Month: July 2008

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The Pasadena Playhouse

My boyfriend and I happened to walk past the Pasadena Playhouse this past weekend, and I just had to walk inside to stalk it. 🙂 The Pasadena Playhouse, although not a filming location, is one of the oldest and most distinguished community theatres in the US. The Playhouse has hosted hundreds of notable actors on its stages throughout the years and the talent of countless Hollywood stars of yesterday and today was cultivated at its distinguished theatre school.

The Playhouse was started in 1917 by an actor/director named Gilmore Brown in a burlesque house in Pasadena. In 1925 it moved to it’s current location, a Spanish adobe style building in what is now called the Playhouse District of Pasadena. A theatre school was also established on the property during the ’20s. It was at this point that the Playhouse became recognized in Hollywood as the go-to place to find talent. George Bernard Shaw even called the Playhouse “the Athens of the West”.

The Playhouse’s theatre school eventually became known in Hollywood as the “Star Factory” due to the many famous actors and actresses that studied there. Famous alumni include Gene Hackman, George Reeves (TV’s Superman), Eve Arden, Sally Struthers, Dustin Hoffman, Raymond Burr, Frances Farmer, Tyrone Power, Charles Bronson, William Holden, and Gloria Stuart, just to name a few. And writer Tennesse Williams premiered all of his plays at the Playhouse. Besides its famous students, countless big names have also performed on the Playhouse’s stage over the years, including William H. Macy, Scott Bakula, and Marilu Henner. Hopefully one day I, too, will be gracing the hallowed stages of this famed theatre.

The Playhouse is one of the best places in Los Angeles to see live theatre. Valerie Harper is currently starring in the world premiere of the play Looped, which was written by celebrated playwright Matthew Lombardo. Looped is based on the life of actress Tallulah Bankhead, who has been dubbed “Hollywood’s first bad girl”. Looped also stars former teenage heartthrob Chad Allen – remember him from My Two Dads???? – who looks completely different today!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Pasadena Playhouse is located at 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, just off Colorado Boulevard. Looped, starring Valerie Harper and Chad Allen, is currently playing through the 3rd of August. After seeing a show, you can grab a bite to eat and a drink at Bazaar Restaurant, located on the Playhouse property.

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The Smoke House

I am a little embarrassed to admit that my latest guilty pleasure is the reality show The Two Coreys on A&E. I love it! So when Corey Haim met with Scott Carlson, the other Corey’s manager, at the Smoke House restaurant in Burbank in one of the first episodes of the season, I of course had to go stalk the place! So I dragged my boyfriend out there last week for a little Smoke House lunch! 🙂 The Smoke House, which was established in 1946, has long been a celebrity magnet. Its close proximity to Warner Bros. Studio – it’s pretty much right across the street – has made it a frequent stomping ground of the stars who often stop in during breaks from filming.

Throughout the sixty years the Smoke House has been in business countless famous names have popped in for a meal, including Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Errol Flynn, Judy Garland, Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Andy Garcia and Frank Sinatra, who even has a steak named after him. The entire cast of Friends used to drop in on a weekly basis to hang out after filming (sigh!). A Tonight Show episode hosted by Jack Parr was filmed at the restaurant. And George Clooney became such a fan of the place during the filming of ER that he even named his production company, Smoke House Productions, after the restaurant. According to our waitress, besides The Two Coreys, a few episodes of Desperate Housewives were also filmed at the restaurant, but I am not sure which episodes.

The Smoke House serves up some GREAT food in a very cool, Old Hollywood environment. While there, I could almost picture Frank Sinatra walking through the doors to sit in one of the shiny red booths. I definitely recommend stalking the restaurant if you find yourself in the area. I hear that the best time to stop in is around noon – the time when many stars working on the WB lot take their lunch breaks and head across the street for a bite to eat.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Smoke House is located at 4420 W. Lakeside Drive in Burbank. Be sure to order up some of their famous garlic bread – it is amazing!!

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Frank The Tank!

