Hollywood Bowl

Lore & Background

The site was chosen in 1919 by William Reed and his son H. Ellis Reed for outdoor performances by the Theatre Arts Alliance. The natural theater, a shaded canyon called Daisy Dell in Bolton Canyon, was selected for its natural acoustics and proximity to downtown Hollywood. The Community Park and Art Association, headed by F. W. Blanchard, began building the Bowl. One of the earliest performances was Hollywood High School's production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

The Women's World Peace Concert and the first Sunrise Service both took place on November 11, 1921. The Bowl officially opened on July 11, 1922, with a stage of wooden platforms and canvas. The Bowl began as a community space; proceeds from early events financed construction of a stage and seating in 1922 and 1923. In 1924, a backdrop was added and the land was deeded to the County of Los Angeles.

Concert tickets were kept at 25 cents using the slogan 'popular prices will prevail,' coined by F.W. Blanchard. The Bowl hosted Easter services, the Hollywood Community Chorus, Young Artists Nights, Native American tribal events, and international music ensembles. Key women in its founding included pianist Artie Mason Carter, Christine Wetherill Stevenson, Marie Rankin Clarke, E.J. Wakeman, Leiland Atherton Irish, Harriet Clay Penman, composers Gertrude Ross and Carrie Jacobs Bond, and Josephine P. Everett.

Reader's Guide

The Hollywood Bowl is located on North Highland Avenue, north of Hollywood Boulevard and approximately 1 mile from the Hollywood/Highland Metro Rail station. It is adjacent to U.S. Route 101. The Bowl is owned by the County of Los Angeles and is the home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the host venue for hundreds of musical events each year. The distinctive bandshell originally featured a set of concentric arches that stood from 1929 through 2003, before being replaced with a larger one to begin the 2004 season.

The current shell incorporates design elements of the 1926, 1928, 1929, and 1927 shells. The sound reinforcement system is a line-array configuration by L-Acoustics, maintained by Rat Sound Systems. The bowl has four video screens and towers; during most concerts, three remotely operated cameras in the shell and a fourth manually operated camera among the box seats provide close-up views.

Origins and Community Roots

The site of the Hollywood Bowl was chosen in 1919 by William Reed and his son H. Ellis Reed, who were dispatched to find a suitable location for outdoor performances by the members of the newly formed Theatre Arts Alliance, headed by Christine Wetherill Stevenson. The Reeds selected a natural theater, a shaded canyon and popular picnic spot known as Daisy Dell in Bolton Canyon, which was chosen for its natural acoustics and its proximity to downtown Hollywood.

The Community Park and Art Association, then headed by F. W. Blanchard, was the first organization to begin building the Bowl. One of the earliest performances at the Bowl was Hollywood High School's Performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The Women's World Peace Concert was held on November 11, 1921. On November 11, 1921, the first Sunrise Service took place at the bowl, in one of its first major events.

With the building of the first actual stage, consisting of little more than wooden platforms and canvas, The Bowl officially opened on July 11, 1922. The Bowl began as a community space rather than a privately owned establishment. Proceeds from the early events at the Bowl went to financing the construction of new elements of the bowl such as a stage and seating in 1922 and 1923 respectively. In 1924, a backdrop to the stage was added.

During the early years of the Bowl's existence, concert tickets were kept at the lowest available price of 25 cents using the slogan popular prices will prevail, coined by F.W. Blanchard. In 1924, the land was deeded to the County of Los Angeles.

The Evolution of the Bandshell

Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr. (commonly known as Lloyd Wright) designed the second and third band shells. The original 1926 shell, designed by the Allied Architects Association, was considered unacceptable both visually and acoustically. Wright's 1927 shell had a pyramidal shape and a design reminiscent of southwest Indigenous architecture. Its acoustics generally were regarded as the best of any shell in Bowl history.

But its appearance was considered too avant-garde, or even ugly, and it was demolished at the end of the season. His 1928 wooden shell had the now-familiar concentric ring motif, covered a 120-degree arc, and was designed to be easily dismantled. Unfortunately it was neglected and ruined by water damage. For the 1929 season, the Allied Architects built the shell that stood until 2003, using a transite skin over a metal frame.

Its acoustics, though not nearly as good as those of the Lloyd Wright shells, were deemed satisfactory at first, and its clean lines and white, semicircular arches were copied for music shells elsewhere. As the acoustics deteriorated, various measures were used to mitigate the problems, starting in the 1970s with an inner shell made from large cardboard tubes, which were replaced in the early 1980s by large fiberglass spheres (both designed by Frank Gehry) that remained until 2003.

Shortly after the end of the 2003 summer season, the 1929 shell was replaced with a new, somewhat larger, acoustically improved shell, which had its debut in the 2004 summer season. Preservationists fiercely opposed the demolition for many years, citing the shell's storied history. The new shell incorporates design elements of not only the 1929 shell, but of both the Lloyd Wright shells. The architectural design for the shell was developed by the Los Angeles-based architectural practice Hodgetts + Fung, with the structural concept developed by the local office of Arup.

Women Architects of the Venue

Many of the key influential figures in the founding of the Hollywood Bowl were women, most notably the pianist Artie Mason Carter, whose connections with the Los Angeles arts patrons were vital in the early days of the Bowl's existence. Christine Wetherill Stevenson and Marie Rankin Clarke both donated $21,000 to purchase the land on which the bowl was built. E.J. Wakeman, Leiland Atherton Irish, Harriet Clay Penman, and composers Gertrude Ross and Carrie Jacobs Bond all contributed to the Bowl through fundraising drives. Josephine P. Everett was a financial contributor as well.

Modern Status and Cultural Legacy

The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the ten best live music venues in the United States by Rolling Stone magazine in 2018 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023. The Bowl is owned by the County of Los Angeles and is the home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the host venue for hundreds of musical events each year.

Located on North Highland Avenue, it is north of Hollywood Boulevard and approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Hollywood/Highland Metro Rail station. It is adjacent to U.S. Route 101. The shell is set against the backdrop of the Hollywood Hills and the Hollywood Sign to the northeast. The "bowl" refers to the shape of the concave meadow or dell, originally called Daisy Dell, into which the amphitheatre is carved.