#Sunset Blvd 2025

[don-dake]

Sunset Blvd [2025] Asia Premier in Singapore on Feb 7, coinciding with the Lunar New Year period, thus receiving a Lion Dance blessing ceremony!

「一本萬利、八方來財」！

[inthedarktrees]

Gloria Swanson & William Holden

Sunset Blvd. (1950) dir. Billy Wilder

[americaisdead]

robert bridges house off sunset blvd., gutted by fire. pacific palisades. january 2025

© tag christof

[ratherembarrassing]

2025: week 6 and 7

previously, on ratherembarrassing, our heroine was fleeing the mothercountry for the new world...

around the world in thirteen days: so all up, i made my way through every timezone in 13 days. i... don't recommend it, i don't think. it's possible that it was less good because, uh, i didn't sleep for 2 weeks, but who the fuck can say. in any event, onward to the ununited states!

newark!: the calmest airport in the entire country?! the cute little monorail to the train station?!?! the complete lack of signage about the two different train operators and the requirement to get a completely different ticket for each????? i will never fly anywhere else ever again if i can help it.

wet dream tomato: that congestion tax really is working because the streets of midtown were quiet at midday. the vibe was really off until hours before i departed when i saw what looked to be an eight year-old smoking. a shout out to myself for dropping a pin in the three theatres i was seeing shows in on maps and booking a hotel in the middle of the triangle, because that was, actually, sweet as fuck.

theatah!: oh, mary! (lyceum theatre, broadway). as previously said, laughed so hard i nearly peed my pants in a new york theater. as not previously said, i also sucked every bit of myself up and stage door'd in the rain and told betty gilpin, through the power of close proximity, that i love and adore her. go see this.

and then i bought a coat: this truly was an endeavour. the half abandoned basement of a macy's in brooklyn could well have been where i met my end, but i lived to see another h&m and the sweetest sales girl in the world found me the last remaining coat in all of the eastern seaboard. getting this home became a whole thing.

bagel bagel bagel!: so many bagels, the most enchanting of which was one filled with birthday cake flavoured cream cheese from a BTS (the band???) themed bagel store. new york, you are so weird and i love you so much. honestly, because of the weather i was really committed to just not leaving a 4 block radius if i didn't have to (alas, brooklyn) and just wringing the weirdest shit out of those four blocks was incredibly fun. i've been visiting new york for eighteen years and lived there for long enough to pay rent three times, and i've never spent so much time in times square, but i had a fun snowy time.

also, tho: you get mobile signal with data on the subway now?!?!?!?!

theatah!: sunset blvd (st james theatre, broadway). i actually have an entire post in me about this so i'm going to just say that you are free to picture me in the world's largest puffer coat, snoopy style, attempting to melt into the floor as nicole scherzinger said she liked my good luck babe hat as it quietly midnight snowed all around us. byeeeee. (go see this, oh my god go see this!)

theatah!: death becomes her (lunt-fontanne theatre, broadway). i did not know destiny's child's michelle williams was in this until she appeared and i very rudely said out loud, oh my god that's destiny's child's michelle williams. regardless, i was three for three with bangers on this trip. go see this.

go west! life is not peaceful there: absolutely nobody appreciated the moment we were all standing on line for an aggressive pat down by the tsa at jfk when wind beneath my wings started playing over the pa system. i was not amongst my people at all, so i had to leave. on the way, i visited texas for a grand total of 5 minutes. please picture me running off my plane, dashing 3 gates down the terminal, hugging @xactodreams, and running onto the next plane.

a brief interlude: once again they let me drive on the wrong side of the road. they probably shouldn't. why are the traffic lights only on the other side of the intersection. hertz does this thing now where you can just wander around the lot and take whatever car you want, which was more stressful than anticipated.

conclave conclave: this is, actually, the entry for @tgifemslash, my beloved little gay con that you too could attend if you want to do things like, uh, sit in a circle for an hour raving madly about the various wonders of 2024 movie of the year conclave. at this point in our story i had slept very little and was about to commence 3 nights of approximately zero sleep before 4am.

