Mayfair Music Hall

Mayfair Music Hall was an English music hall-styled entertainment venue in Santa Monica, California. Although the Mayfair identity dates from the venue's transformation in the early 1970s, the building had a much longer theatrical history. Designed by architect Henry C. Hollwedel and constructed in 1910 as the Santa Monica Opera House, it opened to the public under the name Majestic Theater on December 12, 1911. The building served as a theater and later accommodated silent films and vaudeville performances after live theatrical programming proved insufficiently popular. Entrepreneur and theatrical producer Milt Larsen reimagined the property in 1972 as the Mayfair Music Hall. His concept drew on the atmosphere and format of British music halls, combining period-inspired interior design with variety entertainment. Under Larsen's direction, the venue presented British-style variety shows and became a distinctive attraction within the Los Angeles-area theater and entertainment scene. Its identity was based less on a conventional commercial product line than on the presentation of live performance, comedy, music, novelty acts, and an elaborately themed environment. The venue also acquired a place in screen history. In 1974, its period interior was used for the well-known “Puttin' on the Ritz” sequence in the film Young Frankenstein. The theater was used during the same year for a scene in the pilot movie associated with The Rockford Files, including an acrobat and dog act. These appearances connected the building's theatrical setting with the film and television production activity of Southern California. In 1989, the theater housed the Los Angeles branch of The Second City comedy troupe, extending its role from music-hall entertainment into improvisational and sketch comedy. The building was subsequently damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. After the earthquake, its owner gutted the interior and removed the ornate decor that had defined the Mayfair Music Hall experience. This effectively ended the venue's operation as a themed Victorian music hall. By 2019, the former theater building was occupied by a Shoe Palace retail store. The Mayfair Music Hall therefore survives primarily as a historical and cultural reference: a repurposed early twentieth-century theater that became a distinctive 1970s revival music hall before losing its defining interior and entertainment function.

The building associated with Mayfair Music Hall began as the Santa Monica Opera House. It was designed by architect Henry C. Hollwedel and built in 1910, reflecting Santa Monica's early twentieth-century development as a Southern California resort and entertainment community. The venue opened on December 12, 1911, under the name Majestic Theater. Its original live-performance program did not attract sufficient public interest, and the theater broadened its use by showing silent films and presenting vaudeville acts. The property underwent its most significant transformation in 1972, when entrepreneur and producer Milt Larsen converted it into the Mayfair Music Hall. Larsen's design concept was based on English music halls and Victorian theatrical culture. Rather than operating as a standard cinema or proscenium theater, the Mayfair combined a highly themed environment with British-inspired variety programming. Its attraction lay in the total experience: period decoration, live entertainers, comic presentation, music, and the informal variety format associated with music-hall entertainment. The venue's distinctive appearance made it useful beyond its regular stage program. In 1974, it provided the setting for the “Puttin' on the Ritz” sequence in Mel Brooks's film Young Frankenstein. The theater was also used that year for a scene in the pilot movie connected with The Rockford Files, featuring an acrobat and a dog act. These productions documented the building's appearance during its Mayfair period and helped associate it with the visual language of vintage theatrical entertainment. In 1989, The Second City comedy troupe established a Los Angeles wing at the theater. This use added improvisational and sketch comedy to the venue's history and demonstrated its continuing adaptability as a performance space. The building was not limited to one stable format: it had served as an opera house, conventional theater, cinema, vaudeville venue, themed music hall, film location, and comedy venue at different points. The Mayfair era ended after the 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the structure. The owner gutted the building and removed its ornate decorative elements, eliminating much of the architectural and interior character that had made the venue recognizable as a Victorian music hall. The former theater was later adapted for retail use. As reported for 2019, the premises housed a Shoe Palace store. The site consequently represents a layered piece of Santa Monica entertainment history, but the Mayfair Music Hall itself is no longer an operating theater.

• 2019

  Former theater used as a Shoe Palace store

  [1]Mayfair Music Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The former Mayfair Music Hall building was reported to house a Shoe Palace retail location.

• 1994

  Northridge earthquake damages the theater

  [1]Mayfair Music Hallen.wikipedia.org

  Earthquake damage was followed by the removal of the venue's ornate interior decoration and the gutting of the building.

• 1989

  Hosts The Second City's Los Angeles wing

  [1]Mayfair Music Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The theater housed the Los Angeles branch of the improvisational and sketch-comedy troupe The Second City.

• 1974

  Featured in Young Frankenstein

  [1]Mayfair Music Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The theater was used for the “Puttin' on the Ritz” sequence in the film Young Frankenstein.

• 1974

  Used in The Rockford Files pilot movie

  [1]Mayfair Music Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The venue appeared in a scene for the pilot movie associated with The Rockford Files, including an acrobat and dog act.

• 1972

  Milt Larsen creates the Mayfair Music Hall

  [1]Mayfair Music Hallen.wikipedia.org

  Milt Larsen transformed the venue into an English music hall-styled theater and began producing British variety shows.

• 1911

  Venue opens as the Majestic Theater

  [1]Mayfair Music Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The theater opened on December 12 under the name Majestic Theater. It later incorporated silent movies and vaudeville after live shows proved unpopular.

• 1910

  Santa Monica Opera House constructed

  [1]Mayfair Music Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The building that would later become the Mayfair Music Hall was designed by Henry C. Hollwedel and constructed as the Santa Monica Opera House.

A themed theatrical entertainment venue that recreated the atmosphere of an English Victorian music hall while presenting variety, comedy, music, and novelty acts.

• Live entertainment · 1972

  British variety shows

  The Mayfair's central offering under Milt Larsen was a program of British-inspired variety entertainment. The format drew on the music-hall tradition rather than a single dramatic production, allowing comedy, music, novelty performers, and other short-form acts to share a themed stage environment. These shows were presented within a Victorian-styled setting designed to make the venue itself part of the entertainment.

• Theater and cinema · 1911

  Vaudeville and silent-film programming

  Before the Mayfair identity was established, the venue operated as a theater that presented vaudeville acts and silent films. This programming represented an adaptation to audience demand after live shows at the early Majestic Theater were reportedly unpopular. It also established the building's long association with mixed theatrical and cinematic use.

• 1994

  Post-earthquake gutting of the buildingOther

  Background

  The Northridge earthquake damaged the theater and threatened the survival of its themed interior.

  Action taken

  The owner gutted the building and removed its ornate decorative elements.

  Aftermath

  The Mayfair Music Hall ceased to operate in its recognizable Victorian music-hall form, and the premises were later used for retail.

  Source

• 1972

  Conversion into an English music hallStrategy

  Background

  The earlier theater had hosted live performances, films, and vaudeville. Milt Larsen repositioned the property around a strongly themed English music-hall concept.

  Action taken

  The venue was redesigned as the Mayfair Music Hall, with Victorian-inspired decoration and British variety programming.

  Aftermath

  The conversion gave the building a distinctive identity, supported film and television appearances, and made it a recognizable Los Angeles-area entertainment venue.

  Source

• 2019

  Former theater building occupied by Shoe Palace[1]Mayfair Music Hallen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  By 2019, the former Mayfair Music Hall premises were being used as a Shoe Palace retail store rather than as a theater or music hall.

• 1994

  Mayfair Music Hall damaged in the Northridge earthquake[1]Mayfair Music Hallen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The theater sustained damage in the Northridge earthquake. The owner subsequently gutted the building and removed its ornate interior decoration, ending the venue's operation as a Victorian-themed music hall.

1. 1Mayfair Music Hallen.wikipedia.org