Saban Theatre

The Saban Theatre is an historic theatre in Beverly Hills, California, formerly known as the Fox Wilshire Theater. It is an Art Deco structure designed by architect S. Charles Lee and is considered a classic Los Angeles landmark. It is located at the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Hamilton Drive. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places 02012-04-03April 3, 2012.

The theatre opened as the Fox Wilshire Theatre on September 19, 1930. For several decades it was one of 20th Century Fox's premiere theaters, serving as a movie palace until a 1981 renovation which converted it into a stage venue. It is now regularly used as a live performance venue for comedy, music, television, film shoots, screenings, and community intercultural events such as the Paley Television Festival.

In March 2009, it was announced that the Wilshire was to be renamed the Saban Theatre in recognition of a $5 million grant from Haim and Cheryl Saban. The funds will be used to further restoration efforts on the orchestra, proscenium and marquee. It also hosts the Temple of the Arts, an effort to integrate the arts and Judaism. It is currently owned and operated by the Temple of the Arts.

Notable premieres and events at the Saban have included:

  • How to Marry a Millionaire starring Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall (November 1953)
  • Stevie Nicks's "White Winged Dove" tour (1981), filmed for an HBO special
  • Los Angeles premiere of Paramount Pictures's Dreamgirls (December 11, 2006)
  • Taping of the Season 1 finale episode Journey from the series Glee

Read more about Saban Theatre:  Starlet Disappearance

Famous quotes containing the word theatre:

    The poem of the mind in the act of finding
    What will suffice. It has not always had
    To find: the scene was set; it repeated what
    Was in the script.
    Then the theatre was changed
    To something else. Its past was a souvenir.
    Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)