Wadsworth Theatre

Last updated
Wadsworth Theatre facade. Wadsworth Theater in Los Angeles angle view.JPG
Wadsworth Theatre facade.

The Wadsworth Theatre, a historic live theater, is located in the Sawtelle community of West Los Angeles, California, within the 388-acre West Los Angeles Department of Veterans Affairs complex. Situated on Eisenhower Avenue in Building 226, the theater is part of the historic Sawtelle Veterans Home, nestled between Wilshire Boulevard and San Vicente Boulevard on the east side of Brentwood.

Constructed in 1939, the Wadsworth Theatre was initially reported by the Los Angeles Times as a $162,000, designed to seat 1,500 people . The theater, built on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home at Sawtelle, served as a venue for theatrical productions and movies for veterans. Architecturally, it embodies the Mission Revival style, as listed on The National Register of Historic Places.

In 1976, the theater was named after Maj. James W. Wadsworth, a Civil War officer and advocate for disabled veterans. Over the years, the Wadsworth Theatre has hosted various notable film events, including a 1983 presentation of the classic film "The Passion of Joan of Arc," a 1984 Esther Williams retrospective, and a 1985 screening of "Spies Like Us" featuring appearances by Dan Akroyd and Chevy Chase. In 2000, Woody Allen made a rare public appearance for the screening of his film, Small Time Crooks .

In March 1992, the LA Times reported on a controversy involving the theater, which was being leased by UCLA at the time. A planned screening of the comedy satire "Article 99" faced opposition from the hospital, as the plot centered around a doctor-patient revolt in a veterans hospital. Due to concerns about the film's impact on psychiatric patients, the screening was eventually moved to UCLA's Royce Hall.

Today, the Wadsworth Theatre, operated by Richmark Entertainment, presents Broadway productions and other live events. Following an extensive renovation in 2002, which reduced seating capacity to 942, the theater has continued to host various Broadway shows, musical concerts, film premieres, and live theatrical productions. Since 2009, the annual Streamy Awards have also been held at the Wadsworth Theatre. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Los Angeles Westside is an urban region in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. It has no official definition, but sources like LA Weekly and the Mapping L.A. survey of the Los Angeles Times place the region on the western side of the Los Angeles Basin south of the Santa Monica Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sawtelle, Los Angeles</span> Unincorporated community in California, United States

Sawtelle is a district in the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California, partially within the West Los Angeles subregion. It was established in 1899 and named after a manager of the Pacific Land Company who was initially responsible for its development and promotion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saban Theatre</span>

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">Sawtelle Boulevard</span> Thoroughfare in Los Angeles

Sawtelle Boulevard is a north/south street in the Westside region of the city of Los Angeles, California. For most of its length, it parallels the San Diego Freeway, one block to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Million Dollar Theater</span> Spanish Colonial Revival movie palace

The Million Dollar Theatre at 307 S. Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles is one of the first movie palaces built in the United States. It opened in 1917 with the premiere of William S. Hart's The Silent Man. It's the northernmost of the collection of historical movie palaces in the Broadway Theater District and stands directly across from the landmark Bradbury Building. The theater is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnsdall Art Park</span> Park in Los Angeles, California

Barnsdall Art Park is a city park located in the East Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Parking and arts buildings access is from Hollywood Boulevard on the north side of the park. The park is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, and a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

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

The Hollywood Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre, is located at Hollywood and Vine in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, it was the last theater built by the vaudeville impresario Alexander Pantages. The palatial Art Deco theater opened on June 4, 1930, as part of the Pantages Theatre Circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmanson Theatre</span> Performing arts theatre in Los Angeles, California

The Ahmanson Theatre is one of the four main venues that compose the Los Angeles Music Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Baker Marionette Theater</span> Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater, founded by Bob Baker and Alton Wood in 1963, is the oldest children's theater company in Los Angeles. In June 2009, the theater was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. In early 2019, the theater moved to a new permanent home on York Boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streetcar Depot, West Los Angeles</span> United States historic place

The Sawtelle Streetcar Depot is located on the grounds of the Sawtelle Veterans Home in Sawtelle, in the Westside area of Los Angeles, California.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sawtelle Veterans Home</span> Care home for United States military veterans (1887–1927)

The Sawtelle Veterans Home was a care home for disabled American veterans in what is today part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area in California in the United States. The Home, formally the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, was established in 1887 on 300 acres (1.2 km2) of Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica lands donated by Senator John P. Jones and Arcadia B. de Baker. The following year, the site grew by an additional 200 acres (0.81 km2); in 1890, 20 acres (0.081 km2) more were appended for use as a veterans' cemetery. With more than 1,000 veterans in residence, a new hospital was erected in 1900. This hospital was replaced in 1927 by the James W. Wadsworth Hospital, now known as the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carthay Circle Theatre</span> Former movie palace in Los Angeles, California, USA (1926-69)

The Carthay Circle Theatre was one of the most famous movie palaces of Hollywood's Golden Age. Located on San Vicente Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, it opened in 1926 and was demolished in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl Carroll Theatre (Los Angeles)</span> Former theater and TV studio in Hollywood, California

The Earl Carroll Theatre was a historic stage facility located at 6230 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built by showman Earl Carroll and designed in the Streamline Moderne style by architect Gordon Kaufmann in 1938. The theatre has been known by a number of names since, including Moulin Rouge from 1953 to 1964 and the Aquarius Theater in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1997 to 2017, it was officially known as Nickelodeon on Sunset, housing the West Coast production of live-action original series produced for the Nickelodeon cable channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Majestic Crest Theatre</span>

The Crest Theatre, formerly known as Majestic Crest and Bigfoot Crest Theatre, was a movie theatre located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was founded as the UCLAN in 1941, and was built for live performances but switched to a newsreel cinema during World War II. Through ownership changes, it has been known at various times as UCLAN Theatre, Crest Theatre, and Metro Theatre. The original 500-seat art deco style theater was designed by Arthur W. Hawes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayworth Theatre</span> Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

The Hayworth Theatre is a theater and performing arts venue at 2511 Wilshire Boulevard located in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Los Angeles VA Medical Center</span> Hospital in California, United States

The West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center is among a network of housing, shelter, utilities, food preparation facilities and a hospital mandated to permanently serve veterans at the West Los Angeles VA Soldiers Home. The approximately 400 remaining acres of the Soldiers Home is located adjacent to the West Los Angeles, Westwood and Brentwood neighborhoods of Los Angeles, has its own ZIP code and accounts for most of the over $1,100,000,000 Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System's annual federal budget. Operated by the Veterans Health Administration, the West Los Angeles VA Soldiers Home is the first U.S. government facility for homeless Veterans and the only one it permanently maintains in public trust to house them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricardo Montalbán Theatre</span> Theatre in Hollywood, opened 1927

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westwood/VA Hospital station</span> Under construction rapid transit station in Los Angeles County, California, USA

Westwood/VA Hospital station is an under construction, underground rapid transit station on the D Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. The station will be located underground between Bonsall Avenue and the I-405 freeway, south of Wilshire Boulevard. The main station entrance will be located south of Wilshire Boulevard, next to Bonsall Avenue, directly serving the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. Another entrance will be located north of Wilshire Boulevard.

References

34°03′15″N118°27′30″W / 34.0543°N 118.45823°W / 34.0543; -118.45823