Los Angeles Theatre tour with Ken Rosen organist

This is a very short video showing the auditorium of the incredible Los Angeles Theatre on Broadway in downtown LA. The Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation sponsored a tour of the theatre on March 21, 2009.

Los Angeles area theatre organ enthusiast Ken Rosen, and owner of the Wurlitzer pipe organ once in the Hollywood Pig 'n Whistle Restaurant, brought in his little Conn electronic organ for the theatre's tour on March 21, 2009..

That this little living room Conn spinet organ projected so well in this magnificent theatre gives credit to the great acoustic environment of this room.

The theatre was co-designed by LA area theatre architect S. Charles Lee and opened in 1931. This 2500 seat, two balcony theatre was built in just 7 months and was clearly patterned after the late San Francisco Fox Theatre (1929-1963) The Los Angeles Theatre was built as an independent film exhibition house by H. L. Gumbiner.

The Los Angeles Theatre original contained a very rare 10-rank style 216 Wurlitzer theatre organ moved from Gumbiner's much smaller Tower Theatre across and down Broadway from the Los Angeles Theatre.
The Los Angeles Theatre is equipped with 4 organ chambers and could have contained an organ easily 50% larger than the style 216. The LA's style 216 was restored to playing condition in the early 1960s and was recorded by theatre organist Ann Leaf. The organ again went silent and was "stolen" (along with the Wurlitzer from the nearby Loews State Theatre) from the LA in the mid 1970s. Yes, stolen. Nothing remains quiet in the theatre organ world and these two organs are today installed and playing as one instrument several locations later since leaving their theatres.

More on the Los Angeles Theatre from the Los Angeles Conservancy:

Los Angeles Theatre (1931)
615 South Broadway
The most lavish and last built of Broadway's great movie palaces, the Los Angeles was designed by legendary theatre architect S. Charles Lee. It was constructed in 1931 at an estimated cost of more than one million dollars. Patterned after the celebrated Fox theatre in San Francisco, the Los Angeles recalls the glories of the French Baroque. The façade rises five stories, decorated with huge columns and accented with urns, angels, and vines. Its majestic lobby features mirrors, fluted columns, sparkling chandeliers, finely detailed plaster ornament, and a sunburst motif alluding to France's "Sun King," Louis XIV. A grand central staircase leads to a crystal fountain.

In addition to its lavish decor, the Los Angeles originally boasted a number of unusual amenities. These included an electric indicator to monitor available seats, soundproof "crying rooms" (for parents with crying children) above the loge, a staffed playroom in the basement, and a glamorous ladies' lounge featuring sixteen private compartments, each finished in a different marble. In the walnut-paneled basement lounge, a periscope-like system of prisms relayed the featured film from the auditorium to a secondary screen, allowing patrons to watch the film while socializing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Theatre

The Los Angeles has undergone a number of incremental improvements in recent years and is a popular filming and special-event location.

Los Angeles Theatre website:
http://www.losangelestheatre.com/

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Los Angeles Theatre
• theatre organ
• ATOS
• THS
• AMICA
• silent films

[nicolesamsonite]

does this place over tours? i really want to go inside!!

[Yaledmot]

@nicolesamsonite Yep, knew what you meant. Best to check with the Los Angeles Conservancy as to status of events. League of Historic Los Angeles Theatres might also know, but I do not have any contacts for either group.

[Chicagofan312]

Is the organ still here?

[Yaledmot]

@Chicagofan312 The organ in the video is a Conn spinet organ owned by Ken Rosen. The original Wurlitzer "disappeared" in 1976 or so. Its whereabouts, rather, its parts, are known to a select few.

[dsolosan]

KawhackitaRag, I was also at this event, and everyone was amazed at how good that organ sounded.

[Yaledmot]

The original style 216 (moved from the Tower Theatre LA) was magnificent in this room. The late Ann Leaf made some wonderful recordings on it in the early 1960s. It is a crime, literally, that it is not still in the Los Angeles.

Ann Leaf was a superb organist who gained fame as a radio organist in NYC.

Her record at the Los Angeles is a treasured part of my recording collection.

[nicolesamsonite]

@Yaledmot Alrighty thanx

[nicolesamsonite]

@nicolesamsonite i mean *offer

[Yaledmot]

It was amazing how good the little Conn sounded in there. As I said, one can only imagine how good a real Wurlitzer would sound in there.

Yes, in some circles the location of the "stolen organs" is known, but not widely talked about.

[KawhackitaRag]

Sounds very nice! Almost like real pipes, at least in this video (probably not in person). I recognize the tune: "Lullaby of Broadway".

Is the new location of the two "stolen" organs a secret? I am glad they haven't disappeared "for good" although perhaps some parts did.