Day shift: Pittsburgh. The ride in over the Smithfield Street Bridge, the incline up to Hanna’s, the conservatory front on Forbes Avenue. Filming began here on 18 October 1982. Roll the credits
The credits · the audition and Mawby’s
Every plate below says Jennifer Beals, as the film does. Roll a credit and it turns to whoever really did that move. Jeffrey Hornaday made the dances; three other people performed much of them.
Marine Jahan, Crazy Legs and Sharon Shapiro, and why Jahan’s name is missing.
Marine Jahan uncredited; choreography by Jeffrey Hornaday.
The routines at Mawby’s
Jennifer Beals
The spin on the audition floor
Jennifer Beals
The dive in slow motion
Jennifer Beals
Alex in every close-up
Jennifer Beals
Four moves, four plates, one name on every plate. Roll a credit.
Credits rolled: 0 of 4
Boyd Street at Wall Street, downtown Los Angeles
Mawby’s was a set built in a vacant warehouse at the corner of Boyd and Wall Streets.
The warehouse has gone.
In the story it is a Pittsburgh neighbourhood bar and grill where Alex dances at night.
The set and the warehouse are gone; there is nothing of the bar to see. The photograph is Wall Street further south.
Mawby’s was built in an empty warehouse in downtown Los Angeles, and the audition, spin and dive included, was shot in a veterans’ hall on Figueroa Street. Both are further down this page.
Mawby’s set in downtown Los Angeles.
AFI Catalog: Flashdance (1983), production historyMovie Locations: Flashdance filming locations
The audition at Bob Hope Patriotic Hall.
The opening · North Side to downtown
Before the mill and before the bar, the film opens on a bicycle: Alex starting out in Fineview, high on the North Side, and riding over a river into the city.
Watch the second stop: she rides east over the Smithfield Street Bridge, which Wikipedia lists as a continuity error. The bridge had turned a hundred the month before the film came out: it opened on 19 March 1883, Flashdance on 15 April 1983.
The continuity error, and the release date.
The bridge opened to traffic on 19 March 1883.
Warren Street at Catoma Street, Fineview, North Side, Pittsburgh
The opening ride starts here: Alex on her bicycle on Warren Street, where it meets Catoma Street.
Fineview, on the North Side, was known to older generations as Nunnery Hill.
Its best-known view of downtown is from the Fineview Overlook, at Catoma and Meadville Streets.
Steep residential streets. Walk up, keep to the pavement, and carry on to the Fineview Overlook at Catoma and Meadville Streets for the view of downtown.
Smithfield Street, over the Monongahela between downtown and Station Square, Pittsburgh
The opening sequence ends with Alex riding over it into the city.
She crosses it heading east, which is a continuity error.
Gustav Lindenthal’s lenticular truss bridge opened to traffic on 19 March 1883, the third bridge on the site.
It is the second oldest steel bridge in the United States.
A working road bridge into downtown, with a walkway on its span; Station Square is at the south end.
Pittsburgh
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Compare toursMount Washington · the South Side Flats
Hanna Long, a retired ballerina, is Alex’s mentor. The way to her goes up the Duquesne Incline, and her door is on the South Side, under a clock that was once the largest single-face clock in the world.
1197 West Carson Street (lower station) to 1220 Grandview Avenue, Pittsburgh
Alex rides one of its cars on her way to see Hanna.
It climbs 400 feet up Mount Washington at an angle of 30 degrees.
It runs on an unusual five-foot track gauge.
A nonprofit society operates it, and the fare is the standard Pittsburgh Regional Transit fare.
Runs every day, 6:30am to 12:30am, no booking. Exact cash fare or a ConnectCard; no bank cards. A small museum and an observation deck at the top station.
Mount Washington · Daily 6:30am–12:30am · standard transit fare · exact cash or ConnectCard
The incline Alex rides to Hanna’s, up Mount Washington from West Carson Street, with a small museum and an observation deck at the top.
Plan the ride
Mary Street at South 21st Street, South Side Flats, Pittsburgh
It stands in the background of the scene at Hanna’s door.
