Shubert Theater Los Angeles

[karatekid1]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 12:54am

Does anyone have any picture of the Shubert Theater in Century City
in LA that hosted cats,Mamma Mia!, and the sit Down production of Beauty and The Beast?
I know it got torn down but are there any photos of this once beautiful theater gone forever?

HELP!!
Updated On: 9/1/06 at 12:54 AM

[Princeton78]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 8:29am

Wow..
A google search turns up next to nothing.

[latheatrelover]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 10:33am

Here's a link to a page that has a couple:

http://www.seeing-stars.com/OnStage/ShubertTheatre.shtml Updated On: 9/1/06 at 10:33 AM

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 10:39am

I used to work a couple of blocks away - I loved that theater.

I don't recall seeing Mama Mia there - I thought it was at the Pantages and then at the Music Center . . .

It was a great, convenient theater, especially if you worked in Century City (like I did).

The seats actually survive in the Kirk Douglas theater in Culver City.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 11:06am

*sigh* I miss it, too.

[DAME]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 11:09am

What a great theater. And huge loss to the Los Angeles theater scene. Shame.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 11:31am

So many memories in that theatre...

I saw "Ragtime" four times there.

[latheatrelover]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 1:31pm

I saw the original cast of A Chorus Line there in 1976. Also, Ragtime, Beauty and the Beast, Sunset Blvd. (or was that the Ahmanson), and I can't recall what else.

[Popular]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 1:36pm

Ragtime, A Chorus Line, Beauty & the Beast, and I ushered RENT there so I saw that quite a few times ... miss it too!!!

[jimnysf]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 1:45pm

A theatre with comfortable seats! Of course it had to be torn down. I saw "Sunset Boulevard" there and the First Mational Tour of "Saturday Night Fever". The theatre (outside) can be seen in the movie, "Valley of the Dolls". That's where Tony has his spell after seeing "Hello, Dolly!".

[WalkOn]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 2:41pm

God I loved that theatre! I saw dozens of shows there. The first show I saw there was DREAMGIRLS, the last RAGTIME.

It had a sleek modern feel that was never cold. It had posters and photos from Shubert produced shows. Before a show,I would often linger near the photo of Angela Lansbury in GYPSY wondering what it must have been like to see her.

I miss it.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 2:55pm

Popular --- I saw RENT when it first played L.A. at the Ahmanson. Was that a return engagement?

jimnysf --- Yes! That's where Sunset Blvd. played, prior to moving to Broadway. But...

No! That's not where they filmed "Valley of the Dolls" where Tony collapses outside the theatre... because that pavillion wasn't built or opened until 1974. They filmed Tony's collapse scene at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion downtown.

They DID, however, film much of "Battle For the Planet of the Apes" at the ABC Center (Shubert Theatre) Pavillion, just as it was opening up to the public in 1974.

[Popular]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 3:04pm

I ushered late 90's when Daphne came back to play Mimi. I believe it was at the Ahmanson before that.

[bk]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 3:13pm

I was there for the Shubert's first production, which was Follies, with most of the original cast - a brilliant production and a lovely send off for the theatre, although a bit odd to have a show about a theatre that's being torn down done in a brand new space.

Mamma Mia absolutely played there, prior to any engagement it may have played at the Pantages. A Chorus Line was there for a long time, Annie played there, the already-mentioned Ragtime and Beauty and the Beast, Angela Lansbury's Gypsy, Dreamgirls, Rent, Grease, Sunset Blvd., the tour of A Little Night Music, a sit down of Les Miz, the Mostel revival of Fiddler, I think Jerome Robbins Broadway was there, and I think Crazy For You was there for awhile. Those are what I remember, but I know we're forgetting stuff.

[nealb1]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 7:16pm

"Cats" ran at The Shubert Theatre for 2 years. If I remember correctly, it opened in January 1985 and closed November/December 1986. "Evita" played there for 2 years, alos. "42nd Street" came in for 9 months right before "Cats." The last few years before it was torn down, Dame Edna came in for a few weeks as did the National Tour of "Kiss Me Kate."

Very, very sad that the Shubert is no longer. Could never figure out the logic as to why it was torn down?

Think of all the millions of theatre patrons who went to the theatre and got exposed to the joy of live performing. Think of the hundreds and hundreds of actors, musicians, writers, producers, directors, crew, front of house/back of house, costumers who had work. What was it all for? For nothing?

So sad. I miss the theatre very, very much.

[Rotel1026]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 9:49pm

So according to that article, there was speculation that the Shubert would move into another theater, the Warner Pacific. What came of that?

[nealb1]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 10:25pm

Nothing ever came of it. That would be FANTASTIC if it would have moved to the Warner Pacific on Hollywood Blvd. That would have been a "mini Broadway" with The Pantages, The Ricardo Mantelban (sp?)...the former Doolittle and The Henry Fonda Theatre all right there. Sorry, I don't remember the new name of the former HF theatre. Saw "Party" there back in the mid 90's a few times.

It's very, very sad!!

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 9/1/06 at 11:16pm

What's in that location now?

[allofmylife]

Posted: 9/2/06 at 12:22am

I saw many shows there and at The Dorothy Chandler as well. I took my folks to see Phantom with Crawford on his last night. Sadly, it was one of the last times I went to the theater with my folks before Alzhiemer's grabbed them both...

The funny thing is, I have always felt so lonely seeing shows in either theater. I guess it's because, compared to seeing a show in NYC, they are both in Siberia. There's just so little real life nearby either site. I remember wandering the lobbies and seeing all the programs for shows that played the Shubert and thinking, despite the millions who passed through the doors, the place was as empty as Karl Rove's heart by 11:30 every night.

Lonely.

That always has been the theater experience for me.

But I'll miss it, too. LA really does eat its' children, doesn't it?

[nealb1]

Posted: 9/2/06 at 2:29am

The entire complex where The Shubert Theatre was, was demolished. It was The ABC Entertainment Center. A high rise office building is being built in the space. It's so ugly......so high tech. It's supposed to open next year. So, so sad!!!

[allofmylife]

Posted: 9/2/06 at 3:05am

There were also three large movie theaters in the complex. Also lonely. I went to the first evening performance of That's Entertainment III. I was the only one there. In a huge theater.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/2/06 at 9:46am

allofmylife --- I also went to That's Entertainment III there! It must have been a different showing that day, because there were about six other people in the theatre with me.

And the restored "My Fair Lady," where I sat two rows behind Steven Spielberg and his whole family who just wandered in to watch the matinee like everyone else.

...And it's where I saw the film Chicago, too.

Gone, gone, gone...

Updated On: 9/2/06 at 09:46 AM

[nealb1]

Posted: 9/2/06 at 12:16pm

I also saw the restored "My Fair Lady" there, too. That was Sept/Oct of 1994. Also, saw "Chicago" there, too. So very sad that it's all gone now.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 9/2/06 at 12:29pm

Ships that pass in the night, best12bars....

[Adam Chris]

Posted: 9/2/06 at 3:02pm

I can't believe that theater is no longer there.

I saw Sunset Blvd, Beauty and the Beast and Rent (with Daphne Rubin-Vega).