It originally opened in 1926 as The Masque Theatre, a Vaudeville House.
Vagabond Theatre
On May 26, 1950, it was converted into a movie theater, and rebranded as the Vagabond Theatre. Architect Dwight Gibbs, who is widely recognized as the designer of the renowned Carthay Circle Theatre, was responsible for the transformation. The interior walls of the theatre were once adorned with murals depicting scenes from silent films. The building also housed a restaurant called Vagabond's House, which was possibly Los Angeles' first Tiki bar.[3]
During its peak, it was one of the city's most popular revival houses, but the advent of video almost led to its downfall in the late 1980s. Despite this, the theater managed to remain open into the 1990s, showing classic 3-D films like "Kiss Me Kate" and "Dial M for Murder."[4]
TV writer Jenji Kohan purchased the building in November 2013. Her husband and business partner, Christopher Noxon, indicated that she is planning on using the second floor as production offices for writers and editors on her TV shows.[5] In 2015 the building was renovated by architect Linda Brettler and associate Lydia Dubois-Wetherwax to become production and writing offices maintaining the historical elements of the original building. Two years later they renovated the theater space.
Under the Dynasty Typewriter tenure, the venue has been utilized as a filming location for a significant number of comedy specials from various production companies and networks, Netflix, Comedy Central, HBO, Peacock and more.