taco taco taco!: i admittedly have historically not been a fan of most mexican food, entirely because it's just not good in australia. in the hands of @wanderson20 mine eyes have been opened to the glory.

traditional shoutouts: clark street diner (my favourite place on earth). the grove (why do i always end up here) (i had to buy a suitcase). erhewon or however the fuck it's spelled (i joined a cult). the nice woman at the qantas desk (thank you for not charing me to check my second suitcase (see grove, the)). panda express (lax's international terminal's only good quality).

oh also: kbox karaoke in a deserted strip mall at 9pm on a sunday in an otherwise entirely empty karaoke place is, actually, it. were there other patrons for a brief window of time, howling on the other side of the wall, or was that the ghosts of patrons never.

SHE GETS THE JOB DONE: swerved 20 minutes out of my way and paid homage at the chappell roan billboard. shout out to the other person there doing the same thing. then i had to go home :(

and then a hero comes along: entire row of seats to myself, love of my life. it's such a rare treat these days to commandeer three tiny, shitty pillows and three gross blankets, strap yourself awkwardly to a bench slightly too short for even your shortass body, and drug yourself into unconsciousness for 11 hours. amen.

and then nothing good ever happened again the end au contraire.

cannibal club!: the yellowjackets is BACK, BABY! the severance/yellowjackets double feature is the only reason to get up in the morning, tbh.

a little brunch: little molli's (abbotsford). the smoked pork neck french dip is to die for, but the blood orange cream soda is to live for.

if anything else happened, i will never remember it, good night.

[derekklenadaily]

mtcaofficial: A night to remember—Derek Klena took the stage at the MTCA 2025 with an Iconic Sunset Blvd Performance. #mtca #broadwaybound #mtca2025 #musicaltheatrefestival

[reasoningdaily]

Pusha T is jumping headfirst into the coffee industry with a new brew named after one of Clipse’s biggest singles.

The Virginia star is launching Grindin, a highly caffeinated black coffee blend, with exclusive pop-ups in Los Angeles this weekend.  Named after Clipse’s Pharrell-produced 2002 hit “Grindin’,” this bold taste will make its debut at Café Tropical, located at 2900 Sunset Blvd.

This renowned spot comes with its own storied history, as its original owners were allegedly tied to a secret cocaine operation in the 1970s, a fitting nod to the themes Pusha T and brother Malice captured in “Grindin,'” and other tracks in their catalog.

Additionally, fans can get their hands on the Grindin coffee during the November 16th Camp Flog Gnaw, where Pusha will be performing.

For those unable to travel to Los Angeles this weekend, have no fear.  Grindin’s official nationwide launch will take place in early 2025, though it’s unclear which retailers will carry the line.

[shebadfuckk]

I wish you could see 2025 🖤 you’d be so fascinated by the robots, the riding shows and tricks I’ve learned, the quality of iPhone cameras, I know you’d be taking the most scenic and somehow funny pics at the same time. You’d love the Las Vegas dome, they built this giant round theatre composed of these round screens and it looks wild they even have a fight there ! For Mexican Independence Day and this girl took it like a champ.

There’s so many new songs you’d love. $uicideboy$ made a new album, and everyone is saying they fell off and suck and I think the album is sooo good.

You would have been so proud of me at my show !! I fucking killed it and 5 other artists invited me on stage cuz the crowd was so hyped. 🖤✨ it was such a good night until it wasn’t. I don’t wanna get into the details.

You would have loved TikTok, the lore is crazy but that’s a post for another time. 😭😂🖤

I traveled so much through the US the past few years and you’d be surprised by all these fly over states. Rich in culture and community. Lots of bikes and vibes, different from our town but still present.

You probly would have wanted to move to around Colorado by now if I had to guess 😂

The bay turned to absolute sh it. I love it but you can’t go a day without getting your car bipped, I’m not exaggerating. Even if you leave nothing in it. Everyone got subtly more cut-throat and sinister. I went to record as I always do and said I was gunna walk to the corner store and Lou laughed at me and say you’re sure as fuck not and drove me. And on the way we saw this girl dive out of a truck round the corner on Appian and the dude jumped out trying to grab her and I made Lou pull over and I grabbed my knife and leaned out the window to ask if she needed help and she just was crying and hiding her face from me saying no I’m fine and Lou said I’m dipping and he cut. But I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I hope she’s doing ok rn. But yeah it’s the Wild West in a ghetto way. The raiders and the As are gone 😭

Well the raiders are in Vegas now and just had their worst season yet since we’ve been born.

