The Regent Theater reopened Nov. 7 in downtown Los Angeles. (Photo by Zane Rossell)
The Regent Theater in the historic Bank District of downtown Los Angeles reopened its doors on Nov.7 with the two-night Downtown Festival, emitting the smells of wood oven-baked pizzas and the sounds of YACHT, Connan Mockasin and Jerome LOL.
After its most recent stints as an adult movie theater and a pop-up venue for art shows and other random events, the century-old theater needed a facelift and Mitchell Frank needed a venue. Frank acquired the lease in 2012 and began a major overhaul that included structural work, adding bathrooms, creating new spaces for a restaurant and bar, adding a mezzanine and updating the sound and lighting systems. The theater is now operated by Frank’s Spaceland Presents in partnership with Knitting Factory Entertainment and Artist & Recreation.
“The vision for the theater was that it kind of be part of the downtown fabric,” said Frank. “I wanted to make sure it was something that could be open nightly and just be a bar and a restaurant, similar to other places in New York, to be open when the venue is not, then also be able to have a multiuse venue where we could do everything from live concerts to film screenings and orchestral performances.”
By participating in events like the Downtown Art Walk and by offering low-cost tickets, and signing on some local residencies, Frank hopes the Regent Theater will be able to stand apart and become a local entertainment hub.
“We’re not just a black box. It’s got 100 years of soul," said Frank. "Because we’re new, we have to set ourselves apart from everyone else. We’re in a great little entertainment zone in the bank district downtown, and those other places aren’t, so there’s not a ton of options for what it is we do. And we want to be very localized. We want to be something for the 20-something-year-old that lives downtown or works downtown and for the kid who wants to see his favorite band, and the parents let him!”
With an event calendar boasting acts such as Cold War Kids on Nov. 20, Flight Facilities Dec. 5 and Bela Fleck on Dec. 6, Liz Garo, The Regent’s talent buyer, said the venue’s 1,100-person capacity will be open to a diverse range of shows.
“We’re going to be all over the place and open to a variety of things,” said Garo. “Our brand has been developing bands in the indie-rock genre, which we’re going to continue to work, but we’re also going to be open to doing film screenings and parties and dance nights.”
YACHT performed during The Regent Theater's Downtown Festival (Photo by Carl Pocket)
With a room that size, the Regent Theater hopes to attract national touring acts while still featuring local artists in supporting slots and on different nights. The Rock ‘N’ Roll Flea Market on Sunday mornings is free if you eat at the Prufrock Pizzeria and will include a collection of vendors selling antique and vintage items, clothing and instruments. On Jan. 6 a live score performance by a 25-piece orchestra will accompany a screening of the film “Under the Skin.”
In the final touches to the theater, Frank was inspired by the T.S. Elliot poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” The inspiration can be seen throughout the theater’s design by Paul Svendsen and Michael Andrews of Inheritance and most clearly in the names of the new Prufrock Pizzeria and the Lovesong bar as well as in the venue’s décor, which Frank describes as more broad, not as focused or high-concept as other venues’.
“It kind of goes down to the ties between what was the poet back then and what is the poet today,” said Frank. “Back then, it was the T.S. Elliots, and today the poets are the amazing songwriters that we all love so much. Everybody from Bob Dylan to Woody Guthrie. The inspiration is everything that they were about.”
To create the mouth-watering menu for the theater’s Prufrock Pizzeria, Frank sought the experience of his sister, Tobi Martin. A long-time food stylist, Martin has worked with pizza for over 25 years with various clients and had been playing with the idea of a pizzeria for almost 10 years.
“I travel a lot for work,” said Martin, “and I’ve worked on so many different pizza accounts, and I really had this concept in mind. Then about three years ago I started doing testing. I tested doughs and cheeses and meats and everything, because what I really wanted more than anything was that from the bottom up, everything tasted great.”
Rather than finding the least-expensive options, Martin’s menu is motivated purely by taste. The pizza sauce is simply crushed tomatoes fresh from San Marzano, Italy, where the rich soil around Mount Vesuvius produces some of the most flavorful fruits and vegetables. Even the pepperonis are different from those you usually find on pizza, being smaller in size with a “little bit of a kick.”
The menu serves up a variety of pizzas beyond the normal cheese and pepperoni. One is inspired by Martin’s favorite French salad and is topped with poached eggs, bacon and frisee lettuce with smoked cheese, lemon vinaigrette and pancetta on top. A gluten-free option features a cauliflower crust with bruschetta and fresh mozzarella, while the Bianca pizza includes smoked mozzarella, Gruyere, Parmesan and mushrooms and truffle oil.
An 800-degree wood-burning oven is used to cook a variety of other dishes, such as antipasto, skewers, Roman meatballs and garlic herb pretzels. The oven also makes quick time of the cooking process for the pizzas, making it what Martin calls “the ultimate fast food” and perfect for the venue.
“It’s downtown, there’s a lot of traffic, there’s lot of people going in and out from the venue,” said Martin, “and truly when you cook pizza in this hot of an oven, it cooks in 90 seconds. So it’s delicious and flavorful, but it’s also really fast. It’s a perfect venue to have that kind of food that you don’t have to wait 20 minutes while someone’s cooking your pizza in an old-school deck oven. This cooks it really fast but also adds a lot of flavor.”
The Lovesong complements the pizzeria with its classic feel and vinyl music selection spinning on the record player. After consultations from Italian wine and beer experts, the bar features simple, handcrafted cocktails, dark wood finishes and eclectic art décor. Two other bars are located inside the room space.
All of the quirky touches plus the theater's century-old past all contribute to its uniqueness as a downtown venue. Now, the game plan for success is up to Frank and his team.
“Find really good talent," said Frank. "Find great promoters and events and help produce some really great experiences for the consumer. In the end, that’s it. It’s just about an amazing experience and having this good feeling when you walk out of The Regent that you just saw something special.”
Interviewed for this article: Liz Garo, (323) 788-4512; Mitchell Frank, (323) 708-8085; Tobi Martin, (818) 667-7565