Touring the Highland Theatre
One of my favorite local organizations is the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. It’s no secret I’ve got a thing for old theatres and write about them often. The LAHTF is dedicated to the preservation of these historic landmarks and through its advocacy has saved several of these magnificent spaces. Thanks to them I’ve been lucky enough to visit many theatres while attending their “All About” tours. Such was the case a couple of weeks ago when I toured the Highland Theatre.
When attending an “All About” tour with the LAHTF I never know what I’m going to see. Sometimes the theatre is in tip top condition like the El Capitan. Other times it’s non operational like the Vision Theatre (although it’s undergone renovations since my last visit). The Highland Theatre is perhaps the most unique of all the ones I’ve visited.
The theatre was built in 1925 as one of the many film palaces dotting the Los Angeles landscape. Not only did it show the latest Hollywood flick but it also held vaudeville performances. Currently, it operates as a neighborhood cinema with three small auditoriums showing the latest releases. What makes it unique is the triplex was essentially built within the original theatre. This means that with the right access you can still see remnants of the old film palace.
Luckily LAHTF has that access and Shannon and I were lucky enough to tour the remaining vestiges of its original incarnation. First we headed upstairs to the balcony.
Because this area is no longer used there’s actually no electricity. Combined with the decades of dust it was quite an adventure. The LAHTF was able to provide some temporary lighting which gave a glimpse of the grandeur that once was.
And since the theatre is a former vaudeville house there’s a backstage area complete with dressing rooms. These haven’t been altered since their original use and we were able to tour them also. Again, there was no working electricity so we made do with flashlights and temporary lighting. It felt like a real adventure as we explored the basement dressing rooms. I hadn’t had this much fun since exploring the Downtown subway tunnels.
As fun as the dressing rooms were the backstage area was also fascinating. Used as an ad hoc storage area it was filled with decades of detritus. The American Pickers would have a field day here.
Once again the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation pulled off a fascinating tour into LA’s theatrical history. I can’t wait to see where they take us next.