Hollywood Playhouse

This Spanish Baroque style building designed by architects Henry L. Gogerty and Carl Jules Weyl opened as the Hollywood Playhouse in 1927. In 1943, it was renamed the El Capitan Theatre (not to be confused with the theater on Hollywood Blvd.), acquired soon after and renamed the NBC Radio Theatre. Ken Murray’s Blackouts, The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Lawrence Welk Show, and The Jerry Lewis Show filmed live at the theatre, where Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra also performed. In 1964, the theater became The Hollywood Palace before being sold to a dance club producer in 1978 who renamed it The Palace. In 2002, it became the Avalon.