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| The Pantages Theatre |
A Little About The History...
The Pantages Theatre
located close to the heart of Hollywood where all the stars roam in their
glamorous lifestyles. Designed by B. Marcus Priteca, a Greek immigrant, this beautiful
venue opened within June 4, 1930. It cost about $1.25 million (the equivalence of
$10 million today!) within 1929-30s. It was one of the last theaters that were
built by the vaudeville producer, Alexander Pantages. Vaudeville was a
theatrical genre of varieties of entertainment that was popular in the United
States and Canada from the early 1880s to the early 1930s. It was made up of separate
unrelated acts that included jugglers, singers, dancers, one-act plays,
athletes, comedians, etc. Within the first two years that the Pantages Theatre
was constructed, it alternated from first-run movies with vaudeville acts. Within
the venue, it was originally designed for 3,000 seats but settled for 2,812
seats in order for the patrons to have more leg room. Unfortunately, within the
Great Depression, it was forced to economize and was primarily a movie theater.
Thankfully, there was live entertainment that was presented occasionally.
Around 1932, Alexander Pantages sold this wonderful landmark to the Fox West
Coast Theaters. With this new management, in 1949 to 1959, this beauty hosted
the American motion picture industry’s annual Academy Award Ceremonies. When it
wasn’t hosting the Academy Award Ceremonies, it was a major venue for road show
movies. On occasions, there was live entertainment. There was also an exception
in 1940 when the Los Angeles Philharmonic performed their entire season in the
magnificent place. In 1977, the Pantages closed as a movie theater for good and
re-opened as the first stage productions. The production was Bubbling Brown Sugar of which was the first
of many.
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| 26th Annual Academy Awards Presentation |
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| Panatages Theatre venue |
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| The lighting setup within the Pantages Theatre |
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| The construction of the Pantages Theatre |
There's Some Fun To It...
The Pantages Theatre was
used as a set for multiple “stage performances” within movies, including The Jazz Singer. Also, within the 1960s,
Howard Hughes lived upstairs for a short time period when he owned the
Pantages. Currently, it’s believed and said by the manager, Martin Wiviott,
that the Pantages Theatre is haunted by a few ladies in the basement and a
gentleman who likes to sit in the 5th row. Another fact about the
Pantages is that it was originally meant to have 10 stories but due to the
stock market crash within 1929, the construction stopped at two floors. It was
said that the completion of the other eight floors will be done in the future.
On a funnier note, it is believed that Barbara Streisand bought a few original
Pantages chandeliers from the warehouse during the time they were going out of
business. There is also that rumor that the chandeliers met a different fate.
There is no clear clue to what happened to the original chandeliers! Around
1957, when there were the Academy Awards ceremonies, Yul Brynner received an
away for his performance of “The King and
I”. With this magnificent honor, he was also blessed to perform the 4,000th
live performance as King Siam on September 13, 1983 which was the same stage of
where he received his award. Jumping back, in 1963, there were plenty of
commotion for the motion picture premiere of “Cleopatra”. Each ticket sold was
around $250 and was widely attended.
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| Premiere of Cleopatra in 1963 |
The Pantages Now...
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| Pantages Theatre "Evita" |
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| Pantages Theatre "The Lion King" |
The Pantages occasionally
host music concerts but this venue is commonly used for live theater. It is
currently operated by the Nederlander Organization. The Pantages is Los Angeles’
leading venues for live theater and hosted the large-scaled musicals such as Wicked and The Lion King. Within 2000, the theater experienced a $10 million
restoration. As of now, they still host musicals that range from the
larger-scaled ones to the lesser known ones.
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| Within the venue for The Lion King |
