Notes:
Notes:
"A book titled Before the Nickelodeon, by Charles Musser (University of California Press, 1991) Gives the Grand Theater's seating capacity as 1311 (as of 1896, two years after it became the first Los Angeles home of the Orpheum Vaudeville Circuit), giving as its source Julius Cahn's Official Theatrical Guide (New York, 1896.) This seems about right, judging from pictures I've seen of the theatre's interior. It was a good-sized house, with two balconies. Musser's book also reveals that on July 6th, 1896, the Grand was the scene of the first theatrical exhibition of moving pictures in Los Angeles, when several short Edison films were shown, fresh from their west coast premier at the San Francisco Orpheum. The projectionist at this event was none other than William S. Porter, who would later go on to become one of the first successful directors of silent films."