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Hollywood&VineTour

ThePantagesTheater

StartthetouratthisfamousLosAngelestheater.Builtin1929-30byAlexanderPantages,atheatricalimpresariooriginallyfromGreece,thisisoneofthebiggest“legit”theatresinL.A.ItisthevenueformanyofthelargermusicalsthatcometoL.A.,includingTheLionKing,PhantomoftheOperaandWickedandisaworkofartitself.DesignedverymuchintheArtDecostylethatwaspopularatthetimeitstill seatsno less than2,703patrons.Pantageswas forcedtosell the theateralmostassoonasitwascompleted,duetofinancialandlegaldifficulties,anditwas later acquired by the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, who had hisprivate offices upstairs. Fun fact: The Oscars Ceremonywas held here for tenyears,from1949-1959.

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TheFrolicRoom

Ifyouwerenot looking for thissmallbar,next to theentranceto thePantagesTheater,you’dprobablymissit.Thatwouldbeashameasit’swellworthalook.Verifiablehistory isoftenhard tocomebywheredivebarsareconcerned,buttheFrolicRoomhasbeengoingsince1934,whenProhibitionwasrepealed–andalmost certainly theywere serving drinks before that! Poet Charles BukowksiwasaregularhereandtheyreadextractsofhispoetryonMondaynights.Funfact:TheFrolicRoomwasalocationinthemovieL.A.Confidential.

CapitolRecordsBuilding

Capitol Records was the first west coast based music label, founded in LosAngeles in1942. Itwas acquiredbyEMI in1955and,wanting stateof the artstudios to compare with their Abbey Road complex, the British companycommissionedtheCapitolRecordsBuilding.ItwasdesignedbyLouNaidorf(ofWeltonBecketAssociates)andisoneofthefirstcircularofficebuildingsintheworld(designedinthatwaysothateveryofficewouldhaveagreatview).Belowitarethreerecordingstudios–A,BandCandseveralechochambersthatcreateaunique sound.The first artist to recordherewasFrankSinatra in1956, justsigned up to Capitol Records the year before, and since then the studios have

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been used by everyone from Paul McCartney to Kanye West. Fun fact: theblinkinglightontopofthetowerspellsout“Hollywood”inMorsecode.

RicardoMontalbanTheater

Ricardo Montalban was a well-known Mexican actor who appeared in manyHollywoodfilmsandTelevisionseries,fromthe1940’stothe2000’s(twoofhislast filmappearanceswere intheSpyKids trilogy).Hefoundedanorganisationcalled the Nosotros Foundation to advocate for Latinos in the entertainmentindustryin1970andin1999theypurchasedthistheater.Thetheateritselfwasbuiltin1927andwasHollywood’sfirstBroadwaystyletheater.HowardHughes(him again!) acquired the theater in the 1930’s and turned it into a movietheater.Lateritwasturnedbackintoatheaterandmanystarsappearedonitsstage,includingCaryGrant,whoalsotriedtobuythetheater(withoutsuccess).Funfact:duringthesummertheRooftopCinemaClubshowmoviesontheroof.

AmoebaMusic

EnjoyAmoebaMusicwhileit’sstillhere!It’soneofthefewrecordstoresleftinLos Angeles. This particular store (the company has three others) opened in2001 and, according the Los Angeles Times, “instantly became a Hollywoodlandmark”. It’s also unusual because of its size, boasting millions of titles,availableinCD,DVDandgoodoldvinyl.Theyalsohaveaveryrespectablepostersection–perfect foramementoofyour trip toL.A.Fun fact:Amoebaorganisefree concerts here bywell-known bands on a regular basis. Howwell-known?EverheardofPaulMcCartney?Heplayedhereatasurpriseconcertin2007.

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SunsetGowerStudios

Hollywood–you’veprobablyheardthattheymakemoviesthere.AndhereyoucanseeoneofthemoviestudiosthatmadeHollywoodwhatitis.Thestudiosonthe corner of Sunset and Gower were originally built by movie mogul HarryCohn, for his company Columbia Pictures, in 1918. At that time this part ofHollywoodwas known as Poverty Row, as the companies using these studiosweresmallerandmadecheapermoviesthanthebigHollywoodStudios.ButoldHarryknewa thingor twoaboutmakingmovies andby the thirtiesColumbiaPictureswasoneofthebiggestplayersitself,duetomovieslikeItHappenedOneNight (one of the first romantic comedies) andMr Smith Goes toWashington,both of which were filmed here. Columbia Pictures was later bought by SonyEntertainment,but thestudiocomplexhad longsincebeenseparated fromthecompany and now it’s a rental facility for film and TV production. Fun fact:ScandalandHowtoGetAwaywithMurderarebothfilmedhere.

SunsetBronsonStudios

This studiowas constructed in 1919 andwas another one on the old PovertyRow. In1920 itwasboughtbyWarnerBros,whoat that timewereoneof thesmallerHollywoodproduction companies, and itwas theirmain studio facilitythroughout the1920’s. In1927theymadeamovieherecalledThe JazzSinger.It’s famous for being the first feature talkie (only about half of it actually hadsound)andit’salsothefirstmoviemusical.Buteitherwayitwasaphenomenalsuccess and catapulted Warner Brothers into the front ranks of HollywoodStudios.NotlongafterthattheymovedtheirmainproductionfacilitytotheSanFernandoValley (where it still is, inBurbank). SunsetBronson isnowa rental

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facilityforfilmandTVcompanies,likeSunsetGowerStudios(thesamecompanyownbothstudios).Funfact:Netflixaremovingintoanofficetowerherein2017.

Food

Therearemanyplacestoeatinthearea,hereareafewsuggestions:

HollywoodBoulevard: JuicyFactory,6708HollywoodBlvd

Musso&FrankGrill,6667HollywoodBlvd

Mel’sDrive-In,1660HighlandAve

SnowWhiteCafé,6769HollywoodBlvd

AlsocheckoutourwebsiteformoresuggestionsonplacestoeatinLosAngeles.