April 29, 2023 - Saturday - Today we were in the heart of Hollywood, CA for a tour of the Dolby Theater. Since its opening on November 9, 2001, it has been the venue of the annual Academy Awards ceremony. It is adjacent to Grauman's Chinese Theatre and near the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. The stage is one of the largest in the United States, measuring 113 feet wide by 75 feet deep.
We arrived a little early for the tour, so we walked around the shopping and entertainment complex at Hollywood and Highland.
Then it was time for the tour.
The main lobby is breathtaking.
Our entrance to the theater was through the stage.
Our guide gave us all of the statistics of the theater.
This entire wall controls all of the stage rigging for curtains, sets, lighting, etc.
This shot gives a good idea of how big the stage is.
Then we toured the back hallways where the winners are photographed and interviewed.
These are a couple of pictures showing how the grand ballroom is decorated for the Governors' Ball. The "Governors" are the board of governors of the Academy, not the California Governor.
It's a great tour because you can see what goes into the annual awards ceremony. I found out that the director of the ceremony is not in the building. He's off-site in a big van watching all of the camera feeds that come into the van.
Before the tour we had brunch at the nearby Mel's Drive-In Hollywood.
Judy had their sliced turkey breast sandwich with avocado.
I went for their Melburger, which is delicious!
