The United Theater on Broadway
A 1927 Spanish Gothic movie palace in Downtown LA, built by the founders of United Artists — a dramatic, candlelit backdrop we photographed for an editorial feature published in Green Wedding Shoes.
A 1927 movie palace built by United Artists’ founders
Opened in 1927 as the United Artists Theatre — the flagship house of the studio Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith founded as an act of creative independence — the building was designed by architect C. Howard Crane in a Spanish Gothic style modeled after Spain’s Segovia Cathedral, reportedly a favorite of Pickford’s from her own honeymoon travels. A soaring ceiling set with thousands of inset mirror tiles, a three-story Grand Lobby, and a gilded staircase carry that cathedral-scale drama throughout.
The building spent decades as a church before reopening in 2014 as the Theatre at Ace Hotel, and was rebranded The United Theater on Broadway in 2024 under new management, now paired with the STILE DTLA hotel next door. Its Grand Lobby is reported to have appeared in the opening party sequence of Damien Chazelle’s Babylon — one more reason the space reads as cinematic on camera before you’ve added a single light.
An editorial shoot inside a Downtown LA landmark
We photographed a styled wedding shoot here with 3 Little Birds Event Planning & Rentals and the venue’s own private events team, later featured in Green Wedding Shoes and PartySlate. The theater’s ambient light runs dim and theatrical rather than bright and airy, so we leaned into that — taper candles and candelabras as practical light sources against the mirror-tiled ceiling, for a moody, gothic-romantic look the venue itself doesn’t hand you by default. It’s a space built for drama, and it photographs best when you plan your lighting around that instead of fighting it.
Good to know before you book
- Ambient lighting is dim and theatrical — plan practical light sources (candles, uplighting) rather than relying on house light
- The venue requires a signed vendor rules agreement in advance
- STILE DTLA next door offers on-site guest rooms and a rooftop bar for wedding weekends
- Multiple distinct spaces (staircase, stage, lobby, mezzanine) exist within one building
Where we like to shoot
- The gilded main staircase for a bridal entrance moment
- The full proscenium stage as a ceremony backdrop
- The cathedral-scale Grand Lobby beneath the mirror-tiled ceiling
- The mezzanine lounge’s vintage furniture for smaller vignettes
What couples and guests notice about The United Theater on Broadway
Reviewers of the historic building consistently reach for the same line — “they don’t build them like this anymore.”
The mirror-tiled Gothic ceiling and theatrical house lighting give couples a genuinely different, cinematic look than a typical bright LA venue.
Older-building quirks (tight balcony legroom, uneven climate control) are worth planning around for guest comfort on a full-house booking.