Cinemas and Theaters: Hollywood And West Hollywood

El Capitan Theater

6838 Hollywood Blvd.
Tel (323) 467-7674, daily
www.elcapitan.com

Built in 1926 as a theater, El Capitan was later converted to a movie house. It was the venue for many premieres, such as Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941). In 1942 El Capitan was refurbished, and its interior was covered up. It was renamed the Hollywood Paramount. Disney and Pacific Theaters bought El Capitan in 1991 and restored it to its former glory.
Luckily, the original Art Deco interior was found virtually intact. Today, many Disney feature animations open here, such as The Lion King (1994) and A Bug’s Life (1999).

Hollywood and Highland

6801 Hollywood Boulevard.
Tel (323) 467 6412
Timing: 10am -10pm, Mon-Sat, 10am-7pm Sun
www.hollywoodandhighland.com

Opened in 2001 after a major refurbishment of this once neglected area, this shopping and entertainment complex features restaurants, clubs, retail shops, hotel, multiplex cinema and a costume museum. Visitors can also see a play or concert and take a tour of the new Kodak Theatre, the home of the Academy Awards ceremonies.

Pantages Theater

6233 Hollywood Blvd.
Tel (323) 468-1770
To attend a show at the Pantages is to experience the glory days of the 1930s movie palaces. Built in 1929, the marble and bronze Art Deco theater catered to the comfort of its audience, with a spacious foyer and luxurious lounges. It opened in 1930 with The Floradora Girl, starring Marion Davies, the mistress of WR Hearst. Between 1949 and 1959 the Academy Awards Ceremony was also held here.
Splendidly renovated in the 1980s, today Pantages is used to stage Broadway musicals. Only show ticket holders are allowed into the breathtaking interior, with its magnificent chandeliers, vaulted ceilings, and columns decorated with geometric patterns.

Wiltern Theater

3790 Wilshire Blvd.
Tel (213) 380-5005

Built as a movie theater in 1931, the Wiltern Theater was restored in 1985 and is a center for the performing arts. Its Art Deco tower and wings are faced with turquoiseglazed terra-cotta, and its main entrance is marked by a sun-burst canopy. The sun motif continues in the auditorium, where rays of low relief skyscrapers decorate the interior ceiling.
To see inside the Wiltern Theater visitors must buy a ticket to a show.