The Fox Theatre (frequently marketed as the Fabulous Fox), a previous film palace, is a carrying out arts venue located at 660 Peachtree Street NE in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, and is the centerpiece of the Fox Theatre Historic District. The theater was initially planned as part of a large Shrine Temple as evidenced by its Moorish design.
It hosts a variety of cultural and creative occasions including the Atlanta Ballet, a summer film series, and efficiencies by nationwide touring companies of Broadway reveals. The location also hosts occasional shows by popular artists. View from neighboring structure showing significant architectural features When the Fox Theatre first opened, the regional newspaper described it as having, “a picturesque and nearly disturbing splendor beyond creativity”.
The primary architect of the project was Olivier Vinour of the company Marye, Alger and Vinour. The initial architecture and decor of the Fox can be approximately divided into 2 architectural styles: Islamic architecture (structure outside, auditorium, Grand Beauty salon, mezzanine Gentlemen’s Lounge, and lower Ladies Lounge) and Egyptian architecture (Egyptian Ballroom, mezzanine Ladies Lounge and lower Gentlemen’s Lounge).
The Egyptian Ballroom is developed after a temple for Ramses II at Karnak while the mezzanine Ladies Lounge features a replica of the throne chair of King Tut and makeup tables that feature small Sphinxes. The Islamic areas include a variety of ablution fountains, which are presently kept dry. Throughout the Fox there is the comprehensive use of trompe l’oeil; “wood” beams are in fact plaster, paint that appears gold leaf is not, areas are painted and lit to appear to get outside lighting, elaborate fireplaces were never developed to have working chimneys, and what appears to be a huge Bedouin canopy in the auditorium is plaster and steel rods developed to assist funnel noise to the farthest veranda.
The Fox Theatre, facing northwest Originally developed as the Yaarab Shrine Temple, the head office for a 5,000-member Shriners company, the $2.75 million project went beyond the Shriners’ budget plan, so they leased the auditorium to movie magnate William Fox, who was building theaters around the nation at the time. The theater opened on December 25, 1929, just two months after the stock exchange crash.
Although GWTW was produced by Selznick International, it was dispersed by Loew’s Incorporated as part of a deal with rival studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The parade down Peachtree Street for the movie’s premier coincidentally started simply outside the Fox because the film’s cast was remaining across the street at the Georgian Terrace Hotel.
It was likewise at this time that the Egyptian Ballroom ended up being Atlanta’s most popular public dance hall and hosted all the crucial huge bands and nation and western swing bands of the age. It was notable at that time for being the only theater in Atlanta allowing both white and black patrons.
These are left in location for educational and historical purposes. The theater was integrated in 1962. Throughout the 1970s, a number of elements clashed to produce the Fox’s decline white flight, the increase of suburban multiplex theaters, and changes in how films were distributed. In 1974, Southern Bell, the local arm of AT&T, approached the owners of the theater with an offer to buy and with the intent of tearing it down and developing the parking deck for a new head office on the site.
The ensuing public protest and massive project, consisting of such entertainers as Liberace and Lynyrd Skynyrd (recording their very first live album there and debuting guitarist Ed King’s replacement, Steve Gaines, to the world), among other celebs, resulted in the city declining to issue a demolition allow. Eventually, a complex deal was brokered that prevented the Fox’s demolition.
The U.S. Department of the Interior subsequently named the Fox a National Historic Landmark on May 26, 1976, mentioning its architectural individuality. After the Fox was saved from demolition, a prolonged and expensive repair procedure started. Much of the initial decor had actually survived and new pieces were developed with the help of old photographs.
Other changes have actually been made to bring the developing up to existing security codes. The Fox is now the only remaining film palace in Atlanta. The Loew’s Grand, Martin Cinerama, Georgia Cinerama, Paramount Theater, and the Roxy Theater, all once-famous Atlanta film palaces, are gone, and others that opened in the 1960s have because been transformed to multiplexes.
The Egyptian Ballroom and the Grand Beauty parlor are rented regularly for corporate and personal functions, consisting of banquets, fundraising events, weddings, exhibition, and conventions. They are likewise both popular areas for proms for many location high schools. Significantly, Oxford College of Emory University hosts its yearly Fall Official in the Egyptian Ballroom.
An approximated 750,000 individuals go to the Fox every year. The venue was the website of Prince’s final efficiency, held one week prior to his death on April 21, 2016. In May 2017, Aquarium Rescue Unit frontman Col. Bruce Hampton died after collapsing onstage at the Fox throughout a concert commemorating his 70th birthday.
Elvis played at the Fox Theatre in 1956, Bob Marley and The Wailers played at the Fox Theatre on December 12, 1979, in support of his Survival Tour, Georgia artists the Allman Brothers played it in 1980, Ray Charles in 1983, James Brown in 1985, R.E.M. in 1989, B-52’s in 1989, Black Crowes in 1992, Alan Jackson in 1992, Widespread Panic in 1993, Cumulative Soul in 1996, Outkast in 2001, Zac Brown Band in 2009 (on the live album Pass the Jar), and Manchester Orchestra in 2018.3
It was custom developed for the Fox by M. P. Mller, Inc. in 1929 in Hagerstown, Maryland. With 3,622 pipelines, it is the second-largest theater organ in the country, behind the Wurlitzer at Radio City Music Hall in New York City City and was the biggest theater instrument constructed by Mller.4
Besides the pipes, it likewise contains a marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, drums, sleigh bells, a gong, and even a six-foot (1.8 m) grand piano (originally from the Kilgen organ in Chicago’s Piccadilly Theatre); plus a big variety of quiet film sound results (such as numerous automobile horns, thunder and rain results, bird whistles, and so on).5
Therefore the organ can be played as a church organ along with a theater organ. It is noteworthy that the Mighty Mo is amongst the shrinking list of instruments that stay set up in the theaters for which they were created. Larry Douglas Embury was the theater’s permanent Organist in House from 2002 until his death in February 2016.