Empire Theatre

CCrouch — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:03:15 +0000

Empire Theatre (also known as the Bell Theatre and Princess Theatre)
308 North Main Street, Santa Ana, CA.

Specifications

    Operators: Independent
    Status: Demolished
    Opened: 1910
    Closed: 9/5/23
    Current Use: NA
    Screens: 1
    Seating: Slope

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Lynn Theatre

CCrouch — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:43:02 +0000

Lynn Theatre (also known as the Old Lynn)
255 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach, CA. 92651

Specifications

    Operators: Independent
    Status: Closed
    Opened: 1915
    Closed: circa 1922
    Current Use: Retail
    Screens: 1
    Seating:

Profile

The Lynn Theatre opened in downtown Laguna Beach, as the first Orange County cinema south of Santa Ana, around 1915. The exact start date is a matter of conjecture, as the operators (the Aufdenkamp family) began their ”theatre” as an outdoor venue, screening silent films on a bed sheet. At some point, the outdoor screenings were moved in to a building, at 255 Forest Ave., and the site was officially dubbed the Lynn Theatre (named after Lyndon “Lynn” Aufdenkamp). An immediate success, the theatre garnered enough business to warrant a larger cinema, which the Aufdenkamps built on Pacific Coast Highway, in 1922 (also known as the Lynn).

The original Lynn Theatre, referred to as the “Old Lynn” after the new site opened, was briefly utilized as an art gallery, before being remodeled for retail use. Today, the site houses a Boardrider’s clothing outlet.

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Laguna Theatre

CCrouch — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:40:39 +0000

Laguna Theatre (also known as the Ocean Avenue Lynn)
250 Ocean Ave., Laguna Beach, CA. 92651

Specifications

    Operators: Independent
    Status: Demolished
    Opened: 1922
    Closed: circa 1951
    Current Use: NA
    Screens: 1
    Seating: 374 seats Slope

Profile

The Laguna Theatre opened as the Ocean Ave. Lynn, around 1922. Operated by the Aufdenkamp family, who also founded the original Lynn Theatre, on Forest Ave., and later the Coast Highway’s Lynn/New Lynn, this site initially served as a temporary venue, while the Pacific Coast Highway Lynn Theatre was under construction and when the coast Lynn was rebuilt in to the New Lynn. Following the New Lynn’s opening, the Ocean Ave. site appears to have continued on as a cinema, all be it in a somewhat sporadic fashion. The theatre was sold to the Vincent family in 1936 and renamed the Laguna Theatre; continuing use as a cinema until the early 1950’s. The building was later razed and the site is now a parking lot for Wells Fargo Bank.

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Liberty Theater

CCrouch — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:33:22 +0000

Liberty Theater (also known as Building 6)

4411 Yorktown Ave., Los Alamitos, CA. 90720

(714) 827 – 7141

Specifications

Operators: Military/Independent

Status: Open

Opened: 1942

Closed: NA

Current Use: Live Theater

Screens: 1

Seating: Slope 1,040 seats (currently 904)

Profile

Located on the former Los Alamitos Naval Station (now known as the Joint Forces Training Base), the Liberty Theater opened in 1942, as the nondescript “Building 6″. The site of military briefings, live USO shows, and films, the theater initially served armed forces awaiting deployment during World War Two. After serving as a military entertainment complex, for over thirty years, the theater was ”mothballed” in 1977, when the base was converted in to a National Guard outpost. Languishing for another twenty five years, the site was rescued from obscurity, by the non profit Theatre Guild, Southeast Civic Light Opera, and Children’s Repertory Company, in 2002. Following an extensive remodel, the, newly rechristened ”Liberty Theater” reopened as a live performance venue, serving both military and civilian audiences.

Due to the theater’s military roots, the site was built without traditional amenities, such as a concession stand or formal lobby. Featuring a long, narrow, two level auditorium, the venue originally sat 1,040 and featured a plain pea green color scheme. Following the theater’s 2002 remodel, the seating was reduced to 904, in order to expand the stage and create a more functional lobby space. The pea green color scheme was replaced by white and blue, with large murals painted on opposing side walls of the auditorium. Having been dedicated to live performances, the projection booth and movie screen were removed, to make way for additional lighting and sound equipment.

Trivia

Being the closest military installation to Hollywood, the Liberty regularly served as a site for film shoots. Perhaps the theatre’s most notable appearance being in the Oscar winning film “Patton”. The scene in which General Patton, as portrayed by actor George C. Scott, spoke in front of a large American flag, was shot on the Liberty’s stage.

