Los Angeles attractions – Page 6

June 8, 2009June 24, 2009

Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage!

Don’t miss your chance to catch Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story on Stage live! Dirty Dancing Pantages Theater Tickets are available at Barry’s Tickets now!

As I have mentioned several times before, Dirty Dancing is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. The coming of age flick had such a profound effect on me, in fact, that I can still remember exactly where I was when I saw it for the first time. That was the summer of 1988 :), I was eleven years old and was on a plane by myself flying to visit some family friends. Dirty Dancing had been released in movie theatres the previous summer and, to my chagrin, my mom had banned me from seeing it, saying I was far too young. So, imagine my excitement, when I got on the airplane and opened up my in-flight magazine to see that the movie being shown was none other than Dirty Dancing! Ha, ha, my mother had been outsmarted yet again!!! 🙂 I can still remember sitting there on that airplane, over 21 years ago, being absolutely mesmerized by the movie and the dancing. Since that time, I’ve probably watched Dirty Dancing over one hundred times. I’m pretty sure I could easily recite the entire movie, word for word, from start to finish, from memory. So, a few weeks ago, when I saw a flyer on a bulletin board at my acting school advertising the new Dirty Dancing stage show, I just about had a heart attack! HOW HAD I NOT KNOWN ABOUT THIS???? LOL I immediately drove home and purchased tickets to the show for the night of June 2nd, which honestly could not have come soon enough! Finally, last Tuesday night, my fiance and I got to see Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage! And let me tell you, I could not have been more excited!!!

The show was being held at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, an absolutely beautiful Art Deco venue and oft-used filming location which I will have to devote an entire blog post to in the near future. 🙂 When we arrived at the Pantages, you could literally feel the excitement in the air! In the lobby girls were singing “Hungry Eyes”, fans waiting in line for the bathroom were comparing their favorite scenes from the movie, and everywhere I turned I kept hearing people say “I am SO excited to see this show!” I can’t tell you how much fun it was to be in a theatre full of people who loved the movie as much as I did and who had so much excitement to see a live performance of it over twenty-two years after its original release! It was incredible!!

Before seeing the show, I honestly had no idea what to expect. I was actually a little worried that some aspects of the movie might be changed or modernized for the stage production, but I really needn’t have fretted. Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage is exactly what its title professes it to be – a real life stage show of the movie. It is pretty much an EXACT, word for word, replication of the movie performed on-stage right before your very eyes! Every single aspect of the movie was re-created for the stage show – right down to Baby’s many costumes!!!! It made me want to run right out and buy some white Keds and denim cut-off shorts! 🙂

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Quite possibly, the most incredible part of the production – besides the dancing, of course! – was the use of the stage. I was absolutely AMAZED that they were able to re-create the scenery from the movie in the way that they did for a live stage production. In the show, scenes take place in Kellerman’s Lodge, outside during the big rain storm, driving in Johnny’s Chevrolet, and on the fallen log in the forest where Baby and Johnny dance. Even the “practicing the lift in the water” scene was included in the show!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t want to give too much away here, but to see Johnny and Baby onstage in the water practicing the lift was incredible!!!!! Through the unique set design – which includes hydraulic lifting panels and a huge LCD projection screen – it was as if the movie came to life right before my very eyes. The Dirty Dancing set is actually so big that – for the first time in history – the Pantages had to remove the first three rows of seats in the audience to accommodate it AND the orchestra had to be moved from the pitt area to a room underneath the stage!!!! It truly is incredible to see!!!!! I was on a huge high throughout the entire performance and once again became that eleven year old girl on the airplane. The show is A-MA-ZING andI can’t recommend going to watch it enough! If you were AT ALL a fan of the movie, you will LOVE this show!!! You can watch a preview of Dirty Dancing by clicking in the box above.

And, just when I thought my night couldn’t possibly get any better, I also go to go BACKSTAGE! Yes, you read that right! I GOT TO GO BACKSTAGE at Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage !!! In a very lucky twist of fate, while planning my surprise engagement party, my mom just happened to meet the mother of one of Dirty Dancing’s ensemble cast members, Jamie Bayard. So, I just had to ask to be put in contact with him in the hopes that he could possibly take me on a backstage tour after the show. And, sure enough, he did!!! Besides starring as a dancer in Dirty Dancing, Jamie is a United States and World West Coast Swing Champion, a Latin/Ballroom Champion, a Salsa and Musical Theatre professor at Loyola Marymount University, and he was a top twenty finalist on Season 4 of So You Think You Can Dance. 🙂 You can visit his website here. Jamie honestly could NOT have been nicer and spent a good twenty minutes talking with us about the show and showing us around backstage.

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On our tour, we got to see Jamie’s dressing room;

the outdoor “green room” complete with plasma TV where the actors hang out while not onstage;

the costumes;

Johnny’s car;

and the Dirty Dancing stage!!!!!!!!!!!! I was absolutely freaking out over the fact that I was STANDING ON THE DIRTY DANCING STAGE! I mean, who the heck am I to be standing on the DIRTY DANCING STAGE???? LOL

Of course, I just HAD to have my fiance take a picture of me standing on the stage, but for some incredibly odd reason, beknownst only to him, he decided to zoom in for a close up while taking the photograph! So, basically, since no part of the Dirty Dancing stage is visible in the above photograph, I have what amounts to what might as well be a picture of me standing in my own living room! LOL Men, I swear!!!!

Seeing the show and going backstage was an absolutely incredible experience for me. A big THANK YOU to Jamie for affording us the opportunity!!! 🙂 And, as I said before, if you are in the area, Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage is a MUST-see!!!!

