Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre

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The Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre is a famous Art Deco complex in Los Angeles, at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Koreatown. The 12‑story Pellissier Building rises about 155 feet and is covered in blue‑green glazed tiles. A two‑story base holds shops and the theater entrance, while the tower’s tall, narrow windows create a strong vertical look.

Built in 1930–1931, the Wiltern was designed by Stiles O. Clements (Morgan, Walls & Clements) with an interior by G. Albert Lansburgh. The theater entrance is flanked by large neon signs, and inside you’ll find decorative plaster, colorful tile work, and murals by Anthony Heinsbergen. The sunburst ceiling is a standout feature, and the theater once had the largest pipe organ in the western United States.

The Wiltern opened as a vaudeville venue named the Warner Brothers Western Theater and was later renamed the Wiltern Theatre. It closed soon after opening and reopened in the mid‑1930s.

In 1981, developer Wayne Ratkovich bought the complex and, with architect Brenda Levin, started a major restoration of both the theater and the office building. The office building finished its renovation in 1983. The theater needed more work and reopened in 1985 as a performing‑arts venue after a four‑year renovation. To help revive it, some features were rebuilt and vintage seats from Portland’s Paramount Theater were installed. The stage was also extended by about 15 feet to accommodate bigger productions.

The Wiltern originally seated 2,344 people. In 2002, some ground‑floor seating was removed to allow flexible configurations, giving about 1,850 seats with fixed seating on the balcony and loge levels.

Today the Wiltern is privately owned, while the theater is operated by Live Nation. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Los Angeles Historic‑Cultural Monument. The site remains a major cultural venue, hosting concerts, performances, and film work.

Notable moments include the 1985 opening of the renovated space by the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Tom Petty’s 1985 concert that was released as a live album, and Madonna’s 2019 Madame X performances. The venue has also served as a filming location and, in 2020, was used as a polling place during an election.