The elaborate Egyptian Revival style proscenium, removed in the 1960s

Changes in popular taste left their mark at the Egyptian Theatre, but so did changes in film technology.  In 1968, the theater hosted its last premiere:  Barbara Streisand's "Funny Girl."  Contemporary film formats could no longer be bound by the pairs of fat, hieroglyphic-encrusted columns that framed the theater's screen.  The original proscenium and stage of the theater, which had been its most distinctive and wildly decorated elements, were demolished to make way for a new, wide, curved screen specially designed for Cinemascope presentations.  After this last premiere, the Egyptian Theatre became a regular first-run house from 1970 until 1992 when it closed.