famous theatres – Page 2

July 10, 2009April 20, 2010

Vincent Price in Thriller

At the risk of this site dwelling far too excessively on the recent sad passing of pop star Michael Jackson, I just had to write one more blog post about him. Or, rather, about his legendary music video Thriller and one of its main filming locations.

I received an email last night with the above photograph attached from fellow stalker Marlon, who happened to be driving by the Palace Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles and noticed the words “Michael Jackson Starring in Thriller” posted on the marquee. It seems that in honor of MJ’s passing, the historic theatre restored its marquee to how it appeared in the iconic music video that was filmed there just over twenty-six years ago. Well, sort of. What the Palace marquee actually spelled out in the Thriller video were the words “Vincent Price Thriller” – Vincent Price, of course, being the notable horror film actor who lent his voice to the rap portion of Michael’s famous song. Maybe someone over at the Palace should have watched the video before restoring the marquee! Sheesh! You know, if they had me on staff they would have gotten it right. 🙂 Anyway, let me tell you that after seeing Marlon’s photograph I just about died!!! And, even though it was about 11 O’clock at night, I begged my fiance to run me right over there to see the marquee for myself. He, of course, denied that request, so I had to wait until this morning to make the trek out to Downtown Los Angeles.

Apparently, though, another fastidious MJ fan had informed the Palace of their marquee faux-pas, because by the time I got there they had fixed the wording to read “Vincent Price in Thriller”. Now, I don’t mean to be nit-picky or anything, but for the record in the video there was no “in” written on the marquee. It simply stated “Vincent Price Thriller”, but I guess I have to just let that one slide. 🙂 Extraneous “in” or not, I was still SO excited to see that marquee in person! For a filming locations buff and huge MJ fan, seeing the Palace marquee brought back to the way it was when Thriller was filmed was . . . well, a thrill! 🙂 I could not have been more excited! And what an amazing tribute to Michael!

The Los Angeles Theatre, which did not have a cameo in the Thriller video, but is located right across the street from the Palace, also put up a marquee memorial to Michael.

While stalking the Palace, I managed to snap some photographs of its beautiful Florentine Renaissance style entrance. The theatre’s antique ticket booth, which can be seen in the background of Thriller, has sadly since been removed, but you can see some great photographs of it here.

According to fellow stalker and the author of one of my very favorite stalking books, Harry Medved, the loft area of the Palace was used as Christian Bale’s magic workshop in 2006’s The Prestige and as Jeff Bridge’s art studio in 1998’s The Big Lebowski and the theatre’s back door was used as the entrance to Club Silencio in David Lynch’s oddball movie Mullholland Drive. To learn more about the Palace and its nearly one hundred year history, you can check out the post I wrote about it last October here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Palace Theatre is located at 630 South Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles. The theatre is currently closed to the public, but you can certainly stalk its exterior. I am not sure how long the Michael Jackson memorial marquee will be left up, but in this stalker’s opinion it should remain there forever. 🙂

June 10, 2009June 10, 2009

The Pantages Theatre

As promised earlier in the week, I thought I would dedicate today’s post to the historic Pantages Theatre in Hollywood where I saw Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage last Tuesday night . And let me tell you, the Pantages Theatre is a site to see, in and of itself! The Art Deco landmark was built in 1930 by vaudeville theatre mogul Alexander Pantages for a whopping $1.25 million – and we’re talking 1930’s money!!!! It was designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, who conceived most of the theatres in the Pantages chain. But, in an ironic twist of events, when the theatre first opened to the public on June 4, 1930, it was not opened as a Pantages, but instead under the Fox Theatre name. In 1929, while the Pantages was being built, Alexander was knee-deep in a scandal involving another of his many theatres. It seems Alexander, who was in his sixties at the time, was accused and found guilty of raping one of his sixteen year old female ushers at his theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. After being sent to jail, he was forced to open his new Hollywood theatre under a different name. In 1931, Pantages appealed the case and was awarded a new trial. His defense in the second trial maintained that rival theatre company RKO along with Joseph Kennedy (yes, that Joseph Kennedy) had framed him in order to purchase his theatre chain at a low price. Since the broom closet where the rape had supposedly occured was too small a space for two people to fit in, the jury acquitted him and Alexander was released from prison. But Pantages never regained his luxor in Hollywood. Alexander Pantages passed away only two months after his release from prison, broke and broken.

