Venue: Arcade Theatre
Address: 534 South Broadway
Town: Los Angeles, US

The Arcade Theatre is a historic former vaudeville and movie theater in the Broadway district of Los Angeles, California. Commissioned by real estate developer William May Garland in 1910, it originally operated under the direction of Alexander Pantages. In 1920, the Pantages operation moved to a new auditorium on 7th Street; thereafter, the theater became known as Dalton's Broadway for two years before ultimately taking the Arcade name in 1924 in association with the adjacent Broadway-Spring Arcade building. Metropolitan Theatres later operated the facility as a grindhouse until its closure in 1992. Los Angeles architectural firm Morgan and Walls designed the building in the Beaux-Arts style. The seven-story building includes office space on its upper floors. The Arcade neighbors the former Cameo and Roxie movie theaters. The city of Los Angeles designated the Arcade Theatre a Historic-Cultural Monument in 1991. Los Angeles real estate developer William May Garland commissioned a new office building and theater in 1909; although most theaters at the time were located on Main Street, he chose a site on Broadway, making it an early part of the eventual theater district there. Local architects Morgan and Walls drafted plans for the structure in November 1909. On New Year's Day 1910, the Los Angeles Times reported that construction was ready to commence with an expected $150,000 cost and a 15-year, $400,000 lease agreement signed by vaudeville impresario Alexander Pantages. Work began on the building in March. The Pantages Theatre opened on September 26, 1910, the 33rd facility to be added to the Pantages vaudeville circuit. Two full-capacity audiences gave positive reviews for a composite show that featured "The Yalto duo, whirlwind dancers; Maurice Burkhart, singing comedian and impersonator; Lelliott Brothers, woh [sic] present an interesting instrumental act; MacLean and Bryant in a clever little dramatic sketch called '17-20 in the Black;' Sophie Tucker, coon shou