The Orpheum Theatre at 842 S. Broadway in

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

opened on February 15, 1926, as the fourth and final Los Angeles venue for the Orpheum

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

circuit. After a $3 million renovation, started in 1989, it is the most restored of the historical movie palaces in the city. Three previous theatres also bore the name Orpheum before the one at 842 Broadway was the final one with that moniker. The Orpheum has a Beaux Arts facade designed by movie theater architect G. Albert Lansburgh and has a Mighty Wurlitzer organ, installed in 1928, that is one of three

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

s remaining in Southern California. The Orpheum theatres are named for the Greek mythological figure, Orpheus.

Orpheum venues in Los Angeles

The first site for the Orpheum vaudeville circuit was the Grand Opera House, also known as the Grand Theater, 110 S. Main Street (built 1884, closed 1937)."Orpheum Theatre", Cinema Treasures
/ref> The second Orpheum venue was the Orpheum Theatre (previously known as the Los Angeles Theatre and later known as the Lyceum Theatre, at 227 S. Spring Street (opened 1888, closed 1941). The third venue was the Orpheum Theatre now known as the Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway (built 1911, still standing).

Venue performers

Soon after it was opened, it was a popular venue for

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

queen Sally Rand, the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

, Will Rogers, Judy Garland (singing with her family as Frances "Baby" Gumm) and comedian Jack Benny, as well as jazz greats

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

, Ella Fitzgerald and

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

acts were still playing the Orpheum as late as 1950.Alleman, Richard. ''Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide''. Random House, Inc. (2005), p. 189. In the 1960s, the theater held rock 'n' roll concerts featuring

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

and Little Stevie Wonder. The restored Orpheum Theatre is now a venue for live concerts, movie premieres, and location shoots. The love metal band HIM played there for their live CD/DVD album '' Digital Versatile Doom''. The 2010 Streamy Awards were live broadcast from the theater.

Location shoots

Television

*'' Julie and the Phantoms'' *''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' (Hollywood Week seasons 4, 5, 6, 14, 17, 18, 20, 23) *'' America's Got Talent'' * '' ''The Apprentice'''' (season 5 finale) *''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

'' (season 7, 8 and 11 finales) *'' Hollywood (miniseries)'' *''

Pretty Little Liars ''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery teen drama television series created by I. Marlene King, which aired on Freeform (TV channel), Freeform from June 8, 2010 to June 27, 2017, based on the novel series Pretty Little L ...

'' (season 4 finale and season 5 episode 1) *''

Angel (1999 TV series) ''Angel'' is an American Supernatural fiction, supernatural television series, a Spinoff (media), spinoff of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. The series was created by ''Buffy''s creator, writer and director Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David ...

(season 3 episode 13) *'' ''Glee'''' (season 5 episode 11) *'' A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (The West Wing (TV Series 1999-2006) (2020 Special Cast Reunion))'' *'' IHOP'' commercial (2024)

Film

*'' Last Action Hero'' (1993) *'' Why Do Fools Fall in Love'' (1998) *'' Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002) *'' A Mighty Wind'' (2003) *'' Spider-Man 3'' (2007) *''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'' (2007) *'' ''Alvin and the Chipmunks'''' (2007) *'' In Search of a Midnight Kiss'' (2007) *'' Hop'' (2011) *'' The Shape of Water'' (2017)

Music Videos

Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

– " Lonely" *

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...

– " I'm with You" *

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...

– " Shape of My Heart" * HIM – " Digital Versatile Doom" * Kelly Rowland – " Can't Nobody" *

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

– " November Rain" * Brandi Carlile – " The Story" *

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

– " Thriller" *

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

– "

Mean A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

" *

Static-X Static-X is an American industrial metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, but was long-held constant with band founder, frontman, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static until his d ...

- " I'm With Stupid" * Monica - " For You I Will" *

The Wallflowers The Wallflowers are an American rock music, rock solo project of American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jakob Dylan. The Wallflowers were originally a roots rock band formed in Los Angeles by Dylan and guitarist Tobi Miller. It ha ...

- " Heroes"

Gallery

References

External links

Orpheum Theatre website

Extensive information about the theatre
{{Coord, 34.04268, -118.255341, type:landmark, display=title Movie palaces Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles Beaux-Arts architecture in California Beaux-Arts cinemas and movie theaters Theatres in Los Angeles Vaudeville theaters Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Historic district contributing properties in California Theatres completed in 1926 1926 establishments in California Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles Broadway (Los Angeles)