Installed in 1933, it was then the largest single-face clock in the world; the face is 60 feet square.
The brewery bought it in 1961, painted Have A Duke on the face and put it on top of its South Side building.
The 1899 brewhouse at Mary and 21st Streets is now the Brew House Association, with housing, studios and a gallery for Pittsburgh artists.
See it from the street. The brewhouse beneath is homes and studios for artists.
Sidney Street, South Side Flats, Pittsburgh
Hanna Long’s house is a real South Side home on Sidney Street, near the Birmingham Bridge; the film used its entrance on South 21st Street.
Its green porch has since been taken off.
Hanna, a retired ballerina, is Alex’s mentor.
A private home. It is not mapped, and the photograph is a nearby street, not the house.
1982: a green porch at the South 21st Street entrance, where Alex knocks.
The mill · the Monongahela valley
Alex is a welder, eighteen, at a Pittsburgh mill that belongs to Nick Hurley. The mill is invented, and none of the sources here says where its scenes were shot, so this page won’t guess. Lay a bead instead; then lift the hood on a real one.
Alex, eighteen, a welder at a Pittsburgh steel mill owned by Nick Hurley.
Welders #1 and #2 are credited to Larry John Meyers and David DiManna; filming ran from 18 October to 30 December 1982.
The Carrie Furnaces ran until 1982.
The hood is up. Nod it down, then strike an arc.
801 Carrie Furnace Boulevard, Rankin and Swissvale, on the Monongahela
Not a filming place. Alex’s mill belongs to Nick Hurley and is invented; this is a real Pittsburgh mill of the same years.
The Carrie Furnaces, part of the Homestead Steel Works, were built in 1884 and ran until 1982.
Furnaces 6 and 7 survive; they worked from 1907 to 1978.
A National Historic Landmark since 2006, the site is run by Rivers of Steel.
Guided tours only, May to October. The Industrial Tour takes about two hours, mostly outdoors, for up to 20 people; adults $26. Book ahead.
Mon Valley · May to October · about 2 hours · $26 · $22 students and seniors · $17 ages 4–17
A guided walk round the surviving furnaces of the Homestead Steel Works, mostly outdoors. Not a Flashdance location: the nearest real mill of the film’s years.
Book a placePittsburgh Magazine’s fortieth-anniversary look back puts the film against the end of an industry: imported steel and lighter sheet steel undid the mills in the 1970s, and by the late 1980s more than three quarters of Pittsburgh’s steel works had shut.
Imported steel, light sheet steel, and more than 75% of Pittsburgh’s steel factories closed by the late 1980s.
Forbes Avenue · Figueroa Street
The Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory is two buildings. Alex loses her nerve at it in Pittsburgh; she dances for the judges in Los Angeles.
4400 Forbes Avenue, Oakland, Pittsburgh
The lobby and front of the Carnegie Music Hall play the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory.
Alex loses her nerve at the conservatory and runs out through the Hall of Sculpture.
The Hall of Sculpture opened in 1907, modelled on the inner sanctuary of the Parthenon.
Tickets: adults $25, over-65s $20, students and children $15.
The museums open 10am to 5pm, Thursdays to 8pm, and close on Tuesdays between Labor Day and Memorial Day. Adults $25. The Hall of Sculpture is in the Carnegie Museum of Art.
1816 South Figueroa Street, at West 18th Street, Los Angeles
Alex’s final audition, in front of five judges, was filmed here.
Dedicated in 1925 for veterans, it opened in 1926 and was the tallest building in Los Angeles for seven years.
The lobby is vaulted and painted; A. J. Leitner’s WPA mural Soldiers and Sailors fills one vestibule.
It was renamed for Bob Hope on 12 November 2004.
Home of the county’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. See the front from Figueroa Street and ask the department before going in.
Movie Locations has Alex running out through the Hall of Sculpture; Wikipedia and Pittsburgh Magazine name the Music Hall’s lobby and front. Both are in the same Carnegie building on Forbes Avenue.
