Why I love the Fabulous Fox

Photo courtesy of Fox Theatre

I went to one of my favorite places Monday afternoon – the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

Sometimes it is known as the Fabulous Fox Theatre. That is truth in advertising.

I have loved the Fox since I saw “Mary Poppins” there as a kid in the 1960s. I have seen concerts, shows and movies. My 10-year high school reunion was held in the Egyptian Ballroom. I once sat in the back of the balcony to hear Bruce Springsteen. I had front row tickets for Jimmy Buffett.

On Monday, we went to see “High School Musical.’’ It was a matinee and was a terrific show.

But part of the reason I enjoyed it was because it was at the Fox, a place that holds so many memories I don’t know where to begin.

Here are my 10 reasons why I love the Fox.

10. The ceiling. You look up and see the sky and the stars painted on the ceiling. And clouds that move. Enough said. It will take your breath away.

9. The acoustics. They’re fantastic. I once heard it said that the Fox had acoustics second-only to Carnegie Hall. They have opera there. And live albums have been recorded on its stage.

8. The popcorn. They make it in those big old-fashioned poppers. And it’s famous, too. They serve more than four and a half tons a year.

7. There’s hardly a bad seat in the house. And that’s pretty impressive, considering there are 4,678 of them. There is plenty of leg room, too. It’s the most comfortable seating I’ve ever experienced in a theater.

6. Air conditioning. It’s something we take for granted these days, but can you imagine life without it? Here’s an interesting fact. The Fox was one of the country’s first air-conditioned buildings. It got AC before the White House did.

5. The Fox is one of America’s last remaining “picture palaces” from the 1920s. I once saw “Gone With the Wind” here in the 1980s. It was amazing. You haven’t really lived in the South until you’ve seen “Gone With the Wind” at the Fox and hissed at the mention of carpetbaggers with everyone else in the audience. It’s a universal experience.

4. The “Mighty Mo” pipe organ, which has more than 4,000 pipes. I love to get there early and listen to the man play. It has been around since 1929, and its music has been heard by millions. When I heard the organist playing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on Monday, I almost cried.

3. The singalongs before the movies shown at the Summer Film Festival are still shown on an original Brenograph projector that was there when theater opened its doors for the first time on Christmas Day 1929, two months after the famous stock market crash.

2. The stage. It is enormous. And the orchestra pit is impressive, too. I’ll put it up against most anything on Broadway.

1. History and a sense of place. The Fox has always been part of my life.