A Vision for Downtown Theater

Let me thank Michael Phillips for his timely and truthful accounting of the treasure awaiting L.A. theatergoers in downtown (“Before Advancing to the Next Stage ...” Sept. 30). It pains me to know that there are more of these palaces hidden behind boards and swap-meet signs. The grandeur and magic of a beautiful theater are so much a part of “going to the theater.”

Anyone who has visited the Pantages or the other Disney-renovated theater, the New Amsterdam in New York, knows what a joy it is to stroll into a grand lobby that beckons you on a magical journey to somewhere previously unknown. Theaters, the actual buildings, are a part of the mystery of theater.

Los Angeles has a very diverse theater scene. It includes large touring houses, like the Pantages, the soon-to-be-gone Shubert and the soon-to-be-opened Kodak; mid-size houses (the Coronet, Canon and Geffen); and the ubiquitous sub-99 seat houses that dot the terrain. There are some theaters in between such as the Doolittle and the Fonda that have been little used in recent years. In short, L.A.’s theater landscape is large and spread out.

For quite a few years, there have been efforts to create a NoHo Arts District. There were hopes that the new Metro station would give life to the triangle created by the Pantages, Doolittle and Fonda theaters. And some feel that the beauty of L.A. theater is its lack of a centralized hub.

And now, the prospect of revitalizing these gorgeous Broadway houses comes to the fore. What are we to do? Which is the most effective way to promote the art of theater in Los Angeles?

If we build it, how will we get them to come? It is going to take more than just the regular theatergoers of L.A. to support something as smart and wonderful as a Los Angeles Broadway district. New York’s newly refurbished and inviting Times Square did not spring forth fully realized. It took a concerted effort from City Hall, businesses, a special corporation that administers the Times Square Business District and the support of the locals to get Times Square, and its surrounds, to be a thriving, economically viable zone in a major downtown.

Do Angelenos have the vision and stamina for such a project? I believe we do. Do the politicians and business people of the greater Los Angeles/Hollywood community have the guts to be bold and creative? I pray they do.

CRAIG A. MEYER

Pasadena

*

If the theater district is restored to its glamorous past, a new hotel is built (convenient to Staples Center and the Convention Center) and Mayor Hahn puts his business and development team working on attracting businesses back to downtown L.A., what happens to the hundreds of merchants and small businesses in the district? Where do they go?

Phillips mentions New York’s “squeaky-cleaned-up” Times Square. But as I understand it, Times Square had degenerated to the point that it was almost all porno theaters, grindhouses, flophouses, etc. In L.A., though, the area is one of the linchpins of the Latino commercial community.

Wouldn’t the proposed “renovation/overhaul” be a slap in the face to the Latino community, in effect signifying that they’re second-class citizens who can be displaced with no thought regarding their situation, problems or livelihoods?

Realistically, in view of the waning economy and the post-Sept. 11 picture, isn’t all this talk rhetorical, academic, “pie-in-the-sky”?

DAVID R. MOSS

Los Angeles