HOLLYWOOD: The Chinese Theatre opened on May 18, 1927, which means it's just turned 85 (and she's getting a little tune-up for her birthday). To celebrate, the LA Historic Theatre Foundation and Hollywood Heritage are telling all (ok, some) of the theater's secrets on behind the scenes tours this weekend. Tours start bright and early at 8:30 am, but sound pretty damn cool--they include "backstage, under stage, up to [founder Sid] Grauman’s office and private boxes, down the stars’ stairway and upstairs at Hollywood and Highland to the new Grauman’s Ballroom bar and restaurant, the renovated Chinese 6 Theatres and its Grauman’s Gallery." There'll also be presentations by theater historian Ed Kelsey on and Grauman expert Mark Simon. Buy your tickets here. Meanwhile, how about these awesome photos taken while the LAHTF prepped for the tour? [Curbed Inbox]
LOS ANGELES: KCRW is launching a new radio series called Sonic Trace "that explore the three age-old questions about community and immigration — ¿Por qué te fuiste? ¿Por qué te quedaste? ¿Por qué regresaste? Why do people leave? Why do others stay? And, what makes people go back (in either direction)?" They'll be grabbing the audio on the go, so they're holding a design competition for a light, portable, easily constructable/deconstructable sound booth. The budget is just $5,000 and the prize is only glory, but seems like the challenge of creating such a tiny space could yield something pretty cool. [KCRW]
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