Alex Theatre

Last updated

Alex Theatre
Alex Theater.jpg
The Alex Theatre in 2006
U.S. - Los Angeles Metropolitan Area location map.svg
Red pog.svg
USA California location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location216 North Brand Boulevard
Glendale, California
Coordinates 34°8′55.62″N118°15′17.20″W / 34.1487833°N 118.2547778°W / 34.1487833; -118.2547778
Built1925
ArchitectLindley & Selkirk Associates; Et al.
Architectural styleClassical Revival, Art Deco, Moderne
NRHP reference No. 96000102 [1]
Added to NRHPFebruary 16, 1996

The Alex Theatre is a landmark located at 216 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale, California, United States. It is currently owned by the city of Glendale and operated by SAS. The theater's capacity is 1,400. [2]

Contents

Architecture

The Alex Theatre originally opened in 1925 as the Alexander Theatre, [3] and was designed by architects Arthur G. Lindley and Charles R. Selkirk Associates, [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] although at least one written source attributes it to the architectural firm of Meyer & Holler. [8] Lindley & Selkirk Associates also designed the Hotel Glendale. [9] The unique interior has distinct neo-classic Greek and Egyptian architectural elements, similar to the Greco-Egyptian period of Ptolemaic Egypt. A long walkway and courtyard separating the ticket booth from the lobby was inspired after the famous Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.[ according to whom? ]

In 1940, notable theater architect S. Charles Lee was commissioned to redesign the exterior of the Alexander. [3] [4] [6] Lee's portfolio included the Tower Theatre and the Los Angeles Theatre, both in Downtown Los Angeles, the Academy Theatre in Inglewood, as well as the Tujunga Theatre in Tujunga. His contributions included a 100-foot-tall (30 m) art-deco column with neon lights, topped by a spiked, neon sphere that gave it a starburst appearance. A neon, angled marquee emblazoned the theater's new name, the Alex, which was shortened to fit the larger letters. At this time the two-story retail and office building on the south half of the forecourt lot was demolished. [3]

History

The Alexander officially opened its doors on September 4, 1925. It was operated by the West Coast-Langley Theatre Circuit and featured vaudeville performances, plays and silent movies on a single screen [10] .It was named after Alexander Langley, the son of Claude L. Langley, owner of the West Coast chain that included the Raymond Theater in Pasadena, and the Orange Theatre in the city of Orange. In addition to the lavish architecture, a huge Wurlitzer pipe organ was installed. A regular organist supplied improvised accompaniment during the silent picture era.

Located only a few miles from Walt Disney's Hyperion studio, the theater was Disney's favorite place to preview his cartoons to see how they would play to audiences. [11] Several movies had their preview screening at The Alex, inviting celebrities such as Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Elizabeth Taylor for National Velvet and Bing Crosby for Going My Way (both 1944). A backstage fire on August 23, 1948, caused $150,000 in damages. [5]

Starting in the 1950s, the Alex showed blockbuster films such as Ben-Hur (1959) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). A wide aspect ratio screen was installed in 1954, to accommodate the new CinemaScope pictures, along with a surround sound system. The Alex underwent an extensive renovation in 1993, which restored much of the original wall-painting and decorations, as well as the neon spire added by S. Charles Lee. [3]

Today

The Alex Theatre, September, 2002 Alex-03.jpg
The Alex Theatre, September, 2002

The Alex Theatre Performing Arts and Entertainment Center has been the centerpiece of Glendale's arts, culture and community events since it originally opened. It is managed by Glendale Arts, anon-profit organization. The theater's diverse schedule boasts roughly 250 events per year and attracts more than 100,000 patrons annually. Programs range from classical and contemporary concerts, theatre, dance, comedy, fundraising and special events as well as TV and film productions and industry related award presentations.

The Alex was the venue in 2017 for the season 9 finale of RuPaul's Drag Race . [12] And in the summer of 2019, the NBC comedy competition series Bring the Funny used the Alex Theatre as the venue for the final two episodes of its first season. [13]

The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles occasionally performs at the Alex Theatre. A 2018 matinée performance of "The Pink Carpet: The Portrayal of LGBTQ People in Film" was the target of a bomb threat. [14]

Resident companies include the Alex Film Society, Glendale Youth Orchestra, Musical Theatre Guild, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glendale, California</span> City in California, United States

Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from 191,719 at the 2010 census, making it the 4th-most populous city in Los Angeles County and the 24th-most populous city in California. It is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of downtown Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grauman's Egyptian Theatre</span> Movie theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, also known as Egyptian Hollywood and the Egyptian, is a historic movie theater located on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace and is noted as having been the site of the world's first film premiere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grauman's Chinese Theatre</span> Movie theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles

The TCL Chinese Theatre, commonly referred to as Grauman's Chinese Theatre, is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Capitan Theatre</span> Cinema in Hollywood

El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple are owned by The Walt Disney Company and serve as the venue for a majority of the Walt Disney Studios' film premieres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saban Theatre</span> Historic theatre in Beverly Hills, California

The Saban Theatre is a historic theatre in Beverly Hills, California, formerly known as the Fox Wilshire Theater. It is an Art Deco structure at the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Hamilton Drive designed by architect S. Charles Lee and is considered a classic Los Angeles landmark. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre</span> Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, 155-foot (47 m) Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad in a blue-green glazed architectural terra-cotta tile and situated diagonal to the street corner, the complex is considered one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the United States. The Wiltern building is owned privately, and the Wiltern Theatre is operated by Live Nation's Los Angeles division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway (Los Angeles)</span> Department stores list in Los Angeles