Fucking sunset blvd completely burnt down 🥺🥺 all of LA is mourning. I’m filming there next month I wish you could see it. I’ve grown so much.

Overall it’s crazy but still so beautiful and fascinating. I wish you could experience it.

I drove by your grave last time I was there and didn’t get a chance to get out. But I know I felt you in the waves on the beach that day.

Posted in the clouds with the best of the stars for sure 😉

[slrmagazine]

AXE SHREDDING BRITISH SENSATION, SOPHIE LLOYD, STRUTS HER WAY TO SUPER STARDOM IN THE HEART OF SUNSET STRIP BLVD, BY DON MARCELO

AXE SHREDDING BRITISH SENSATION, SOPHIE LLOYD, STRUTS HER WAY TO SUPER STARDOM IN THE HEART OF SUNSET STRIP BLVD, BY DON MARCELO. LIVE AT THE WORLD FAMOUS WHISKY A GO GO, THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2025. #sophielloyd @SophieGuitar_

[darkmaga-returns]

End Times Headline News. January 9 2025

Unprecedented Fires Scorch 3,000 Acres In LA. Fire erupts in Hollywood Hills. Milley Authorized DEW to Be Used on Americans. Starmer’s Censorship Playbook. 3 Blood Moons are coming this year

Lioness of Judah Ministry

Jan 09, 2025

"Unprecedented Fires" Scorch 3,000 Acres In Los Angeles Area, Forcing 49,000 To Evacuate

Fast-moving, wind-driven fires are sweeping through the Los Angeles area, forcing mandatory evacuations for over 49,000 residents. The fires remain 0% contained.

The Palisades Fire (caused unknown) has burned nearly 11,800 acres, while the Eaton Fire has scorched 10,600 acres. AccuWeather Estimates $52 billion to $57 billion in preliminary damage and economic losses. Gov. Gavin Newsom deployed 1,400 firefighters & declared a state of emergency. Nearly 300,000 residential and/or commercial customers are without power in the LA region. NWS: Worst fire conditions (high winds) will peak Wednesday morning. Malibu residents warned about potential evacuation. Fires ZERO PERCENT CONTAINED

Watch Live:

Fast-moving Sunset Fire erupts in Hollywood Hills, evacuations ordered

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – A fast-moving wildfire has erupted in the Hollywood Hills, prompting a mandatory evacuation order for a wide area of the historic Hollywood entertainment district.

Crews with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to reports of the flames at 2350 Solar Drive, near Astral Drive, just after 5:30 p.m. Fire officials estimated the wildfire had charred at least 20 acres in the Runyon Canyon area as of 6:30 p.m. Immediate mandatory evacuation have been issued for residents on “Laurel Canyon Blvd to the west, Hollywood Blvd to the south, Cahuenga Blvd/101 Fwy/Highland Ave. to the east and Muholland Drive to the north,” officials said.

State Farm Canceled Hundreds of Pacific Palisades Homeowners’ Policies Before Devastating Wildfire Strikes

As wildfires ravage Southern California, homeowners in Pacific Palisades find themselves grappling with an unbearable reality: their homes are burning, and their insurance policies—once their safety net—were canceled just months ago by State Farm.

In a move justified by the company as a strategy to avoid “financial failure,” State Farm canceled over 72,000 homeowners’ policies statewide, with Pacific Palisades—a now-charred affluent neighborhood—bearing a significant brunt. James Woods, a renowned actor and Pacific Palisades resident, summed up the community’s frustration on social media. “Actually, one of the major insurance companies canceled all the policies in our neighborhood about four months ago,” he wrote.