The Pantages has gone through a succession of owners during its almost eighty year history. In 1949, Howard Hughes purchased the theatre and renamed it RKO Pantages. His offices were located above the theatre on the building’s second floor. During the RKO years, from 1949 to 1959 , the Pantages hosted ten Academy Awards ceremonies. It was also home to the Emmy Awards through 1977. In 1967, the Pantages was taken over by Pacific Theatres, who in 1977 joined forces with the Nederlander Theatre Organization to refurbish the property and turn it into a live theatre venue. In October of 2000, Disney opened its hit show The Lion King at the Pantages, which ran for over two years and almost 900 performances. Just prior to The Lion King’s opening, the Pantages underwent a painstaking $10 million renovation process, bringing the theatre back to her original splendor. Since that time, the theatre has been home to over 45 live stage productions including Mama Mia, Annie, Rent, Cats, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

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The Pantages is an absolutely beautiful theatre and a stunning example of Art Deco architecture.

From its sweeping staircases . . .

. . . to its sparkling Art Deco chandeliers, I was absolutely mesmerized by the architectural detail throughout. The Pantages is truly a wonder and I HIGHLY recommend stalking it, if you get the chance!

The Pantages is no stranger to the silver screen, either. It was featured in The Bodyguard, as the site of the Academy Awards ceremony where Whitney Houston was a presenter;

the exterior of it shows up very briefly in The Black Dhalia, as Josh Hartnett makes his way into the Frolic Room which is located right next door;

and in L.A. Confidential, as Kevin Spacey does the very same thing;

and its stage was featured in Michael Jackson’s music video for the song “You Are Not Alone”. The Pantages also showed up in Season Two of Ugly Betty (it’s the “New York” theatre where Henry takes Betty to see the musical Wicked), Paparazzi (it’s the site of Cole’s movie premiere at the very end), Ed Wood, The Jazz Singer, Money Talks, and Batman Forever.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Pantages Theatre is located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. You can visit their website here. Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story On Stage is currently running at the Pantages now through June 28th. Upcoming shows include Legally Blonde: The Musical and How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

March 31, 2009March 30, 2009

The Belasco Theatre

During my three day stint as an extra in the Britney Spears movie Crossroads, I happened to make friends with a few of the crew members. The entire cast and crew of the movie was EXTREMELY nice and, as tends to happen on long shoots, I got to know the people I was working with quite well. As I was saying goodbye to my new friends on my last day of being a Crossroads extra, one of the cameramen invited me to watch the following day’s shoot which was taking place at an old theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. It was going to be the very last day of filming on Crossroads and since the cameraman knew what a huge BritBrit fan I was, he invited me to spend the day on the set.

Getting to watch the final day of the filming of Crossroads was an incredible experience for me. Filming took place at a beautiful old theatre named the Belasco. Just being in that space was an amazing opportunity – let alone being there to watch Britney Spears perform. 🙂 The scene being filmed on that final day was the Hollywood singing contest that Britney and her friends compete in at the very end of the movie. Basically, for the entire twelve hours that I spent on the set that day, I got to sit around and watch Britney Spears sing live both “I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman” and “Overprotected”. Most of the filming that day was done without any extras in attendance – and because of the way the cameras were positioned, I was allowed to sit on the steps leading up to the stage and watch what pretty much amounted to my very own private Britney Spears concert. I’m not kidding – it was absolutely A-MA-ZING!!! And, once again, I was literally pinching myself the whole time. I could NOT believe I was actually sitting there, an audience of one, less than two feet from my idol, watching her perform two unreleased songs live and in person. For me, it was a once in a lifetime! I half expected to wake up at any moment in my bed at home – the whole experience having been just a dream. I mean things like that just don’t happen in real life! And even though I don’t still adore Britney as I once did, I will always cherish my memories from that day. You can watch part of the scene that was filmed at the Belasco Theatre here.

The Belasco Theatre was built in 1926 by theatre producers David and Edward Belasco. The Spanish Baroque style theatre was originally a live performance venue. Its premiere show? Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – a play written by Anita Loos which would later become a movie musical starring my girl Marilyn. 🙂 Over the years, after falling upon hard times and closing its doors for a period, the Belasco was used as both an exotic movie house and a church. The building was just recently sold last year and was completely restored to its original grandeur by its new owner. At this time it’s unclear what is being done with the historic theatre, but some online reports speculate that it might become a nightclub.

