Wicked Tuesdays with Jake

Good Morning, Tuesday evening it was warm here in LA as the sun made interesting shadows on the stucco store fronts. I was shopping on Beverly Boulevard and as I walked into a trendy house wares store, I immediately locked eyes with the stores only other patron, Jake Gyllenhaal.



One of the many things I love about living in Los Angeles. Yes . . . he is just as adorable in person. I was temped to ask for a photo but, decided to let him shop in peace.

Afterwards, We headed to the Pantages theatre on Hollywood boulevard. This is one of my absolute favorite theatres in Los Angeles. Designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, it was the last theatre built for the impresario Alexander Pantages. The palatial Art Deco theatre opened on June 4th, 1930, as part of the Pantages Theatre Circuit.





The Pantages Theatre Circuit had been built on Vaudeville, and the new Hollywood theatre programmed first-run movies alternating through the day with Vaudeville acts for its first two years. But like other theatres during the Great Depression, it was forced to economize and thereafter operated primarily as a movie theatre, though live entertainment was presented occasionally.



Pantages sold the Hollywood landmark in 1932 to Fox West Coast Theaters. In 1949, Howard Hughes acquired the Pantages under his RKO Theatre Circuit and moved his personal offices to the building's second floor. From 1949 through 1959, the theatre hosted the American motion picture industry's annual Academy Award Ceremonies. It continued to be a major venue for Road show movies into the 1970s. From 1965, it was operated by Pacific Theatres. The Pantages closed as a movie theatre in January, 1977, and re-opened the following month with Bubbling Brown Sugar, the first of the many stage productions that have since become its regular fare.








Wicked was brilliant. The set design was beyond spectacular. I really loved how it incorporated true to live social politics. For example, declaring someone else "evil" so oneself could say they were "good." Also labeling. The talking animals that were banished and declared "evil", in my opinion you can easily insert any group here, Women, Gays, liberals or any race or culture.



Jo Anne Worley played Madame Morrible and did an exceptional job. If you ever get a chance, do go and see Wicked, it will answer many questrions you may have had about the Wizard of Oz.