Hayworth Theatre, Historical theatre in Westlake, Los Angeles, US
The Hayworth Theatre at 2511 Wilshire Boulevard is a Spanish Colonial Revival building, also called Churrigueresque, designed by Stiles O. Clements of Morgan, Walls & Clements. Its interior walls once carried murals of silent-film scenes. A 2015 renovation by architect Linda Brettler turned the upper floor into production and writing offices while keeping historical elements; the theater space was renovated two years later.
Stiles O. Clements of Morgan, Walls & Clements designed the building, which opened in 1926 as The Masque Theatre, a vaudeville house. On May 26, 1950, architect Dwight Gibbs converted it into the Vagabond Theatre, a movie house. The Hayworth Theatre Company became resident in 2006, and Jenji Kohan bought the building in 2013.
Since January 2018 the venue has operated as Dynasty Typewriter, launched by former Hollywood Improv booker Jamie Flam after a Kickstarter campaign. It hosts comedy, variety and screenings; Hannah Gadsby, Adam Sandler, Ilana Glazer, Patton Oswalt and Margaret Cho have performed here, and Netflix, HBO and Comedy Central have filmed specials.
The venue sits at 2511 Wilshire Boulevard in Westlake, on the stretch of Wilshire near MacArthur Park. It reopened in January 2018 as Dynasty Typewriter, a comedy and variety room, so most visits are for ticketed evening shows rather than daytime tours. The 2015 and 2017 renovations by architect Linda Brettler kept the historic interior elements while converting the upper floor into production offices.
The interior walls once carried murals of silent-film scenes, and the building also housed Vagabond's House, possibly Los Angeles' first Tiki bar. The theatre stayed open into the 1990s, screening classic 3-D films such as "Kiss Me Kate" and "Dial M for Murder".
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