Dolby Theatre

The Dolby Theatre is the big hall inside Ovation Hollywood, the shopping and entertainment complex at Hollywood and Highland, and it's best known as the room where the Oscars happen. You enter from Hollywood Boulevard under the arch, pass plaques for every Best Picture winner, then climb into a lobby that rises five levels around a spiral staircase. Before Dolby's name went up, it was the Kodak Theatre.

The stage is one of the largest in the country, 120 feet wide and 75 feet deep, and that's a big part of why televised shows like it. Award nights such as the BET Awards and the ESPYs come through, along with touring Broadway productions and concert dates. Prince and Celine Dion have both played here, and Cirque du Soleil staged IRIS on this stage. The room is wired with 215 separately powered speakers for Dolby Atmos, which you'll notice the first time a bass note rolls through.

This is a seated hall, so treat it like a night at the theatre. Plan to get there at least half an hour early. Late seating is up to the house manager, and the lobby lights flash 10 minutes before the start. Anything bigger than 12 by 12 by 6 inches goes to the coat check in Lobby 2, and outside food and drink, water included, stays out. Concessions are cashless. Photos are banned at most events, and on nights they're allowed, only a small camera that fits in your front pocket gets in.

The Metro B Line stops under the complex at Hollywood/Highland, which beats paying for the garage. If you do drive, the structure next to the Loews hotel has entrances on Highland and Orange Drive, and the theatre doesn't validate. The box office is on Level One.