UPDATE:

Sadly, Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage will be ending its Los Angeles run this upcoming Sunday, June 28th. So, you know what that means! There are only five days left to catch this phenomenal stage show before it leaves Southern California for good. In other news, just last week, on June 17th to be exact, Dirty Dancing welcomed its 5 MILLIONTH audience member worldwide. The award winning show first premiered in Sydney, Australia in 2004 and has since opened in thirteen different cities across the world including Hamburg, Berlin, London, Toronto, Boston, and Los Angeles. Don’t miss your opportunity to see what all the fans are raving about. Visit Barry’sTickets.com today to book your tickets before it’s too late!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage is playing now through June 28th at the Pantages Theatre, which is located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. You can visit the official Dirty Dancing website here. Tickets are available at Barry’sTickets.com.

May 27, 2009June 27, 2019

Descanso Gardens

This past weekend I dragged my fiance and my parents out to stalk Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge – another location that I discovered thanks to my new favorite stalking book. The 160-acre botanical garden has been featured in countless movies and television shows over the years and is also a popular wedding venue.

E. Manchester Boddy (pronounced “Boh-dee”) first purchased the property now known as Descanso Gardens in 1937 to build a home for his family. Besides being the owner and publisher of the Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News, Boddy was also a horticulturalist and a commercial camellia grower and he needed a piece of property large enough to cultivate his prized flowers. Rancho de Descanso, as it was then known, fit the bill perfectly. In 1938, he commissioned a 12,000 square foot home to be built on the property. The 22-room mansion, named the Boddy House, was designed in the Hollywood Regency style by “architect to the stars” James E. Dolena. Boddy positioned the home in the very southeast corner of Descanso – which means “rest and repose” in Spanish – so that he and his family would be able to enjoy specatular views of the San Gabriel Mountains. In 1953, Boddy sold the entire 160 acre property, including his custom built home, to the City of Los Angeles, who later opened it up to the public. In 2007, the Boddy Home was featured as the Pasadena Showcase House of Design and was completely renovated and restored to its former glory. The bottom floor of the home is open for all visitors of Descanso Gardens to tour. The Boddy House can also be rented out for weddings and private events.

Descanso Gardens encompasses a twenty-acre oak tree forest, a bird sanctuary, a five-acre rosarium featuring over three thousand roses, a Japanese tea garden, countless waterfalls and koi ponds, a lilac garden, and a California garden featuring Redwood trees, California poppies, and chaparral plants. The site is stunning and extremely expansive, but also, sadly, very crowded, I believe due to its low admission price.

The venue’s beauty has, of course, led to countless onscreen cameos. Descanso was the location of Nikolas Natchios’ funeral in the 2003 movie Daredevil.

Its greenhouse was used in a prominent scene in Minority Report.

And Reese Witherspoon has filmed no less than three productions at the Gardens! In Legally Blonde, Descanso was transformed into Golden Springs Spa where Reese and her partner Luke Wilson interviewed Raquel Welch. The building located just to left of Descanso’s main entrance was used as the entrance to the spa.

Both the interior and the exterior of the Boddy House were used as the home of John Voight, where Reese spends Christmas, in last year’s Four Christmases. Because the movie has not yet been released on DVD, I was not able to make screen captures of it. 🙁 According to one of the Boddy House docents, though, the mansion was significantly dressed up for the filming of the movie and is not very recognizable. Four Christmases featured many areas of the Boddy House, including the front entrance, main foyer, library, and living room. Reese also filmed her latest Avon commercial, which has yet to be released, at Descanso Gardens.

An episode of Mad Mad was also recently filmed on Descanso’s main lawn area (pictured above). Descanso Gardens was also featured in Memoirs of a Geisha, America’s Sweethearts, Graduation Day, Tiny Dancer, Congo, Land of the Lost, the recently wrapped Untitled Duplass Brothers Project starring Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill, and John C. Reily, and Eddie Murphy’s new movie The Incredible Shrinking Man.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Descanso Gardens is located at 1418 Descanso Drive in La Canada Flintridge. The Gardens are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The entrance fee is $8 for adults and $3 for children aged 5 to 12. Children under 5 are free. You can visit the Descanso Gardens website here.

May 26, 2009July 13, 2009

It’s A Wrap!

Got an email the other day from fellow stalker Heather who told me about a store in Burbank named It’s A Wrap that sells clothing, props, and memorabilia from recently wrapped movies and television shows! Being that the store sounded right up my alley, I immediately ran out to stalk it!! 🙂 It’s A Wrap has been in business selling Hollywood costumes and movie merchandise since 1981. Owner and founder Janet Dion purchases clothes and props directly from the many movie studios in the area and sells them to the public out of two retail stores – one in Burbank and one in Beverly Hills. It’s A Wrap has sold clothing from hundreds upon hundreds of productions over the last twenty-eight years, including The Flinstones, Beverly Hills, 90210!!!!, Seventh Heaven, Charmed, Drillbit Taylor, Twilight, Lipstick Jungle, Spanglish, Seven, Guiding Light, Varsity Blues, Seinfeld, Baywatch, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Las Vegas. Love it!!

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Not only does It’s A Wrap provide the general public access to movie items we might otherwise never have the ability to purchase, but the store also has INCREDIBLE deals!!!! I’m talking INCREDIBLE!!!! Designer dresses are usually marked down well over 50% below retail value. Yesterday, while I was stalking the place, I spotted a few super cute BCBG dresses with the original price tags still attached. The dresses, which were originally priced $298, were selling for $98!!! But, of course, not a one of them was in my size!!! Ugh! Such a bummer!