Besides Crossroads, other productions that have filmed at the historic Belasco Theatre include Swordfish (where it was used as John Travolta’s lair – pictured above), The Prestige, Memoirs of a Geisha, Being John Malkovich, Midnight Frolics, and the television series Fastlane.

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The Belasco Theatre is incredible beautiful inside, but, sadly, it is currently closed to the public. I can’t really recommend stalking the exterior of the theatre, either, as it is fairly non-descript. You could easily drive right by without even noticing it. But if you ever have the opportunity to see the interior in person, I highly recommend it! In the meantime, you can cyberstalk the interior here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Belasco Theatre is located at 1050 South Hill Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

February 27, 2009

Becky Bloomwood Takes on the El Capitan!

I have long been obsessed with the “Confessions of a Shopaholic” book series authored by British novelist Sophie Kinsella (aka Madeline Wickham). So obsessed in fact that about five years ago when I heard that Hollywood was optioning a screenplay based on the novels, I wrote to Sophie pitching myself for the movie’s lead role. I must say that I was absolutely born to play the story’s heroine, Becky Bloomwood – a slightly daft shopaholic with a completely unique and upbeat take on the world. So when Sophie Kinsella wrote me back, as you can imagine, I just about died!!! And then when it was announced that Sophie’s one and only West Coast stop on her Shopaholic and Baby book tour was going to be at my fave bookstore, Vroman’s, I thought it was a sign from above. In March of 2006 I did indeed get to meet Sophie at her book signing and – get this – she remembered me and my letters. Being that I decorated the letters with about a hundred sparkly shoe stickers that I made myself, I guess they were pretty unforgettable. LOL 🙂 So as you can imagine I was absolutely crushed when in late 2006 it was announced that Isla Fisher had won the much-coveted role of Becky.

The most crushing part of all for me was my belief that Isla Fisher was just simply not the right person to play Becky. If it wasn’t going to be me playing that part, then it better be someone darn perfect for the role! And Isla just wasn’t it. So yesterday after much begging and pleading my friend Blaze finally convinced me to see Confessions of a Shopaholic with him. And I have to admit that, surprisingly enough, I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it either, mind you, I didn’t even really like it. But at least I didn’t hate it. LOL But they really should have given the movie a different title, because in no way, shape, or form does it resemble the novels I’ve grown to know and love. Aside from the characters’ names, the story is pretty much unrecognizable. And while Isla was funny – she just wasn’t Becky. I so wanted to see the warm-hearted, but hair-brained character I love so much up on that screen. And sadly, Isla wasn’t it. So, if you want my advice, don’t bother with the movie if you are at all a fan of the books. And if you’re not a fan of the books, but just want to see a romantic comedy, I’d instead recommend He’s Just Not That Into You. 🙂

The only good part about seeing Shopaholic yesterday was that we got to watch it in the famed and historic El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. I so rarely go to the El Capitan and, honestly, I have no idea why as it is one of the most beautiful movie palaces in all of L.A. The El Capitan first opened up on May 3, 1926 and was strictly a live theatre venue. The exterior was designed in the Spanish Colonial style by art deco architect Stiles O. Clements, who was also the designer of the Wiltern and Mayan Theatres in Los Angeles. The interior was designed by San Francisco theatre designer G. Albert Lansburgh, who was also responsible for designing the Shrine Auditorium in L.A. and the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. The interior alone cost over $1.2 million to construct. For over a decade the El Capitan had an enormously successful run showcasing live theatre performances starring such legends as Clark Gable, Buster Keaton and Will Rogers. During the Great Depression the theatre began to falter and was in danger of closing its doors. Until 1941 when a young director who was having trouble finding a theatre that would premiere his new movie asked if he could rent out the El Capitan. That director was Orson Welles and the movie was Citizen Cane. That premiere gave new life to the theatre and not long afterwards, theatre executives decided to close the space for a year in order to modernize it and customize it for film premieres. On March 18, 1942, armed with a new design and a new name, the Hollywood Paramount Theatre opened to the world. It’s first movie showing was Read the Wild Wind. The Paramount became wildly successful hosting premieres for all of the Hollywood greats, including my girl Marilyn Monroe. 🙂 In later years the theatre came to be owned by Pacific Theatres, who in 1989 partnered up with the Walt Disney Company and decided to restore the Paramount to its original glory. The theatre closed its doors once again. This time for two years, while undergoing a $14 million renovation. When it re-opened in 1991, the original name had been restored and the original glamour unearthed once again.