Broadway, until 1890 Fort Street, is a thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The portion of Broadway from 3rd to 9th streets, in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles, was the city's main commercial street from the 1910s until World War II, and is the location of the Broadway Theater and Commercial District, the first and largest historic theater district listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). With twelve movie palaces located along a six-block stretch of Broadway, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Pantages Theatre</span> Theater and movie theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

The Hollywood Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre and Fox-Pantages Theatre, also known as The Pantages, is a live theater and former movie theater located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, near Hollywood and Vine, in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, the theater was the last built by the vaudeville impresario Alexander Pantages and also the last movie palace built in Hollywood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laemmle Theatres</span> Arthouse movie theatre chain in the Los Angeles area

Laemmle Theatres is a group of family-run arthouse movie theaters in the Los Angeles area. It was established in 1938 and is owned and operated by Robert Laemmle and his son Greg Laemmle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Theatre</span> Movie theater in Los Angeles, California

The Los Angeles Theatre is a 2,000-seat historic movie palace at 615 S. Broadway in the historic Broadway Theater District in Downtown Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Theatrical Group</span> Stage production division of Walt Disney Studios

Buena Vista Theatrical Group Ltd., doing business as the Disney Theatrical Group, is the live show, stageplay and musical production arm of The Walt Disney Company. The company is led by Thomas Schumacher, Anne Quart, and Andrew Flatt, and is a division of Walt Disney Studios, forming a part of Disney Entertainment, one of the three major business segments of The Walt Disney Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway Theater District (Los Angeles)</span> United States historic place

The Broadway Theater District in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles is the first and largest historic theater district listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). With twelve movie palaces located along a six-block stretch of Broadway, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States. The same six-block stretch of Broadway, and an adjacent section of Seventh Street, was also the city's retail hub for the first half of the twentieth century, lined with large and small department stores and specialty stores.

Meyer & Holler was an architecture firm based in Los Angeles, California, noted for its opulent commercial buildings and movie theatres, including Grauman's Chinese and Egyptian theatres, built during the 1920s. Meyer & Holler was also known as The Milwaukee Building Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rialto Theatre (South Pasadena, California)</span> Theater in South Pasadena, California, US

The Rialto Theatre is a 1,200-seat theater in South Pasadena, California. Located on Fair Oaks Avenue, it is considered one of the last single-screen theaters in Southern California and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District</span> Historic district in Los Angeles, California

The Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District is a historic district that consists of twelve blocks between the 6200 and 7000 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. This strip of commercial and retail businesses, which includes more than 100 buildings, is recognized for its significance with the entertainment industry, particularly Hollywood and its golden age, and it also features the predominant architecture styles of the 1920s and 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glendale Main Post Office</span> United States historic place

Glendale Main Post Office is a historic post office in Glendale, California, operated by the United States Postal Service (USPS).

The Fairfax Theatre is a mixed-use Art Deco style building constructed in 1930. The building is located in Los Angeles' Fairfax District on the northwest corner of Fairfax Ave, and Beverly Blvd. In 2021, the Fairfax Theatre was added to the list of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments, and declared eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The building is recognized both for its importance to the Jewish heritage of the Fairfax district as well as for its Art Deco architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherman and Henrietta Ford House</span> Building in Glendale, California

The Sherman and Henrietta Ford House is a house in Glendale, California in the US. It is a rare intact example of a small, storybook-style Tudor cottage, reminiscent of the type of housing built in Southern California in the 1920s and 1930s. It is unique in its scale: affordable and built for a middle-class family, but with all of the care and craftsmanship of the great Tudor Revival estates of Southern California. It was built and designed by John (Jack) Frith in 1936.

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ↑ "Alex Theatre". LA Conservancy. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "NPGallery Asset Detail". npgallery.nps.gov. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Counter, B. "Los Angeles Theatres: Alex Theatre: history + street views". Los Angeles Theatres. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Alex Theatre | Los Angeles Conservancy". www.laconservancy.org. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  7. ↑ "National Register of Historical Places - CALIFORNIA (CA), Los Angeles County". nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  8. ↑ Moore, Charles; Becker, Peter; Campbell, Regula (1984). The City Observed: Los Angeles; A Guide to its Architecture and Landscapes (trade paperback ed.). New York: Vintage Books, a division of Random House. p.  303. ISBN   0-394-72388-0.
  9. ↑ "NPGallery Asset Detail". npgallery.nps.gov. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  10. ↑ Holly Andres (September 2, 2021). "Historic Alex Theatre in Glendale celebrates its 96th year with an open house on Sept. 4". Los Angeles Daily News . Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Disney's Preview Palace: The Alex Theater |".
  12. ↑ "World of Wonder Presents RuPaul's Drag Race S9 Grand Finale". Alex Theatre. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  13. ↑ "NBC's 'Bring the Funny' taps Alex Theatre to round out season". Glendale News-Press. September 11, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  14. ↑ |citeweb=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-concert-cancelled-20180623-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|author=Carlos Lozano|date=June 23, 2018|access-date=October 25, 2024}}
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.