Because It’s A Wrap receives new merchandise from the local studios on a daily basis, you simply never know what treasures you are going to discover there. While I was stalking the place last week, I found clothing from Kath & Kim, Ugly Betty, General Hospital, Hancock, According to Jim, and CSI: Miami – just to name a few. But the cutest clothes, by far, had to be from the newly-released Wayans Brothers’ movie Dance Flick. I pretty much loved every single piece from that collection, which included a large assortment of tees by fave designer Michael Stars. 🙂 It’s A Wrap was also selling a HUGE array of evening gowns and cocktail dresses from the soap opera General Hospital. If I was still in high school, this would DEFINITELY be the place I’d shop for my prom dress. 🙂

The store even had a dress from Disney Studios that looked strikingly similar to Silver’s prom dress from last week’s episode of 90210. Oh, if only I had a prom to go to! 🙂

I honestly can’t recommend stalking It’s A Wrap enough. But be sure to keep in mind that even though the shop sells movie costumes, it is still a used clothing store. Don’t go in there expecting it to look like a Beverly Hills boutique. It’s A Wrap is a thrift shop, and if you don’t like that sort of thing, you won’t like this place. 🙂 Also don’t go in there expecting to find a specific costume from a specific movie or television show. While all of the clothing for sale at It’s A Wrap bears tags marking what production or what studio it came from, no reference is made to what actor or actress actually wore the item. In fact, many of the clothes for sale were most likely not worn by a lead actor, but by secondary and background actors. And some of the costumes may never even have been worn at all. At the same time, though, you simply never know what you are going to find at It’s A Wrap. A few years back, one lucky customer walked away with Brad Pitt’s shoes from the movie Seven. 🙂 Any visiting tourist who wants to take a piece of Hollywood home with them should definitely stalk It’s A Wrap! Oh, and the best part about the store? Showcased on the walls are countless costumes worn in famous movies and television shows, including items worn by Shannen Doherty, Shirley MacLaine, Sean Penn, and Demi Moore. If you do happen to stalk It’s A Wrap, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for celebs, because, amazingly enough, quite a few of them are fans of the store. Famous customers include Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Mario Lopez, Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Arquette, Brittany Murphy, Nicole Eggert, Drew Barrymore, Geena Davis, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and my fave Shannen Doherty. 🙂

Big THANK YOU to Amanda for telling me about It’s A Wrap! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: It’s A Wrap has two Los Angeles area locations. The first is located at 3315 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank. The other can be found at 1164 South Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills. You can visit the It’s A Wrap website here. Another great place to purchase movie and celebrity memorabilia is the website www.starwares.com.

May 21, 2009March 24, 2011

Naomi Clark’s House

Back in March, I came across this post on fave website On Location Vacations which stated that 90210 was filming that day at a private residence located at 145 North Rossmore Avenue in Los Angeles. That residence turned out to be the mega-mansion that Naomi Clark and her sister moved into in the episode of the CW series that aired last week, entitled “Zero Tolerance”. And since the home was also featured quite prominently in last night’s episode as the location of Naomi’s after-prom party, of course I just had to run right out and stalk it. 🙂 Thanks, On Location Vacations!!!!!

As you can see in the aerial images pictured above, Naomi’s house is absolutely ginormous in person!!! The mansion, which was originally built in 1923, boasts 5 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms!!! and a whopping 6,147 square feet.

Thanks to its sheer size and the two large towers (complete with flagpole) that flank its entrance, the mansion actually looks more like a museum or a monument of some sort than a residence. It’s hard to believe that a real person actually lives there!

The home is so big, in fact, that it even has its own separate service entrance! 🙂 LOL

Both the interior and the exterior of the mansion were used quite extensively on last night’s episode of 90210, which was entitled “One Party Can Ruin Your Whole Summer”. Featured on the show were the front entrance;

the front yard area – where Annie had her meltdown;

the pool area – where Silver encouraged all the girls to go swimming in their prom dresses and where Naomi’s sister, Jen, hit on Liam;

and the covered walkway – where Ethan kissed Silver.

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I couldn’t help but cringe last night while watching Naomi’s house being trashed during her out of control prom party. If I owned that beautiful mansion I don’t think I could have handled watching that happen – even if it was all fake. LOL 🙂 According to Zillow, this same home was also used in an episode of CSI: Miami, but I am not sure which one. I will have to keep my eyes open for it. 🙂

I have to say that I am actually a bit surprised that that this particular house was used for filming, as it doesn’t seem to be situated in a very film-friendly location. Rossmore Avenue is a fairly busy thoroughfare, with pretty much constant traffic congestion. I had a hard time even just walking across Rossmore to take a picture from the other side of the street, so I can’t imagine how the crew was able to set up the many film trucks and equipment needed for the day without at least partially shutting down the street. Needless to say, though, the house is absolutely beautiful and absolutely huge and it is just the type of home I’d picture 90210’s resident princess purchasing for herself. You can see some great interior and close up pics of the house here. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Naomi Clark’s house is located at 145 North Rossmore Avenue in Los Angeles.

May 13, 2009May 13, 2009

My Day on the Set of Chelsea Lately!

