The El Capitan Theater at Hollywood and Highland

The historic El Capitan Theater, lit up at night, at 6838Hollywood Boulevard.  Now owned by  Disney, it's right across from the Dolby Theater, where the Oscars are held,and next door to the old Masonic Temple, where the Jimmy Kimmel Show takes place.  It's right by Hollywood and Highland. #steveemigphoto

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Opened in 1926, the El Capitan Theater was one of three themed theaters built by the visionary developer of Hollywood, Charles E. Toberman, working with Sid Grauman.  The El Capitan began life as a true theater, with plays staged throughout the 1920's.  It was built four years after Grauman's Egyptian theater, and a year before the best known of the three now, Grauman's Chinese theater.  The TCI Chinese, as it's now known, is where the Hollywood stars hand prints and foot prints are, and sits across Hollywood Boulevard, and to the left, when standing in front of the El Capitan.  

Theater tickets sales sagged at the El Capitan in the early 1930's, and it began to show movies to keep in business, which was not cool for a stage theater at the time.  The El Capitan held the premier of Orson Welles' classic film, Citizen Kane, when other theaters were afraid to show the controversial movie in 1941.  The theater became the flagship theater for Paramount Pictures, until an anti-trust lawsuit forced the sale.  The furniture company also housed in the same building stayed there until the 1970's.  

The theater, then known as the Paramount, fell into disrepair, and had a succession of owners.  Disney purchased the Buena Vista theater chain in the 1980's, and wound up part owner of the Paramount.  Buena Vista later decided to bring it back to its former glory as the El Capitan, with a $14 million renovation.  The theater re-opened in 1991 to the premier of the movie The Rocketeer.  

The 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the building extensively, through structural damage and from the fire sprinklers going off.  One owner walked away.  But the theater was again re-built, and Disney continued to be a major tenant, with the Disney store (now Ghirardelli/Disney soda fountain shop), next door.  The Walt Disney Company wound up buying the property, and the El Capitan Theater is used for most Disney movie premieres these days. 

Ticket booth and elaborately decorated entry of the El Capitan Theater, which is now owned by Disney,in 2021 . #steveemigphotos

 

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