First, a production of Julius Caesar was staged in Beachwood Canyon in May 1916. Two years later, the Theosophical Society produced Sir Edwin Arnold's Light of Asia pageant in a similar setting. The success of these performances stimulated interest in building a permanent outdoor theatre in Los Angeles.

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Video: Hollywood Bowl redesign The Bowl's landmark shell gets a makeover. It's designed to improve the sound as well as the look (shown here with an integrated acoustical canopy that provides an acoustical reflective surface for sound to return to the musicians).

Secondly, LA was the fastest-growing city in the United States during this time, and its cultural life was also quickly growing.

Thirdly, Christine Wetherill Stevenson, an heiress and one of the organizers of Light of Asia, wanted a place to stage religious pageants.

A group of active citizens formed The Theatre Arts Alliance. Stevenson was elected president, and the Alliance purchased the site, then called Daisy Dell, that would become the Hollywood Bowl. Stevenson and Marie Rankin Clarke each contributed $21,000, and the Alliance $5500. Also significant in negotiating the purchase was Charles E. Toberman, a real estate developer responsible for Grauman's Chinese & Egyptian Theatres and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Toberman spent thirty years protecting the area around the Hollywood Bowl from further development; he donated surrounding land and renegotiated the route of nearby Mulholland Drive when it was being built.

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	Video: John Anson Ford Amphitheatre Built in 1920, and another outdoor amphitheatre, the Ford is just across the way from the Bowl. Both were founded by Christine Wetherill Stevenson and Marie Rankin Clarke.

Soon after the purchase of the Bowl, the Theatre Arts Alliance became divided over a number of issues. It's said that part of the group wanted the new venue to focus on religious productions; also, some members were disappointed with a million-dollar theatre design that was commissioned by Stevenson. The Alliance split up and reorganized as the Community Park and Art Association, and Stevenson & Clarke were reimbursed for their contributions (Stevenson subsequently bought another piece of property on the other side of the Cahuenga Pass and built the theatre now known as the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre).

In its first few years, the Hollywood Bowl was used for community concerts, conferences, and religious services. But another local activist, Artie Mason Carter, envisioned greater things for the Bowl. She organized fund drives to make it the summer home for the newly formed Los Angeles Philharmonic.

July 11, 1922, the Philharmonic inaugurated the first regular season of music, then called "Hollywood Bowl Summer Popular Concerts." In 1924, the Hollywood Bowl Association replaced the earlier organization, and the County of Los Angeles took over the facility. It continues to operate that way today.

THE HISTORY OF THE SHELL

In its early years, the Bowl was just an empty canyon, and concerts took place on temporary benches and stages (often with sets leftover from movie productions). In 1926, horses were brought in to build permanent seating and boxes, and the first arched stage shell was created. That shell, and those of the next few years, were intended to last only one season. The first was designed by Myron Hunt and the next two by Lloyd Wright. The fourth was built in 1929 by Allied Architects and, surprisingly, remained for the next 75 years.

The fifth shell was built in 2004 by Hodgetts + Fung Design Associates to improve the Bowl's acoustics, technology, and backstage areas. This shell is 40% larger than the previous one, allowing the entire orchestra to fit inside the shell. Hovering at the top of the shell is a 90-foot "acoustical canopy" made of movable louvers which can be adjusted in minute increments for the needs of each performance. These improvements allow the orchestra to hear itself while being properly amplified throughout the Bowl.

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