Highland Theatre

Last updated

Highland Theatre
Highland Theatre
Interactive map of Highland Theatre
Address5604 N. Figueroa Street
Los Angeles
Coordinates 34°06′33″N118°11′37″W / 34.1091°N 118.1937°W / 34.1091; -118.1937
Type Stage and movie theater
Capacity1432 at opening
465 from the early 1980s on
Construction
Built1924
OpenedMarch 2, 1925
Renovatedearly 1980s
ClosedFebruary 29, 2024
Architect Lewis Arthur Smith
DesignatedOctober 2, 1991 [1]
Reference no.549

Highland Theatre is a three-story movie and live theater located at 5604 N. Figueroa Street in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It closed in 2024, six days short of its 100th anniversary. [2] In February 2026, actress and director Kristen Stewart said she purchased the theater with plans to re-open it. [3]

Contents

History

Highland Theatre was designed by Lewis Arthur Smith, [4] an architect known for many theaters throughout southern California, most notably the Vista, El Portal, Rialto, and Ventura. [5] Highland Theatre was built in 1924, sat 1,432, and opened on March 2, 1925 with a screening of Lady of the Night , lead actress Norma Shearer in attendance. The theater also featured vaudeville during its early years. [4] [6]

By June 1938, Highland Theatre was operated by Fox West Coast Theatres and in the early 1970s, a new owner used the theater to screen adult films. In 1975, the theater was bought by the Akarakian family, who brought back mainstream programming and added children's and Spanish language films as well. In the 1980s, the theater was converted from a single screen to a triplex, the new screens having a capacity of 225, 130, and 110. [2] [4]

The building was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #549 on October 2, 1991. [1]

The theater was managed by Starlight Cinemas as of 2015, and the theater also hosted the Highland Park Independent Film Festival that year. Included in the festival was a 90th birthday event for the theater, in which the theater screened Lady of the Night (the same film it screened on its opening night in 1925) and a documentary about the history of the theater. [7]

The theater shut down from March 2020 to May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [8] Cyrus Etemad, owner of the nearby Highland Park Bowl, bought the building in 2022, [9] and the theater closed on February 29, 2024, after failing to bounce back post pandemic. The last films to screen were Madame Web , Bob Marley: One Love , and Lisa Frankenstein . [8] [10]

Kristen Stewart purchased the theater in 2026 and plans to renovate it. "I didn't realize I was looking for a theater until this place came to my attention. Then it was like a gunshot went off and the race was on. I ran toward it with everything I had," she told Architectural Digest . "I'm fascinated by broken-down old theaters. I always want to see what mysteries they hold." [11] [10] [12]

Architecture and design

Highland Theatre was designed in the Moorish/Spanish Colonial Revival style. [4] [13] Its most eye-catching feature, however, is its rooftop sign, which contains 502 incandescent bulbs. The interior features murals, frescoes, metalwork, moldings, and a vintage balcony, much of which were covered when the theater was made into a triplex in the 1980s. [4] [9]

Highland Theatre doubled as the New Beverly Cinema in The Adventures of Cliff Booth . It was also featured in Wonder Man and numerous other films and television projects. [12]

References

  1. 1 2 "Historical Cultural Monuments List" (PDF). City of Los Angeles . Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Melnick, Ross. "Highland Theatres". Cinema Treasures . Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  3. ↑ Rus, Mayer (February 4, 2026). "Kristen Stewart's Bold Plan to Bring a Beloved Los Angeles Theater Back to Life". Architectural Digest. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Highland Theatre". City of Los Angeles . Retrieved February 27, 2025– via hmdb.com.
  5. ↑ Michelson, Alan. "Lewis Arthur Smith (Architect)". University of Washington Pacific Coast Architecture Database . Retrieved December 14, 2024.
  6. ↑ Flay, Sophie (January 18, 2023). "Highland Park's historic Highland Theatre is up for sale". KABC-TV.
  7. ↑ Solis, Nathan (March 4, 2015). "Highland Theatre celebrates 90 years of movie-going in Highland Park". The Eastsider.
  8. 1 2 Carras, Christi (March 1, 2024). "Historic movie theater in Highland Park closes after 100 years". Los Angeles Times .
  9. 1 2 Alejandro, Victoria (March 14, 2024). "Highland Theatre Memories". LAist.
  10. 1 2 Gardner, Chris (February 4, 2026). "Kristen Stewart Purchases Historic Highland Park Movie Theater: "Ran Toward It With Everything I Had"". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 4, 2026.
  11. ↑ Rus, Mayer (February 4, 2026). "Kristen Stewart's Bold Plan to Bring a Beloved Los Angeles Theater Back to Life". Architectural Digest. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
  12. 1 2 Saperstein, Pat (February 4, 2026). "Kristen Stewart Buys L.A.'s Highland Movie Theater and 'Sees It as an Antidote to All the Corporate Bulls—'". Variety.
  13. ↑ Michelson, Alan. "Highland Theatre, Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA". University of Washington Pacific Coast Architecture Database . Retrieved February 27, 2025.
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.