12 Things You Should Know About The Apocalyptic “Hurricane Of Fire” That Is Rampaging Through Southern California

Michael Snyder’s Substack

12 Things You Should Know About The Apocalyptic “Hurricane Of Fire” That Is Rampaging Through Southern California

Read more

15 hours ago · 11 likes · 9 comments · Michael Snyder

Wait, did you just see that on the LA fire coverage? What just flew across the screen?

[don-dake]

嘩！呢種幾率有多大呀？！係中彩票就好喇！(笑)

What are the chances of this happening‽ Now if only I had this kind of luck striking the lottery! (laughs)

[pixtourz]

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[don-dake]

My dude. I have Many Thoughts about Sunset Boulevard and especially that prod with Sarah Brightman. And I have been looking for people to flail over it with. Ahahahaahah.

@phantomunmasked (⁠ノ⁠^⁠_⁠^⁠)⁠ノ Same dude, same! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I'll start the ball rolling I guess! Hmm…where to start? Think I'll do this in bullet points, makes for quicker and easier reading! Heh!

Pros:

The set, the set, THE SET! Namely, Norma D.'s mansion, I was just gawking at and admiring the mansion a good amount! I think I was/am in love with the mansion set a little too much! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

The music (but of course!), not just the showstopper songs, I like the entire soundtrack, pretty much!

“Sunset Boulevard” as performed by Tim Draxl; I've seen/heard several versions of SB (online) before, but I think I've found a new favourite in Tim's rendition! My opinion of some other SB performances thus far range from too saccharine sweet and totally wrong for the emotion/tone of the song, to overly harsh and overacted.

The overall strong supporting cast. (because the leading lady failed to impress me much)

Tim Draxl and Ashleigh Rubenach's onstage chemistry; to be frank, I usually don't pay too much attention to Joe and Betty scenes (even for the film version because well honestly, J & B's relationship is —designed to be— not as captivating as N & J's, as in the “can't take your eyes off a train wreck” level of captivating!), but I guess seeing live people on stage helped to draw a closer connection to these characters!

Sarah's at the perfect age to play Norma and considering her personal history, a near perfect casting choice for Norma Desmond, going solely on physical looks and aura alone. (now if only her acting & singing were as compatible…)

Cons:

Regrettably, Sarah Brightman herself, she has never been known for her acting (and in my opinion, her “acting” still hasn't changed much since her Phantom days) and her soprano-ish singing style (I felt, as have a lot of others it seems) is just not suitable for the role of Norma Desmond.

Admittedly, I went into this familiar enough with Sarah's unique style of “acting” and singing so I may not be able to give a fair opinion on her performance.

Let me tell you what my cousin —whom I went to watch with— who had until then never watched any version of Sunset Boulevard, and had only heard of Sarah by reputation but otherwise completely new to witnessing a Sarah Brightman performance, felt about Sarah and her Norma Desmond:

Cousin: She sure moves her hands around a lot!

(in regards to Sarah's tendency to wave her hands —in typical Sarah fashion— each time she sings)

Cousin: I don't quite get what she was singing at times?

(regarding Sarah's often unclear enunciation during her songs, if I wasn't already familiarised with Norma Desmond's numbers, I wouldn't have gotten what Sarah was singing at times either!)

Cousin: Her gaze is kind of scary! [in her exact words if you can read Chinese, 「她的眼神有點恐怖！」］

(regarding Sarah's “acting” style, which is a tendency to stare unblinkingly, like a deer caught in the headlights, even in moments that did not call for that look!)

Cousin: She's very pitiful! [「她好可憐喔！」]

(regarding Sarah's Norma, remarking this one time during the Norma at Paramount Studios scene cutting a lonesome figure seated at Cecil B. DeMille's director's chair while quite ignored by everyone around her, and again at the end when Norma went completely off the rails)

So yeah, I think my cousin's sentiments are about as unbiased as can be (unlike me, whose views may be clouded having at least seen the original 1950 film and also bootlegs of SB —referring to both Sunset and Sarah! Heh!— performances online over the years) and even she couldn't help noticing Sarah's inability to sing without distractingly waving her hands about, and her less than stellar acting (and singing, enunciation wise) ability…heh!

