Zipper Concert Hall from “The West Wing”

Most actors will tell you that extra work is the worst.  But when I first landed in L.A. back in 2000, I did quite a bit of it and couldn’t have enjoyed myself more.  Just being on a movie or television set was surreal and provided an indelible opportunity to observe the inner workings of a production, watch my favorite actors live and in person (and sometimes even interact with them), and be truly immersed in the filmmaking process.  I ate it all up with a spoon.  One of my more memorable experiences took place on April 24th, 2000 (yes, I remember the date) when I sat in the audience of a supposed live town hall meeting with President Josiah ‘Jed’ Bartlett (Martin Sheen) for the Season 1 finale of The West Wing titled “What Kind of Day Has It Been.”  I was not a viewer of the hit NBC series at the time and, despite my extraordinary experience on set, did not watch the episode when it aired and, shockingly, did not end up seeing it until last month when the Grim Cheaper and I went on a West Wing binge.  Even though 19 years had passed, I was immediately brought right back to the day of the shoot and decided that I had to write a post on the auditorium where filming took place.  While I did not remember its exact location, I did recall that it was in downtown L.A. near the U.S. Bank Tower.  So I got to Googling and amazingly the first result kicked back when I inputted “auditorium” and “downtown Los Angeles” was a link to Zipper Concert Hall which turned out to be the right spot!

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Zipper Concert Hall is located on the campus of The Colburn School, a performing arts institution originally founded in 1950 as part of the USC School of Music.  Initially housed in a warehouse across from the Shrine Auditorium in University Park, the facility offered piano lessons to young children.  At some point, the curriculum was expanded to include college-level courses and the place re-branded as the Community School of Performing Arts.  The academy broke away from USC in 1980 thanks to a sizeable donation from philanthropist/music enthusiast Richard D. Colburn and six years later it was renamed in his honor.  Twelve years after that, The Colburn School was relocated to a new, larger custom-built campus at the corner of South Grand Avenue and East 2nd Street in downtown L.A., where it remains today.

Designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, at its inception the modern complex boasted a library, a rehearsal hall, two dance studios, a piano lab, 28 teaching spaces, and the 415-seat Zipper Concert Hall.  The auditorium (it’s the sloped structure with the sheet metal roof below) was named after Vienna-born musician Herbert Zipper who served as The Colburn School’s artistic advisor from 1980 until his death in 1997.

Interestingly, the Lloyd Wright-designed former studio of violinist Jascha Heifetz was also incorporated into the layout of the campus.  Initially situated on the grounds of Heifetz’s Beverly Hills estate (at 1520 Gilcrest Drive), the standalone structure, which was connected to the main residence via a breezeway, was saved from demolition by a very unlikely source.  Upon Heifetz’s passing in 1987, his home was sold to none other than James Woods, who set about tearing the place down.  The actor recognized the significance of the studio, though, and offered it up to anyone who was willing to pay to have it relocated.  The Colburn School’s then dean, Joseph Thayer, jumped at the chance.  The small edifice was subsequently deconstructed and transported to a storage facility where it sat until the new campus was completed.  It was then reassembled on the third floor of the Grand Building.  You can check out some images of it in its original form and its current state here and here.

In 2007, the Colburn campus was expanded by the Pfeiffer Partners architecture firm at which time a 384,000-square-foot, 12-story building was added, as were a 3,900-square-foot rehearsal hall, residential housing for 147 students, a cafeteria, offices, an art park, and numerous practice and performance spaces.  And the school is still growing.  Just last year, prolific architect Frank Gehry was tapped to design yet another addition, this one bringing in 200,000 square feet, an additional concert hall, and a theatre.  You can check out some images of what the school currently looks like here and here.

In the “What Kind of Day Has It Been” episode of The West Wing, Zipper Concert Hall masks as Virginia’s Newseum.  Though exteriors were filmed at the museum’s former location at 1101 Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn . . .

. . . all interiors were shot at Zipper.  It is there that President Bartlett speaks to a large audience about the apathy of America’s youth when it comes to government and politics.

The hall appears prominently at both the beginning and end of the episode.  Sadly, Zipper was closed when we showed up to stalk it so I did not get to revisit the inside, but you can check out some photographs of it here.

The Colburn School’s Grand Foyer (which you can see images of here) was also featured in “What Kind of Day Has It Been” . . .

. . . as was its Mayman Recital Hall (photos here and here).

I can still remember the filming of the episode as if it was yesterday.  I even recall exactly where I was sitting – fourth row, right.  (That’s me below!)  During the shoot, I became completely enamored with Martin Sheen, who is very much like his presidential character in real life – gregarious, warm, witty, chatty, and a wealth of random knowledge that he loves to share.  Throughout breaks in filming, he actively engaged the extras, both individually and as a group, and discussed everything from how he spent the day prior, Easter Sunday, memorizing the speech we were now listening to him perform to behind-the-scenes tidbits (like the fact that Dr. Josiah Bartlett, Jed’s supposed great-grandfather’s great-grandfather and the New Hampshire delegate to the second Continental Congress in 1776, whom he mentions in the speech, was, in fact, a real person) to Elián González, the young Cuban boy who had been seized by federal agents and returned to his father just a few days prior.  To see him seamlessly transition between his character and his actual self, turning Jed Bartlett on and off like a switch, was incredible.  The president’s speech in the scene was long (much longer than what was actually shown in the episode), detailed, wordy, and full of facts and figures.  Martin knew it inside and out, though, and nailed it on every.single. take.  The fact that he could be jovial and joking with us one minute and then, as soon as “action” was called, be immediately in character and 100% on-point the next was thrilling and fascinating to watch.  It was a long day, too, but Martin was just as fresh on his first take as he was on his last, a good ten to twelve hours later.  Witnessing his creative process was an incredible experience – truly a once-in-a-lifetime.  I’ll never forget coming home that night and telling my parents that I had learned more about acting (not to mention the way an actor should behave on set) from one day of observing Martin Sheen than I had in my four years of college as a theatre major.  They were not pleased by the news considering they footed the bill for the latter. 

The West Wing is not the only production to feature The Colburn School.  In the 2002 drama Adaptation, Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) attends Robert McKee’s (Brian Cox) Story Seminar at Zipper Concert Hall.

The school masks as the Museum of Design, where Milly Wilder (Mandy Moore) and Jason (Tom Everett Scott) go to see an art exhibit, in the 2007 romcom Because I Said So.

And in the Season 7 episode of Castle titled “Castle, P.I.,” which aired in 2015, Colburn portrays The Eastbourne School, where Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) investigate the murder of admissions director Shana Baker (Gia Mora).  (Note – the exterior seen in the episode is the school’s Olive Street entrance.)

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It: Zipper Concert Hall, from the “What Kind of Day Has It Been” episode of The West Wing, is located on the campus of The Colburn School at 200 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.  You can check out the hall’s upcoming events on the school’s official website here.