How It Works

The “Rainbow Room”.
This auditorium is named in part for the famous Hollywood restaurant on the Sunset Strip but pays tribute to L. Frank Baum’s classic story “The Wizard of Oz”. The restaurant has served up many a meal and lots of good times to those in the film industry. Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio met on their first blind date there, and it is where John Belushi ate his last meal. Warren Zevon sings about it in his song ’Poor Poor Pitiful Me’ and there is track on a Cheech & Chong album named after it. Notable regulars have included Elvis, John Lennon, Elton John, Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin and more. Enter ‘under the Rainbow’ and through Dorothy’s House, take a right turn in the living room and a left at the Haunted Forest (watch out for the witch and flying monkeys) and you’ll arrive in our emerald green Auditorium!!! Keep an eye on the sky for falling houses or rising hot air balloons! Don’t step on the “Wicked Witch of the East”, her sister lurks nearby. There are also 17 full sized (so to speak) Munchkins adorning the side walls which were originally made as display pieces for the windows of Macy’s Department Store in New York as part of their 60th Anniversary celebration of the making of the classic MGM film. Notice also the emerald green stain glass, the primary characters down in front of the screen and even a talking apple tree. Hollywood Blvd Cinema is responsible for the Munchkins being recognized with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the sidewalk of that other Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles, right in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater. The story of how they were awarded with the Star fills several display cases in our museum and is a DVD extra of the films release anniversary. (Click on thumbnails to view larger photos)