Specifications

Operators: UA
Status: Closed
Opened: 12/30/77
Closed: 2000
Current Use: Spa
Screens: 4
Seating: Slope (1128 seats)

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Images

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Specifications

    Operators: Independent
    Status: Demolished
    Opened: 3/7/22
    Closed:
    Current Use:  
    Screens: 1
    Seating: Slope (800 seats)

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The Red Lantern opened as Orange County’s largest and most ornate theatre in 1922. Built at a cost of $25,000, the Chinese themed interior sat 800 and featured a full stage. The Chinese motif included a large Buddha, with a red light beaming from the image’s forehead, overlooking the auditorium. In contrast to the lavish oriental interior, the venue’s exterior was constructed in a somewhat drab, stucco and tile, spanish style. On either side of the theatre’s entrance stood a confectionary/tobacco shop and soda parlor.

Renamed the Brea Theatre by 1935, the building was run as a movie theatre through the 1960′s, before being converted in to a church. In 1987, the Brea Theatre was demolished as part of a city funded downtown revitalization project.   

Trivia

The theatre opened with the silent feature “A Game Chicken” 

Among the performers that graced the Red Lantern’s stage was singer Frances Gumm, who later gained international stardom under the name Judy Garland.

Some literature lists the Red Lantern as replacing “Richardson’s Picture Show”, a venue which was alleged to have burned down circa 1913. As of writting this entry, no documentation has been found to support the existance of this cinema.

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Specifications

    Operators: UA
    Status: Closed
    Opened: 2/12/88
    Closed:
    Current Use: Gym
    Screens: 8
    Seating: Slope

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Built across from the Brea Mall, the Brea Marketplace was a prototypical 80′s United Artists’ theatre. A non descript eight plex, the venue was designed in a utilitarian fashion, with the only point of note coming in THX certification for the auditoriums. The two large auditoriums, seating 400 each, featured 70mm capability, but the format was only shown once at the Marketplace.  

The complex initially found success through lack of area competition, but quickly fell out of favor as alternative theatre going choices opened. Facing sparse attendance and United Artists’ bankruptcy, the Marketplace was closed and converted in to a gym.

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Specifications

    Operators: Edwards/REG
    Status: Open
    Opened: 1998
    Closed: NA
    Current Use: Film/First Run  
    Screens: 10
    Seating: Stadium

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Specifications

    Operators: Edwards/REG
    Status: Open
    Opened: 1997
    Closed: NA
    Current Use:  Film/First Run
    Screens: 12
    Seating: Stadium

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Specifications

    Operators: Mann/Edwards/Captain Blood/Tristone
    Status: Open
    Opened: 4/1/1977
    Closed: NA
    Current Use:  Film (subrun)
    Screens: 4/5
    Seating: Slope

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The Brea Plaza was operated as a first run venue by Mann Theatres until the mid-90s, when it was taken over by Edwards and booked as an art house. Following Edwards’ bankruptcy and subsequent purchase by Regal Entertainment, the Brea 4 was briefly closed, before being picked up by Captain Blood’s Family Theatres in 2002. Blood’s ran the theatre as a discount house for several years, until it was forced to close, yet again, in the spring of 2006.

Located directly across from the 57 freeway’s Imperial Highway off-ramp, the property is a relatively busy shopping plaza, next door to the Brea Mall. However, the theatre is tucked away in a back corner of the plaza, almost hidden behind the other structures. Were it not for a five foot, ground level marquee, located beside a Denny’s restaurant, there would be little evidence a theatre existed on the property.

The theatre is a non-descript, free standing, beige box and only identifiable via faded Mann era signage. Inside, the decor and layout are typical of an early/mid-80s multiplex; shoebox auditoriums off of a small, generic lobby, with vaulted ceiling. The theatre was obviously built on a modest budget and little effort was ever placed on maintaining/upgrading the building, resulting in a sub par venue that is in a general state of disrepair.

Underbuilt, poorly maintained, located in the worst possible area of a prime property, in close proximity to numerous competitors, and changing ownership annually; hardly the ingredients for a successful theatre, but, somehow, the Brea Plaza managed to stay in business for over twenty-five years.

In the Summer of 2010,  the Brea Plaza was remodeled and opened once again, as a discount priced theatre, by Tristone Cinemas.

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2010 Remodel

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