Well to be fair, Sarah did manage to make my cousin (and I) feel sorry for Norma Desmond in the end, which I'd consider a success for Sarah! Because we are supposed to feel somewhat sorry for Norma Desmond, aren't we?

Can't say the same for the guy who sat a couple of rows behind us though, who laughed really obnoxiously loudly, sometimes inappropriately as well, at scenes where no one else was! 🙄

All in all, we enjoyed ourselves very much (my cousin a little more than me, because she went in with zero expectations! :D) and despite my seemingly dismissal of Sarah Brightman, I'd like to emphasize that I don't hate her (not as a person nor as a performer) even though I'd have preferred someone else as Norma, Sarah is still very watchable and has a natural charisma that holds her performance together in the end. I guess I can say Sarah is an acquired taste! Heh!

And if not for her name, I doubt this production would have been greenlit at all (I've read that each time a full staging of Sunset Boulevard is revived, it often ends up losing money —unless really big names are attached to it that may give it a chance, but even then, no guarantees, as it seems to be with this run— because it's just that expensive to produce and bring on tour) so, very grateful for her joining and making this production possible!

My cousin and I were lucky enough to see this staging twice too (first was when it just opened here not long, and the second time was the day after you did) so we can say we feel Sarah did improve a bit in-between the times we went to see her! (⁠◔⁠‿⁠◔⁠)

So how did you feel about this production and Sarah Brightman? (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

[citymaus]

“In 2018, Bicycling Magazine gave LA the ignominious title of “worst bike city in America” because of the hazards posed to cyclists by distracted drivers, the terrible shape of most streets, and the seeming willingness of local officials to pay out millions of dollars in lawsuits rather than address the infrastructure needs that could make LA a safer place to bike.

“Arguably more than any other city in the US, Los Angeles is a product of the automobile, its freeways and multilane boulevards—the 101, the 405, Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Blvd—embedded in the American psyche.

That strongly rooted car culture, paired with limited public transportation options, has only strengthened most Angelenos’ reliance on cars, and made advocating for alternative transportation modes an uphill battle.

“Doing away with the car culture here in Los Angeles is a lot like trying to do away with the electoral college, it’s not going to happen,” said Stefan Mayer, a cyclist in Los Angeles since 1980 and a coach at the Encino Velodrome in the San Fernando Valley.

bike lane in eagle rock, los angeles. flickr/walkeaglerock

“In 2017, the city paid $7.5m to a man left quadriplegic after he crashed on a stretch of road where the pavement had buckled because of tree roots. That same year it gave $6.5m to a cyclist who suffered a traumatic brain injury after hitting a massive pothole on his bike, and another $4.5m to the family of a rider killed after he hit a 2in ridge in the pavement.

“Right now, the bike infrastructure in Los Angeles is woefully inadequate,” Kaufman said. “We’re not doing a systemwide approach, so you end up with these bike lanes that just end. They’re bike lanes to nowhere.””

City officials in Los Angeles agree there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to making the city more bike-friendly, and acknowledge that the cycling horror stories occur too frequently. Local officials appear to be at least willing to give lip service to cyclists’ concerns and have argued that riding a bike in LA has vastly improved in recent years.

cicLAvia. flickr/ladotbikeblog

“In 2015, the Los Angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti, announced the Vision Zero plan, which aimed (but failed) to reduce cycling fatalities by 20% by the end of 2017 and see zero deaths on city roads by 2025. The city’s 2035 Mobility Plan hopes to add to an existing bike infrastructure plan and link up a network of fully separated and protected bicycle lanes and paths.

Last year, the city added or made safety upgrades to more than 61 miles of bike lanes – more than doubling the improvements it made in 2019, according to LADOT. And as part of LA’s Green New Deal, the city plans to increase the percentage of all trips made by walking, cycling, micro-mobility, matched rides, or public transit to at least 35% by 2025 and to 50% by 2035.

“Any life lost on our streets is one too many, and Mayor Garcetti will never stop pushing to make our roads safer and accelerate common sense projects that can reduce fatalities,” said Harrison Wollman, Garcetti’s deputy press secretary. “Los Angeles is investing more than ever before in traffic safety, and in the last year alone, we’ve installed more bike lanes and safety features than the previous three years combined.”

read more: guardian, 18.02.2021. 

[historichollywoodphotographs]

Highland Avenue: Hollywood’s Ever-Adapting Thoroughfare

Highland Avenue is one of the oldest streets in Hollywood. More than just a connector to the 101 Freeway or the “Miracle Mile” Wilshire corridor, this prime thoroughfare has come to signify Hollywood’s development at the turn of the 20th century as it became the entertainment capital of the world.

Oriented north to south, it begins at the south end of the Cahuenga Pass near the Hollywood Bowl. Like Cahuenga Boulevard and Vine Street, Highland is one of three of the most important north-south arteries in Hollywood. The westernmost nucleus of these three early Hollywood development nodes, Highland anchored the activities of prominent developers Charles E. Toberman, H.J. Whitley, their various real estate syndicates, and the institutions with which they were involved, acting as a major conduit to the prestigious neighborhood of Hancock Park as well as central Hollywood’s industrial district.

The landmarks that punctuate this corridor tell a variety of fascinating architectural and social tales, and most are officially designated in the National Register of Historic Places or as Historic Cultural Monuments. In this post, we’ll take a virtual tour of a few of Highland’s most famous highlights:

At the north end is the Hollywood Bowl, the oldest outdoor, community concert and entertainment venue in Hollywood, with its world-renowned open-air amphitheater and concentric arch bandshell. Located just to its south is Highland Camrose Bungalow Village, a cluster of Craftsman residences at 2103-2115, which is part of the Bowl’s administrative services, as well as the entrance to the historic Hollywood Heights neighborhood. Directly across from the Bowl on the east side of the street at 2100 Highland, is the Hollywood Heritage Museum, devoted to preserving artifacts from Hollywood’s history and housed in the same structure Cecil B DeMille famously used to produce the first feature length motion picture “The Squaw Man” in 1913. “The Barn” as it’s commonly referred to, sits adjacent to the historic Whitley Heights neighborhood, HJ Whitley’s magnificent hillside subdivision where silent film stars first made their homes.

The blocks between Camrose and Hollywood Blvd are often easily missed as commuters navigate the street’s curves, eyeing destinations south. The American Legion is at 2035 Highland; Hollywood Art Center School (2025-27) is hidden next door behind a gate. Just before you reach the Boulevard, the Roman Gardens (2000) and Highland Towers Apartments (1920-28) sit on the east, while the iconic First United Methodist Church (1929; architect Thomas Barber) distinctively towers at the corner where Highland and Franklin split.

Highland intersects Hollywood Boulevard at the heart of its National Register District and the Walk of Fame. The intersection has three contributing buildings of considerable significance: The Bank of America Building, Hollywood First National Building, and the Lee Drugstore (now a tourist souvenir store). All three speak to the importance of this part of the Boulevard during Hollywood’s formative years: The Bank of America building at 6700 Hollywood Blvd, also formerly known as The Toberman Investment Building, was built specifically for developer Charles Toberman in 1914 and was modified by him as his commercial interests warranted. Once four stories tall, the building housed his several enterprises until Morgan, Walls & Clements redesigned it in the 1920s to be the one-story Classical Revival bank building it is today, which is now home to Ripley’s “Believe it or Not” Museum.

The First National Building (at 6777) is one of Hollywood Boulevard’s most significant architectural buildings. Designed in 1927 by Meyer & Holler (architects of the Chinese and Egyptian Theatres), its stepped façade and mixture of Gothic, Art Deco and Spanish elements are particularly eye-catching. The southwest corner’s commercial Lee Drugstore (1935; B.D. Bixby, Streamline Moderne style) is exemplary of architecture oriented to an automobile thoroughfare, synonymous with the Hollywood Blvd of the 1920s and 30s.

On the northwest corner of Highland and Hollywood Blvd once stood the famous Hollywood Hotel. Built in 1902 for tourists and actors “wintering” in Southern California, the hotel was the epicenter of social activities for the community, the residence of film stars, and the scene of many legendary events. As the hotel fell out of fashion after World War II, its sprawling grounds presented new investment opportunities on a highly coveted stretch. It was demolished in 1956 and the corner was redeveloped into a modernist highrise structure that became the First Federal Savings of Hollywood, another Toberman enterprise. First Federal was later demolished in 1997 to make way for the sprawling “Hollywood and Highland” retail complex (6801) and home to the Kodak Theater which opened in 2002. It’s worth noting that this pivotal corner went from residential to financial to retail use within 100 years as the needs and economics of the community changed.

Just south of Hollywood Boulevard at 1660 N. Highland is the Max Factor Building (1931; S. Charles Lee, Deco/Regency Modern). Originally built by Toberman as a warehouse, later used as the makeup giant’s headquarters and salon to the stars, today it houses the Hollywood Museum.

On the northwest corner of Highland and Sunset is the campus of Hollywood High School whose existing buildings were designed by Marsh, Smith and Powell in 1935. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the first building on site was constructed in 1903. The school’s campus operates to this day, now in its second century of providing Hollywood’s teenage students with public education services. Notable alumni include Carol Lombard, Judy Garland, Carol Burnett, Cher, Sarah Jessica Parker; director John Huston; newspaper publisher Norman Chandler, and many more.

Just south of Santa Monica Boulevard are the twelve story Hollywood Storage Building at 1025 Highland (1925; Morgan, Walls, & Clement) and the Community Laundry Facility at 900 - two more of Toberman’s contributions to the industrial district that he helped create to service the growing motion picture and real estate construction needs of the area. The Gilmore Gas Station at 859 N. Highland and Willoughby has been re-imagined to suit various purposes as part of the larger, now mixed-use district, with a new landscaped median and live/work housing.

As Highland makes its way into Hancock Park, a trifecta of modern Italian eateries by native Los Angelino chef Nancy Silverton (of La Brea Bakery fame) have come to define the corner of Highland and Melrose as a mecca for food lovers. The first outfit, Pizzeria Mozza, opened in 2007 with a focus on serving the perfect pizza loaded with California ingredients atop Nancy’s uniquely crispy, chewy crust. It was an instant success and thus, Osteria Mozza, a casual yet refined dining experience with its mozzarella antipasti bar, opened a few months later. In 2013, Silverton opened Chi Spacca, a “meat speakeasy” designed for the purpose of experimenting with an in-house charcuterie concept, rounding out the culinary offerings that have made her a highly decorated, respected LA celebrity chef with a true passion for Italian cooking. 

Highland south of Melrose transitions into the prestigious residential neighborhood of Hancock Park. The area was subdivided in the 1920s by the Hancock family with profits earned from oil drilling on the former Rancho La Brea. With large lots and design restrictions, the blocks from Melrose to Wilshire have several fine examples of Spanish Colonial Revival, Mediterranean and other Period Revival styles. Vintage palm trees and lovely front gardens make driving this part of the avenue pleasantly picturesque. South of Wilshire Blvd, Highland curves into the Brookside neighborhood where it ends and connects to another well-known thoroughfare: La Brea Avenue, just north of San Vicente.

This storied street has seen infinite changes, constantly embracing many uses, from institutions to commercial enterprises to industrial plants, appearing almost unrecognizable at various times, due to its warp speed evolution. From the Hollywood Bowl to the retail complexes of Hollywood Boulevard, through the industrial district to its residential enclaves, Highland Ave. began as an early creation of enterprising investors out of practicality. It was Charles Toberman, however, who was truly able to cement his own footprint on Hollywood via his various developments on Highland, and anchor the street in key locations. These buildings still tell the stories of the enterprises and community activities of Toberman’s legacy and fortunately, despite rapid change, today’s residents are able to continue enjoying the vision he began crafting almost a century ago.

- Christy McAvoy, Historic Hollywood Photographs

Sources: Bruce Torrence archives; Gebhard and Winter Guidebook to An Architectural Los Angeles, 6th edition; National Register of Historic Places Hollywood Blvd. nomination; Los Angeles Historical Cultural Monument list, City Planning (Office of Historic Resources).