As I mentioned in Monday’s post, this past weekend was a complete whirlwind for me!! But getting engaged wasn’t the only exciting thing that happened. No, the excitement of the weekend for me actually started on Friday when I got to spend a day on the set of my new favorite show, Chelsea Lately!!! A few weeks back while my friend Blaze and I were waiting in line to watch a live taping of Chelsea’s show, one of her Production Assistants came outside to tell us about a new bit that was being added to the show that they needed volunteers for. The new segment involves Chelsea pretending to be a detective who solves weird and obscure mysteries. The P.A. wanted to know if any of us in the audience had any mysteries in our life that needed solving. Now, mind you, Blaze had spent that entire morning while in line complaining about the fact that his agent never sends him out on acting auditions. So, I immediately raised my hand and yelled out, “My friend here has a mystery that needs solving! He needs to know why he never has any auditions!” 🙂 The P.A. really liked Blaze’s “mystery” and took down his information and said she might be calling to book him for a segment. Sure enough, last week he got a call saying they would be filming his mystery on Friday if he was available!!!! And, being the nice guy that he is, Blaze asked the P.A. if I could tag along. She said that while I couldn’t watch the actual taping, I could hang out in Chelsea’s green room all day. So, of course, I did! And, let me tell you, I could not have been more excited!!!! I literally didn’t sleep a wink the night beforehand!!!!! LOL

Blaze and I arrived at the Digital Media Center, where Chelsea Lately is taped, at around 10:30 a.m. on Friday morning and were led immediately to the green room. For those of you not familiar with industry lingo, a “green room” is a sort of waiting room for performers. It’s a place where actors or musicians can hang out and relax before going on stage. Chelsea’s green room is not actually green, but silver, and I could not have been more FLOORED to be seeing it in person!!! I couldn’t help but think about all of Chelsea’s famous guests who had sat in that room at one time or another. The fact that I was now sitting there was mind-boggling to me! I mean, who in the heck am I to be in the green room of the Chelsea Lately show????

Since I knew beforehand that I would not be able to watch the actual taping of Blaze’s segment, the two of us decided to really live it up while waiting in the green room! And, of course, I just had to take pictures of absolutely EVERYTHING! 🙂

Sitting in the make up chair;

modeling with the celeb photographs on the wall;

a super cute pic of Chelsea and Chuy;

the green room door with Michelle Trachtenberg’s name on it (she was the celebrity guest the previous evening);

and just hanging out. 🙂

But my favorite part of the green room had to be Chelsea’s “guest book” – a little book which all of the celebrity guests sign before going on air to be interviewed.

I cannot tell you how much fun I had going through that book and reading all of the messages that celebs had written to Chelsea. Included in the book were messages from Jamie Kennedy, Roselyn Sanchez, Dr. Drew, Jenny McCarthy, Perez Hilton, Khloe Kardashian, Kris Kardashian, Taryn Manning, former Spice Girl Mel B, Vivica A. Fox, and, my personal fave, The Hills’ Lo Bosworth (pictured above).

At one point during the day, frequent round table guest and Chelsea Lately “Staff Homosexual” Guy Branum walked by the green room and I just about died of excitement!!!! I was too scared to talk to him, so Blaze ran outside and asked him to pose for a picture with me. YAY! Guy was super nice in person and actually ventured into the green room quite a few times during the day. 🙂

But the biggest highlight of the day for me was when Chuy, Chelsea’s assistant, visited the green room to introduce himself to everyone. Chuy was dressed up in a little policeman outfit for the segment they were taping and looked absolutely adorable!! Not only did he give me a hug, but he also kissed me on the cheek and I could not have been more excited! He seemed like such an incredibly sweet man! All in all, I had an ABSOLUTE blast spending the day at the Chelsea Lately show!! Ironically enough, though, Chelsea ended up running out of time and wasn’t able to tape Blaze’s segment. But you know what that means, don’t you??? Yes sir, we get to go back another day to do it all over again! YAY! My fingers are crossed that this time I’ll get to meet Chelsea!!!!!! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Chelsea Lately is filmed at the Digital Media Center, which is located at 12312 West Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles. You can get tickets to watch a live taping here. You can catch the Chelsea Lately show weeknights at 11 p.m. on E!

May 7, 2009May 6, 2009

The “Biggest Loser” Ranch

This past weekend, I dragged my boyfriend out to Calabasas to stalk the King Gillette Ranch, otherwise known as The Biggest Loser Ranch. I found this location thanks to the couple we met while stalking the Adamson House a few weeks back. Our new friends, who just recently got engaged, have been traipsing all over the Los Angeles area touring wedding locales. Many of those locales also happen to be filming locations! I swear, if my boyfriend ever gets off his butt and proposes, a whole new stalking world is going to open up for me. 🙂 Anyway, our friends recently toured King Gillette Ranch and immediately called me up to let me know that it is where The Biggest Loser is filmed. And even though I’ve never watched the show, I just had to run right out and stalk it! 🙂 THANKS Nancy and Eric! 🙂

Actually, I did see one brief segment of The Biggest Loser on Talk Soup a few months back when Joel McHale showed the above clip of trainer Bob Harper absolutely FREAKING OUT at a contestant. LOVE IT! LOL LOL LOL I think I need to hire that guy to be my trainer!!! 🙂

King Gillette Ranch was originally built by King Camp Gillette (yes, that’s an actual name), the founder of the Gillette Safety Razor Company. King purchased the 588 acre property in 1926 and commissioned famed architect Wallace Neff – who designed Brad and Jen’s famous former home– to built a 26,000 square foot Mediterranean style mansion on the site. When Gillette died in 1932, his widow sold the extensive property to movie director Clarence Brown. Clarence threw so many elaborate Hollywood parties in the mansion that he ended up building his own private airstrip so that his famous guests could land directly on the property ! LOL In 1952, the Ranch was sold to Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores, who donated the entire 588 acres to the Claretian Order of the Catholic Church. They used the property as a seminary for the next 25 years, until eventually selling it to New Age leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Elizabeth planned to use the property as the headquarters for her religious movement, the Church Universal and Triumphant, but faced much government opposition and ended up selling it to Soku University of America in 1986. The Ranch was finally collaboratively purchased by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, California State Parks, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, and National Park Service, who opened the property to the public on June 30, 2007. It is currently a nature and wildlife reserve featuring numerous hiking trails, a former Chumash Indian settlement, walking paths, a man-made lake, and picnic grounds.

And, of course, it’s also a filming location! For the past two years, beginning with Season 4, King Gillette Ranch has been used as the location where contestants vie to become The Biggest Loser. While we were stalking the place, we had the good fortune of running into one of the Biggest Loser crew members who was busy setting up for Season 8, which begins filming in a few weeks. He was INCREDIBLY nice and pointed out all of the areas featured on the show, including the gym, which, as you can see in the above photograph (which was taken through a closed window! LOL ) was empty at the time;

the pool –

which was flanked by fake flowers!!! LOL;

the production offices;

the “dormitories” where the contestants sleep – which is actually just a section of the main house;

the patio area;

and the Administration Building –

which is used for the filming of the elimination ceremonies. Again, the above photographs were taken through a closed window, so they aren’t the greatest.

Evidence of the filming of The Biggest Loser could be found all over the Ranch, which I, of course, LOVED seeing! There was a leftover tape marker that was stuck on the ground outside of the elimination room;

wire cords were strung up on all of the buildings;

and those yellow signs that I so love were posted at the entrance gates. 🙂

King Gillette Ranch is a truly beautiful place. It is the perfect spot to spend an afternoon outdoors, go for a long hike, take a bike ride, or just sit back and nature watch.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: King Gillette Ranch is located at 26800 Mulholland Highway in Calabasas. The park is open daily to the public from 8 a.m. to sunset. Dogs are not allowed. Parking costs $5 per day. The Ranch is also available as a wedding or event location.

April 21, 2009April 20, 2010

The Michael Jackson Exhibit by Julien’s Auctions

As I’ve mentioned once before, even though he has some major issues, darn if I don’t love me some MJ! So when one of my readers, Amanda, posted a comment this morning about the Michael Jackson Exhibit that is currently being held in Beverly Hills, I just about had a full blown panic attack right there in my own living room. HOW IN THE HECK HAD I NOT HEARD ABOUT THIS??? LOL I immediately called my dad, who also loves himself some MJ, and the two of us headed right over to Beverly Hills to check out the exhibit.

The Michael Jackson exhibit was originally slated as an auction to be hosted by Julien’s Auctions company. Michael Jackson himself hired the auction house, which specializes in entertainment memorabilia, to sell off virutally all of the contents of his now defunct Neverland Ranch. At the last minute, though, MJ changed his mind and decided to cancel the auction and buy back all of his memorabilia from Julien’s. But he did agree to go through with the scheduled exhibition of his valuables, which is open to the public now through April 25th. And I am so glad he did, as my experience there today was nothing short of incredible!!!!!

I was literally on the edge of my seat for the entire drive to Beverly Hills! And the exhibit did not fail to disappoint! The first thing you see when walking up to the exhibition area is – are you sitting down for this??? – the famed NEVERLAND RANCH GATE! I have wanted to see that gate for as long as I can remember and was so disappointed when I stalked Neverland Ranch back in 2007 and discovered that it wasn’t visible from the street. I was so floored to see that gate in person, in fact, that I couldn’t imagine there’d be anything inside the exhibit hall that could top it! But, boy, was I wrong! The Neverland gate was just the beginning! 🙂

In a very lucky twist of fate, after asking a security guard a question upon entering the exhibit, I was referred to a man named Michael Doyle. Well, it turns out that Michael is the administrator of the entire exhibit and a SUPER nice guy. After I told him a bit about my blog, he ended up taking me on my own mini private tour of the exhibit!!!!! Unbelievable!!!!! 🙂 According to Doyle, the 30,000 square foot, 1,400 lot exhibit took over nine months to coordinate. The removal of the items from Neverland Ranch alone took ninety days! Doyle was at the ranch during that entire ninety day period and got to see up close and personal how the King of Pop lived. What an experience! When I told Doyle that I had actually been to Neverland Ranch, he said “Oh, you were invited there?” LOL I had to clarify and tell him that no, I had not been invited to Neverland Ranch, but had stalked the outside of it for my blog. LOL LOL LOL While I was speaking with Doyle, he got a call that Sharon Osbourne would be touring the exhibit later that day. I guess even celebs are fascinated with the King of Pop. 🙂

The entire exhibit, which feels very much like a museum, is set up in such a way that visitors feel as if they are actually stepping inside of the real Neverland Ranch. Before arriving, I was nervous that cameras would not be allowed, as I knew that I’d want to take pictures of EVERYTHING. Well, I really needn’t have worried, as cameras are not only allowed, but encouraged!!! The ultra-friendly security guards and docents kept telling us to be sure to take a lot of photographs. And my dad and I sure complied!! The two of us took over 200 pictures while there! Obviously I can’t post all 200 pictures here, as this post would be never-ending. So, I had to choose a few of my favorites. 🙂

On display are numerous costumes that the King of Pop wore during performances. Seeing them in person I could not believe how tiny MJ is! According to one of the docents, he has a 28 inch waist! I took the above photograph for comparison – now, I am a small girl (a size 2 usually) and look how much smaller Michael is than me! He’s like half my size!!!

Michael had 114 arcade games at Neverland Ranch, all of which are in working order and on display at the exhibit. Apparently, when the auction was still set to happen, the arcade games were garnering the most attention. Not from Michael Jackson fans, though, but video game enthusiasts. 🙂

On display were both a personal letter from then-president Ronald Regan offering his condolences after the pop star’s accident while filming a Pepsi commercial,

and the original contract MJ signed with the William Morris Agency on May 21, 1970. As an actress, seeing his agency contract absolutely fascinated me!

Numerous awards were also on display, including a fairly banged up American Video Award for “Beat It” from 1983.

Countless Disney items were featured, most of them presented to the pop star from Disney themselves, including several animatronic window displays which were located at the entrance to Neverland’s movie theatre.

