Downtown Los Angeles was once home to dozens of theatres, often grand movie palaces that look like they are right out of a fairy tale. As the decades went on, these once glittering monuments to the silver screen fell by the wayside, abandoned, bulldozed, or converted into stores. Today a handful cling to life, typically serving as live entertainment venues, but every once in awhile the lights will dim and a projector will flicker on, typically thanks to the Los Angeles Conservancy and their annual event, Last Remaining Seats.

Starting in 1987, the Los Angeles Conservancy began partnering with these old theatres to screen movies and thus shine a light on the unique history of LA’s historic theatre district, dubbing the event Last Remaining Seats. I had heard of Last Remaining Seats shortly after moving to California, but for one reason or another, we never made it, until this year! Where we are attending not one, but two of their screenings. Last weekend we saw Rebel without a Cause at the Orpheum, and before hand got a behind the scenes tour.

Built for the Orpheum vaudeville circuit and opening on February 15, 1926, it boasted some of the most popular acts of the time and offered multiple dressing rooms to accommodate the stars. To attract crowds they offered an early form of air conditioning using rose water, and to show it off, they had a room filled with dials and switches that guests could gaze at through a window. There a man in a lab coat would flip the switches and turn the dials, but it was all for show, as he wasn’t actually doing anything! The lush theatre was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh who around the same time also designed three other LA venues, the Wiltern, the Shrine Auditorium, and the El Capitan. The Orpheum is Beaux Arts in design, with Lansburgh especially inspired by Frances I, King of France, using the king’s emblem of the salamander throughout.

Eventually movies won out over vaudeville, and the Orpheum switched to being a movie theatre. During the silent picture days, movies were accompanied by an organ, and thankfully the Orpheum still has its original Wurlitzer, which we got to see in action during the pre-show cartoon. In the 1970s the Needleman family purchased the Orpheum, and in 2001 closed it for a $3 million renovation. It reopened to great fanfare as a live entertainment venue, with movies every so often. We settled in after our tour, enjoyed a pre-show Fleischer cartoon, and then Lenard Maltin interviewed Natasha Gregson Wagner, the daughter of Natalie Wood, a real treat before seeing Wood take to the screen with James Dean.

If the Orpheum looks familiar, it’s because it has been in dozens of movies and TV shows. To name a few of my favorites… it was featured prominently in the underrated Schwarzenegger film The Last Action Hero, Oliver Stone’s The Doors, it served as the premiere fro Plan 9 From Outer Space in Tim Burton’s film Ed Wood, The Oneders became The Wonders here in That Thing You Do!, and the movie centric films such as The Artist, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and Babylon where filmed here. Most recently you can spy the Orpheum in Spider-Noir, as it is next to the Ninth and Broadway building, which was used as the exterior for the Alcove club.

Last Remaining Seats continues this weekend with Mary Poppins and L.A. Confidential at the Los Angeles Theatre, and the following weekend with 9 to 5 and North by Northwest at the Million Dollar Theatre. It returns in October for Clue and The Shining at the Million Dollar Theatre. If you can’t make it to any of these screenings, be sure to follow the Los Angeles Conservancy on Instagram for next year’s screenings!

Want to step inside the Orpheum? Check out their website for the latest, or simply gaze at its spectacular neon marquee at 842 S. Broadway in Los Angeles.

What’s Near By?

Angel’s Flight

Apple Tower Theatre

Bradbury Building

Cicada Club

Clifton’s Cafeteria

Grand Central Market

Los Angeles Central Library

Sources
Information given during tour from LA Conservancy.
“Downtown LA’s Orpheum Theater still shines after a century.” Spectrum News, 3 June 2026.
“History” The Orpheum Theatre.
“Orpheum Theatre and Loft Building” Los Angeles Conservancy.
“Orpheum Theatre: history” Los Angeles Theatres.