The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown of Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, and 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves, among other purposes, as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The hall is in a vineyard seating configuration, similar to the Berliner Philharmonie by Hans Scharoun.Lillian Disney made an initial gift of $50 million in 1987 to build a performance venue as a gift to the people of Los Angeles and a tribute to Walt Disney's devotion to the arts and to the city. The Frank Gehry-designed building opened on October 24, 2003. Both Gehry's architecture and the acoustics of the concert hall, designed by Yasuhisa Toyota, have been praised, in contrast to its predecessor, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center (which is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the United States). The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall.The Pavilion has 3,156 seats spread over four tiers, with chandeliers, wide curving stairways and rich décor. The auditorium's sections are the Orchestra (divided in Premiere Orchestra, Center Orchestra, Main Orchestra and Orchestra Ring), Circle (divided in Grand Circle and Founders Circle), Loge (divide in Front Loge and Rear Loge), as well as Balcony (divided in Front Balcony and Rear Balcony).HistoryConstruction started on March 9, 1962, and it was dedicated September 27, 1964. The Pavilion was named for Dorothy Buffum Chandler who “led (the) effort to build a suitable home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and rejuvenate the performing arts in Los Angeles. The result was Mrs. Chandler’s crowning achievement, the Music Center of Los Angeles County. Her tenacious nine-year campaign on behalf of the Music Center produced more than $19 million in private donations” noted Albert Greenstein in 1999.In order to receive approval for construction from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Mrs. Chandler promised Kenneth Hahn that the building would be open free for the public for one day a year. The result was the Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration, a Christmas Eve tradition sponsored by the Board of Supervisors. The program is broadcast on KCET-TV and an edited version of the prior year's show is syndicated to public television stations via PBS.
Since it opened in 1967 the Mark Taper Forum has been honored for its development of new plays and voices for the theatre and for its continuing commitment to serve the broadest possible audience. It has received virtually every theatrical award including the 1977 special Tony Award for theatrical excellence.
See our entire season lineup online at http://www.thelatc.org or call 866-811-4111
Dedicated for use by Mayor Aguilar in 1866, this park land was named "La Plaza Abaja." In 1886, it was renovated with an official park plan designed by Fred Eaton. In 1911, the park was redesigned by John Parkinson to reflect the social and economic growth of the city. During World War I, the Square was often the scene for militia receptions and provided a forum for public speakers. On November 8, 1918, the park was formally named Pershing Square in honor of the World War I general. The next major change came in the 1950s, when an 1800-car garage was built beneath the park. In 1989, the Pershing Square Property Association and the Community Redevelopment Agency contributed to assist the Department of Recreation and Parks in the renovation of the park. Architect Ricardo Legoretta and landscapist Laurie Olin designed the current park plan, and the park was rededicated on February 3, 1994. For more history and walking tours, contact the L.A Conservancy.
Established in 1965, East West Players has been called “the nation’s pre-eminent Asian American theater troupe” (New York Times 12/16/01) for our award-winning productions blending Eastern and Western movement, costumes, language, and music. EWP has premiered over 100 plays and musicals about the Asian Pacific American experience and has held over 1,000 readings and workshops. Our emphasis is on building bridges between East and West, and one measure of our success is an audience of 56% Asians and a remarkable 44% non-Asian attendance.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under the vibrant leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, presents an inspiring array of music from all genres - orchestral, chamber and Baroque music, organ and celebrity recitals, new music, jazz, world music and pop - at two of L.A.’s iconic venues, Walt Disney Concert Hall (www.LAPhil.com) and the Hollywood Bowl (http://www.HollywoodBowl.com). The LA Phil's season extends from September through May at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and throughout the summer at the Hollywood Bowl. With the preeminent Los Angeles Philharmonic at the foundation of its offerings, the LA Phil aims to enrich and transform lives through music, with a robust mix of artistic, education and community programs.
