The Fox Theatre: Playing it Pretty for Atlanta

Beyond that famously starry ceiling and Moorish-themed auditorium, the Fox Theatre, an Atlanta cultural landmark, features a host of unique architectural elements that transport visitors to another world. Drawing from numerous design traditions, “The Fabulous Fox,” as it’s popularly known, is a multi-layered fantasy that combines illusion, functionality, and exotic grandeur. Far more than a historic landmark, it's a living archive of a city's cultural soul. From its opulent origins as a Shriner's temple to its modern role as a thriving performing arts center, the Fox's story is dramatic: an institution that has continually reinvented itself, offering an array of artistic and educational experiences designed to captivate curious minds.

The auditorium evolved to become an "Arabian courtyard" with a starry night sky ceiling, complete with twinkling crystal "stars" and a drifting cloud effect. The Egyptian Ballroom, which is a popular VIP reception room, was decorated with imagery replicating a temple for Ramses II at Karnak. From its opening on Christmas Day 1929, the Fox has served as a cultural gathering place for Atlantans and the wider Southeast. During The Great Depression, it offered a vital escape from the country's economic struggles, showcasing films and live acts in an era when most Americans could not afford to travel.

“The Mighty Mo,” the theater's powerful pipe organ, is, by all accounts, one of the largest ever built for a theater, with a history as rich as the building itself, thrilling generations, with its booming sound. The Fox has always been a mirror of its times. In 1962, the Metropolitan Opera performed for the theater's first integrated audience, an important step in Atlanta's civil rights history.

The venue has hosted everything from vaudeville and opera to rock legends, Broadway shows, film festivals and Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion.”

The Fox's greatest performance may be its own survival. In the 1970s, as movie palaces fell out of favor, the theater faced the wrecking ball. A corporation planned to demolish the structure to build its new headquarters. But the people of Atlanta had other ideas. A group of determined preservationists, Atlanta Landmarks, Inc., mobilized a "Save the Fox" campaign that captured the city's heart. Donations from bake sales, fundraisers, and community events flowed in, ultimately raising $3 million. The campaign succeeded, leading to the Fox's placement on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and its designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

Today, the Fox is a vibrant, non-profit organization with a legacy extending far beyond its own walls.

Elvis Presley performed at the Fox Theatre for two days in March, 1956. He was a young and rising star at the time, and the performances drew an excited, young crowd that included Atlanta Folk Artist Olivia Thomason and me while I was a high school student. I even met Elvis-accidentally-at the Georgian Terrace Hotel which year’s later, remains across from the Fox on Peachtree Street.

Thomason, lauded by Atlanta Historian Dr. Richard Funderburke as “Georgia’s Queen of Folk Art,”captured the performance on canvas in a well-received painting.

The Fox Theatre invites curious and informed individuals to step inside, explore its history, and become part of its ongoing story. To attend a performance is to do more than see a show; it is to engage with a cultural landmark that continues to educate and inspire.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, wrote "Play it pretty for Atlanta" on the wall of the Fox in 1976. This phrase was a message to the band to give their best performance for the Atlanta audience. It is now a permanent part of the theatre, displayed in neon lights above the stage doors to encourage other performers.