The Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation’s “All About the Million Dollar” was the second in a new series of monthly tours that look inside Broadway’s Historic Theaters. They began last month with the Orpheum, and last Saturday, it was time to tour the 1918 as Grauman's Theatre, later known as the Million Dollar Theatre.
The exterior is mythical Spanish Rococo style accented with figures of the arts and icons of western Americana. There are not many places where sculptures of longhorn steer skulls and partly clothed muses sit next to each other, but may say a lot of how Los Angeles was seen in the early 20th Century.
For many, the interiors of Broadway’s theaters are a mystery. That is where the tour lingered, wandering the 106 feet long and 103 feet wide auditorium; and the stage that's 35 feet deep and 103 feet wide.
And more than once, a visitor made their way to the center of the stage and looked beyond the curved proscenium arch 40 feet wide and 40 feet high, and just looked out to the house (with1,400 seats in the orchestra and 945 in the balcony,) and stood a little straighter.
For more information, go to www.lahtf.org