Today the El Capitan is where Disney holds most of its Hollywood premieres. In the past Lilo and Stitch, Monsters Inc., Bolt, Miracle, Herby: Fully Loaded, and countless, countless others have premiered there. Oftentimes, before the start of a movie, the El Capitan will feature a live-action pre-show starring some of your favorite Disney characters. And a display featuring props, costumes, and memorabilia from the movie currently playing is usually set up in the El Capitan’s basement for fans to enjoy. I took the above photo of some of Isla Fisher’s costumes from Confessions of a Shopaholic, but it didn’t come out very well. The El Capitan is absolutely breathtaking inside and its lobby and hallways have countless photographs showcasing the history of the legendary theatre and the hundreds of stars who have attended premieres there. My favorite part of the El Capitan, though, has to be the Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Store located just off the theatre’s main lobby. The Soda Fountain serves up some fabulous hot dogs and ice cream sundaes – and the walls are lined with photographs of the many stars who have dined there. I can’t recommend stalking the El Capitan enough – but I’d wait until Shopaholic leaves and a new movie comes. LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The El Capitan Theatre is located at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, directly across from the Hollywood & Highland complex.

October 17, 2008September 29, 2017

The Stab Premiere

This weekend I dragged my boyfriend out to South Pasadena to do some more stalking of the movie Scream 2. This time we set out to stalk the Rialto Theatre where the premiere of the movie within the movie, Stab, takes place. The interior and the exterior of the Rialto are both featured quite prominently throughout the opening scenes of Scream 2,and it is at the Rialto that Jada Pinkett Smith and Omar Epps meet their untimely end.

Interestingly enough, my new book, The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations, states that only the exterior of the Rialto was used in the filming of Scream 2 and that interior filming took place at the Vista Theatre in Los Feliz, but that information is actually incorrect. As you can see from the above screen capture and photo, the lobby area of the Rialto was featured in the movie. The only reason for this inconsistency that I can figure out is that quite possibly the actual auditorium where Omar and Jada watch Stab was not at the Rialto, but at the Vista. But since the Rialto was closed while we were stalking it, I was not able to get inside to verify. 🙁

I do believe, though, that the bathroom where Omar Epps is killed was, in fact, located inside the Rialto. The reason I believe this is that the bathroom in the movie features Egyptian style writing and hieroglyphics on the wall, and the Rialto’s first owner, L. Lou Bard, created all of his movie palaces with an Egyptian theme. But again, I could not go inside to verify this. Looks like I am going to need to re-stalk the Rialto in the near future. 🙂

The Rialto was built by designer Lewis A. Smith for theatre owner and entertainer L. Lou Bard and premiered its first movie, What Happened to Jones, in October of 1925. In July of 1976 the Landmark Theatre Corporation bought the Rialto and due to fledgling ticket sales made plans to tear it down. Residents of South Pasadena protested, saved the Rialto from the wrecking ball, and in 1978 the theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But sadly, the Rialto still fell into a sad state of disrepair and closed its doors for good on August 20, 2007. Due to low patronage, the Landmark Corporation could no longer afford to keep the theatre open. And while the Historic Register prevents the theatre from ever being demolished, the Rialto currently sits vacant and delapidated, a distant memory of what once was. For those stalkers who want to see the inside of the historic theate – even though the Rialto is closed to the general public for day to day movie viewing, special events are still sometimes held there. In honor of Halloween there is even going to be a midnight performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show held there on Saturday, November 1st. You can check out this website for more information.

The Rialto has been featured in numerous productions over the years. Besides Scream 2, it also showed up in the movie The Player as the location where Tim Robbins first meets Vincent D’Onofrio and later kills him. The killing actually takes place in the alley behind the theatre (pictured above). The Rialto was also featured in Old School and Kentucky Fried Movie. The Rialto’s interiors were also featured in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, as the location where MJ and his girlfriend Ola watch the video’s movie within a movie. The Rialto’s exteriors, however, were not used in Thriller. Instead, all of the exterior theatre scenes took place at Downtown L.A.’s Palace Theatre, which I have also stalked. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Rialto Theatre is located at 1023 South Fair Oaks Avenue in South Pasadena.

July 18, 2008February 13, 2009

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.