Mayfair Music Hall
Encyclopedia
Mayfair Music Hall An English Music Hall
-styled vaudeville theater devised and created by entrepreneur Milt Larsen
, located in Santa Monica, California
, USA.
This theater was designed by Architect Henry C. Hollwedel, and built in 1913 as the
Santa Monica Opera House. Shortly after they renamed it the Majestic Theater and featured silent movies
and split week vaudeville
.
It was remodeled after sound came in in the late twenties.
The theater was rather plain and was modernized during the sixties.
Milt Larsen, John Shrum
and Thomas Heric transformed it into a Victorian Music Hall in 1972 and produced British Variety Shows there for 8 years. The ornate boxes and staff work were rescued from the grand old Belmont Theater, a major movie palace adjacent to the famed Bimini Baths at 1st and Vermont in Los Angeles.
Entrepreneur Larsen's full traditional music hall productions featured noted actors and performers like Bernard Fox, Beatrice Kay
, Larry "Seymour" Vincent, Mousie Garner, Ian Whitcomb
, Eubie Blake
, Gene Bell, English entertainer Joyce Howard and other actors and musical stars of the day.
In later years it later became the home for Chicago's Second City and the A LIst Television shows.
In 1974, the theater was used to film the famous "Puttin' on the Ritz" sequence in Young Frankenstein.
The theatre was damaged in the Northridge earthquake, and the owner gutted the building and removed all the ornate decor. Now boarded up, the building can still be viewed along the popular 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica.
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
-styled vaudeville theater devised and created by entrepreneur Milt Larsen
Milt Larsen
Milt Larsen is a writer, actor, performer, lyricist, magician, entrepreneur, speaker and the creator of The Magic Castle, a private club for magicians and enthusiasts.-Early life:...
, located in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, USA.
This theater was designed by Architect Henry C. Hollwedel, and built in 1913 as the
Santa Monica Opera House. Shortly after they renamed it the Majestic Theater and featured silent movies
Silent Movies
Silent Movies are 13 solo guitar compositions by Marc Ribot released September 28, 2010 on Pi Recordings.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars stating "For those interested in one of the more compelling and quietly provocative and graceful guitar records of 2010,...
and split week vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
.
It was remodeled after sound came in in the late twenties.
The theater was rather plain and was modernized during the sixties.
Milt Larsen, John Shrum
John Shrum
John Shrum was an NBC Television Senior Art Director.John Shrum was born in Los Angeles, California and attended the Chouinard Art Institute. Upon graduation, he became involved in the advent of television at KTLA-TV studios...
and Thomas Heric transformed it into a Victorian Music Hall in 1972 and produced British Variety Shows there for 8 years. The ornate boxes and staff work were rescued from the grand old Belmont Theater, a major movie palace adjacent to the famed Bimini Baths at 1st and Vermont in Los Angeles.
Entrepreneur Larsen's full traditional music hall productions featured noted actors and performers like Bernard Fox, Beatrice Kay
Beatrice Kay
Beatrice Kay was an American singer, vaudevillian, music hall performer, stage and film actress...
, Larry "Seymour" Vincent, Mousie Garner, Ian Whitcomb
Ian Whitcomb
Ian Whitcomb is an entertainer, singer, songwriter, author, record producer, and actor...
, Eubie Blake
Eubie Blake
James Hubert Blake was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, Blake and long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote the Broadway musical Shuffle Along, one of the first Broadway musicals to be written and directed by African Americans...
, Gene Bell, English entertainer Joyce Howard and other actors and musical stars of the day.
In later years it later became the home for Chicago's Second City and the A LIst Television shows.
In 1974, the theater was used to film the famous "Puttin' on the Ritz" sequence in Young Frankenstein.
The theatre was damaged in the Northridge earthquake, and the owner gutted the building and removed all the ornate decor. Now boarded up, the building can still be viewed along the popular 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica.