Last Remaining Seats: a quarter-century young 1

Lots of anniversaries this season at the Last Remaining Seats, the annual fun-in-the-city summer program hosted by Los Angeles Conservancy.  The Wednesday-night classic-film series generates enthusiastic audiences mixing film buffs with fans of vintage L.A. architecture.

The most significant birthday? The series itself is 25 years old!

Linda Dishman, the Conservancy’s executive director, shares her thoughts and feelings with arts·meme.

Says Linda: “It’s interesting that we started Last Remaining Seats to bring attention to the theaters [of Broadway] and now, 25 years later, we see how the neighborhood has blossomed. Where there were once empty buildings, people are now living.”

Separate to the Conservancy’s  celebration is the individual theaters who have survived, god bless ’em, in a tear down town. The Palace Theater turns 100 years old; its launch date was June 26, 1911.

“The Sunset Boulevard show [at the Palace] is special because we have three screenings, a 10 am, 2 pm, and 7pm show. We sold out the afternoon and the evening screenings within three days, and now the 10 am is sold out too.”

“What started as a great idea has become an L.A. summer tradition,” notes Dishman.

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LRS film sked here:

_{Orpheum photo:  courtesy Berger Conser Photography}

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