Page 32 - aruba-today-20170520

A32 FEATURE
Saturday 20 May 2017
Chinese Theatre marks 90 years as Hollywood glamour hotspot

SANDY COHEN celebrity footprints would
AP Entertainment Writ- be a great way to promote
er his new theater.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “King He invited his friends and
Kong” made his cinematic business partners Mary
debut there in 1933.There Pickford and Douglas Fair-
was a yellow “brick” car- banks to intentionally put
pet when the “Wizard of their hands and feet in wet
Oz” premiered in 1939. cement, and the tradition
George Lucas brought R2- was born. More than 300
D2 and C-3PO along for actors, directors and pro-
the premiere of “Star Wars” ducers have since followed
in 1977, and the two droids suit. “Alien: Covenant” di-
left their marks in the ce- rector Ridley Scott added
ment out front. his prints just this week.
A glamorous symbol of Those footprints are what
Hollywood’s golden age, made Grauman’s Chinese
Grauman’s Chinese The- Theatre a sensation, said
atre is turning 90. Now Marc Wanamaker, a his-
known as the TCL Chinese torian with the Hollywood
Theatre, the landmark Heritage Museum.
movie palace first opened “It was something special,
on May 18, 1927, and it’s mainly because of the
been hosting movies, stars footprints in the forecourt
and fans ever since. In this May 15, 2017 photo, tourists gather in the forecourt of the TCL Chinese Theatre in the Hol- and the attention around
“It’s still the most amazing lywood section of Los Angeles. the ceremonies,” he said.
theater,” Cher said at a re- Associated Press “No other theater in Los
cent premiere. “I remem- annually from around the otherworldly movie palace American and Chinese Angeles had this kind of at-
ber coming here (when) I world — many of whom that would transport visitors governments to bring in traction.”
was very small... It was so don’t realize they can ac- to ancient China, with its marble and other materi- The city of Los Angeles
magical.” tually go inside and see a serene gardens and regal als from China, including declared the theater a
Sid Grauman’s master- movie. temples. the “Heaven Dogs” statues historic-cultural monu-
piece movie house stands “Occasionally you’ll get “He really wanted to give that sit at the theater’s front ment in 1968. While the
on a bustling corner of Hol- the tourist that comes up the audiences who came doors. Most of the original building and the forecourt
lywood Boulevard, next and asks for a restaurant inside here an escape from 1927 artwork has been pre- are historic, the projec-
door to the Dolby Theatre reservation,” said Levi Tin- reality,” Tinker said. “So he served, Tinker said. tion technology inside has
spared no expense in get- The theater’s best-known been continually updat-
ting the best artists, the element, the footprint col- ed to stay on the cutting
best designers, and even lection officially known edge and keep attract-
importing elements from as the “Forecourt of the ing studio premieres, said
China.” Stars,” wasn’t part of the Alwyn Hight Kushner, the
Grauman commissioned original plan. theater’s president and
original murals and paint- Silent film star Norma Tal- chief operating officer.
ings by international artists madge came to see Grau- “Chances are the filmmak-
with Hollywood connec- man at his new building er has actually been at this
tions. He hired a Chinese on Hollywood Boulevard theater — in the seat you
sculptor to make statues when she accidentally might be sitting in — to per-
and figures that still deco- stepped in the wet cement fect the presentation of his
rate the auditorium. He out front. Inspiration struck: film,” she said. The auditori-
sought permission from the Grauman thought a few um underwent the biggest
renovation in its history in
2013 to make room for sta-
In this May 9, 2017 photo, visitors take pictures during a tour of dium seating and a state-
the TCL Chinese Theatre in the Hollywood section of Los Ange- of-the-art IMAX screen —
les.
Associated Press the only one in the world
with an old-fashioned cur-
where the Oscars are now ker, the theater’s general tain that opens just before
presented and across the manager and staff histo- the feature presentation,
street from the historic rian. Tinker said. On a recent
Roosevelt Hotel, where the Ticket prices have climbed morning, Kushner stood in
first Oscar ceremony was a bit, though. It cost 75 Grauman’s old office up-
held in 1929. Like a Holly- cents to see a feature in stairs, where the theater
wood take on a Chinese 1927. An IMAX 3-D screen- founder played poker with
temple, it boasts a pago- ing today runs $22.75. Pickford and Fairbanks
da-shaped roof and or- A showman and entre- and kept a stash of liquor
nate marble carvings, with preneur, Grauman started behind a secret trap door
a cement forecourt filled building the Chinese The- during Prohibition. Kushner
with celebrity footprints. atre in 1926, the same year looked out on the fore-
The theater still hosts doz- he and other Hollywood court below, watching as
ens of premieres each year titans established the tourists milled about, shoot-
and its famous footprint Academy of Motion Pic- ing photos, fitting their own
forecourt draws an esti- ture Arts and Sciences. He This 1965 file photo shows the exterior of Grauman’s Chinese hands and feet into Holly-
mated five million tourists imagined an elegant and Theater in Los Angeles. Associated Press wood history.q