Step Into the Hauntingly Beautiful Los Angeles Theatre

June 17, 2026, Leave a Comment on Step Into the Hauntingly Beautiful Los Angeles Theatre

As mentioned in my Orpheum Theatre post, Patrick and I attended another night of Last Remaining Seats, hosted by the Los Angeles Conservancy, this time we got to step inside the Los Angeles Theatre to see one of my favorite films, LA Confidential, complete with author of the book, James Elroy, in attendance. We also toured the theatre before the screening, getting to step backstage and learn about this incredible movie palace.

Patrick and I stepped inside the Los Angeles Theatre only one other time, but we didn’t really get to explore all that much, as it was for an incredibly unique Halloween event called Angel of Light. So I was thrilled to really get to walk around freely this time!

Designed by S. Charles Lee, the Los Angeles Theatre was the last movie palace built on Broadway, opening January 30, 1931 with Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights. Done in a combination of French Baroque and Renaissance Revival, the Los Angeles Theatre feels as if you really are in an old world opera house or palace, with stunning plaster work, mirrors, chandeliers, and even a fountain.

The theatre has an incredible amount of unique features, starting with the desire to keep lines off of the sidewalk. Yes, the owner found that tacky, and decided instead that the theatre would feature a ballroom with walnut paneling and refreshment counter on the lower floor, with enough room to house the nearly 2,000 person capacity. Mothers with children had options when taking their children to the theatre, including using one of the sound proof crying rooms, or leaving their children with a nanny in the circus-themed playroom just off the women’s lounge. The lounge itself is absolutely stunning, featuring multiple vanities, a three way mirror, and instead of simple stalls, full water closets, each done in a different marble, and hand dryers built right into the wall, activated by a foot pedal on the floor. The men’s room, while not as lavish as the women’s, featured a shoe shine stand, and intricate terrazzo floors.

The Los Angeles Theatre has a complex history involving short changing the land when leased, bankruptcy, and eventually becoming a second-run theatre, before shuttering in 1994. Today it sits in a weird state of partial restoration and beautiful decay. The lobby is wonderfully maintained, while the auditorium feels as if it could crumble if breathed upon wrong. The space is incredibly tall, and once someone with great ambition begin to clean the auditorium’s nicotine coated mirrors. After cleaning just six they realized their ladder wouldn’t reach the remaining mirrors, and stopped.

Even before it closed its doors, the Los Angeles Theatre was being seen on the big screen, and it continues to serve as a popular filming location for movies, shows, and music videos. The list is long, so let’s stick to some of my favorites… Snake wanders in during his search in Escape from LA, Cameron Diaz’s Natalie dreamed of tearing up the dance floor here in Charlie’s Angels, the ladies room transforms into a jewelry store in Batman Forever, you can spy the ballroom in American Horror Story: Hotel, and it can be seen as a exactly what it is, a theatre, in The Prestige, Mad Men, The Artist, and Babylon. More recently you can catch Patti LuPone yodeling here in Palm Royale. The Los Angeles Theatre was used exclusively in BTS’s “Black Swan.” Swifties will recognize that Taylor Swift has used the Los Angeles Theatre not once, but twice! First in “Delicate” and again in “Fate of Ophelia.” A more detailed history and list of movies, shows, and music videos that filmed there can be seen on the blog Los Angeles Theatres. Oh, and for Disney fans, it the facade looks familiar, it’s because it is what inspired the Hyperion Theatre in California Adventure.

Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, the Los Angeles Theatre is now only available for events and filming, opening its doors on rare occasions such as Last Remaining Seats, which is honestly the best way to get inside. However it is sometimes part of the Broadway Historic Theatre and Commercial District Walking Tour also offered by the LA Conservancy.

The last weekend of Last Remaining Seats is this 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! I highly recommend taking the tour beforehand if you can secure tickets. Otherwise be sure to stay after for a Q&A session that will give you the lowdown on the theatre’s history.

Gaze at the stunning facade and signs of the Los Angeles Theatre at 615 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.