The Los Angeles Theatre is a 2,000 seat movie palace located at 615 S. Broadway in the historic Broadway Theater and Commercial District in Downtown Los Angeles.
The venue was constructed in late 1930 and early 1931, under commission by H.L. Gumbiner, an independent exhibitor from Chicago, who also built the nearby Tower Theatre. Designed by S. Charles Lee, with a French Baroque interior, a central staircase, and gold brocade drapes more befitting an opera house, it was for many years considered to be among the city’s most lavish. The opulent interior is said to have been modeled after the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. A crystal fountain stood at the head of the grand staircase, and a restaurant and a ballroom were on the lower level.
Los Angeles is most often today used as a location for filming and is frequently seen in commercials, television shows, and feature films. It has been featured in New York, New York (1977); Man on the Moon (1999); Charlie’s Angels (2000) and its sequel, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003); the AMC series Mad Men; among many others, and is used in the backdrop on the new set of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
The theatre’s façade and marquee design was used as the inspiration for that of the Hyperion Theatre at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, currently showcasing Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular.