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by Jon Peters
Last Remaining Seats (LRS), a classic film series organized by the Los Angeles Conservancy, takes center stage this May and June in downtown’s historic Broadway theatre district. The event includes three historic movie palaces, the Orpheum, Million Dollar and the Los Angeles theatres for six different shows, four of which have already sold out. Since 1987, the series offers an answer to Angelenos seeking out both classic architecture and classy film.
Built in the teens and twenties during a downtown construction boom, the theatres began their decline during the twenties as the movies and movie-going moved to Hollywood. While some Broadway theatres like the Roxy and the Cameo have converted to clothes and electronics shops, others have held on. Imposing in their shuttered elegance and rarely open to the public, for the length of the series they become bustling movie palaces. During a typical season the conservancy sells 11,000 tickets, according to Trudi Sandmeier, the Conservancy’s director of education.
How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, a classic movie musical from 1967, starts the series. Matthew Weiner, creator of AMC’s Mad Men will host the evening. Writes LRS chair Ken Gehrig, “It helps that he works with Robert Morse and the era and setting of Mad Men fits in well with the musical How to Succeed.” Other stand-outs include “Flor silvestre” (1943), a film from the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema starring Dolores del Rio, co-presented with the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles. An early silent adaptation of “Peter Pan” (1926), accompanied by organist Robert Israel, caps the series. As screenings sell out quickly, it is recommended to buy your tickets now before no seats remain.
Los Angeles Conservancy Presents the 24th Annual
Last Remaining Seats
Wednesdays at 8 p.m., May 26 - June 30
