Orpheum Theatre

The Orpheum Theatre is a performance hall on South Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles, offering two thousand seats across several levels. The ceiling shows painted ornaments and gilding, while chandeliers and wall-mounted lamps light the hall.

It opened in 1926 as part of a theater chain presenting vaudeville acts and later films. After decades of shifting uses, a renovation in the late 1980s returned the hall to its earlier condition.

Shows over the decades gave the theater its role as a meeting point for jazz, soul, and early rock and roll. The interior keeps the kind of elegance that brought audiences from different neighborhoods together.

The theater sits on South Broadway, a few blocks south of the historic core, and is reachable by Metro. Tours through the hall and backstage areas run regularly and reveal details of the original fittings.

A Wurlitzer organ from the late 1920s still stands in the hall and is played during special events. Only two other such instruments remain working in the region.

Location: Los Angeles

Inception: February 15, 1926

Architects: G. Albert Lansburgh

Official opening: February 15, 1926

Capacity: 2000

Address: 842 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Website: https://laorpheum.com

GPS coordinates: 34.04272,-118.25539

Latest update: December 5, 2025 22:26