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Mayan Theater

Architect
Stiles O. Clements
Style
Mayan Revival
City
Los Angeles, CA
Collection
broadway’s movie palaces
Mayan Theater
Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain
See it on the map

The Mayan Theater at 1036-1044 South Hill Street opened in August 1927 as a performance venue for musical comedy, designed by architect Stiles O. Clements in the Mayan Revival style. Little Orchid Annie had its world premiere there on April 4, 1929 with Ruth Taylor, and in later decades the theater hosted Leon Hefflin Sr.'s 'Sweet N' Hot' revue starring Dorothy Dandridge, a hit that ran eleven weeks and drew coverage from twenty newspapers nationwide. From 1971 to 1989 it was owned by Carlos Tobalina and screened pornographic films before later becoming a nightclub and music venue. It is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #460.

the building

Mayan Revival movie palace. Stiles O. Clements dressed the theater in Mayan Revival ornament, an unusual choice for a 1927 movie palace that borrowed the imagery of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican architecture rather than the more common Egyptian or Spanish Colonial revival styles of the era's picture houses.

From musical comedy to porn to nightclub. The Mayan opened for live musical comedy in 1927, later hosted Dorothy Dandridge in the celebrated 'Sweet N' Hot' revue, then spent 1971 to 1989 under owner Carlos Tobalina screening pornographic films before its later life as a nightclub and music venue and a filming location for movies including The Bodyguard and Rock 'n' Roll High School.

the style

Mayan Revival is a rare style even among revival architecture, and applying it to a downtown movie palace made the Mayan Theater's ornament -- carved to evoke pre-Columbian Mesoamerican temples -- immediately distinctive on a street of more conventional commercial facades.

the architect

Stiles O. Clements was a notable Los Angeles architect; the Mayan Theater is among his documented works, applying the rare Mayan Revival idiom to a downtown entertainment venue.

significance

The Mayan Theater is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #460, designated on October 17, 1989.

nearby

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