The Egyptian Ballroom
&The Grand Salon
Main Theater Panaramic QTVR (574KB)
The Fabulous Fox
Atlanta's Fox Theatre, originally the Yaarab Temple Shrine Mosque, was designed in the late 1920's as headquarters for a 5,000-member Shriners organization. It was a beautifully outlandish, opulent, grandiose monument to the heady excesses of the pre-crash 1920's, a mosque-like structure complete with minarets, onion domes, and an interior decor which was even more lavish than its facade.Entering the huge auditorium, an early reviewer for the Atlanta Journal described "a picturesque and almost disturbing grandeur beyond imagination." Visitors encountered an indoor Arabian courtyard with a sky full of flickering stars and magically drifting clouds; a spectacular striped canopy overhanging the balconies; stage curtains depicting mosques and Moorish rules in hand-sewn sequins and rhinestones. The interior was a masterpiece of trompe l'oeil: false beams, false balconies, false tents, ornate grillwork hiding air conditioning and heating ducts. Virtually every practical feature was disguised with artistic fantasy.
Detailing and furnishing were equally ornate. Nothing -no space, no furniture, no harware- escaped the gilt, the tile, the geometric design. Mens' and ladies' lounges, broom closets, telephone booths were all emblazoned with intricate plaster, bronze and painted detail.
Yet for all this seeming excess, The Fox retained a subtlety of style and a sense of tastefulness. As rich as it was in ornamentation, it never appeared overstated.
The Fox stands today as a fiercly protected landmark and a nationally acclaimed theater; having survived depression, mortgage forclosure, bankruptcy, competition, television, real estate development, and above all, age.
The Fabulous Fox
Text quoted, with permission, from The Fabulous Fox: The Magic &The Memories, ©Atlanta Landmarks, Inc.,1990.
Georgia Tech Campus ... Fox ... Portman ... Public Spaces ... Chicken ... Billboards ... Varsity ... Atlanta Essay ... Gorillas ... Stone ... Dreams & Crossroads ... Symphony ... Links ... Neat Stuff
