MYTHICAL PLACES

Built on Sunset Boulevard by showman Earl Carroll, then already the owner of a theater on Broadway, the "Earl Carroll Theater" opened its doors on December 26, 1938.

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Designed in a "Modern" style by the architect Gordon Kaufmann, the interior design based on the strong presence of neon lights is by Alexis de Sakhnoffsky and Frank Don Riha.

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The shows took place on a huge stage with a double turntable and an 18-meter-wide revolving staircase. Swings could also be lowered from the ceiling.

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The place was finally sold in 1948 after the tragic death of Earl Carroll in an air crash. It was finally Frank Sennes, a Las Vegas showman who opened the place again as a nightclub in 1953 under the name "Moulin Rouge". During the 1950s, many television programs were produced there.

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The place will change its name again in 1965 to become the "Hullabaloo" then the "Kaleidoscope" from 1968, the DOORS also give three concerts there in April 1968!

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It was finally during the year 1968 that the building was redecorated in a purely psychedelic style to be renamed "the Aquarius Theatre". At that time, the place was occupied by the music hall company "Hair", however several concerts took place on Monday, the troupe's day off. Thus on July 21 and 22, 1969, the DOORS play there again and the group's performances will be the subject of an official release many years later!

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The following years saw the place change owners many times. In 1977, the hall was renamed "Longhorn Theatre" and then "Sunset Boulevard Theatre". In 1983, the Pick-Vanoff Company bought the place and transformed it into a state-of-the-art television studio where programs such as "Star Search" and "Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon" were filmed.

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In 1993, the building was once again renamed "The Chevy Chase Theater" to produce the FOX Talk Show, "The Chevy Case Show". The show will be a real disaster, the production being canceled after 5 weeks, the place will then resume its previous name...

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It was finally in the mid-1990s that the children's television channel Nickelodeon decided to become the owner of the place with the aim of producing live-action series there, transformed back into a studio and renamed for the last time to "Nickelodeon on Sunset" from 1997, the place remains the property of the chain until 2017, the year from which a deconstruction is then launched...