Founded in 1971, the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center is one of the largest ethnic arts and cultural centers of its kind in the United States. The mission of the JACCC is to present, perpetuate, transmit and promote Japanese and Japanese American arts and culture to diverse audiences, and to provide a center to enhance community programs. The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center is the preeminent presenter of Japanese and Japanese American, and Asian American performing and visual arts nationally. The JACCC also provides office space to a wide variety of nonprofit cultural, educational and community-based organizations in Los Angeles.
The Smell is an all-ages, alcohol and drug-free, punk rock/noise/experimental venue in Downtown Los Angeles, California. The Smell, notable for its DIY ethic, is home to many of the area's avant-garde performers and artists. The venue is maintained by Jim Smith, one of the four original organizers of the club, and a number of volunteers.The Smell continues in the tradition of Los-Angeles-based underground clubs such as The Masque and Jabberjaw. Aside from its primary function as a live music and performance art space, The Smell hosts a library, a vegan snack bar and a gallery space. The venue predates the conception of the Gallery Row district in which it is located. The Smell and the relatively new Gallery Row both border Skid Row.HistoryThe Smell was founded by Ara Shirinyan, Jarrett Silberman, and Jim Smith as one of the few all-ages art/performance spaces in Los Angeles, after the demise of two local venues, Jabberjaw and the Impala Cafe, during the same week in late 1997. The Smell opened just a short time later, on January 8, 1998. It was originally located by the intersection of Magnolia and Lankershim in North Hollywood, but when the cost of rent rose during the NoHo Arts District boom in 1999, the venue relocated to cheaper Downtown Los Angeles. Shirinyan gave up his ownership before the venue's move, so Silberman, Smith, and Mac Mann constructed the new space.
Vespaio, the latest restaurant by Chef Augostino Sciandri of the acclaimed Ago Group, is now serving lunch, dinner, and most recently, Happy Hour! Offering a diverse selection of both seasonal dishes and family staples that infuse classic Italian tastes with notes of Mediterranean influence, Vespaio serves its beautifully plated meals, sommelier selected wines, and handcrafted specialty cocktails both indoors and on an abundant patio that showcases the highlights of Bunker Hill's thriving arts scene.
The Los Angeles Center For Digital Art is dedicated to the propagation of all forms of digital art, new media, digital video art, net art, digital sculpture, interactive multimedia, and the vast panorama of hybrid forms of art and technology that constitute our moment in culture. We are committed to supporting local, international, emerging and established artists through exposure in our gallery. We have an ongoing schedule of exhibits and competitions, produce editions of wide format archival prints, and collaborate in the production of digital artworks in our studio. As well we are involved with curating digital exhibits at institutions and festivals outside of the LACDA gallery schedule.
The Downtown Palace opened with the words: “The Standard Orpheum of Vaudeville announces the opening tonight of its fine new theatre between sixth and seventies streets. All seats for tonight are sold, but for the balance of inaugural week as well as in the future they maybe obtained at the Box Office of the New House.” This proclamation revealed arguably the most charming, intimate venue in the storied Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles. And now the old entertainment soul pushes into the new, carrying a legacy starting with a June 26th, 1911 inaugural performance by Sophie Tucker through subsequent star attractions such as Harry Houdini, Sarah Bernhardt, and Fred Astaire (even the greatest animal acts had their run!), to more recent marquee names like Julian Casablancas, Lucent Dossier Experience, Bill Nye (The Science Guy), Eugene Mirman, Tig Notaro, Last Remaining Seats, and Cinespia, to name a few. No longer an Orpheum (a word derived from the Greek mythological poet and musician Orpheus, whose skills could charm animals, plants, and even rocks) nor a newsreel iteration known as the “Palace Newsreel Theatre,” (including a visible ghost sign which can still be seen on the back alley wall), but a fully restored Broadway gem—the charming and lavish Palace Theatre, one of the oldest theatres in Los Angeles and the oldest surviving vaudeville circuit Orpheum theatre, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the historic Broadway corridor of downtown Los