Los Angeles County officials unveiled the fully renovated John Anson Ford Amphitheater, which adds a new jewel in the city’s already unrivaled network of outdoor theater venues. At Friday’s ribbon cutting ceremony some officials heralded it as the greatest mid-sized outdoor theater in the country.
Elements of the 97-year-old complex situated in the Cahuenga Pass next to the 101 Freeway remain intact, but the cruder elements that had long plagued the 1200-seat amphitheater have been exorcised and updated. Tucked deep into a vertiginous hillside at the base of several ravines, the renovation presented multiple engineering challenges throughout its three-year renovation.
“There were 1,000 decisions that had to be made and all those decisions -- as a composite -- resulted in some design compromises,” said architect Brenda Levin of Levin & Associates, who oversaw the project, calling it one of the most challenging of her career. Levin, arguably the most sought-after architect in the city for high-profile restoration projects, has previously helped restored numerous other iconic L.A. landmarks including the Griffith Observatory, the Wiltern Theater, the Bradbury Building and City Hall.
Much of the $72 million renovation focused on updating the complex’ almost-medieval irrigation and drainage system that had previously resulted in frequent flooding. Now, beneath the new and expanded Ipe wood stage is a water capture and drainage system that should eliminate, if not dramatically reduce, the threat of flooding and landslide closures.
“This project had its challenges. It was a very expensive project and there is no way to put lipstick on that,” said former county supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky who was an early champion of project before handing it off to his successor Sheila Kuehl who was also on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Originally budgeted at around $50 million the project ballooned to over $70 million. “No L.A. facility needed [a renovation] more than the Ford Theater and we now have a venue that is bigger than the sum of its parts. This is a transformative project,” he said.
In addition to the new stage, several brand new structures were built to incorporate onsite office space for full-time staff. There is a new and dramatically expanded backstage artists’ area that was built beneath the stage into the bedrock and two new elevators for improved accessibility around the complex which now offers a concession kitchen and outdoor dining terrace that was named in honor of Yaroslavsky. A catwalk and control room were added to service the newly installed state of the art lighting and sound systems. The acoustics of the theater got a further boost from a sound wall built along the upper lip that will serve to block out unwanted sounds from the nearby 101 Freeway and ambient sounds drifting from concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.
The Summer Season programming kicks off this weekend with Savion Glover and will be a mix of theater, dance, and musical acts that range from Senegalese vocalist Youssou N’Dour to singer songwriter Rufus Wainwright.
Originally built in 1920 to stage the Pilgrimage Play, the theater was originally called the Pilgrimage Theater before it was renamed in 1976 after county supervisor John Anson Ford. The original structure was destroyed by a brush fire in 1929 and then rebuilt with poured concrete and stonework in an ancient Judaic architectural style.
This story was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter
