Anyone remember going to Leimert Theater or the Valley Music Center?

by Pandoras cat11 8 Replies latest jw friends

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  Pandoras cat11

  I have had tough week with reasons that I will not get into. It made me wonder if I could remember anything positive about this religion when I was growing up. The only few "happy" memories I can come up with were going to the Leimert Theater. It was so beautiful. It's an old theater in Los Angeles that was built, I believe, by Howard Hughs. The ceiling was painted with murals and as a little girl I would just stare up there and get lost in my imagination. The snack bar would serve hot pastrami sandwhiches, which we never got. Our family had to stand in line and eat in the dining room that was added later. The food was pretty bad. The roast beef was always tough but you had better eat it or you would get in trouble. I think I still have some in my teeth. HAHA . The witnesses sold it and I think it is a cultural theater, could be wrong.

  We also went to the Valley Music Center. That place was neat. The stage moved and again to a young girl this was cool. All the ladies restrooms were wallpapered and had a different theme. There must have been five or six restrooms and I made sure I used all of them!!! They also served soft serve ice cream. Not the best memories, but hey. Feeling nostalgic today. I just aged myself, huh?
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  Farkel

  I went to the Valley Music Center in the late 1960's. It was called a "Theater in the Round" and was in or near the city of Claremont, wasn't it?

  I went there to see a show by the incredibly talented pianist Roger Williams (he played the hit song "Autumn Leaves") and the inimitable impressionist Frank Gorshin. The only LA Conventions I attended when I lived there were in Dodger Stadium.

  Farkel
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  I quit!

  I went there several times I think for our circuit assemblies. I think was around 1976. I don't remember why because we usually went to Corona. I believe it was somewhere off of Crenshaw Blvd. I remember one time Red Fox was in a park near there doing stand up. This brought back another memory. A "brother" I new was used on the platform to tell his story of how he remained faithful through adversity or something like that. His wife had left him and the "truth" and now he had terminal cancer. A friend of mine that still went to the congregation I used to go to told me his wife had left the WT over an article on why Christians shouldn't wear hearts. He said that she had said that was the last straw and left. I'm sure there were other factors. I remember he was a very judgemental person.
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  I quit!

  I never went to the music center but I believe they bought it from Bob Hope or he had owned it at one time.
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  Dagney

  Went to both for many years. Leimert was really nice, once you got there. I remember when they bought it.

  The Valley Music Center became the "Woodland Hills Assembly Hall." It was kind of fun to go to assemblies there, except for the stacked parking...made escaping very difficult.

  Except for the religion part, there were good times...
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  Gregor

  Went to a circuit assembly and a memorial at theValley Center for a big shot CO. I was a shirt tail relative of his. He's the one who like to set around with a few elders and swap Judicial cases that involved graphic sexual descriptions. Always thought they should have shown a short stag film in his memory. "This was the kind of thing that Brother Coleman would have known how to deal with"
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  Pandoras cat11

  Farkel - My parents had that album!!! Grew up on that type of music. Rock music and "Disco" were from Satan. HAHAA. You went to Dodger Stadium too? The lines were incredible for the cafeteria. You had to stand to eat and I was such a little kid that my head never cleared the table. I can never look at carrot salad without thinking of Dodger Stadium!!!

  I quit - Leimert truly was a gem. It was in a bad part of town, my parents always kept asking us if our doors were locked. Funny.

  Dagney - I had forgotten that it was remamed the "Woodland Hills Assembly Hall". You are right--the parking was strange.

  Gregor - Wow, they actually had a memorial for a C.O. there? Kinda like Michael Jackson.
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  DNCall

  Hey Gregor,

  You don't mean "Tubby" Coleman do you?
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  DNCall

  Hey Fark,

  I worked on a Roger Williams album once. He was a nice guy . . . a good Morman. He worked out of his home and his wife wanted him to have an office so he wouldn't be under foot all the time. He didn't like the idea of an office and since he had always worked out of his house, he simply bought a house across the street and moved his piano there. Problem solved!