Downtown hipsters know the spot at 1st Street and Broadway as a big hole in the ground, where construction seems to be getting underway. More mature Angelenos may recall the 1950s Cold War monstrosity that was demolished after being damaged in the Northridge earthquake.
Prior to that, however, one of the buildings that occupied the southwest corner of the intersection was the Mason Opera House. Here’s a program from the Mason, dated 1913. It’s priced at $49, which is more than I would pay (I have a couple of programs), but they are interesting old curious.
Here’s a YouTube film I did on the Mason in 2006 for the 1947project. Unfortunately, since YouTube was acquired by Google, the video has been stretched so the aspect ratio is wrong.
ladailymirror.com 
Hello there – My grandmother, Helen Seymour, is shown in the Los Angeles Evening Herald on 6 September 1919 as “starring” in The Victims at the Mason Theater in Los Angeles. I have the original newspaper, now nearly 100 years old, and can share a copy with you if you wish. It’s fragile and coming to pieces but the picture of her is still excellent and you can read the ad for the play as well. Please let me know if you’d like a photo of this. Sincerely, Linda Prentice
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Hello all,
I’m very excited as I am president of the Benjamin Marshall Society out of Chicago and I can’t find enough material on this theater that Marshall designed! I’m especially looking for playbills as dying to know who starred there. Marshall was a huge theater fan and a fan of Sarah Bernhardt who I just learned played there in 1911. Please contact me if you like.
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