The First Congregational Church of Los Angeles from “My So-Called Life”

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Fellow stalker/My So-Called Life aficionado Andrew recently went on a mission to try to track down the church that was used in the Season 1 Christmas-themed episode of fave show My So-Called Life titled “So-Called Angels”.  He had just picked up the most-recently released boxed set of the series, which came out in 2007, and was floored to discover that actor Wilson Cruz, who played Ricky Vasquez on the show, had recorded a commentary for the “So-Called Angels” episode and had described the location of the church as being on 6th Street close to Downtown Los Angeles.  Even with that detailed information, though, this locale proved to be a tough one to track down.  Thankfully, Andrew hit a stroke of luck, though, when he noticed that the doors of the church in the episode featured very intricate carvings.  He figured those doors had to be unique and, sure enough, they were!  Just type the words “carved doors”, “church”, and “Los Angeles” into Google and the very first entry that appears is for the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, located on the corner of South Commonwealth Avenue and West 6th Street, about a mile from Downtown Los Angeles, right where Wilson Cruz had said it would be.  Yay!  So, once Andrew told me the good news, I immediately dragged my dad right on out to stalk the place – just in time for Christmas, too!

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The Gothic revival-style First Congregational Church of Los Angeles was constructed in 1932 by brothers James Edward Allison and David Clark Allison, the same architecture team that designed the Beverly Hills Post Office and UCLA’s Royce Hall.  Both the exterior . . .

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. . . and the interior of the property are absolutely gorgeous in person.  In fact, I think it is safe to say that I have never seen a more beautiful place of worship in my entire life!  The church is literally breathtaking – especially decked out in all of its Christmas glory! 

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The First Congregational Church of Los Angeles’ main sanctuary, which stretches 198 feet in length and reaches 76 feet in height, is home to the world’s largest pipe organ, features carved oak pews, and is dotted with countless stained glass windows which were designed by Judson Studios in Pasadena.

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The bronze doors that Andrew noticed in the “So-Called Angels” episode were designed in 1946 by artist Albert Gilles and, unbelievably, they measure three inches thick and weigh in at a whopping one thousand pounds apiece!  The doors were so heavy, in fact, that I could hardly open them when we went to leave!

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In the “So-Called Angels” episode of My So-Called Life, the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles was the spot where Angela Chase (aka Claire Danes), along with the rest of the Chase family, and her friends Brian Krakow (aka Devon Gummersall) and Ricky wind up on Christmas Eve night after a heartbreaking course of events during which Ricky gets beaten up by his father and ends up first living on the streets and then in an abandoned warehouse.  I had actually forgotten how very heartbreaking the episode was until I re-watched it last week.  So incredibly sad!

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The area where Patty Chase (aka Bess Armstrong) found Ricky lighting candles is located just to the left of the church’s main altar, although that area looks a bit different today.  There are no candles located in that particular alcove (which I was seriously bummed about as I had planned on lighting one), nor is there a visible stained glass window.  The red carpet has also since been removed.

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The pew where Patty and Ricky sat in the scene is located just to the left of the alcove. 

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The exterior of the church looks a bit different today than it did during the filming, as well.  The large potted plants which flanked the front of the church in the episode are no longer there, but I have a hunch that those trees were actually props brought in specifically for the filming and were never actually there in real life.

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The street lamp that was pictured at the very end of the episode is actually there in real life, though, which I thought was just about the coolest thing ever!  Smile

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My So-Called Life is not the only production to have filmed at First Congregational.  The church also stood in for New York’s St. Thomas Episcopal where Wilhelmina Slater (aka Vanessa Williams) almost married Bradford Meade (aka Alan Dale’s) in the Season 2 episode of Ugly Betty titled “A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding”.

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First Congregational was also where the funeral for Preston Blake (aka Harve Presnell) was held in the 2002 Adam Sandler comedy Mr. Deeds.

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It was also used as the church where Mary Jane Watson (aka Kristen Dunst) almost married John Jameson (aka Daniel Gillies) in Spiderman 2.

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And it stood in for New York’s Trinity Church where the climactic final scene of 2004’s National Treasure took place.

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Both the opening and one of the closing scenes from 2003’s Daredevil were also filmed at the church.

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The First Congregational Church of Los Angeles has also appeared in episodes of Californication, The Riches, The West Wing, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Shark, The Closer, Bones, The Practice, Cold Case, Joan of Arcadia, Six Feet Under, Jag, and The X-Files and in the movies Nancy Drew and Into the Wild.  The church even has a page on its website which chronicles the many productions that have been filmed on the premises over the years (although My So-Called Life is ostensibly missing from the list).  So love it!

