Inside Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, the World’s Most Famous Auditorium

So I was sitting in excitement, waiting patiently for Jimmy Kimmel to appear from behind the curtains and start his opening monologue at the 95th Academy Awards, which were held, like they have been over the last twenty years, at the Dolby Theatre.

But instead of appearing from behind the curtains like regular hosts, Kimmel landed on stage with a parachute after Tom Cruise dropped him off. The latter, who did not make it to the show, was not apparently to trade his impossible mission for attending the ceremony, even if it is the most important one in the entire entertainment industry.

Kimmel started the show with jokes about almost everyone in the audience. He acknowledged some of the nominees, greeted them for their terrific performances and ended his praise with more hilarious jokes. God! His sarcasm has always appealed to me.

I was so mesmerised by the captivating interior design of the theatre, the dazzling lights and the alluring decoration, which made the whole thing feel more like a dream, that I lost track of Kimmel’s speech. Then I suddenly cocked my ears just like an alerted wolf when he said, “The two guys who insisted we come to the theatre did not come to the theatre.”

Oh, he was talking about James Cameron, who sadly was not nominated for Best Director despite his masterpiece sequel to Avatar (2009), which is surprisingly odd. Tom Cruise is the other guy who did not make it to the theatre. But we already know why.

Kimmel mostly meant returning to the original theatre setup instead of last year’s dinner table seating when COVID restrictions were not as loosened. I was still caught up in the incredible transformation the theatre must have undergone to come out in this incredible shape. Then, it suddenly dawned that only a little is generally known about this outstanding theatre.

Is the Dolby Theatre only special because of the Oscars? Is it dedicated to this ceremony only? What does Dolby refer to? And why does that sticker on my laptop read Dolby Audio ™?

Well, that is what we will find out about in this article.

The Dolby Theatre

It is not the largest by area or capacity. It is not even among the 30 largest auditoriums in the world, nor is it distinct for its architecture. However, the Dolby Theatre’s fame and worldwide recognition come from hosting the Oscars, the world’s most prestigious and well-regarded ceremony that celebrates achievements in the film industry from all corners of the globe.

Besides celebrating achievements in the film industry and awarding nominees in 23 categories, the Dolby Theatre also exhibits the latest technological innovations. Well, that makes a lot of sense. The weight of the Academy Awards requires exceptional audio and visual preparation to make the experience unforgettable for both the artists attending the ceremony and the rest of the world viewing it from home.

That said, the Dolby Theatre does not just host the Oscars, and neither has it always been home to them. It was constructed a little over 20 years ago, mainly for that purpose. However, it also hosts performances, film premieres, and several other artistic events.

Before the Dolby Theatre

Excluding the Dolby Theatre, the annual Academy Awards ceremony was held in 11 different venues in Los Angeles, California. These venues ranged from super luxury hotels to theatres, auditoriums, and even railway stations. Well, that is where the 2021 Oscars were held: the Union Station. This is Los Angeles’ central railway station and the largest ever in the western United States.

Like everyone seeking but surely never reaching perfection, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences always works on making the event the best it can be. Despite envelopes getting mixed up or some celebrity slapping another and apologising to someone else, the Academy has always strived for excellence. That is why the venues were constantly changing.

Some of these locations were only used once before they were replaced with other better ones that became the Oscars’ new, yet temporary, home. The venue that was used the longest was the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. It hosted the Oscars consecutively from 1969 to 1987 and alternately with the Shrine Auditorium from 1988 until 2001.

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion seems to be doing well, and the Academy has been using it for 19 years. But when some logistical issues started popping up and affected the perfect coming-out of the ceremony, the Academy had to move the ceremony to the Shrine Auditorium, only a 10-minute car ride away and with over double the capacity.

However, the Shrine Auditorium was no better as it proposed many other disturbing issues. So, the Academy returned to the Dorothy Auditorium Pavilion for three years before alternating between the venues until 1999.

That is probably when the Academy had enough and decided to construct a theatre from scratch and dedicate it entirely to the Oscars. Besides being a way to overcome the issues they have been dealing with for over a decade, one can somewhat think the Academy also wanted to celebrate not just the new millennium but also 70 years of the Oscars by building this new auditorium.

Ovation Hollywood

Nowhere but the heart of Hollywood could make a better permanent location for the Oscars. The last time the Oscars were held in Hollywood was in 1960 in the Hollywood Pantages Theatre before it moved out of the entire district to roam Los Angeles.

In 1997, the Academy asked the development company TrizecHahn to build an entertainment complex at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Centre—these two major streets in the district—along the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame.

By the way, the Hollywood Walk of Fame is the 15-block sidewalk that leads to what would later become the Dolby Theatre. It is made of granite and has over 2700 stars embedded in it. Each star bears the name of a celebrity who made a remarkable achievement in the film industry. 

After hundreds of coffees and seven months of negotiations for both parties to agree, everything was settled that TrizecHahn would build the complex, including the Dolby Theatre, which the Academy would ‘rent’ for 20 years to host their beloved, most honourable ceremony.

