Burlesque Filming Locations (with Cher and Christina Aguilera)


  
Part 1

The Actual Southern California Locations where the
2010 musical,
"Burlesque", was filmed.





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They really had me going, for a while, when it came to the location of the main burlesque club in this movie...

When Ali (Christina Aguilera) first spots the Burlesque Lounge, they show her across the street, and the address
on the building behind her reads "8083 Sunset Boulevard".  So that's it, right?  Wrong!  It's a fake address.

They wanted us to think it was on the Sunset Strip.  But it isn't.

They even inserted the usual Sunset hilltop view of the cityscape behind the club.  (Another fake.)

But I had no way of knowing that, at first, so naturally I spent ages searching up and down the Sunset Strip,
looking for that tale-tale stairway on the right side of the building.

Of course, I didn't find it on the Strip.

I finally tracked it down about 3 miles across town, in the old heart of Hollywood.

The building is actually the Ricardo Montalban Theatre,
located just south of the famous corner of Hollywood & Vine, at 1615 Vine Street, in Hollywood.

Both the staircase and the parking lot (where Cher and Kristen Bell get into a fight) are real, and are
on the north side of the building.  Even that arched, wrought-iron sign is real (but not the neon name).

What is today the Ricardo Montalban Theatre was built in back 1926 by director Cecil B. De Mille, and was
known as the Vine Street Theatre. In 1936, it became the CBS/Lux Radio Playhouse.  In the 1950's, it
was renamed The Huntington Hartford Theatre. In the '60s, it became the Doolittle Theatre.  It stayed
the Doolittle until 2004, when the late actor Ricardo Montalban (think "Fantasy Island" and
"Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan") bought it, in an effort to encourage young Hispanic actors.

(Here's a Google Streetview panorama of the building.)

         





But the Hollywood fakery doesn't stop there...

Remember the first hotel that Ali stays at when she arrives in L.A.?
The one where she hides her money in the toilet tank (and later returns to find it stolen)?

When she looks out the hotel window, she see's Grauman's Chinese Theatre
right across the street. So it's on Hollywood Blvd, right?  Wrong.



This is actually the Hotel Rosslyn, located at 112 W5th Street (at Main), in downtown Los Angeles,
a good 8 miles southeast of Grauman's Chinese...

The fake view of Grauman's was probably really shot from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which is
right across the street from Grauman's, and which somewhat resembles the Rosslyn.

Built in 1913, the Rosslyn was a prime hotel in the 1920's, but by the 60's had degenerated into a skid row dump.
In 2010, they renovated the old hotel and turned it into "The Rosslyn Lofts". The hotel has appeared in a number of
other Hollywood productions, such as "No Ordinary Family", "Life on Mars" and "Moonlight", and even had
the starring role in a lesser-known Mel Gibson movie, "Million Dollar Hotel".

(Here's a Google StreetView panorama of the hotel.).

         







In a later scene, 'Jack' (Cam Gigandet) gets into a long-distance fight with his old girlfriend, Natalie,
during a wedding party, in a very opulent setting that may remind some of a Catholic church.



The reason is that it was a Catholic church.
In fact, it was the main Cathedral of Los Angeles for over 100 years.

This used to be Saint Vibiana's Cathedral, located at 214 S. Main Street, in downtown Los Angeles.

St. Vibiana's was built in 1876, at the corner of Main & 2nd Street, and served the community well.
However, the section of the city where it stood eventually became part of Skid Row. And when
the church was damaged by earthquakes, they gave up on it. The Church built a new, modern
Cathedral nearby, and (shame on them) tried to tear down the beautiful old Cathedral.
 Fortunately, after many protests, the historic building was saved.

But it's no longer a church.  It was deconsecrated and is now simply called "Vibiana".
It is available for event rentals - such as this movie shoot. (See its website at vibianala.com)

(Here's a matching Google Streetview panorama of the church.)

         



Finally, a location where the number on the building is real...

Sean's (Stanley Tucci) brick-red house is located at
3260 Rowena Ave in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles.

(Here's a matching Google Streetview panorama of the house.)

         

[ Warning: This is a private home.  Do not trespass on their property,
knock on their door, or do anything else that might disturb the residents.
]




The Spanish-style apartment shared by Ali & Jack (Christina and Cam Gigandet)
looks real, doesn't it?  I thought it was. But we got fooled again....

Turns out this building isn't real. It was a temporary set built against the side of a sound
stage at Sony Studios, in Culver City. (It has since been redone to look like a New York street.)

[Thanks to Chas Demster for this tip.]









There are now several new "Burlesque" locations on page 2!

    

The photos on this page are stills from the DVD of "Burlesque" and are copyright Screen Gems.
The rest of the page is Copyright © 1999-2024-Gary Wayne / Seeing-Stars.com