A Change In Scenery: theatre

Showing posts with label theatre. Show all posts

17 February 2015

after dark

1926 Orpheum Theatre

1927 Tower Theatre

1930 Eastern Columbia Building

Downtown Los Angeles

1927 United Artists Building, now the Ace Hotel + Theatre at the Ace Hotel

All photographs © Monika Seitz Vega, 2015.

All photographs taken the evening of the 7th Annual Night on Broadway.

29 August 2014

Earlier this month I spent an afternoon as a docent for the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation's "All About the Wiltern Theatre" tour. It was a fantastic event that I am proud to have been a part of. Both before and after the tour I had time to photograph some old haunts as well as some new discoveries.

It turns out that the slide film I was shooting that day hadn't aged gracefully. Here are some of my favorite photographs from the day's roll, in all of their magenta glory.

All photographs © Monika Seitz Vega, August 2014. Long live film.

15 January 2014

New York, New York

It has been nearly ten years since my first and only trip to New York. I'd been thinking of the trip recently, in part because of the decade milestone but mostly because southern California has experienced the complete opposite of winter so far this season. I've been daydreaming of winters past, scarves and sweaters and numb limbs and the wonderful feeling of feet crunching the snow.

I didn't have much of a plan most days when each morning I'd either take off on foot or by subway from our Times Square hotel. The photos below are ones from my solo trips, seeing what I wanted to see and all that much more along the way.

Robert Indiana's "Love".

José de Creeft's Alice in Wonderland (1959). The first morning I was there I headed out on foot to Central Park. I knew there was a statue of Alice in Wonderland there, though I had no idea where it was located or what it looked like. Clearly I also had no idea how large Central Park is (1.317 square miles). I stumbled upon Alice and her friends indirectly and without assistance, luckily never once feeling like I was destined to be Jack at the Overlook.

I've never been one for self portraits, the moment warranted it I suppose.

Quintessential Central Park in winter image.

The 1930 San Remo building is absolutely breathtaking.

One morning I got on the subway to go downtown. I was in the Bronx when I realized I had gotten on in the wrong direction. I got off, took this photograph, and got back on in the right direction.

1932 Radio City Music Hall.

I've had a print of this on the living room wall for many years. It's beautiful, but much more so in person.

1928 Hotel Paramount.

1912 Cort Theatre.

1914 St. Thomas Episcopal, 53rd Street.

The most memorable solo outing I had while in New York was my trip to Coney Island. I had long been fascinated with Coney Island before seeing it for the first time. It was in the off season, snowy and freezing and I was one of very few people around. It felt both eerie and magical to have the place to myself. I've read that it has changed tremendously, and while I understand that change has been a constant in the amusement park's 130-year history, I think it'd be hard for me to see it again.

A relevant piece of Cyclone-related trivia -- My favorite song by the Ramones is "Oh Oh I Love Her So".

1927 Cyclone.

This bathhouse sits (or sat, I don't want to know) right on the boardwalk facing the Atlantic Ocean. All of the plaster detailing reminds me of the movie palaces I love so much. It is just beautiful. In addition to the building itself, I love that an east coast sky in January could look so blue at certain times of the day.

Savage -n- Peaches left their mark on the bathhouse the day I was born.

1939 Parachute Jump, on the US National Register of Historic Places.

All images shot on Kodak film with the same 35mm camera I've relied on for the past 15 years.

All images © Monika Seitz Vega, 2004.

03 January 2014

Theatres by Diana

In the fall of 2009 I shot the following photographs with my Diana F+ toy camera. The ultimate in low-fi unpredictability, it's always interesting see how the photos will turn out. Here are the results, straight out of the camera... light leaks and all.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, CA. © Monika Seitz Vega, 2009.

Fox Theatre, Pomona, CA. © Monika Seitz Vega, 2009.

Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA. © Monika Seitz Vega, 2009.

Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, CA. © Monika Seitz Vega, 2009.

Vogue Theatre, Hollywood, CA. © Monika Seitz Vega, 2009.

12 November 2013

Theatres of 2012 - Part 1

I'll admit it, I am ridiculously behind in my yearly theatre retrospective. It's not that I haven't been shooting (I have), or I'm not interested in my theatre project anymore (I am), it's just that things get shuffled around sometimes and unfortunately the theatres of 2012 have been relegated to the back burner. I'm committed to complete last years' entries before the end of this year, so let's get started with the first four theatres now.

The Fox La Brea Theatre sits precariously at the corner of La Brea and West 8th Street in Los Angeles. The La Brea opened in 1926 and closed in the 1950s. Despite a brief run in the 1960s as an art house, and then in the early 1970s as a Japanese theatre, the La Brea ceased operation as a theatre in 1974. It is currently in use as a Korean church.

The Bay Theatre in National City, CA opened in 1944. It was designed by renowned cinema architect S. Charles Lee, who designed such theatres as Inglewood's Fox and Academy (both of which are still standing) and my favorite movie house ever, San Diego's Ken Cinema. Just like the La Brea, the Bay ended its run as a theatre and housed a church for many years. Unfortunately, the Bay now sits vacant, awaiting its next incarnation.

Los Angeles' El Rey Theater opened as a cinema in 1936. After many successful years on Wilshire Blvd., the theater was converted in 1994 to a live performance venue and continues to be one of the best small venues in the city. In 1991, the El Rey was given status as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument for the Wilshire District, joining another gem of a theatre, the Wiltern.

I couldn't get through a theatre post without profiling one killed by the 1980s, could I? The Del Mar opened on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles in April of 1936. Out of business in the eighties thanks to multiplexes/home movies/etc., the Del Mar had a short run as a church before the auditorium was gutted and leveled for retail. The silver lining to the Del Mar's cloud is that Puget Sound, Inc., a group that does post-production audio work for movies, took over the theatre in the early 2000s and restored the facade with help from the Pico Revitalization Project. The Del Mar's beautiful neon shines nightly, a wonderful tribute to its days of being a neighborhood movie house.

There's more to come, and soon. In the meantime, check out the theatres of 2011 retrospective.

26 January 2013

Los Angeles' Broadway Theater District - 2008

In the summer of 2008 I set out to photograph the theaters on Broadway. In the few years since, great steps have been made toward the revitalization of the area and preserving the locations on the street that have seen years of decline and neglect. The following are street views of these theaters, many of which can be seen inside and out by attending tours and events put on by both the Los Angeles Conservancy and the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. More information on the revitalization of the theater district can be found at Bringing Back Broadway.

The 1931 Roxie, 1910 Cameo, and 1910 Arcade. All three are still used as retail space.

The 1912 Globe.

The 1921 Orpheum. Lovingly restored and open for concerts and filming.

The 1911 Palace, renovated since this photograph was taken and open for live performances.

The 1931 Los Angeles. Opening for filming and special events.

The 1918 Million Dollar. Open for film and live performances.

The 1921 State. A church has used the State for many years.

The 1917 Rialto. There's rumors that Urban Outfitters may be moving in, but no confirmation yet.

The 1931 Roxie. The last of the theaters built on Broadway.

The 1927 Tower. The Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation did two sell-out tours of the Tower at the end of 2012, as it will be closed soon and undergoing a huge renovation.

The 1927 United Artists. Since this photograph was taken, the church that inhabited the UA for many years has moved, the building was sold, and Ace Hotels has broken ground on turning the floors above the UA into their next location.