I have been a student at The Groundlings School for about two years now. The Groundlings is an exceptional improv school that was started in 1972 and is practically a breeding ground for Saturday Night Live actors. Some of the comedic greats who got their start at the Groundlings include Kathy Griffin, Lisa Kudrow, Paul Reubens, Phil Hartman, Jennifer Coolidge, Pat Morita, Chris Farley, Jon Lovitz, Chris Kattan, and Frank the Tank himself, Will Ferrell. Every few months the Groundlings invites some of its famous alumni to participate in a question and answer session a la Inside the Actors Studio for the current Groundlings students. This past Monday night I was lucky enough to attend a Q&A session with funnyman Will Ferrell. I was even more excited because my Groundlings teacher, Roy Jenkins, was the one interviewing Will.

The evening was so much fun!! I had expected Will to be extremely hyper and keyed up during the interview, but he was actually very down to earth and normal. And absolutely hilarious! As an actress, it was amazing to be able to hear acting advice in person and straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. Will shared many stories with us about his acting career and his long road to success. He even told us that at times he still gets stage fright, as he did the last time he performed in a Groundlings show! That was very heartening to hear! Here I thought I was the only one. LOL 🙂

He even did a few impersonations for us – one of James Lipton, host of Inside the Actor’s Studio, and another of Harry Caray, an announcer for the Chicago Cubs – which were incredible to see in person. It was also a great learning experience to see my teacher, Roy, onstage with Will. The two studied at the Groundlings together and have known each other for over 16 years. It was amazing to see that not only was Roy just as funny as Will, but how they were able to work off of each other the entire time to make us laugh. I definitely saw them using some of the same Groundlings techniques and trainings during the interview that I am being taught in class. It was amazing to watch. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: You can stalk the Groundlings at 7307 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. The improv and sketch comedy shows are HILARIOUS and are put on practically every single night of the week. Famous alumni even stop in on occasion to perform alongside current Groundlings castmembers! I recommend catching The Crazy Uncle Joe Show, my personal favorite, which is a long form improv show held every Wednesday night at 8pm. Tickets are $12.50 per person. If you are interested in studying with the Groundlings, you can set up an audition here.

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Casa Vega and the Great Mexican Food Debate!

I have long been a fan of Spencer and Heidi’s favorite Mexican restaurant Don Antonio’s in West LA. As far as I can see, it’s the only thing Spencer and I agree on. 🙂 Don Antonio’s serves up the best Mexican food I’ve ever tasted! In fact, the restaurant was the subject of my very first blog post. I really can’t say enough about the place!! But fellow stalkers Mike from MovieShotsLA and EJ from The Movieland Directory have both been telling me that the best Mexican food in LA can actually be found at a place called Casa Vega in Sherman Oaks. On their recommendation, I dragged my boyfriend out to Sherman Oaks this past Friday night to stalk the place.

After eating there, though, I can definitely say that Casa Vega does not hold a candle to my beloved Don Antonio’s. While the food was definitely yummy, and one of the better Mexican restaurants I have eaten at in the LA area, for me, it just does not compare to D.A.’s. Don Antonio’s is just in a league of its own. I also found Casa Vega’s menu to be on the pricey side and the service wasn’t the best. Very odd thing happened while we were there, too -while waiting for a table, my boyfriend and I snagged a seat at the bar and I ordered a glass of champagne – my fave. The bartender poured some champagne into a huge tumbler glass and then filled it to the top with CLUB SODA! Four days later I am still absolutely perplexed by that and cannot figure out what he was doing! LOL

Apparently, Casa Vega is somewhat of a celebrity haven. Numerous stars frequent the small restaurant, including Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo. Ironically, Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo just dined there, as well, while on a recent trip to LA. While there, Mike from MovieShotsLA has seen Travis and Shana Barker, Brian Austin Green, Nikki Sixx, and Jillian Barberie. Sadly, we did not spot any celebs while we were there. 🙁

If you happen to be in the Sherman Oaks area, I definitely suggest stopping in for a bite at Casa Vega. But as for the best Mexican food in LA, this stalker’s heart will always belong to Don Antonio. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Judge for yourself! Casa Vega is located at 13301 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Don Antonio’s can be found at 11755 West Pico Boulevard in West LA. Both restaurants can get pretty packed so be prepared for a long wait.

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Go Team Nicole!

My mom called me in a complete tizzy last week screaming at me to immediately turn my TV onto Bravo. It turns out that Nicole, Nick Arrojo’s assistant who worked on my mom’s hair during her appointment with Nick last December, is currently competing on Season 2 of the TV show Shear Genius. Shear Genius is a reality show hosted by Jacklyn Smith in which hair stylists compete in on-air styling challenges in order to win $100,000 and a styling job for a photo spread in Allure Magazine.