Also on display was a huge collection of the singer’s blinged out clothes;

and sparkly gloves;

including THE glove;

his wax figure from Madame Tussauds in London;

his household furniture, including China, silverware, and glasses;

hundreds upon hundreds of statuaries;

a huge collection of cars, including three limousines, a Neverland Ranch firetruck, and several mini-cars that look like they might have once been part of a Disneyland ride;

and his tour bus complete with a ginormous plasma TV and a huge marble bathroom with a bidet.

But my absolute favorite part of the exhibit was the large stage set up in the main room that featured a huge movie screen that played the Michael Jackson: Live In Bucharest DVD on loop. It was amazing to be walking around what basically amounts to a replica of Neverland Ranch while listening to music from the pop star himself. My dad pretty much stood mesmerized watching that DVD for a good 45 minutes. 🙂

And, of course, I just had to do the Thriller dance. 🙂

I cannot recommend stalking the Michael Jackson exhibit enough!! If you are at all a fan of the pop star, or are enthralled with celebrity in general, you MUST stalk the exhibit. It was an AMAZING experience for me – a once in a lifetime, really – and I can’t even believe I got to see it all with my own two eyes. BIG THANK YOU to Amanda for letting me know about the auction!!!!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: You can visit the Michael Jackson Exhibit by Julien’s Auctions through this Saturday, April 25th in the old Robinsons-May building, which is located at 9900 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, directly next door to the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The exhibit is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $20 per person. Parking is $10. I’d allow yourself a minimum of two hours to see the exhibit. Ladies, if you carry expensive purses, I suggest you leave them at home as you will have to check all bags at the door. Cameras, however, are welcomed and encouraged! 🙂 You can visit the Michael Jackson Exhibit website, where you can watch videos about the exhibition and browse through the five auction catalogs, here.

April 15, 2009April 14, 2009

The Adamson House

I spent all last week on the hunt for a location from my fave 90s TV show Beverly Hills, 90210. The spot I was looking for was the location that stood in for Baja, Mexico in the Season 2 episode entitled “Mexican Standoff”. In the episode, Brenda sneaks off to a Mexican resort town for the weekend with Dylan without telling her parents. I knew from this amazing website that the “Mexico” scenes were actually shot near the beach in Malibu, so I started my hunt there. And it wasn’t long before I found the right spot!

While watching the “Mexican Standoff” episode, I noticed an abundance of intricate Spanish tile in the background of pretty much every scene. (You can see an example of that tile behind Dylan in the above screen capture.) The tiles were my big tip-off, as there is actually a famous house in Malibu that is known for its exquisite tile work. In fact, the house has been deemed the “Taj Mahal of tile”. I had done some research on the home a few years back when I was working and immediately thought of it when I watched the “Mexican Standoff” episode this past week. The home, which is named the Adamson House, is owned by the State of California and has been open to the public as a museum since 1983. So, I, of course, dragged my boyfriend right out there this weekend for a tour.

In 1891, a man named Frederick Hastings Rindge purchased what is now known as the city of Malibu for the bargain price of $10 per acre. Rindge’s wife, May, was fiercely protective of her family’s privacy and did everything she could to keep outsiders out, including fencing off the 17,000 acre property and hiring armed guards who patrolled the area day and night. For close to forty years the Rindges were Malibu’s only occupants. But in the 30s, May ran into some financial trouble and had to sell off parcels of her property. Not wanting to sell to just anyone, May made sure she sold her land to wealthy, distinguished individuals who understood the need for privacy. Most of those individuals were movie stars. And thus, the city of Malibu, celebrity haven, was born. It was Frederick and May’s daughter, Rhoda Agatha Rindge, and her husband Merritt Adamson who in 1930 built the 4,000 square foot Mediterranean style home that is now known as the Adamson House.

Rhoda and Merritt’s custom home, which was designed by Stiles O. Clements, took a year and a half to build and is situated directly above the Malibu Lagoon. May Rindge, who was a tile connoisseur and owned her own tile company named Malibu Potteries, commissioned all of the custom, handmade tile that eventually made her daughter’s home so famous and, in the end, saved it from demolition. In 1966, four years after Rhoda’s death, the State of California was granted eminent domain on the Adamson House and its surrounding property. The state purchased the home from Rhoda’s heirs for $2.6 million and set about razing the property to build a beach parking lot. Unbelievable!! Thankfully, the Malibu Historical Society and the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation stepped in and fought to stop the demolition of the home. That fight turned into a ten year battle. During that time, the chancellor of Pepperdine University leased and lived in the property. In 1976, thanks to the home’s unique tile work and its historical significance to the city of Malibu, the house was saved from the wrecking ball. In 1983, after a lengthy renovation process, the home was opened to the public as a museum. The Adamson House is currently both a California Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.

And, let me tell you, it is an absolutely incredible place to visit. The tile work in the home is nothing short of A-MA-ZING! I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life and doubt I ever will again. I was shocked when I heard that construction on the home took only a year and a half to complete, as the detailing is so incredibly intricate and elaborate that I would have expected it to have taken much longer. Everything from the clock in the kitchen to the heater grates in the ceiling are made from hand-painted tiles! The house could not be more exquisite and I HIGHLY recommend taking the tour to see it for yourself.

