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Los Angeles Theatre. Photos by Iris Schneider unless another credit is shown.
Saturday was one of those pretty cool LA days. Most of the museums across Los Angeles were free and packed. And on Broadway in downtown, seven of the restored old movie palaces and theaters were open to the public with free admission for gawkers and for taking in various performances. I caught the end of Fritz Lang's darkly gorgeous and beautifully restored 1927 classic "Metropolis" from the upper balcony of the Ace Theatre, the legendary old United Artists — ground was broken on Mary Pickford's UA the same year that the film debuted. I caught a little burlesque at the Palace, saw some String Theory at the Orpheum, and revisited the Million Dollar Theatre, the Globe and the Los Angeles (especially the impressive downstairs ballroom and lounges.) I ran into a happy Councilman Jose Huizar in the newly opened Tower. The night celebrated the Bringing Back Broadway initiative that he has pushed for several years, and he was getting the celebrity treatment as he mingled with the crowds. if you didn't know who got credit for the street party — and didn't realize he is running for reelection this year against Gloria Molina and others — Huizar's name was in lights on most of the theater marquees.
Thousands were out strolling Broadway last night — Grand Central Market stayed open late and I ran into friends on the sidewalk, in theater lobbies, at Maccheroni Republic and at the end of the night at Il Caffe. All in all, a fun evening.
Photo: LA Observed
The map of Broadway activities. Bigger:
The mid-afternoon line at the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in Miracle Mile. Photo: Sean Roderick
