Here comes the neighborhood Essay Example For Students

Here comes the neighborhood Essay All over America, theatres are leading the way for urban renewal. There, just east of Fredericks of Hollywood, where lingerie has a Hall of Fame. Over there, across the street from Ripleys Believe It Tor Not Odditorium, upstairs from the Hollywood Wax Museum, final resting place of the waxen Elvis, Marilyn and Jesus Christ. And there, in the shadow of the Hollywood Hills sign, near Cecil B. Demilles star on the worlds most famous sidewalk. There, housed in former mortuaries and speakeasies and burlesque houses, are the old and new theatres of Hollywood. If the theatres are hard to spot, well, theatre in Los Angeles has always been obscured by film and television. So its ironic that Hollywood, epicenter of film and television, is encouraging live theatre to stage a comeback. Los Angeles is just one of a number of cities where theatres are the soul of urban redevelopment projects, as one architect describes them (see sidebars). Cities or private developers are creating arts districts, renovating old theatres, and constructing new performing arts centers, taking their cue architecturally from city neighborhoods. In Hollywood, where theres no business like show business, the neighborhood has long included live theatres tucked between movie studios and the palaces built to show movies. There is a vibrant history of arts being done in this neighborhood for a long time, explains James Carey, artistic director of Attic Theatre, on Hollywoods Santa Monica Blvd. There have historically been theatres on this stretch. But the neighborhood changed in the 1960s, when some of the movie studios left for the San Fernando Valley where there was room to grow. Residents fled, too. And Hollywood Boulevard, the Los Angeles equivalent of Times Square, traded glamour for gaudy. Its sleazy, we know that, says Lester Burg, assistant project manager for the citys Community Redevelopment Agency. Our job is to make Hollywood a place people want to live in, work in and visit. Live theatre is an important part of the mix that makes it Hollywood. In 1986, the city adopted the Hollywood Redevelopment Plan, allocating nearly $1 billion over 30 years (distributed by the CRA) for revitalization of Hollywoods residential, commercial and historic sectors. After being delayed for years by litigation, the project is now underway. In addition to creating affordable housing and business opportunities, and attracting and stabilizing the entertainment industry, the plan focuses on preservation of landmarks and historic architecture and creates a live-theatre district. Thats where some of the nearly 30 theatres in the greater Hollywood area get lucky and some dont. The CRA will lend up to $250,000 for rehabilitation of a historic building, and forgive the loan if the building is maintained and remains a theatre 10 years. There are a lot of hidden gems and, this being Hollywood, they havent been touched, Burg says of the many current or potential theatre spaces. (The CRA may consider a proposal next year to loan money to theatre companies for improvements on other than historic buildings, which could encourage other theatres to move to the Hollywood theatre district. The plan would have to be approved by the Los Angeles City Council.) Just as Hollywood begins its redevelopment, it also faces five years of subway construction. In February, Metro Rail will begin building its Red Line under Hollywood Boulevard. Metro Rail will spend $28 million to lessen the hurt, according to Burg. Some of that money will go for signage on theatres. Metro Rail will also open a Theatre District Information Office across the street from the Pantages, and a permanent lighting display will mark Hollywood and Vine as the center of the theatre district. There may eventually be another source of money available to theatres. One percent of funds spent on Metro Rail and new development that will be built around it (possibly hotels and office buildings) must be earmarked for public art. We would define art at Hollywood and Vine as being theatre, according to Burg. Naturalistic Theatre EssayOne of the theatres in the building was originally a chapel, one was the casket showroom, and the embalming was done in what is now a backstage area, according to Marie Staats, who worked at the mortuary and lived upstairs for years. Its a small, oblong, stucco building with a vest-pocket-sized balcony in the center of the second story. Producer-director Cecil B. DeMilles star on the Walk of Fame is at the theatres front door. So is Loretta Swits. The historic building is owned by Nederlander West, which also owns the Pantages across the street. Like Theatre Row, West Coast Ensemble probably wont receive CRA money, either, although it is in the area targeted for redevelopment. The theatre would need a 10-year lease, and the support of Nederlander West. Across the street, to the north, is the Pantages, one of the countrys finest examples of an art deco movie palace. Built in 1930, the theatre hosted the Academy Awards from 1949 to 1959, and became a legitimate theatre in 1979. Currently, The Will Rogers Follies is playing the Pantages. The front may be as grand as the lobby, with its statues and staircases evoking the movie set of a Biblical epic, but its impossible to tell. Banners and signs advertising the Follies have shrouded the exterior for now. By all appearances, the redevelopment of Hollywood seems a good thing, renovating some theatres and giving others, like Theatre Row and West Coast Ensemble, neighborhood support. But the project has not been without controversy. This is a pretty divisive community, says the CRAs Lester Burg. Redevelopment agencies have power that makes us unpopular. We take money from property taxes that would otherwise go to the county, and we spend money on things other than the county. There was a vocal group . The T-shirts said CRA, Go Away. And opponents have long memories. The CRA spent $27 million on the Los Angeles Theatre Center between its start-up in 1985 and 1991, when the final curtain fell on the four-stage complex that was to have proven once and for all that it was possible to create a center for theatre in Los Angeles. Its going to make it very difficult for a redevelopment agency to get involved in a cultural facility, Burg says of the collapse of LATC. And others, specifically in Hollywood, are still smarting over the citys rejection of a $600-to-$700 million mall proposed by United Artists Realty. The mall would have incorporated the historic Egyptian Theatre, as well as construction of several major department stores. It didnt work for the city, explains Burg. Now, developer Joe Simon, who owns the land the mall would have been built on, is remodeling a smaller building adjacent to the Egyptian that will be a 99-seat rental theatre. John Simon, who works for his brother, freely admits they have a financial stake in encouraging people to visit Hollywood at night. We want to try to get people to come to the area because we own the parking lots, he states. Joe Simons Grant Parking owns six acres of parking lots 500 spaces in the heart of Hollywood. Its fun, if it will just pay the bills, John Simon says of their work on the small theatre. Things are better since Reardon was elected. So many people were afraid to go out at night, especially with that Rodney King thing. Will the redevelopment of Hollywood ultimately encourage people to attend theatre? Its too soon to tell. But on Hollywood Boulevard, residents and tourists will be able to choose between Ripleys Odditorium and more live theatre, believe it or not.