Relive Hollywood's Glamorous Past: A Place Where Screen Goddesses and Guys in Fedoras Were Hanging Out in Opulent Dream Worlds

Take a walk through the glamorous past of Broadway LA. Inhale an era of opulent dream worlds in the decaying theater district, where exquisite buildings still celebrate and recount a vibrant opulent past. A place where dreams were made and savored by screen Goddesses, men in fedoras and Angelinos of all walks of life. Broadway was the birthplace of the Theater and Movie District from 1920’s to the 1930’s.

Archive photo courtesy Los Angeles Library

Living in Los Angeles we are so used to drive through Downtown Los Angeles in search of a place to park before rushing to a meeting, or a museum visit, entirely missing out on the stories opulent old buildings could tell when you slow down to admire the glory of the past. Sometimes you just need to arrive early, park your car and explore your city walking with all your senses. I was carried away into another time when I walked the 9 blocks this week.

901 S. Broadway: a stunning example of Art Deco

The historic Broadway corridor is located in the center of downtown Los Angeles and boasts block after block of stunning Beaux Arts, Art Deco, and a mélange of revival-style buildings, most built in the 1920s and 1930s. Broadway has a colorful past as the birthplace of vaudeville and cinematic entertainment in Los Angeles and was once considered the retail capital of the United States. Twelve beautiful theatres are located within nine walkable blocks, set between other beautiful architectural gems.

Tower Theater 800 S. Broadway 

Roxie Theater: now a swap meat

The buildings of Broadway pay homage to the architectural and engineering achievements of the early 20th century with steel structures and concrete construction methods.  Broadway’s elegant high-rise buildings create a rare urban character that compares to vibrant cities like New York, so rare to find in mainly suburban Los Angeles.

Intricate French Revival at the Broadway Arcade Building

Behind their borrowed flamboyant architectural styles, the buildings exteriors are deceptive at day, mainly coming alive at night when the neon signs and canopies create a world of wonder and illusion.  Broadway's interiors were opulent. Ornate and spectacular theatres featured sweeping marble staircases leading to ornate balconies. Soaring, ornately decorated ceilings, along with gilded rococo decor and a wide range of flamboyant architectural styles created a decadent dreamy sensation.

Los Angeles Theater's opulent interiors - photo courtesy Los Angeles Library

When cinema became in fashion, the theatres were mostly converted to grand movie palaces, many with over 2,000 seats, and functioned as such for many years before most of them closed their doors. Today only 2 theaters are active, most of the remaining became swap meats, churches or boarded up.

Orpheum Theater

The exquisite exteriors tell a story of bygone glory, of engineering marvels and offer such a rich vocabulary of styles, worthy of the restauration efforts spearheaded by “Bringing Back Broadway”, with ambitious plans of bringing creative offices and boutique hotel developments to reactivate the upper-floor spaces. A street with such a rich history and tremendous future potential, Broadway is a true treasure in Los Angeles which hopefully will be saved and transformed into a vibrant urban mixed use area.

Courtesy "Bring Broadway Back": a vision for revival of street signage

During the day Broadway is still a street in decay despite the development plans, with pan handlers on the street corners, swap meats, and a high vacancy rate. This ground floor vacancy is made worse. With more than a million square feet of vacant space in the upper floors along Broadway, the buildings are not providing jobs, revenue, opportunity or continual support for ground floor activity.  Most of the glorious historic theatres do not offer regular entertainment programming. Walking alone at daytime is a bit uncomfortable, but walking after dark still feels unsafe. Before World War II, downtown L.A. was the movie capital of the world. For its rich history and tremendous future potential, Broadway is a true architectural treasure in Los Angeles.

Broadway Bar

“Bringing Back Broadway” hosts one yearly event “Night on Broadway”, which awakens the beautiful historical theaters. For one night the City of Angels will be coming alive, from emerging musical acts to national stars, artist to acrobats, and fashion designers to food trucks. The event is this Saturday, January 28th, 2017.

 BROADWAY's THEATERS

·       Million Dollar Theatre

·       Roxie Theatre

·       Cameo Theatre

·       Arcade Theatre

·       Los Angeles Theatre

·       Palace Theatre

·       State Theatre

·       Globe Theatre

·       Tower Theatre

·       Rialto Theatre

·       Orpheum Theatre

·       United Artists Theatre

Author: Zia Hansen. Photos by Zia Hansen unless otherwise noted