Curtain is about to rise at the Academy Museum Sept. 30
ACADEMY’S glittering Saban Building is in the former May Co.
Photo by Josh White/©Academy Museum Foundation
When the curtain rises at the new six-story Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Thurs., Sept. 30, a classic film with live music will herald its opening. The first three months will feature special programming, and visitors will be able to dine at a restaurant inspired by Hollywood’s glory days.
Two screenings of the 1939 classic, “The Wizard of Oz,” will be accompanied by the American Youth Symphony to celebrate the opening of the new museum on Wilshire Boulevard at Fairfax Avenue.
“A Symphonic Night at The Movies: The Wizard of Oz with Orchestra” will screen at 2 p.m and at 7:30 p.m. in the 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater in the Sphere Building. The conductor is David Newman.
Fanny’s Restaurant and Bar
Dining at the new museum will also rise to cinematic heights.
Fanny’s Restaurant and Café, developed by restaurateurs Bill Chait and Wolfgang Puck, is set in a 10,000-square foot, two-story space in a corner of the museum’s Saban Building (the renovated May Company department store).
The restaurant design blends contemporary style with old Hollywood and evokes classic spaces such as the Brown Derby and Perino’s, studio backlots and the Streamline Moderne achitecture of the 1939 May Co. Visitors can also relax in an Art Deco-style bar and lounge area with curved booths.
Fanny’s is named after the vaudeville character played by Barbra Streisand in “Funny Girl,” a role based on restaurant patron Wendy Stark’s grandmother, Fanny Brice. Wendy Stark’s father, Ray Stark, produced the film.
Fanny’s will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, plus brunch on weekends.
The Academy Museum Store also is on the first floor of the Saban Building.
STUNNING architecture is among features of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Photo by Josh White/©Academy Museum Foundation
Films and programming
If you miss the opening day program, no worries, there are more than 115 film screenings and programs to choose from through the end of the year.
Spooky features will be shown during Family Matinees, a program on Saturdays at 11 a.m. in October. Indigenous/Native stories will be featured in November at the family programs.
“Bride of Frankenstein,” on Sun., Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m., kicks off Oscar Frights, a month-long showing of “13” macabre movies.
“Joker” screens on Wed., Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. as the first in a series called “Sound Off: A Celebration of Women Composers.”
Oscar Sundays will begin its first iteration celebrating women artists. Lina Wertmüller’s “Seven Beauties” begins the series on Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
In conjunction with the museum’s exhibition “Hayao Miyazaki,” the Academy Award-winning director’s complete body of work will be screened.
“Stories of Cinema,” an ongoing series, kicks off Fri., Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. with “Real Women Have Curves.”
“Beyond the Icon: Anna May Wong” celebrates the actor’s legacy, beginning with “Shanghai Express,” which also starred Marlene Dietrich and was directed by Josef von Sternberg. It will screen on Sat., Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Hours, tickets
Tickets for film screenings and public programs are sold separately and do not require general admission to the museum.
Timed, advance tickets are $25 for regular adult admission, $19 for seniors, $15 for college students, and free for members and children ages 17 and younger. The Oscars Experience — an immersive simulation that enables you to feel like you are walking on the Dolby Theatre stage and accepting an Oscar — is an additional $15.
Hours for the museum will be Sunday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, at 6067 Wilshire Blvd., includes the Renzo Piano-designed soaring glass-and-concrete spherical addition that features a rooftop terrace offering sweeping views.
The 300,000 square foot Academy Museum features more than 50,000 square feet of gallery space. The spacesuit from “2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)” and puppets from “Kubo and the Two Strings” (2016) are among objects in the museum collection.
For more information, visit academymuseum.org.
Category: Entertainment
