Come hear the story of the rescue and restoration, then take docent-guided tours of the entire theatre, including backstage areas not accessible to the public! Weâ€ve been granted FULL ACCESS for this tour; donâ€t miss this rare opportunity!

This Tour will feature the same presentation and 4 tour loops as the day’s earlier tour, and a Reception in the lobby following the tour. Special guests to be announced. Your ticket includes admission and appetizers. There will also be a cash bar. Tickets are $35 ($30 for LAHTF members, click the “Redeem Benefits” button during checkout to apply LAHTF Member Discount).

Please join us for our first All About at the beautiful Art Deco Wiltern Theatre. Opened in 1931, it was threatened with demolition and was only saved because of the determination of local preservationists. Come hear the story of this rescue and restoration, then take docent-guided tours of the entire theatre, including backstage areas not accessible to the public! We’ve been granted Full Access for this tour; don’t miss this rare opportunity!

The first tour is at 12:00pm. it will feature a historical slide presentation and 4 tour loops covering the entire theatre.

Tickets are $15 ($10 for LAHTF members, click the “Redeem Benefits” button during checkout to apply LAHTF Member Discount).

The Mayme Clayton Library and Museum in Culver City continues its Jazz Appreciation Month and celebrates the birthday of jazz icon, Ella Fitzgerald, with a special matinee performance of “Ella and Her Fellas” conceived and presented by cabaret artist, Pinkie Washington. 

Ms. Washington and Her Fellas will take you on a journey through the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald, who was born on April 25, 1917. 

Tickets are $10 in advance

Boarding House Blues is a 1948 comedy directed by Josh Binney, a filmmaker known for helming the classic musical films Hi De Ho, The Joint is Jumpin†and Killer Diller. Produced by All-American News, a company which specialized in African American newsreels, Boarding House Blues has the unique feel of being both a narrative film and concert performance, providing contemporary audiences a sneak peek at how a “Chitlin†Circuit” vaudeville show would play during its height.

The story is a vehicle for legendary comedic talent Jackie “Moms” Mabley, one of the earliest successful female comedians of vaudeville, stage and film.

The evening will kick off with a one-of-a-kind public art tour featuring artists whose work is currently displayed at the Civic Center, allowing participants to develop a more engaged and nuanced understanding of the civic art across the site’s lush park landscape. Immediately following the tour, award-winning rock, jazz, and experimental musicians Don Preston and Andrea Centazzo will enliven the Centerâ€s amphitheater stage with live music, as a performance by Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre dancers complement the musicians†unique, layered sounds.  

Public + Art: Three Ducks in a Row will conclude with a Curbside Conversation panel, providing a space for dialogue between artists and community members and cultivating enhanced consciousness of, and appreciation, for art in the public realm. 

The public art tour departs from the East Los Angeles Library lobby at 7pm, and the following performances and Curbside Conversation will take place at 8pm at the Civic Center’s amphitheater stage. For more information and to RSVP for the event, visit www.heididuckler.org. 

Special guest, Tony Nicholas (son of Fayard Nicholas)  presents hand-picked shorts featuring his father and uncle’s careers and discusses a family legacy that spans five centuries. 

“… Itâ€s a brilliant play. It’s so good that Iâ€m even tempted to steal from it myself.” – William Saroyan’s play character

A collection of wonderful stories and memories is the heart of a fascinating play called “Evenings with The Boys in the Backroom” by Peter Adum and Joyce Fante. Itâ€s the Los Angeles version of Gertrude Steinâ€s 1920s “Left Bank Salon” in Paris where she hosted luminaries like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. The play, as a staged reading, showcases L.A.’s own 1930s salon of gifted writers set in Stanley Rose’s Book Store, one door east of the Musso & Frank Grill and across from the Brown Derby in Hollywood. The world premiere production will be presented as a benefit for the Friends of the Altadena Public Library in association with The Moveable Theatre Company, which uses volunteer professional actors. The performance is Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 3:00 PM in the Altadena Public Library community room in Altadena, California. (For tickets: 626-798-0833 or www.altadenalibrary.org)

 “From the start, this play has interested and enchanted me,” said Holly Witham, founder and production director of The Moveable Theatre Company. “Call me a 1930s buff, or a fan of the Golden Age of Hollywood or a hopeless bibliophile; I am guilty of all these things and from all, can point with enthusiasm to this fascinating story of how some of the best writers of an era socialized, played, fought, gossiped, supported and challenged each other, amid the sometimes cruel, heart-breaking and tough world of Hollywood,” Witham said.

Set in 1938, this original work written a number of years ago, chronicles the friendships between Hollywood book store owner Stanley Rose and some of his most famous customers: John Fante, William Saroyan, Nathanael West and Carey McWilliams.  To help write the play, John Fante’s widow, Joyce, now deceased, shared her knowledge of the intimate details of conversations that occurred in Stanley Rose’s back room behind the book shop. This is where Rose’s successful friends talked, drank, played cards and discussed ideas which would inspire their most famous works. The scene was like a “Who’s Who” of the Los Angeles literary scene during Hollywood’s Golden Age.

For example, William Saroyan wrote the Pulitzer Prize wining play, “The Time of Your Life.” John Fante, a novelist, wrote “Ask the Dust” among others and Nathanael West wrote bitter, satirical novels like “Day of the Locust.” Carey McWilliams, an attorney and “muckraker,” wrote works including “Factories in the Fields” and one of the finest histories of Southern California.

The play paints the picture of the bookstore’s backroom which was an “art gallery” (original Picassos), but retained the intimate atmosphere of the old speakeasy days. Bookstore owner, Stanley Rose, was characterized by playwright Peter Adum: “He was quite unique. Here was a hard-drinking, semi-literate, bootlegger who fed, nurtured and encouraged the writers who became his best friends. He wasn’t Gertrude Stein, but he was very much the ‘den mother’.”  One of Rose’s lines in the play says a lot: “I sell books. I don’t read the damn things….”

More than any other Broadway theatre, the many glories of the M$ are faded or completely hidden from view. Ed Kelsey will highlight the history, illustrate the many interior alterations and celebrate what remains. Weâ€ll take you behind the scenes – from the basement to the balcony – and share the hidden treasures of L.A.â€s most unusual movie palace.

LAHTF Member Tour Admission: $10 – limit 2 tickets per member. Tickets are available exclusively at: www.lahtf.org

Tour capacity is limited and a sellout is likely. Act Now! Donâ€t miss this rare opportunity to experience a breathtaking masterwork. Sign on as a new volunteer, spend extra time inside and see even more! Email info@lahtf.org to sign up.