The Hall of Sculpture.
The Music Hall lobby and front.
Wikipedia: FlashdancePittsburgh Magazine: This Week in Pittsburgh History: Flashdance Opens in Theaters (12 April 2021)
Los Angeles, playing Pittsburgh
Filming finished in Los Angeles on 30 December 1982, and most of Alex’s indoor life is there: her warehouse home, a church, a house with a window she breaks. Jeanie’s skating was filmed at Culver Ice Rink in Culver City, which closed on 2 February 2014.
Filming ended in Los Angeles on 30 December 1982.
Jeanie’s skating at Culver Ice Rink.
The rink at 4545 Sepulveda Boulevard closed on 2 February 2014.
CBS Los Angeles: Culver City Ice Rink, Westside Landmark, Shuts Its Doors (2 February 2014)
Los Angeles Street at 17th Street, beside the Santa Monica Freeway, Los Angeles
Alex’s home, a converted warehouse she shares with her dog Grunt, was filmed in what was the Feit Electric building.
Her loft is on the top floor, at 17th Street beside the Santa Monica Freeway.
A private commercial building; look from the street. The photograph is Los Angeles Street a mile to the north.
218 East 12th Street, at Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles
Alex goes to confession here.
The church burned in 1983, after the film came out; a demolition permit was issued on 18 October 1983.
It was Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 15; its cornerstone was laid on 17 June 1901.
The church on the corner now looks little like the one in the film.
A working parish church in a newer building on the same corner.
South June Street, Hancock Park, Los Angeles
Nick Hurley’s house, where Alex throws a rock through his window, is a private home on South June Street.
Nick owns the steel mill where Alex works.
A private home. It is not mapped, and the photograph is Sixth Street nearby, not the house.
Los Angeles
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Compare toursFifth Avenue, Pittsburgh · 14 April 1983
332 Fifth Avenue, downtown Pittsburgh
Flashdance had its premiere here on 14 April 1983, a benefit the night before the film opened.
It was the theatre’s last night: the Warner closed with that premiere.
It opened as the Grand Theatre on 7 March 1918 and became the Warner on 2 January 1930.
The auditorium was then pulled down for a two-storey shopping centre, the Warner Centre; the doors and part of the lobby were kept.
Offices and shops behind the old front. See it from Fifth Avenue.
Adrian Lyne directed; Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson produced. Tom Hedley’s idea was rewritten by Joe Eszterhas. It opened across the United States on 15 April 1983 and was the third-highest-grossing film of the year there.
The title song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The film was also nominated for its cinematography, its editing and a second song.
Director, producers, writers, release and the Oscars.
AFI Catalog: Flashdance (1983), production historyWikipedia: Flashdance
Third-highest-grossing film of 1983 in the United States.
Wikipedia: FlashdancePittsburgh Magazine: This Week in Pittsburgh History: Flashdance Opens in Theaters (12 April 2021)
The studio’s film page.
Alex Owens. Photographed in July 1983.
Nick Hurley, who owns the mill. Photographed in 2009.
Original music. Photographed in 1979.
Co-wrote the title song’s lyrics with Keith Forsey and sang it. Photographed in 1987.
Cast and roles.
AFI Catalog: Flashdance (1983), production historyParamount Pictures: Flashdance
Giorgio Moroder, original music; Irene Cara and Keith Forsey, lyrics; Irene Cara sings the title song.
AFI Catalog: Flashdance (1983), production historyWikipedia: Flashdance
Both shifts
11 places you can visit, in two cities. Hanna’s house and Nick’s are private and not mapped.
11 places you can visit: Pittsburgh by day, Los Angeles by night. The two private homes are not mapped.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Steep residential streets. Walk up, keep to the pavement, and carry on to the Fineview Overlook at Catoma and Meadville Streets for the view of downtown.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working road bridge into downtown, with a walkway on its span; Station Square is at the south end.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Offices and shops behind the old front. See it from Fifth Avenue.
Warren Street at Catoma Street, Fineview, North Side, Pittsburgh
The opening ride starts here: Alex on her bicycle on Warren Street, where it meets Catoma Street.