That being said, I have to say that the actual tour was one of the most BIZARRE experiences of my life. There are simply no words to accurately describe our tour – or our docent for that matter. I’m not quite sure what was wrong with her, but I think it is safe to say she was a few bricks shy of a load. A sample bit of her dialog from the tour: “Now we are in the upstairs . . . the ceiling . . . has . . . and you can see . . . and there are . . . this piece of . . . . . . . . . . . . . string . . . during World War II . . . there were bombs . . . who can guess why there are no lights?” And I’m pretty much QUOTING her! LOL When I asked why the Rindge family sold the Adamson House to the State of California she told me it was because “they were tired of it”. LOL LOL LOL At one point during the tour, my boyfriend turned to me and said “Please don’t ask if 90210 was filmed here – that might just make her head explode!” Within the first five minutes I became convinced we were on a hidden camera show – I was hoping it was I Get That A Lot – and at any moment a camera crew was going to jump out at us from behind a wall. I was actually laughing so hard on more than one occasion that I had to completely turn away from the group and stare at the wall. LOL I haven’t laughed that hard in a really long time, so I guess the tour wasn’t a total bust! In fact, as I sit here writing about it, I’m STILL laughing. 🙂 We even made friends with another couple, who were just as bewildered over our docent’s behavior as we were. At the end, one of them said to us, “I realize that they are all volunteers, but isn’t there some sort of screening process???” LOL But I must say that despite our nimrod of a tour guide, seeing the house in person is still an experience I’d recommend.

Oddly enough, only a very small section of the Adamson House was used in the “Mexican Standoff” episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. Of course our docent had no clue whatsoever where, or even if, 90210 had filmed on the property back in 1992 and I had a surprisingly difficult time locating the exact spot used on my own. After the tour on Saturday, I went home and watched the “Mexican Standoff” episode once again and finally figured out where it had been filmed. Unfortunately, I had only taken one photograph of that spot while on the tour. LOL So, I actually had to drag my boyfriend BACK to the house the following day to take some more pictures. Thank the lord our docent was nowhere to be found. 🙂 The area featured on Beverly Hills, 90210 was the little porch and driveway located to the side of Adamson House garage.

In the scene, Brenda and Dylan get into an argument over a girl that Dylan dated the previous summer. Brenda is in quite the little snit until a mariachi band strolls over and serenades them with a Spanish version of the Morris Albert song “Feelings”. The two make up and then dance the night away under the Mexican sky. GOD I LOVE THAT SHOW! 🙂 The new one doesn’t even compare!!! You can watch the scene filmed at the Adamson House here.

The “Baja” beach where Brenda and Dylan surf the following morning is very obviously the Malibu Lagoon State Beach, which is located directly in front of the Adamson House.

The location where Brenda and Dylan run into Jake Hanson in the beginning of that same episode is the beach parking lot located just south of the Adamson House. It is actually the place where you must park your car if you are going on an Adamson House tour. That’s the Malibu Pier in the background behind Dylan.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Adamson House is located at 23200 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. The grounds are open daily to the public from sunrise to sunset. You do not need to be part of a tour to walk around the grounds. The interior of the house is only made available to the public via docent led tours. Tours are held Wednesday through Saturday from 11am to 3pm, with the last tour beginning at 2pm. Tours cost $5 per adult and $2 per child under the age of 16. Kids 5 and under are free. You can visit the Adamson House website here.

April 14, 2009April 13, 2009

Taverna Tony

This past Saturday afternoon my boyfriend and I met up with my former boss and his wife for some coffee at the Malibu Country Mart – where we sat next to Brian Grazer in the playground area for a good 45 minutes. But that’s a whole other story. 🙂 After hanging out at the Mart for a bit, we decided to grab a bite to eat and I could not have been more floored when my boss’ wife suggested the famous Greek restaurant and celebrity hotspot Taverna Tony. Tony’s is a veritable celeb mecca in Malibu and pretty much anyone who’s anyone has dined there. I’ve been absolutely dying to stalk the place for years, but somehow just never got around to it. Until this past Saturday night! 🙂

Google the terms “Taverna Tony” and “celebrities” and a whole smorgasbord of famous names will appear, including Pamela Anderson, Courteney Cox, Kate Moss, Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Brooke Burke, David Charvet, Paris Hilton, Benji Madden, Salma Hayek, Shannen Doherty, Al Pacino and my girl Jen Aniston (who is of Greek descent) – all of whom have dined at the Malibu restaurant. Unbelievably, we did not spot any celebs on Saturday night, but to be honest, for once, I wasn’t paying very close attention. I was too busy gabbing. LOL But I get the feeling that seeing a celeb at Tony’s is pretty much a sure thing, so you can bet I’m going to return in the near future. 🙂

Before dining at Tony’s on Saturday night, I had never sampled Greek food, so I had no idea what to expect. Well, let me tell you, it was FABULOUS! I have to say that Tony’s serves up some of the BEST food I’ve ever eaten in my life. The servings are absolutely ENOURMOUS and the prices are extremely reasonable – especially considering it’s located in Malibu. Tony’s is the type of place where you can eat a healthy meal or completely throw your diet out the window. I opted for the latter. LOL If you’re game for doing the same, I must suggest the Flaming Saganaki Cheese appetizer! Second to fried calamari, it is probably the worst thing on earth you could possibly eat, but OH-MY-GOD! It is A-MA-ZING! I could have eaten an entire platter of just that! LOL

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I honestly cannot recommend stalking Taverna Tony enough! Even if you’re not into the whole celeb thing, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll love this place. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Taverna Tony is located at 23410 Civic Center Way, in the Malibu Country Mart shopping center, in Malibu. The feature live music and belly dancing nightly. You can visit their website here.