Images

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The Movie Experience 14

CCrouch — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:02:39 +0000

The Movie Experience 14

(also known as The Movie Experience at Garden Walk & Cinema Fusion)

321 West Katella Ave., Anaheim, CA. 92802

714 – 399 -0300

Specifications

Operators: The Movie Experience (aka SoCal Cinemas & Sanborn Theatres)

Status: Open

Opened: 7/18/08

Closed: NA

Current Use: Film/First Run

Screens: 14 (1 IMAX)

Seating: Stadium

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Trabuco Hills 5

CCrouch — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:57:56 +0000

Trabuco Hills 5

27665 Santa Margarita, CA.

Specifications

Operators: Edwards

Status: Closed

Opened:

Closed:

Current Use: Retail (grocery store)

Screens: 5

Seating: Slope

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Mission Theatre

CCrouch — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:29:06 +0000

Mission Theatre
San Juan Capistrano, CA.

Specifications

    Operators: Independent
    Status: Demolished
    Opened:
    Closed:
    Current Use:
    Screens: 1
    Seating: Slope

Profile

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Tustin Theatre

CCrouch — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:31:15 +0000

Tustin Theatre
(also known as Tustin Twin, Elizabeth Howard’s Curtain Call Dinner Theater, and Curtain Call Theater)
680 El Camino Real, Tustin, CA. 92780

Specifications

    Operators: Independent/GCC/Century Cinema
    Status: Closed
    Opened: 6/20/62
    Closed: 1979
    Current Use: Dinner Theater
    Screens: 1/2
    Seating: Slope 298 seats

Profile

The Tustin Theatre opened in the spring of 1962, beside the five freeway (accessed via the Newport Blvd. exit). Located in the corner of a strip mall complex, bordering Old Town Tustin, the small venue was Tustin’s first cinema. Initially independently owned, the theatre tended to play B level fare throughout the 1960’s, as nearby Santa Ana cinemas monopolized first rate film booking. During the early 1970’s, the theatre was picked up by General Cinemas and enjoyed slightly more competitive booking. In 1974, the theatre was taken under the Century Cinema Circuit fold and twinned, creating two sub 200 seat auditoriums. Shortly after the auditorium was split, the venue began to appear as the Tustin Twin in showtime listings. Never particularly successful, the theatre was closed, as a cinema, by 1980.

In 1980, a mid western live theater proprietor, Elizabeth Howard, relocated to Orange County and set about reopening the venue as a dinner theater. Opening with a stage production of “Hello Dolly” and renamed Elizabeth Howard’s Curtain Call Dinner Theater, the venue became an Orange County landmark over the ensuing twenty-five years.

In 2005, Elizabeth Howard retired and the theater was taken over by a ministry, which continues to operate the venue as a dinner theater (sans alcohol and mature themes). In late 2007, the current operators, of the newly renamed Curtain Call Dinner Theater, began work on remodeling the former Villa/Captain Blood’s Theatre, in Orange, in to a second dinner theater.

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Main Street Cinema

CCrouch — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 10:12:19 +0000

Main Street Cinema
Main Street U.S.A., Anaheim, CA.

Specifications

    Operators: Disney
    Status: Open
    Opened: 7/17/55
    Closed: NA
    Current Use: Film  Cartoon Shorts
    Screens: 6
    Seating: Level

Profile

The Main Street Cinema is one of Disneyland’s original seventeen attractions, located on Main Street, U.S.A.. The theatre plays classic Disney cartoon shorts on six adjoining screens, in a continuous loop, with a recorded musical accompaniment. Five of the six shorts are changed out semi annually and played without sound. The sixth short is always Mickey Mouse’s 1928 debut “Steamboat Willie”, which is played with its original soundtrack. The exterior is modeled after an early twentieth century nickelodeon and features a mock box office, complete with mannequin cashier. The interior is circular, with screens lining the outer walls and a flat black decor. The cinema operates as an open admission venue, allowing patrons to enter at will, and is devoid of seating.

Images

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Niguel Theatre

CCrouch — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:35:47 +0000

Niguel Theatre
Monarch Bay Plaza
Dana Point, CA. 92629

Specifications

    Operators: Independent/Pacific
    Status: Demolished
    Opened: 6/9/65
    Closed: 1980
    Current Use: Strip mall
    Screens: 1
    Seating: Slope

Profile

Opened in 1965, the Niguel Theatre was a Spanish themed single screen venue, located adjacent to the Pacific Coast Highway.

Originally owned by the family of actor James Cagney (an early investor in Dana Point realty), the venue was sold to Pacific Theatres in the late 1970’s and closed in 1980. The theatre has since been razed and the property redeveloped in to a high end strip mall.

Images

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