Steep residential streets. Walk up, keep to the pavement, and carry on to the Fineview Overlook at Catoma and Meadville Streets for the view of downtown.
Smithfield Street, over the Monongahela between downtown and Station Square, Pittsburgh
The opening sequence ends with Alex riding over it into the city.
A working road bridge into downtown, with a walkway on its span; Station Square is at the south end.
332 Fifth Avenue, downtown Pittsburgh
Flashdance had its premiere here on 14 April 1983, a benefit the night before the film opened.
Offices and shops behind the old front. See it from Fifth Avenue.
Stay
A hotel at the far end of the Smithfield Street Bridge, a short walk from the incline.
Station Square
A 399-room hotel at 300 West Station Square Drive, in Station Square on the Monongahela’s south bank, at the far end of the Smithfield Street Bridge, with river views.
See the hotelGo there
The mill tour, the incline, and marketplace tours in both cities.
Mon Valley · May to October · about 2 hours · $26 · $22 students and seniors · $17 ages 4–17
A guided walk round the surviving furnaces of the Homestead Steel Works, mostly outdoors. Not a Flashdance location: the nearest real mill of the film’s years.
Book a placeMount Washington · Daily 6:30am–12:30am · standard transit fare · exact cash or ConnectCard
The incline Alex rides to Hanna’s, up Mount Washington from West Carson Street, with a small museum and an observation deck at the top.
Plan the ridePittsburgh
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Compare toursLos Angeles
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Compare toursWhat’s on
No screening or event tied to these places is announced.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Take it home
A history of the Homestead works, and the soundtrack on LP.
William Serrin
A history of Homestead and its steel works, which the Carrie Furnaces belonged to. Vintage paperback.
Find the bookVarious artists · LP, 1983
The 1983 Casablanca Records LP; the soundtrack won the Grammy for Best Album of Original Score.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
13 of 13 places · 14 of 14 Moments
Warren Street at Catoma Street, Fineview, North Side, Pittsburgh
The opening ride starts with Alex cycling on Warren Street at Catoma Street, Fineview.
Smithfield Street, over the Monongahela between downtown and Station Square, Pittsburgh
The opening ride ends with Alex crossing the Smithfield Street Bridge.
332 Fifth Avenue, downtown Pittsburgh
Flashdance has its premiere at the Warner Theatre on 14 April 1983, the theatre’s last night.
1197 West Carson Street (lower station) to 1220 Grandview Avenue, Pittsburgh
Alex rides a Duquesne Incline car on her way to see Hanna.
Mary Street at South 21st Street, South Side Flats, Pittsburgh
The Duquesne Brewery clock stands in the background of the scene at Hanna’s door.
Sidney Street, South Side Flats, Pittsburgh
Alex visits her mentor Hanna Long, filmed at the South 21st Street entrance of a house on Sidney Street.
4400 Forbes Avenue, Oakland, Pittsburgh
The Carnegie Music Hall’s lobby and front play the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory.
Alex backs out of the audition and runs out through the Hall of Sculpture.
801 Carrie Furnace Boulevard, Rankin and Swissvale, on the Monongahela
Alex welds at a mill owned by Nick Hurley; it is invented. The Carrie Furnaces are a real mill of the same years and were not filmed.
Los Angeles Street at 17th Street, beside the Santa Monica Freeway, Los Angeles
Alex’s converted warehouse home was filmed in the Feit Electric building in Los Angeles.
Boyd Street at Wall Street, downtown Los Angeles
Mawby’s, the bar where Alex dances at night, was a set in a vacant warehouse at Boyd and Wall Streets.
218 East 12th Street, at Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles
Alex goes to confession at St. Joseph’s Church.
1816 South Figueroa Street, at West 18th Street, Los Angeles
Alex’s final audition, before five judges, was filmed in Bob Hope Patriotic Hall.
South June Street, Hancock Park, Los Angeles
Alex throws a rock through Nick’s window, at a private house on South June Street.
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