Fox Theatre

Begun as a Shrine temple and finished as a picture palace, the Fox opened on Christmas Day 1929, after the Yaarab Shriners found their $2.75 million building beyond their means and leased the auditorium to the film magnate William Fox. Olivier Vinour, of Marye, Alger and Vinour, gave the house the look of an Arabian courtyard: ninety-six crystal stars set into a deep blue ceiling, battlemented walls, and 4,665 seats beneath them. Its Möller organ, the Mighty Mo, was on delivery the second largest theatre organ in the country, behind only the Wurlitzer at Radio City Music Hall. Demolition threatened in 1974 and was beaten off by a public campaign; the building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and has worked since as Atlanta's chief stage for touring opera, ballet, musicals and concerts.