Construction officially started in 1998, and the project cost $94 million. It was completed three years later, on 9 November 2001, when Ovation Hollywood was opened.

Ovation Hollywood was built on the land that once housed the iconic Hollywood Hotel. This architectural masterpiece was a glorious hotel that gained even more fame, hosting many famous early Hollywood stars. Yet, the hotel was not meant to stay more than 50 years before a substantial, ugly, boxy office building replaced it in the mid-1950s.

The Ovation Hollywood is a 36,000-square-metre entertainment complex located at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue. It comprises a shopping mall, the TCL Chinese Theatre and, most importantly, the Dolby Theatre.

Inside the Dolby Theatre

The Dolby Theatre, designed by American architect David Rockwell, was built to host the Oscars. Rockwell was also asked to make the theatre suitable for huge broadcast events such as film premieres.

Inspired mainly by European opera house architecture, Rockwell wanted to create a masterpiece that somehow depicts the theatres of the 1920s, and he did. The Dolby Theatre was designed in the most incredibly lavish way, making it a great tourist attraction.

So, what does that incredibly lavish theatre look like from the inside?

Getting into the Dolby Theatre

Though it does not look that spacious outside, the Dolby Theatre is genuinely big from the inside.

Everything starts with the main gate. Once crossed, one goes through a wide corridor with glamorous stores on the right and left sides until they reach two stairs that end at the first floor. The first floor hosts a spacious, circular hall crowned with the iconic theatre dome.

The door to the theatre is on one side of that hall. One can take the grand spiral staircase to the Dolby Lounge by sliding through it. Visitors can see an actual Oscar statuette standing firmly, hands crossed, behind a glass window.

There is also the Winner’s Walk. This is a corridor which every Oscar winner goes through after they finish their I-would-like-to-thank-the-Academy speech and leave the stage. On the walls of this splendid corridor, there are 26 framed pictures of Oscar winners, including the beautiful Grace Kelly and Marlon Brando, who did show up the first time he won an Oscar back in 1955—Brando “very regretfully” rejected his second Oscar in 1973 in protest of how Native Americans were portrayed in films.

Speaking of the stage, the Dolby Theatre stage is super large, with a width of 34 metres and a depth of 18 metres. It is among the three most significant stages in the US. Standing on the stage, one can see how enormous the theatre is.

The ceiling has a stunning oval ‘tiara-like’ silver structure that extends vertically on each side of the room. Besides its striking decorative shape, that structure was primarily put up there to hide the incredibly tangled and highly functional network of cables, making the Dolby screening an unforgettable experience.

The theatre, or the audience chamber, as some call it, has five levels and 3,400 seats. The spiral staircase connects each level to the outside. From the inside, every level is divided into three areas separated by stairs and comprising about 12 rows of red chairs.

Right in the middle of the second level is a large cockpit dedicated to the orchestra, camera, sound, and stage management. There are also three levels of balcony stalls with boxes on the right and left sides of the room.

The theatre’s full capacity is only available for the Academy Awards. But if it is used for film screenings, the capacity shrinks to 1600 seats.

Renaming

Ever since it opened and until 2012, the now-called Dolby Theatre was named the Kodak Theatre. Do you remember that famous leading company in analogous photography? When the theatre was constructed, Kodak paid $75 million so it would be named after it.

But if we just ridiculously boil down what happened to this, we all know the sad story of the company’s roll-down for refusing to upgrade. In 2012, the Eastman Kodak Company announced bankruptcy, and its name was removed from the theatre.

It was so sudden that no one thought of an alternative name beforehand. As a result, the theatre was temporarily named the Hollywood and Highland Center until a better name was thought of.

Less than three months later, Dolby Laboratories, Inc. bought the naming rights of the theatre for 20 years, eleven of which have already passed as of 2023. That is why the Dolby Theatre is now called the Dolby Theatre.

The Dolby Experience

That said, Dolby is not just the name of the theatre but also the provider of the technologies that make this theatre the best venue for artistic events.

Dolby Laboratories is a leading company founded in 1965 and headquartered in San Francisco. Specialising in developing voice, image, and audio for cinemas, Dolby Laboratories provides the world’s most vibrant screening experience, featuring the purest sound and most spectacular pictures.

In addition, the company develops sound systems for computers, cell phones and even home theatres through a set of highly advanced and functional products. That is why the sticker on my laptop reads Dolby Audio ™.

So, the Dolby Theatre is equipped with the latest technologies in sound and picture, known as the Dolby Atoms, the Dolby Vision, and the Dolby 3D. The latter is especially vital for when the venue hosts film premieres.

Tours

As a significant tourist attraction, the Dolby Theatre provides 30-minute guided tours of almost every part of the theatre, including the experience of going on stage and viewing the spacious room from Jimmy Kimmel’s perspective.

Tours take off every half hour from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm daily. The theatre is open all week from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, with opening times changing during the holidays.

By now…

You hopefully have more than just a glimpse of the Dolby Theatre, the most famous auditorium in the world that hosts the most famous artistic event, the Oscars.

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