Los Angeles Theatre

Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights


Designed by celebrated theater designer S Charles Lee, this 1931 jewel was the last major movie palace to be built in Downtown. A breathtaking swansong, it's the most lavish theater on the strip, with a soaring lobby inspired by Louis XIV's Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Here, Corinthian columns, crystal chandeliers and a grand central staircase lead to an auditorium where Albert Einstein and other luminaries enjoyed the premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights. Restored, it presents special events and screenings.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights attractions

1. Palace Theatre

0.04 MILES

Dating back to 1911, the Palace is one of the city's oldest theaters. The facade is a curious fusion of early Renaissance Florentine architecture and pure…

2. Jewelry District

0.07 MILES

South of Pershing Sq is one of the country's largest jewelry districts. Centered on Broadway and Hill St (between 6th and 7th Sts), the main currency here…

3. State Theatre

0.12 MILES

This beaux-arts creation is Broadway’s biggest entertainment complex, seating close to 2500 people. The theater debuted in 1921 with a vaudeville show and…

4. Pershing Square

0.13 MILES

LA’s first public park in 1866, Pershing Sq is now a postmodern concrete patch enlivened by public art, summer concerts and a holiday-season ice rink…

5. Tower Theatre

0.23 MILES

The world’s first talkie, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, premiered here in 1927. The first theater designed by celebrated architect S Charles Lee,…

6. Eastern Columbia Building

0.27 MILES

Architect Claud Beelman's extraordinary 1929 Eastern Columbia Building is a masterpiece of art moderne architecture. Clad in turquoise-and-gold terracotta…

7. Robert Reynolds Gallery

0.28 MILES

A breathtaking loft space owned and operated by the artist himself. Reynolds specializes in mixed-media canvasses and sculpture, and uses anything and…

8. Orpheum Theatre

0.31 MILES

This 1926 theater was built for vaudeville and has hosted such entertainers as Judy Garland, George Burns and Nat King Cole. A truly sumptuous place, its…