Morosco Theatre
(aka: President, Newsreel and Globe Theatre)
744 S. Broadway / Los Angeles, CA
Two of the greatest names in American theatre were involved in building and operating the theatre – Oliver Morosco and the Belasco family.
Opened in 1913 by Oliver Morosco, this theater was conceived not as a vaudeville house or nickelodeon, but as an elegant 1400 seat play house –
the first legit house on Broadway. Among other special touches, the theatre included special rows of seats that accommodated portly patrons
who weighed more than 200 pounds. Morosco also filled the orchestra pit with foliage rather than rather than having patrons yell over loud
intermission music, which Morosco deemed an intrusion.
Alfred F. Rosenheim served as the designer for the theatre interior. Impresario, Oliver Morosco, the first owner of the Morosco Theatre,
first featured stage shows, not nickelodeon entertainment. Morosco also owned the Burbank and Majestic Theatres in Los Angeles, CA.
His eponymously named theatre, like most 20th century theatres, had a number of names over the years changed by different owners.
These include the Morosco (for the first two decades of its existence), the President (during the 1930s), the Newsreel
(during the 1940s, before that name was transferred to the Tower Theatre) and, finally, the Globe.
During the Depression the theatre was renamed the President and newsreels took over, lasting throughout WWII.
The Globe name was added in 1947. In 1958, a Mexican wax museum opened in the basement to compliment the Spanish-language programming upstairs.
- (L) Globe Theatre today, and... (R) "Club 740" (old auditorium) -
In 1987, it was closed as a theatre and re-purposed for retail. Concrete was used to level the floor from the lobby to the stage,
so that a permanent indoor swap meet could supplant what had once been the first serious playhouse in Los Angeles.
The auditorium and stage areas were being used as a nightclub (Club 740) in recent years but, as of 2012, are vacant.
For more information on LA theatres see Bill Counter's Excellent Website!