My mom and I absolutely fell in love with Nicole during the appointment with Nick. She was completely down to earth and adorable and she really could not have been nicer. She had a really sweet relationship with Nick, too. Nicole has been doing great on Shear Genius and I really think she has a good chance of taking home the final prize! Until then my fingers are crossed! Go Team Nicole!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: You can catch Shear Genius on Bravo, Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Nick Arrojo’s studio is located at 180 Varick Street in the SoHo area of New York City. You can also visit the Arrojo Studio website here. I highly recommend making an appointment with Nick – he is truly amazing!

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Interview With the BBC!

Got a comment on my blog this morning from a man named Iain Mackenzie who works for the radio station BBC Radio 1 out of New York. Iain is currently in LA doing a piece on the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and he thought that, while in town, he’d record a brief segment on the new 90210 series that is coming out this fall. He wanted to interview me as a sort of 90210 expert. How cool is that?? Good to know I’m an expert on something! My parents must be so proud. LOL 🙂 Anyway, I was very excited to do the interview and met up with Iain this morning at – where else? – Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena.

Iain is the US news reporter for BBC Radio 1 and an all around nice guy. We had a great chat about life and Hollywood and, of course, the first 90210 series and its stars. It seems he was quite a bit obsessed with the show back in the day, too. 🙂 He asked me some questions about the new 90210, if I thought it was going to be a hit, and why I thought the first 90210 became such a huge phenomenon. Iain was super friendly and I had an absolute blast doing the interview. I can’t wait for it to air!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: BBC Radio 1 is the second biggest radio station in the UK, with over 13 million listeners each week. Iain reports on the Newsbeat program which broadcasts twice a day. You can listen to Radio 1 on SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s Channel 11. You can also listen to the station on Radio 1’s website. I am not sure when the 90210 segment will air, but hopefully I can get an audio file of the interview to post here.

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Marilyn Merlot

I am still very much in the throws of my Marilyn Monroe obsession, and it is definitely true what they say – the more you think about something, the more you attract that thing to you. My father happened to be going through his wine collection last week and discovered a bottle of “Marilyn Merlot” wine that he had purchased almost a decade ago. No one in my family has ever been a big Marilyn fan, so it was a fairly random purchase. My dad says he came across the wine one day many years ago in a grocery store and he grabbed it thinking it might one day be a collector’s item. Due to my recent obsession, he of course gave the bottle to me and I quickly put it on display in my kitchen. Flash forward to this past weekend, when my parents were vacationing in Monterey, California. They made a visit to their favorite wine shop there, Terranova Fine Wines, and lo and behold, sitting on a shelf in the store was a vast collection of the Marilyn Wines, including the one my father had just given me. It’s present day worth? $225!! Guess he was right about it one day being a collector’s item. 🙂

Bob, the owner of Terranova, filled my dad in on the history of the Marilyn Wines. Apparently, in 1985 two Napa area brothers gained exclusive rights to Marilyn’s name and certain images of the starlet and decided to use them on bottles of wine. Beginning in ’85, the brothers released a new vintage of Marilyn Merlot each year on her birthday – June 1 – each with a different photograph of the screen legend. The wine was not extremely popular until its fourth vintage when it caught the attention of a Japanese businessman who formed a partnership with the brothers. They agreed that 60 percent of each year’s vintage would be sold exclusively in Japan, as Marilyn is still a huge icon there. They also agreed to only release a limited quantity of each year’s wine, so as to prevent overflooding of the market. Today the wines are hugely successful, with some vintages costing upwards of thousands of dollars. The brothers have branched out and now also produce Marilyn Cabernet, Norma Jeane Wines, the Velvet Collection, and Blonde de Noirs, their latest creation of sparkling wines. All royalties from the sales of the wines go to Anna Strasberg, the wife of Marilyn’s beloved acting coach, Lee Strasberg, to whom Marilyn left everything in her will. Anna allocates the money to the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and the Anna Freud Fondation in London.

