We're at a rehearsal for a production of "Romeo and Juliet" in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Ancient Romeo" (May 1962). The theatre is the Ritz at 5214 Wilshire Blvd. Thanks to Claudia Mullins for spotting it in the episode. She provided all but two of the screenshots seen here.
Rex Morrow as the theatre troupe's director. Note the sunburst design on the doors.
A down right preshow pep talk with Patricia Huston, Morrow, and Kendrick Huxham. It's a shot from IMDb.
Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale watching the show.
The director dies after a fight scene. Time for an investigation.
A look down from the balcony. It's a shot on the episode's IMDb page.
A view upstage right.
Downstage right in front of the dimmerboard with Rex Reason discussing a sword used in the scene.
William Hopper as Paul Drake, watching on a spiral stair that was brought in for this show.
At the lockrail bringing in a crucial curtain. The rigging equipment was removed
prior to the theatre's demolition and ended up being installed at the Variety Arts Theatre downtown.
The position of the tormentors results in a determination that a certain actress couldn't have seen what she claimed.
In the alley after the wrap up. Thanks, Claudia!
See the page about the Ritz Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It was a 1,660 seat design by Lewis A. Smith that opened as the West Coast Ritz in 1926. After 1929 it was called the Fox Ritz and just the Ritz after Fox West Coast dropped it from their circuit. It was demolished in 1977.
On IMDb: "Perry Mason: The Case of the Ancient Romeo"
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