KSP x LA Local: The Wiltern Turns 95

The LA Local

From vaudeville to Kendrick Lamar: The Wiltern is one of Koreatown’s oldest tenants

The Wiltern Theatre continues to host live music, comedy, and political events nearly 95 years after it first opened its doors.

This article by Santiago Mecinas is part of a yearlong youth journalism cohort between The LA Local and the Koreatown Storytelling Program.

The turquoise building on Wilshire Boulevard has been a fixture of Koreatown since 1931, first opening as a Warner Bros. movie and vaudeville house before it was nearly torn down in the late 1970s. Santy traces how local preservationists stepped in to save it, and how the venue clawed its way back to become the concert hall it is today. Almost a century later, it’s hosted everyone from Whitney Houston to Kendrick Lamar to Bernie Sanders, and still pulls in teenagers lining up for a show on a Tuesday night. Santy’s article was published in the LA Local on July 20, 2026.