Angeles, California. On June 26, 2011, the “new” Palace celebrated its centennial by unveiling a $1 million restoration by Shahram Delijani, stirring Linda Dishman, executive director of the LA Conservancy to herald, "The Palace is one of the jewels of Broadway . . . and we're thrilled that they've done such a magnificent restoration.” While the Palace has embraced it's authenticity, it has also been technically upgraded with new audio, lighting, and electrical renovations, the heart of which is a matched and calibrated, state-of-the-art Midas III/d&b audiotechnik sound system intended to coax the naturally excellent acoustics across the one thousand fully restored, plush velvet wrapped seats, none of which are more than eighty feet from center stage. The Palace is one of the few venues to juxtapose an architecturally and historically significant structure with a state of the art sound system and classic 35 mm Simplex E7 celluloid projectors. Coupled with expanded bar, lounge, artist, patron, and VIP areas, the Palace is prepared to bring it’s legacy of cultural engagement and live performance into fully modern times, With its beautifully preserved architecture and decor modeled after the great opera houses of 17th Century Europe, or conversely as “something out of Tom Waits song,” restored and improved interior areas and cutting edge technical capabilities, the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles can transform your next special event or live concert into a truly unforgettable, even magical experience. Exciting times lay ahead. Please direct special event and concert inquiries to: Events/Programming Department Broadway Theatre Group: Palace, Los Angeles, Tower Theatres ph: 213-488-2009 email: [email protected] General info: 213-488-2010 Theatre Manager and Location Filming: Edward Baney office: 213-629-2939 The Downtown Palace Quick Specs: Seating capacity: Main Auditorium: 608 Mezzanine: 460 Total: 1068 Sound Reinforcement: Midas III FOH console d&b audiotechnik V-Series line array (flown) w/B2 subs Trussing: 3 x 40' on stage truss 1 x 10' downstage truss. Power: 500 amps/3phase on stage 200 amps Stage Right 300 amps Stage Left Stage: 40’ wide at proscenium 31’ 6” deep from smoke pocket to back wall 36’ from stage to top of proscenium arch at center Projection: Dual Strong International Simplex E7 35 mm projectors with Xenon lamp houses ***Full specs, seating chart, pricing available upon request. Architectural Highlights: G. Albert Lansburg, an American architect known for his work on luxury cinemas and theatres, with assistance by Robert Brown Young, designed The Palace. The décor was elegant and subdued, with shades of gold, pink and blue predominating. Marble walls and mosaic tiles were used throughout the lobbies, and the basement featured a paneled lounge with a fireplace. The former ladies lounge upstairs has windows overlooking the outer lobby reminiscent of a lovely Florentine early Renaissance palazzo. Landburg enlisted noted Catalonian architectural sculptor Domingo Mora, who also worked on New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House, to design and create the striking brick and polychrome terra cotta facade—the first use of multi-colored stone in that era—formed into flowers, fairies, and theatrical masks, illustrating the spirit of entertainment. Four bas relief panels depicting the four muses of vaudeville -- Song, Dance, Music, and Drama—as well as a Troubadour figure, all illuminated by the polychromatic glow of an original “modern” neon marquee and accompanying neon vertical blades. The interior decoration is distinctly French Renaissance, with garland-draped columns and lit painted domes floating above like drifting luminous planets, and a color scheme of pale pastels, reflecting off the shells which illuminate the walls casting a soft lit ambience inside the auditorium. The auditorium was designed with excellent acoustics for the pre-amplified age. The intimate vertical design comprises of two balconies ensuring that no pair of ears or eyes are far from the stage. On the two walls surrounding the stage, hang two massive framed pastoral murals by painter Candelario Rivas and his crew working under the interior design direction of master American muralist Anthony Heinsbergen, the foremost designer of North American movie theatre interiors. To view a more extensive history of the Downtown Palace, please see the excellent web archive by Bill Counter: https://sites.google.com/site/downtownlosangelestheatres/palace-theatre also on FB: https://www.facebook.com/losangelestheatres And these other great historical resources: Los Angeles Historical Theatre Foundation http://www.lahtf.org LA Conservancy https://www.laconservancy.org Cinema Treasures http://cinematreasures.org