That same day that my parents learned the history of the Marilyn Wines, my boyfriend and I were actually stalking the Beverly Hills home Marilyn shared for a few short months with husband Joe DiMaggio. Monroe and DiMaggio rented the house in April of 1954 while Marilyn was in town filming There’s No Business Like Show Business. The home, which is most often referred to as Joe and Marilyn’s honeymoon home, is a very cute, but nondescript Elizabethan style house. It is amazing to me to that she lived in such a normal home at the height of her career.

On October 6, 1954 a distraught Marilyn held a press conference on the front lawn of this home announcing her divorce from Joe DiMaggio. The press were out in force that day, camped out in Marilyn’s front yard, to document the event. Marilyn vacated the home shortly thereafter. You can see a slide-show of the press conference that took place that day here. Although it is a very long slide-show, there are quite a few photographs where you can see the home in the background.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Marilyn and Joe’s honeymoon home is located at 508 North Palm Drive in Beverly Hills, just off Santa Monica Boulevard. Terranova Fine Wines is located at 315 Calle Principal in Monterey, California. If you visit the store, be sure to ask for Bob, who has a vast knowledge of Marilyn Monroe and the Marilyn Wines. You can also visit the Terranova website here.

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The New Peach Pit

Over the years there have been several locations used around LA for the filming of the Peach Pit on my fave TV show, Beverly Hills, 90210. And now there is one more location to add to the already long list. My buddy Mike over at MovieShotsLA gave me the scoop on last week’s filming of the new 90210, which is scheduled to premiere on the CW this fall. Apparently filming of the new Peach Pit took place at the Kokomo Cafe (formerly the Eat Well Cafe) on Beverly Boulevard. So, of course, I dragged my boyfriend right out to stalk it!

As we pulled up to the address I was literally shaking with excitement. I had heard that the Peach Pit signs were still up from last week’s filming and the 14 year old in me was absolutely ecstatic at the thought of seeing them in real life! But alas it was not to be. The Peach Pit signs had already been removed and the Kokomo Cafe signs put back up by the time we arrived. It was still very cool to be there, though! The Kokomo Cafe looks NOTHING like the Peach Pit of the old days – this one is much more modern, with a sleek purple and black interior. The exterior is completely different, as well. The new Peach Pit is located in the corner space of a Spanish style building with large potted plants and wrought iron balconies. Supposedly producers are building an exact replica of the new Pit on a soundstage for future filming. One thing that hasn’t changed at the 90210 gang’s old hangout, though? Nat! Apparently Peach Pit founder Nat (played by actor Joe E. Tata) has signed on to be a part of the new 90210. YAY! Now if they can only get Luke Perry on board!!! 🙂

You can see a picture of the Kokomo Cafe all decked out with Peach Pit signs here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The new Peach Pit can be found at the Kokomo Cafe located at 7385 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles. Both the interior and the exterior of the cafe were used for the filming of the new 90210. The restaurant looks like a pretty cool place to grab a bite to eat. Apparently many stars were fans of the Kokomo Cafe’s former Farmer’s Market location and such celebs as Drew Barrymore and Denzel Washington were spotted dining there.

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The Cravens Estate

Just purchased Scott’s LA Audio Tour of Pasadena, a CD driving tour which is absolutely chock full of filming locations!! Loved it!! I was especially excited because one of the locations visited on the audio tour was a mansion named the Cravens Estate which was used in one of my favorite TV shows. Besides currently housing the Pasadena headquarters for the American Red Cross, the estate is practically a Hollywood backlot. Countless productions have filmed there over the years, but most significantly Cravens Estate was featured each week as JAG Headquarters on the television series of the same name. I do love me some Commander Harm Rabb! 🙂

The Cravens Estate was built in the 1920s by John and Mildred Cravens. It is one of the last remaining mansions on what used to be known as Millionaires Row (Orange Grove Avenue) in Pasadena. The 25,000 square foot French Chateau style mansion was donated to the American Red Cross in the 1960s. The red brick exterior of the estate is absolutely gorgeous and the mansion really looks like it could be found in Washington D.C. Apparently, fans always used to write to JAG creator Donald P. Bellasario telling him that they stalked the town of Falls Church. Virginia (where JAG supposedly takes place) looking for JAG Headquarters only to find out that the builiding was actually located in Cailfornia. 🙂

