El Capitan Theatre

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The El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company.

When the theater opened in 1926 as "Hollywood's First Home of Spoken Drama," it featured a Spanish colonial exterior designed by the architectural firm of Morgan, Walls and Clements, and a lavish East Indian interior by theatre designer G. Albert Lansburgh. It was later completely remodeled in the moderne style. In 1941, Citizen Kane made its world debut here.

After many years of disuse, The Walt Disney Company purchased the theater and paid for a $14 million renovation. The theater reopened in 1991 with the premiere of The Rocketeer. In recent years, many of Disney's feature films have premiered here, accompanied by live stage shows.

The refurbished theater features a giant Wurlitzer organ originally installed in San Francisco's Fox Theatre. Next door is the adjacent Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store, where patrons can purchase ice cream themed to the film currently playing in the cinema next door. A wide variety of Disney and movie merchandise is available there.

The former Hollywood Masonic Temple, adjacent to the theater on the west, has also been renovated by the Walt Disney Company, and is now the location of a television studio. Together with the theater, it is known as the El Capitan Entertainment Center. The ABC late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live tapes weeknights in the studio.

[edit] External links

• The El Capitan Theatre Official Website
• American Theatre Organ Society Renaissance of El Capitan Theatre - Hollywood, CA