Hollywood Palladium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hollywood Palladium
Hollywood Palladium while hosting the 2005 DeviantArt Summit.
Nickname(s)	The Palladium
Location	6215 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California
Type	Concert Hall
Genre(s)	Big Band, Rock and Roll, Pop Music
Built	1940
Opened	September 23, 1940
Owner	Palladium Investors Ltd.
Expanded	2007
Seating type	Standing room only, dance floor
Capacity	4,000
Website	http://www.hollywoodpalladium.com/

The Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. The facility, built in an Art Deco style, includes an 11,200 square foot (1040 m²) dance floor with room for up to 4,000 people.

1 History
2 In the Movies
3 In Politics
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

It opened September 23, 1940 with a concert by Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Over the years, it has hosted the Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Barbra Streisand and many others.

The Hollywood Palladium was built by film producer Maurice M. Cohen, on the site of the original Paramount Pictures, between Argyle and El Centro avenues. The Streamline Moderne style dance hall was designed by Gordon Kaufmann, architect of the Greystone Mansion, the Los Angeles Times building and the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia.^[1]

During WWII, the Palladium hosted radio broadcasts featured Betty Grable greeting servicemens' song requests. Big Band acts began losing popularity in the 1950's, causing the Palladium to hold charity balls, political events, auto shows, and rock concerts. In the 1960s, Lawrence Welk broadcast his long running TV show from the facility.

Since 1985 the theater has been owned by Palladium Investors Ltd., a privately held group. In 2007 the owners decided to lease the operation of the venue to Live Nation, a Los Angeles-based company, that in turn plans to do significant renovations to the theater and reopen it in September 2008. [1]

Beginning in the 1980s and 90s rap and heavy metal concerts started to be booked at the venue. Several disturbances resulted, eventually leading to the Palladium closing for eight weeks, starting in February 1993. Recently the Palladium has been the location for large celebrity parties, such as Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.^[1]

[edit] In the Movies

The Hollywood Palladium has been featured in many movies over the years. Some of these are:

1941 (1979)
The Concert Scene at the end of the The Blues Brothers (1980), as the 'Palace Hotel Ballroom' (The exterior was actually the South Shore Country Club in Chicago, IL)
The Palladium serves as the location for the Sci-fi convention in Galaxy Quest (1999)
The Palladium plays the exterior of the fictional Studio 60 on the Aaron Sorkin television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
The punk band Bad Religion recorded Live at the Palladium in 2006. This is a collection of their performance there over the course of two days.
The Film Almost Famous in the scene where Penny Lane dances to the Cat Stevens song "The Wind"

[edit] In Politics

On November 18, 1961, President John F. Kennedy took the occasion of a Democratic Party dinner at the Hollywood Palladium to speak out against ultra-conservative organizations.

In February 1965, Rev. Martin Luther King was honored at the Palladium by city officials recognizing his Nobel Peace Prize. A bomb threat was called in for the event, frightening the attendees. Earlier in the day, LA Police had found 1400 pounds of explosives in a Los Angeles apartment.^[1]