October 2, 2008February 13, 2009

We’ll Always Have Paris

Once again I am indebted to Mike over at MovieShotsLA for finding yet another location that had eluded me – a location I had been searching for for close to 16 years! During Season 3 of the original 90210, Brenda and Donna spend their summer in Paris. In the episode entitled “Shooting Star/An American In Paris” Brenda meets a tall, dark and handsome college student named Rick in a beautiful French garden. Later on in the episode the two walk underneath a curved rose-covered trellis and it is that trellis that I have been searching for ever since that episode aired way back in August of 1992. A few years after that episode aired, my parents took me on a trip to Europe as a present for my high school graduation. Our first stop was France and I remember walking around the streets of Paris carrying a small picture of Brenda and Rick under that trellis, stopping every native French person I could find to ask if they knew where it was located. Yes, I really am that blonde! 🙂 My naive 18 year old self truly believed that Shannen Doherty and Tori Spelling had actually flown to France to film their Paris scenes. That reality was shattered this past summer when I took the Universal Studios tour and discovered that most of “Paris” was actually filmed at the Universal backlot. Not filmed at Universal, though, were the garden scenes. So I still had no idea where Brenda and Rick’s trellis was located. Knowing how obsessed I was with finding Brenda’s garden, Mike stayed up very late one night this week and located it for me and I was able to actually stalk it yesterday!! Let me tell you, I could not have been more excited!!

Mike and I were fairly certain that Brenda’s garden was located in one of the three main botanical gardens in LA, and since I had stalked the Arcadia Arboretum on Sunday without finding it, Mike set his sights on the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. He stayed up late one night searching Google images until he finally located Brenda’s trellis in the Rose Garden area of the Huntington, a good 5,000 miles from Paris, France. THANKS MIKE!!!! So yesterday, I dragged my dad out to the Huntington, in 103 degree heat no less, to do some 90210 stalking.

The Huntington shows up three times in the “Shooting Star/An American in Paris” episode. We first see it in the scene when Brenda and Rick first meet. In that scene, Brenda is sitting on a circular bench underneath a large oak tree. Sadly, that circular bench was removed long ago and the tree Brenda sat under is now surrounded by foliage, so the area looks very different. But there was a similar bench located just a few yards away, so I had to take a picture sitting on that. 🙂

The area where Brenda actually sat sixteen years ago is located on the very Southeast corner of the North Vista lawn, pictured above. The path Rick walks through when he first comes upon Brenda is now gone and filled in with foliage. Such a bummer!!!!

This same tree and bench area also show up in the episode following “Shooting Star/An American in Paris”, which is entitled “Castles In The Sand”. It is shown in the scene when Brenda dreams about Rick on her plane flight home to LA.

The next location I dragged my dad to stalk was the white flowered trellis Brenda and Rick walk under on their last night in Paris together. This is the location where “Reek” tells Brenda that if she were truly in love with Dylan she wouldn’t be standing there with him and then the two share their final Paris kiss. This particular trellis is located in the Rose Garden area of the Huntington, just off of the Tea Room.

This same location also shows up in the Hil D. movie A Cinderella Story. In the movie Hilary attends a masquerade ball at the Huntington. The exteriors of the ball location were filmed outside of the Huntington Gallery building (the interiors were actually filmed at a theatre in Downtown LA). During the ball, Chad Michael Murray takes Hil on a walk under the same trellises Rick and Brenda walked under 12 years before. After walking under the trellises, Chad leads Hilary to a gazebo where the two share a moonlit dance. That gazebo was brought in by producers and put in the Brown Garden especially for the filming and was removed when the three day shoot was complete.

Next up was the site I was most excited about seeing in person, the location I had wandered the streets of Paris trying to find – the curved rose-covered trellis Brenda and Rick walk beneath during their tour of Paris. Even sixteen years later, I could not have been more excited to see this location in person. 🙂 I truly felt like a high school girl all over again! The trellis appeared in the scene where Brenda takes Rick on a walking tour of Paris and I am happy to report that it looks EXACTLY the same as it did when it appeared on 90210, except that due to the time of year, the flowers usually covering it were not in full bloom yesterday. This trellis is also located in the Huntington’s Rose Garden; it covers the path which leads to the Japanese Garden area.

Interestingly enough, this very same location showed up on 90210 some years later as the location where Steve and Janet tie the knot. Producers added some black street lights to the site which are not normally there. Otherwise it looks much the same as it did when it first appeared on 90210.

The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens was originally the private home of Central Pacific Railroad owner Henry E. Huntington and his wife Arabella. Originally called the San Marino Ranch, Henry and his wife purchased the property in 1902 and began creating a truly incredible botanical garden in their backyard. Throughout his lifetime, Henry also collected fine art and books and today it is his art, library and gardens that make up the Huntington. The 207 acre property is an absolutely beautiful place to spend an afternoon. I am usually not big on museums, but the Huntington is simply breathtaking. The gardens alone cover over 120 acres and consist of painstakingly maintained landscapes from different areas of the world. It really takes more than one visit to discover all of this amazing place. The grounds are serene and peaceful and when visiting, you will feel a million miles away from Los Angeles. The Rose Garden is exquisite, the Bonzai Court and Zen Garden are truly unique, the Japanese Garden is incredible with its winding koi ponds and bamboo forests, and the newly built Chinese Garden with its enormous lake is absolutely gorgeous. This is one location that is a must-see, not just for stalkers, but for anyone visiting the Los Angeles area.

Besides 90210 and A Cinderella Story, The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens has appeared in countless movie and television productions, including First Daughter, Be Cool, Legally Blonde 2, The Bachelor reality show, The Wedding Planner, Beverly Hills Ninja, The West Wing, American Wedding, Monster in Law, Charlie’s Angels, as well as hundreds of others. It was also the location of Robert and Anna’s wedding on the soap opera General Hospital. Anytime you see a garden popping up on one of your favorite television shows or movies, chances are it was filmed at the Huntington.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens is located at 1151 Oxford Road in San Marino. You can visit their website here. You can also visit their filming website here.