Putting Some Entertainment Into the Fashion District
The urban renaissance taking place in downtown Los Angeles over the past few years has brought new residential and retail components to the city’s L.A. Fashion District.
Now, the entertainment aspect is heating up as new concert and show venues are springing up in and around the area.
It all started with the success of billionaire developer Philip Anschutz’s L.A. Live entertainment complex, located next to the Staples Center, where the Lakers and the Clippers basketball teams play, just a few blocks west of the Fashion District.
But now the historic Orpheum Theatre is growing into a major concert and show venue that is not only popular with the locals but has been used for several TV shows and a number of nationwide commercials.
The theater, at 842 S. Broadway between Eighth and Ninth streets, has been revitalized. Some major big-name concert acts have attracted crowds of people, just as the venue did when it opened its doors in 1926 during vaudeville’s heyday. In the 1930s, the Orpheum played host to several famous show-biz names, from burlesque queen Sally Rand to a young Judy Garland, who performed under her real name, Frances Gumm.
To develop the concert side of the theater, owner Steve Needleman of Anjac Fashion Properties has teamed with show promoters Bill Silva and Goldenvoice, an affiliate of Anschutz Entertainment Group, to bring in acts such as “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks, Alanis Morissette, Jackson Browne, Lyle Lovett, Crowded House and Squeeze. The Who, featuring Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, performed there during the recent E3 convention held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The addition of the Orpheum as a concert venue that can accommodate up to nearly 2,000 people has the potential to create new synergies between the venue and the local fashion industry, Needleman said.
The theater has hosted the annual Los Angeles Fashion Awards as well as fashion shows for several fashion colleges and other industry events.
Concert tickets could provide promotional opportunities for area showroom owners, who regularly give away prizes to buyers during markets. Additional tie-ins between the music and fashion industries could result as well, Needleman observed. “It would be great to get the industry involved and package something,” he said. “Right now, I do very little self promotion.”
Other fashion-industry people see potential tie-ins. Steve Hirsh, owner of the Cooper Design Space, located a few blocks away, and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry recently caught the Lyle Lovett show.
“We need to connect. Steve [Needleman] has done a marvelous job. It makes you feel good to be inside there,” Hirsh said. “It’s a creative experience for hearing music.”
Needleman said the theater’s acoustics are especially strong because it was built for vaudeville at a time when electronic equipment was not used. In addition, the theater has soft plush seats. “We’ve attracted lots of ’80s bands, and the audiences are a little older and appreciate the seats unlike other venues where they have to stand a lot,” he said.Wide-open spaces
It was only a few years ago when the L.A. Fashion District turned into a ghost town after 6 p.m. Residential projects—including the Orpheum Lofts, built above the theater, and Santee Village, a community of seven old buildings converted into urban artists lofts with oversize windows—have brought in hundreds of new residents.
The Orpheum, like many of the grand old theaters on Broadway, was shuttered to the public until Needleman spent $3.5 million to renovate the beaux-art building and open the jewel of a theater in 2001. The building had been in the Needleman family since 1964, when Needleman’s father, Jack, a successful dress manufacturer, bought the edifice as part of his vast downtown real estate investment.
The Orpheum’s revival led to entrepreneur Cedd Moses in 2005 opening the Broadway Bar next door. It is a hip hangout that has the feel of a 1940s supper club. Moses was capitalizing on the success of his Golden Gopher bar, another popular evening spot that opened in 2004 at Eighth and Olive streets in a rundown area of downtown. The Broadway Bar starts serving drinks at 5 p.m., providing a watering hole for people getting off work and a rallying spot for downtown residents.
Soon to be added to the downtown entertainment mix are several more components of Anschutz’s L.A. Live, which now includes the Nokia Theatre. A new 54-story hotel is going up near the L.A. Live complex, as well as more restaurants, stores and artists’ lofts.
A Ralphs grocery store that opened last year is making the neighborhood a more livable place and keeping more pedestrians out on the sidewalks after the sun goes down.
