Early Long Beach Theatres and Cinemas

A Beach Resort and Entertainment Mecca

1920 Pine Avenue Pier
1920, looking north from Pine Avenue Pier with posters heralding Long Beach stage productions, Historical Society of Long Beach

World-Class Stages

Capitol Theatre
View of the Capitol Theatre.  Photo courtesy of the Ronald W. Mahan & Joseph J. Musil Photo Theatre Collection.
State Theatre
View of the State Theatre.  Photo courtesy of the Ronald W. Mahan & Joseph J. Musil Photo Theatre Collection.

Seaside Theatres Galore

Map of Downtown Long Beach Theatres

The following drop-down section contains links to individual theatre and movie house pages, which coincide mostly with those that existed during film production at Balboa Studio, the majority having been built through the end of 1922, with the exception of these four palaces that opened in 1924 and 1925:

  1. The Brayton Theatre (1925)
  2. The Ritz/Capitol/Tracy Theatre (1925)
  3. The Egyptian Theatre (1924)
  4. The (Fox) West Coast (1925).

American Theatre (circa 1912; name changed to Family Theatre by 1930)
Address: 149 E. Seaside Avenue
Capacity: 450 seats

Arrowhead Theatre (May 1911—August 1911, later renamed Joyland Theatre, 1912)
Address: 335-341, The Pike
Capacity: 100 seats

Art Theatre (1907)
Address: 314-316, The Pike
Capacity: 450 seats

Bentley Grand (1907), [renamed the Empress Grand & Hart Theatre (1917); later named the Strand Theatre)
Address: 317-319, The Pike
Capacity: 1,500 seats

Bijou Theatre
Address: 333, The Pike

Boston Theatre (1918?)
Address: 344, The Pike

Brayton Theatre (July 30, 1925)
Address: 2157 Atlantic Avenue
Capacity: 956 seats

Byde-A-Wyle Theatre (March 02, 1908, later named the Unique Theatre, 1911)
Address: 336, The Pike

California Theatre (1921)
Address: 1049 American Avenue (now called Long Beach Boulevard)
Capacity: 400-500 seats

Columbia Theatre(1910)
Address: 231, The Pike

Egyptian (April 24, 1924)
Address: 242 E. 4th Street
Capacity: 1,078 seats

Empire (1922, later named the Mission,then the Major & finally the Long Beach)
Address: 38 American Avenue (now called Long Beach Boulevard)
Capacity: 900 seats

Fairyland (Dec. 1912)
Address: 317, The Pike
Capacity: 380 seats

Hoyt’s Pantages (1919, later named the New Strand)
Address: 237, The Pike
Capacity: 1,362 Seats

La Petite (1907)
Address: 236 Pine Avenue

Laughlin, The (Nov. 08, 1915)
Address: 347 Pine Avenue (corner of Fourth Street & Pine Avenue)
Capacity: 800 seats

Liberty (1916, later named the Stanley & Roxy)
Address: 127 W. Ocean Boulevard
Capacity: 900 Seats

Long Beach Theatre (1908)
Address: 336, The Pike (Foot of Locust Avenue)
Capacity: 1,500 seats

Lyceum, The

Lyric (aka Wonderland & Gayety)
Address: 330, The Pike

Markwell (1920, later named the State, Dec. 19, 1920)
Address: 104 E. Ocean Boulevard (inside the Jergins Trust Building)
Capacity: originally 1,348 seats; later 1,800 seats

Palace (1920, later named the Newsreel)
Address: 30 Pine Avenue
Capacity: 800 seats

Ritz/Capitol/Tracy Theatre (April 1925)
Address: 219 East Seaside
Capacity: 1,200 seats

Tabernacle Methodist Church, 1880s
Address: N.E. Corner, E. Locust Street & E. 3rd Street

Tarrytown (1907; aka Palace of Pictures)
Address: 313 Walk of a Thousand Lights (The Pike)
Capacity: 800 seats

Theatorium, The (1908; akaThe National Theatorium; later the Rialto)
Address: 117, The Pike—west of the old Pine Avenue Pier
Capacity: 600 seats

(Fox) West Coast Theatre, The (July 07,1925)
Address: 333 E. Ocean Boulevard
Capacity: 2,110 seats

Wig-Wam, The (circa 1915; later named Scotts)
Address: 207 E. Seaside Avenue
Capacity: 460 seats