditorium includes a chandelier based on the
Aztec calendar stone, and the original
fire curtain included images of Mayan jungles and temples.
Gallery
File:Facade, Mayan Theater, Los Angeles.jpg, Detail of façade, 2012
File:Alison's House by Susan Glaspell 1938.jpg, Theater poster, 1938
File:The Weavers by Gerhart Hauptmann.jpg, Theater poster, 1937
File:Cobra Skulls 2011-03-17 01.jpg, Mayan stage, 2011
File:Mayan Theatre, Los Angeles - Balcony Left.jpg, Auditorium from Balcony Left, 2020
File:Mayan Theatre, Los Angeles (Historic Theatre Photography).webm, Mayan Theatre, Los Angeles (Historic Theatre Photography)
See also
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References
External links
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{{Authority control
Movie palaces
Adult movie theaters in the United States
Former cinemas and movie theaters in Los Angeles
Music venues in Los Angeles
Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments
Theatres completed in 1927
1927 establishments in California
Morgan, Walls & Clements buildings
Mayan Revival architecture
Articles containing video clips