Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a renowned amphitheater located in Los Angeles, California, celebrated for its natural acoustics and picturesque setting. Opened in 1922, it was designed to echo the aesthetics of ancient Greek and Roman theaters and is situated in a bowl-shaped area surrounded by hills, enhancing its sound quality. Originally lacking a permanent structure, the venue has evolved significantly since its inception, featuring various band shell designs over the years, with the current iconic design established in 1929. With a capacity of over 17,000, it holds the title of the largest natural amphitheater in the United States.
Throughout its history, the Hollywood Bowl has hosted a diverse range of performances, including classical music, dance, and theatrical productions, which significantly contributed to Los Angeles's cultural reputation in the 1920s. The venue not only showcases performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic but also features a variety of artists and genres, making it a key cultural landmark. The Hollywood Bowl's influence extends beyond live performances, as it has appeared in numerous films and television shows, further cementing its status as an iconic symbol of Los Angeles arts and entertainment.
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Hollywood Bowl
In the 1920s, when the movie industry was in its infancy and Los Angeles was not yet considered a major center of American culture, the Hollywood Bowl amphitheatre served as a showcase for a variety of performing arts, from classical music to avant-garde modern dance.
Modeled on the amphitheatres of ancient Greece and Rome, the Hollywood Bowl took its name from a feature of the southern California landscape: a large, bowl-shaped area surrounded by hills in a section of Bolton Canyon known as Daisy Dell. Because of its natural acoustic properties, Daisy Dell had been a popular location for musical events even before civic leaders decided to build a permanent stage at the site. Construction began in 1921, and the Hollywood Bowl’s first official season opened on July 11, 1922, with a performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a symphony orchestra that was then only three years old.
Initially, the Hollywood Bowl had no band shell above the stage and no built-in seating, just wooden benches set out on the steep hillside in front of the stage. In 1926, architect Myron Hunt, creator of Pasadena’s Rose Bowl stadium, designed a permanent hillside seating area as well as the first band shell structure, which was demolished after one season. Newly designed shells were constructed in 1927 and 1928 by Lloyd Wright, son of celebrated architect Frank Lloyd Wright, but ultimately these were demolished as well. A fourth shell design by the firm of Elliott, Bowen and Walz was erected in 1929, giving the stage its final distinctive look, though it has since undergone several renovations and acoustical improvements. With a seating capacity of more than seventeen thousand, the Hollywood Bowl remains the largest natural amphitheatre in the United States, and its band shell structure has become a Los Angeles icon.
Impact
The quality and variety of performances at the Hollywood Bowl, which included dance recitals, operas, and other theatrical productions, as well as symphony orchestra concerts, helped 1920s Los Angeles achieve a reputation as a city of cultural importance. Live performances, radio broadcasts, and recordings would later bring the Los Angeles Philharmonic international acclaim, and, in subsequent decades, numerous movies and television shows would feature scenes set at the Hollywood Bowl.
Bibliography
Henken, John, and Michael Buckland, eds. The Hollywood Bowl: Tales of Summer Nights. Los Angeles: Balcony Press, 1996.
Smith, Catherine Parsons. “Founding the Hollywood Bowl.” American Music 11, no. 2 (Summer, 1993): 206–242.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Making Music in Los Angeles: Transforming the Popular. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.