A look inside the multimillion-dollar renovation of downtown L.A.’s Microsoft Theater

Less than a year after being rebranded, L.A. Live’s Microsoft Theater has completed the first phase of renovations to the nearly 10-year-old downtown venue.

A new seating configuration, an artists’ game room and revamped dressing rooms are just a few of the improvements unveiled to the media on Thursday.

Lee Zeidman, president of L.A. Live, Staples Center and the Microsoft Theater, said the multimillion-dollar project is a “game changer” for the venue.

“We believe the renovations put [the venue] at the top of its class,” Zeidman said, and that the improvements will make the theater “more comfortable for artists and patrons.”

The project, which began in September and wrapped up in April, is the first major work the venue has undergone since it opened in 2007. Minor improvements were made in 2010.

Inside the theater bowl, every seat was replaced with plush red seats, and new carpeting was installed to create a softer, warmer palette.

All 10 artist dressing rooms were revamped, receiving new furniture, floors, lighting, decor — the walls were adorned with vintage shots of L.A. — and amenities, including Xbox game systems in every room.

The original backstage catering space has been transformed into a game room for artists and crew. The sprawling lounge was outfitted with retro pinball machines and classic arcade games, a pool table, a foosball table, dart games, a golf simulator, multiple 60-inch TVs and a 10-foot-wide screen that can project films or games.

Both upper and lower VIP rooms were upgraded with new furniture, paint, carpeting and blackout curtains, and fans filing into the venue for shows will be greeted by 260 custom-framed images of the theater’s history as they walk down each lobby hallway (one is dedicated to concerts, the other to the many award shows the theater has hosted).

A state-of-the-art curtaining system is the most dramatic improvement to the theater.

With just the touch of a button and a reduction curtain, the venue’s configuration can change from 4,340 seats to 5,856 to its 7,100 capacity.

“It’s a great thing for us to be able to be flexible,” said Don Graham, vice president of events and production for the theater as well as L.A. Live. “We used to have to bring in a crew and pay them. [This] is more attractive to artists.”

A second phase of renovations is set for the summer. The theater’s lower lobby will be turned into a living gallery of sorts, with interactive walls featuring a mix of wooden panels and lights that move alongside visitors. Also planned is a selfie booth that will allow fans to be placed in myriad settings and displayed in an ever-changing display nearby.

“We’ve made it really sexy for fans,” Graham said of the improvements.

Under Microsoft’s naming-rights deal, the venue was rechristened the Microsoft Theater, replacing the Nokia Theatre, in June.

L.A. Live’s 40,000-square-foot outdoor plaza also became known as Microsoft Square as part of the deal, and the 2,300-seat Club Nokia was rebranded as the Novo by Microsoft last month (improvements to that venue are in the works as well).

Pentatonix’s sold-out concert on May 1 was the first show in the renovated venue.

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