Photos of the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium

The Shrine Auditorium at 655 W. Jefferson Blvd. in Los Angeles is the largest theater in North America, with some 6,300 seats. The original building was completed in 1906 by the Al Malaikah (city of angels in Arabic) Temple of the national Shriners organization. The Shrine fraternity was founded in 1872 as a branch of the Masonic order. The Shrine Auditorium continues to be operated by the Al Malaikah Auditorium Company.

The Shrine Auditorium serves as Southern California headquarters for the Shrine fraternity, as well as a major locale for live and televised arts and entertainment, theater productions, operas, movie screenings, meetings, conferences, trade shows and conventions.

On January 11, 1920, the original Shrine Auditorium burned to the ground. It took another six years of planning and funding before the new auditorium was completed on the same spot.

Click on thumbnail or on link to see photo.

Return to beginning of Photo Collection

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015559.jpg

Title: Old Shrine Auditorium, 1910

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015551.jpg

Title: Old Shrine Auditorium, 1920

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015561.jpg

Title: Shrine Auditorium fire with USC in foreground, January 11, 1920

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015554.jpg

Title: Shrine Auditorium fire, January 1920

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015546.jpg

Title: Rendering of the Shrine Auditorium (n.d.)

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015568.jpg

Title: Interior drawing of the Shrine Auditorium (n.d.)

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015548.jpg

Title: Shrine Auditorium ground breaking ceremony, Sept. 2, 1922

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015547.jpg >

Title: Excavation of the Shrine Auditorium (n.d.)>

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015572.jpg

Title: Shrine Auditorium framework, 1925

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015571.jpg

Title: Shrine Auditorium construction, 1925

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015573.jpg

Title: Shrine Auditorium framework (1925)

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015576.jpg

Title: Shrine Auditorium proscenium with asbestos down (1926)

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015574.jpg

Title: Shrine Auditorium proscenium with “Nile Drop” onstage, left box & organ screen (1926)

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015550.jpg

Title: Shrine Auditorium tower windows with Clara Bow girl in the center.(1926)

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015569.jpg

Title: Shrine Auditorium interior (1926)

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015545.jpg

Title: Exterior of the Shrine Auditorium (1920) [This photo is misdated by the library. This is the new Shrine, and from the autos it appears to be from the late 1920s.]