Throwback: Lido Theatre to Lido Live

The Lido Theatre was opened in 1938, and the first film it played was Bette Davis in “Jezebel”. The reason for that was Davis lived nearby in Corona Del Mar and traveled by the site daily. Upon stopping by, she told the owner “they had better open with my picture.” And they did. Davis also is responsible for the sitting parlor in the ladies room that harkens back to a time when women sat and smoked and chatted while arranging makeup in the mirrors.

There was supposed to be a Men and Women’s room downstairs, but Davis insisted on the the sitting parlor for the ladies, and so the men’s room was relocated upstairs.

While the outside building color and the name change to Lido Live are the biggest changes that people see, the entire theater has been restored, down to the tile work done in the 30’s by an Italian family. The tile setting, called Catalina Tile, is only seen in one other site. The original family restored the tile.

The Lido seats 622, of which 410 seats are downstairs and 212 are in the balcony, which are prime seats for all ages.

The Lido has a waterfall red velvet curtain that rises with each show, and no pre-show advertisements are allowed by the owners.

A most stunning feature is in the auditorium, where black light illuminates the wall paintings of ocean scenes.  Lido Live has put in a sound system that is rated one of the best in Southern California, and even sound engineers rave about it.

Article credit: Lorenzo Magnifico, Chris Littleford

No article is complete without a couple of before and after photos:

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