Both the interior and the exterior of the Cravens Estate have been used as filming locations over the years. On the TV show Commander in Chief, starring Geena Davis, the kitchen of the estate was used as the White House kitchen. Other productions filmed at the estate include Enemy of the State, Traffic, Murder She Wrote, Rush Hour 3, The Practice, Swordfish, Judging Amy, The Lyon’s Den, 24, and Beverly Hills, 90210. (I wish I knew what it was portrayed as in 90210!!!! Does anyone know???) The estate is also often used for weddings and special events.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Cravens Estate is located at 430 Madeline Drive in Pasadena, just off of Orange Grove Avenue. You can purchase Scott’s Driving CD’s here. Although the CD’s do move a bit too fast on occasion, they are lots of fun to take a tour with. Currently Scott has audio tours of Pasadena, Hollywood and Los Angeles available.

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More Charmed Locations!

My friend Chelsea is just about as obsessed with the TV series Charmed as I am with Beverly Hills, 90210. So while hanging out the other day she asked me to stalk a few Charmed filming locations for her. She was just dying to find Finn’s creepy looking house from the Season Four episode entitled “Size Matters”. In the episode Finn lives in a run-down, haunted-looking, Victorian-style home. The picture to the left is a screen capture of Finn’s house from the show. (I just learned how to do screen captures!!! YAY!)

As soon as I popped in Chelsea’s DVD of the “Size Matters” episode, I immediately recognized the house as what is quite possibly the most famous haunted house in the world. Turns out Finn’s house is the exact same house used in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video and I have visited it several times. In the Charmed episode the house looks a lot more run down than it actually appears in real life. I am not sure if the house was actually in a state of disarray back when the Charmed episode was filmed or if producers added a facade to make it appear more spooky. In any event, today the house is not quite as creepy as it was when it played Finn’s home. Ironically, the Thriller house is just a few doors down from the Victorian that is used as the Halliway Sisters’ home on the series.

The next location Chelsea wanted me to stalk was the tunnel used in the Season Six episode entitled “Forget-Me-Not.” In the episode, Piper’s toddler son Wyatt conjures up a dragon who ends up running wild all over San Francisco. In one scene, the dragon flies out of what Piper identifies as the “Presidio Tunnel”. The screen capture above shows the tunnel in the episode. I am so loving this screen capture thing! 🙂 Anyway, after doing a bit of Internet research I found this link on fave website Seeing Stars which led me to a tunnel in Griffith Park called the Mount Hollywood Tunnel.

I was very excited to learn that the Mount Hollywood Tunnel has quite a distinguished filming history. It was used in Back to the Future 2 as the “River Road Tunnel” where Marty tries to get his almanac back from Biff, in Who Framed Roger Rabbit it served as the entrance to Toon Town, in War Games it was the entrance to NORAD, Emma Roberts ran through it in the Nancy Drew movie, and it was also the location of the accident that killed Marissa Cooper in Mischa Barton’s final episode of The O.C. And after looking at the Seeing Stars page, I could immediately tell it was the same tunnel used in Charmed.

So yesterday I set out to stalk the Mount Hollywood Tunnel. I was excited to see that it looks pretty much exactly as it did in the Charmed episode. The only difference is that in Charmed signs were hung on the tunnel entrance saying “Presidio Tunnel”. Those, of course, were not there in real life. Also, for some reason, in real life cones have been put up running down the entire center of the tunnel. If you decide to stalk the tunnel for yourself, please exercise extreme caution! Cars barrel through it at about 40 mph, and I almost got hit while I was there. The tunnel is very dark and I don’t think drivers realize that there might be pedestrians inside – so be careful!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Finn’s house, aka the Thriller house, is located at 1345 Carroll Avenue in Echo Park, just down the street from the Charmed House, which can be found at 1329. Carroll Avenue is a historic neighborhood with a huge collection of beautiful Victorian homes. Walking tours of the neighborhood are conducted monthly and you can even take a tour of the interior of the Charmed house. The Mount Hollywood Tunnel is located in Griffith Park, just off Vermont Drive. Follow Vermont through the park, past the Greek Theatre. Once you pass the Observatory keep going straight on Vermont to where it turns into Mount Hollywood Drive and it will lead you right through the tunnel. Once you drive through the tunnel, there is small dirt parking lot where you can park your car and walk back to the tunnel entrance. The entrance near the parking lot is the side of the tunnel that was used in Charmed.