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Scenes
   Alma in Wiener Neustadt (2015)
   Alma in Wiener Neustadt (2014)
   Alma in Prague (2011)
   Alma in Vienna (2010)
   Alma in Jerusalem (2009)
   Alma in Vienna (2009)
   Alma in Vienna (2008)
   Alma on Semmering (2007)
   Alma in Berlin (2006)
   Alma in Petronell (2005)
   Alma in Los Angeles (2004)
   Alma in Lisbon (2003)
   Alma in Venice (2002)
   Alma in Vienna (1996-2001)
 

Location - Panorama
   Locations 1996-2015
   2014-2015 Wiener Neustadt
   2013 Vienna
   2011 Prague
   2009 Jerusalem
   2008-2012 Vienna
   2007 Semmering
   2006 Berlin
   2005 Petronell
   2004 Los Angeles
   2003 Lisbon
   2002 Venice
   1996-2001 Purkersdorf

 
Venues
   Martinický Palác (Prague)
   The Russian Compound (Jerusalem)
   k.k. Post- und Telegrafenamt (Vienna)
   Kurhaus Semmering (Semmering)
   Crown Prince's Palace (Berlin)
   Castle Petronell (Petronell)
   Los Angeles Theatre (Los Angeles)
   Convento dos Inglesinhos (Lisbon)
   Palazzo Zenobio (Venice)
   Sanatorium Purkersdorf (Vienna)
 
 
 

The Los Angeles Theater
615 South Broadway, CA 90014, Los Angeles
Downtown LA, between 6th & 7th street

 

 
Los Angeles Theatre Lobby

Built in 1931, the lavish Los Angeles Theatre recalls the glories of the French Baroque and France's "Sun King", Louis XIV. Its majestic six-story main lobby overwhelms audiences with a three-tiered fountain in a hall of mirrors, crystal chandeliers, a grand sweeping stairway, and gold-gilt sunbursts. And that's just the lobby. The Baroque auditorium teems with golden angels, cherubs, and flowery swags. From the rich restaurant space to the glass-ceiling ballroom, from the marble-lined ladies room to the circus-motif playroom, the amenities of the Los Angeles give theatregoers a full entertainment experience.

 

Auditorium Ballroom

Entrepreneur and film exhibitor, H.L. Gumbiner constructed the Los Angeles Theatre in the midst of the Depression at an estimated cost of more than $1 million. Intent on exceeding existing standards of extravagance, he hired architect S. Charles Lee, who became the City's most prolific theater architect, and one of Los Angeles' most gifted technological innovators. Lee believed that "the show starts on the sidewalk" and he designed every element of the building to lure the patron inside.

 

Capitel Lobby

Completed in less than six months, the theater opened on January 30, 1931 with the premiere gala screening of “City Lights”, the landmark film of Charlie Chaplin, who helped cover the cost of finishing the building when Gumbiner ran short of funds. Among celebrities of the era in attendance that evening was Mr. Albert Einstein.

 

World-premiere of "City Lights"
Charles Chaplin with Albert Einstein: 1931 - Los Angeles Theatre. Accompanied by Prof. Albert Einstein (r) Charlie Chaplin arrives at premiere of his new picture, „City Lights“, at the Los Angeles Theatre on Broadway LA. The savant and the screen star have become great pals. Large crowds waited outside of the theatre.

This 1931 movie palace retains its original French Baroque decor throughout, its opulence reflects the glories of Versailles. The narrow lobby space is illusionistically widened by the use of mirrors, flanked by colossal marble columns and gilt ornament, set off with bronze bannisters and sumptuous crystal chandeliers.

 

Fountain

Ladies Lounge

The central staircase culminates in a crystal fountain and Heinsbergen mural. Designed as a grand sequence of spaces encased in rich ornament, the theater abounds with decorative extravagances including colorful marble bathrooms, a restaurant, and a downstairs ballroom paneled in walnut resembling a ship’s lounge.

 

Ladies Room Stage

The auditorium ceiling is crowned by a lunette containing Heinsbergen trompe l'oeil murals. Tall arches along the sidewalls resemble those in the lobby, while the plaster decorative is backlit for colorful effects. Seating 1800 in rows originally no more than five seats across, the Los Angeles was a grand finale to the movie palace era on Broadway.

 

Lobby Putto