Back from rehearsal at the Avalon. A little history: When I was a teen, the Avalon (located on Vine, just above Hollywood Blvd) was called the El Capitan (the Paramount movie theater would not be renamed the El Capitan until Disney bought it). It was dark and, as far as I know, there hadn't been shows in there for several years. But they used to leave their doors open for some reason, so I used to sneak in there with my friend (the one portrayed in Kritzerland) and used to play with the lighting and do little made-up shows on the stage. Flash forward, and the El Capitan became the Hollywood Palace, where many TV shows were taped, including the long-running Merv Griffin Show, which I appeared on in 1972.
The lobby still looks nice, and they've managed to keep most of the interestingly designed interior walls. The proscenium is still there, but the stage has been moved way back from it and it's much higher than it used to be. Then, all the downstairs seats have been removed, and there are some booths at the back, along with a bar. Upstairs where the balcony is is basically the same.
Rehearsal was fun, and the sound is 1000% better than the Colony - this is a real rock-and-roll venue - the head mics sound great for dialogue, and the music sounds incredible. Plus, they've got incredible lighting - I didn't even have to talk to the guy, he just started doing stuff and knows exactly what he's doing.
