Detailed Information

The 1940s Marquee, relit in 2014

Oliver Morosco – a theatrical impresario – moved to Los Angeles in 1899, and at the start of 1913 opened the Morosco Theater on Broadway. Morosco already had interests in several Los Angeles theatres, chiefly Los Angeles’ first Belasco Theatre on Main St (not to be confused with the current Belasco Theatre on Hill St), however he would concentrate his efforts on his eponymous theatre on Broadway with faithful patrons from the Belasco being given priority booking for events at the new theatre.

The theatre was designed by architect Alfred F. Rosenheim, one of Los Angeles’ leading architects in the early twentieth century. The surrounding structure – the Garland Building – was designed by architect firm Morgan, Walls & Morgan, which went on to become the celebrated and noted architect firm Morgan, Walls & Clements.

Newspaper reports show that the theatre’s opening was originally planned for 30th December 1912 however had to be pushed back by one week due to scenery being delayed for the opening production (it was being brought over from New York), and a delay in carpeting for the auditorium being delivered.

Mezzanine and Balcony levels as seen from the Orchestra level

The auditorium has mezzanine and balcony levels, described at the time of the theatre’s opening as being styled on the Broadway playhouses of New York. As was common for the time, the Balcony was not connected with the other levels of the auditorium. There is no evidence that it was racially segregated (the front part of the balcony was originally called the Family Circle), rather in the more tolerant Los Angeles environment it would have been predominantly based on class segregation. Alleys on either side of the theatre building provided access to the Balcony and there was a separate ticket booth for the Balcony in the north alley.

The only other theatre on Broadway in Los Angeles which features two balconies is the Palace Theatre, which opened as the Orpheum Theatre in 1911.

Theatre fires in recent memory of the new theatre being completed meant that an emphasis was placed on the safety of patrons visiting the theatre. The theatre was equipped with eight exits per side which led into wide alleys on either side of the building. The theatre was an all-concrete construction, practically the only flammable material being the stage scenery and wood contained in the auditorium seating.

Another aspect of the theatre touted in the newspapers around is opening was the theatre’s luxurious comfort. There were only 17 rows of seats at Orchestra (main floor) level, and the Mezzanine and Balcony both had just 12 rows. The generous seat pitch allowed patrons ample legroom. There were also special armchair-style seats in a few sections of the Orchestra, aimed at catering towards more portly patrons!

An element of the theatre’s Classical design

The original color scheme was predominantly a French grey with highlights in dull gold and green bronze. Panels were filled-in with light green and highlighted in old rose. It was felt the usual figures of mythical gods and muses were outdated, so the theatre got a dignified Classical design, of particular note the Rubenesque cupids in relief encircling the stage.

Following the example set by the European playhouses given over to the exclusive production of dramas, the Orchestra Pit was to have no orchestra. A “bank of Autumnal leaves” occupied the place where “not always musical music is dispensed by indifferent musicians”. In reality it was an Orchestra Pit largely full of potted plants.

The theatre’s Fire [Safety] Curtain was painted by artist John Collette; it represented an English woodland scene in Spring time. The Los Angeles Times was delighted with the curtain noting that it was “marvelous to relate [that] there are no figures in it nor cows”! John Collette went on to become the “master artist” at the theatre.

In mid-November 1916 Collette was painting a 90-foot-wide cyclorama backdrop from the paint bridge at the rear of the stage at 3am, when the backdrop collapsed and one of the straps suspending the cloth struck him on the head and rendered him unconscious, leaving him lying half off the paint bridge hanging 30ft (9.1m) above the stage floor, held safe by folds of the collapsed backdrop until the morning crew arrived at the theatre and found him some hours later.

Fire Curtain Closeup

Morosco left the theatre in 1928 and the new management changed the name to the President Theatre, still showcasing legitimate drama. The effects of the Great Depression put an end to that scheme and in mid-1930 Fox West Coast Theatres took over the theatre, converted it for movies, and reopened it as Los Angeles’ first news theatre with a new name: the Newsreel Theatre. The Balcony was closed at this time.

The theatre was the second all-newsreel theatre in the country (the first was the Embassy Theatre  in New York), however the experiment did not prove commercially successful and in a little over a month the theatre reverted to being called the President Theatre and showing movies again.

Metropolitan Theatres took over management of the theatre in 1935, and by 1938 newsreels were back on and the theatre changed its name back to the Newsreel Theatre.

The existing marquee was added in the 1940s, however the original “Morosco” lettering can still be seen on the façade of the building behind the marquee.

In 1949 the theatre came under the management of Fox again, with Metropolitan pulling out and taking the Newsreel name to the Tower Theatre half a block down the street.  The theatre’s name changed to the Globe Theatre, it’s assumed due the Globe atop the early 1940s marquee.

The neon marquee, added in the 1940s

After its run as a newsreel theatre the Globe continued showing films as a third-run house and ended-up focusing on Spanish language films.

In the late 1950’s a Mexican waxwork museum was added to complement the films being shown the theatre. The barbershop scene currently on display at the Million Dollar Theatre is the sole survivor of this museum. The Globe played to dwindling audiences until its closure in mid-1986.

In 1987 the floor was leveled from the lobby to the stage and the theatre played host to a swap meet. After the swap meet proved unsuccessful, the Broadway entrance was walled-off from the auditorium and converted into a retail unit, with the theatre turning into a nightclub called Club Orion and accessed from the alley behind the theatre.

In the early 2000’s the nightclub changed names to Club 740 and featured a VIP room downstairs below the auditorium. Club 740 was ultimately shut down in 2011 following repeated noise issues and violence.

Auditorium & Stage in 2015

In 2014 new tenants Chol Enterprises, Inc. took over management of the Globe, and reopened it at the end of July 2015 using the Globe name as a live entertainment and music venue operating several nights per week. Retail units on the Broadway façade were removed and the original theatre entrance opened-up, which revealed the historic mirrored lobby leading from the street into the auditorium.

The original marble staircases from Orchestra (main floor) level to the Balcony were uncovered and restored to their original appearance, and the auditorium was redecorated. The uppermost level (the Balcony) remains closed to the public however the auditorium’s boxes provide excellent places to experience events taking place at the busy venue.

Backstage, the theatre was originally a hemp house with counterweight lines only for electrics battens, and a later addition. Whereas the original grid is still in place, only a couple of counterweight lines are still rigged and no hemp lines are in place anymore. All flown pieces are dead-hung from the grid or rigged on electric motors.

The Globe is notable for being one of the few Los Angeles theatres to retain its paint bridge. This gallery, at fly floor level along the rear stage wall, was where scenic artists such as John Collette would paint backdrops hanging immediately downstage of the paint bridge.

The stage is roughly 34ft (10.4m) deep (working depth 29ft / 8.8m), the proscenium being 38ft wide and 34ft high (11.6m x 10.4m). The theatre’s original fire [safety] curtain, painted with a classical scene in vibrant colors, is still in place although it has not been moved up or down in many years.

In late 2023, long-time tenant Chol Enterprises, Inc., who had revitalized the theatre while respecting its historic nature turning the theatre’s fortunes around starting in 2015, was evicted by the theatre’s owner for alleged breach of tenancy. As of 5th December 2023 the theatre has been shuttered and is seeking a tenant .