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Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Andrew for finding this location!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, from the “So-Called Angels” episode of My So-Called Life, is located at 540 South Commonwealth Avenue in Los Angeles.  You can visit the church’s official website here and you can check out its extensive filming resume here.

It’s A Wrap!

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Got an email the other day from fellow stalker Heather who told me about a store in Burbank named It’s A Wrap that sells clothing, props, and memorabilia from recently wrapped movies and television shows!  Being that the store sounded right up my alley, I immediately ran out to stalk it!!  🙂  It’s A Wrap has been in business selling Hollywood costumes and movie merchandise since 1981.  Owner and founder Janet Dion purchases clothes and props directly from the many movie studios in the area and sells them to the public out of two retail stores – one in Burbank and one in Beverly Hills.  It’s A Wrap has sold clothing from hundreds upon hundreds of productions over the last twenty-eight years, including The Flinstones, Beverly Hills, 90210!!!!, Seventh Heaven, Charmed, Drillbit Taylor, Twilight, Lipstick Jungle, Spanglish, Seven, Guiding Light, Varsity Blues, Seinfeld, Baywatch, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Las Vegas.  Love it!! 

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Not only does It’s A Wrap provide the general public access to movie items we might otherwise never have the ability to purchase, but the store also has INCREDIBLE deals!!!!  I’m talking INCREDIBLE!!!!  Designer dresses are usually marked down well over 50% below retail value.  Yesterday, while I was stalking the place, I spotted a few super cute BCBG dresses with the original price tags still attached.  The dresses, which were originally priced $298, were selling for $98!!!  But, of course, not a one of them was in my size!!!  Ugh!  Such a bummer! 

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Because It’s A Wrap receives new merchandise from the local studios on a daily basis, you simply never know what treasures you are going to discover there.  While I was stalking the place last week, I found clothing from Kath & Kim, Ugly Betty, General Hospital, Hancock, According to Jim, and CSI: Miami – just to name a few.  But the cutest clothes, by far, had to be from the newly-released Wayans Brothers’ movie Dance Flick.  I pretty much loved every single piece from that collection, which included a large assortment of tees by fave designer Michael Stars.  🙂  It’s A Wrap was also selling a HUGE array of evening gowns and cocktail dresses from the soap opera General Hospital.  If I was still in high school, this would DEFINITELY be the place I’d shop for my prom dress.  🙂  

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The store even had a dress from Disney Studios that looked strikingly similar to Silver’s prom dress from last week’s episode of 90210.   Oh, if only I had a prom to go to!  🙂

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I honestly can’t recommend stalking It’s A Wrap enough.  But be sure to keep in mind that even though the shop sells movie costumes, it is still a used clothing store.   Don’t go in there expecting it to look like a Beverly Hills boutique.  It’s A Wrap is a thrift shop, and if you don’t like that sort of thing, you won’t like this place.  🙂  Also don’t go in there expecting to find a specific costume from a specific movie or television show.  While all of the clothing for sale at It’s A Wrap bears tags marking what production or what studio it came from, no reference is made to what actor or actress actually wore the item.  In fact, many of the clothes for sale were most likely not worn by a lead actor, but by secondary and background actors.  And some of the costumes may never even have been worn at all.    At the same time, though, you simply never know what you are going to find at It’s A Wrap.  A few years back, one lucky customer walked away with Brad Pitt’s shoes from the movie Seven.  🙂  Any visiting tourist who wants to take a piece of Hollywood home with them should definitely stalk It’s A Wrap!  Oh, and the best part about the store?  Showcased on the walls are countless costumes worn in famous movies and television shows, including items worn by Shannen Doherty, Shirley MacLaine, Sean Penn, and Demi Moore.    If you do happen to stalk It’s A Wrap, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for celebs, because, amazingly enough, quite a few of them are fans of the store.  Famous customers include Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Mario Lopez, Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Arquette, Brittany Murphy, Nicole Eggert, Drew  Barrymore, Geena Davis, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and my fave Shannen Doherty.  🙂

Big THANK YOU to Amanda for telling me about It’s A Wrap!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: It’s A Wrap has two Los Angeles area locations.  The first is located at 3315 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank.  The other can be found at 1164 South Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills.  You can visit the It’s A Wrap website here.  Another great place to purchase movie and celebrity memorabilia is the website www.starwares.com