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Pomona College Magazine is published three times a year by Pomona College
550 N. College Ave, Claremont, CA 91711
Online Editor: Mark Kendall
For editorial matters:
Editor: Mark Wood
Phone: (909) 621-8158
Fax: (909) 621-8203
PCM editorial guidelines
Staff listing & contacts
Contact Alumni Records for changes of address, class notes, or notice
of births or deaths.
Phone: (909) 621-8635
Fax: (909) 621-8535
Email: alumni@pomona.edu
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Star Attraction
Despite its lofty locale and educational
ambitions, the Griffith Observatory can't completely rise above Los
Angeles and its showbiz ways. Nor should it try to.
By Mark Kendall
The Griffith Observatory sits on a perfect perch overlooking Los
Angeles, offering striking views of a city that certainly enjoys looking
at itself. But even with its grandly domed architecture and exalted
setting, this civic icon never looks down on the city it belongs to. The
Griffith plays right along.
Visitors catch a glimpse of James Dean before they even reach the
observatory's entrance. A bust of the Rebel Without a Cause actor
is set in an outdoor spot that makes it easy to include in photos with
the famous Hollywood sign, which looms on a nearby mountainside.
Rebel is the most famous of the many movies shot here, though a
close second would have to be 1984's The Terminator, which opens
with a cyborg Arnold Schwarzenegger strutting around the observatory
grounds in the buff.
 Along with its role in movies, the observatory holds an equally enviable
position when it comes to L.A.'s other obsession: real estate. Set upon
a bluff in the city's largest park, the observatory can be seen from
throughout much of the Los Angeles basin on a clear day. "Its location
means we have this extraordinary advantage over similar sorts of
institutions. We don't advertise. Everybody knows the place," says
Griffith director Edwin Krupp '66, who has guided the observatory for
more than 30 years. "It is on the best piece of public observatory real
estate in the world."
But for a recent stretch of nearly five years, the observatory was out
of the picture, closed for a $93 million renovation that dug out 40,000
square feet of new space beneath it and added spiffy new celestial
exhibitions. The observatory's centerpiece planetarium-and the show that
plays in it-was completely revamped, and a second theatre added, named
for donor Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame. Expanded amenities
include a new cafe operated by -- of course --Wolfgang Puck.
The project was a big deal for L.A. Krupp remembers taking city bigwigs
on a preview tour-the Griffith literally belongs to Los Angeles-and as
Krupp recalls, energetic Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took him aside, put
his arm around him and whispered in Krupp's ear: "Get it done." While
overseeing the frantic finishing touches, Krupp was fielding interviews
from national media, from Newsweek to The Associated Press,
and training new staff, all while coordinating a flurry of events. The
re-opening festivities culminated with October's "Galactic Gala," with a
guest list thick with local politicians and celebrities such as Nimoy,
Angela Bassett, Loni Anderson, Shirley Jones and astronaut Buzz Aldrin,
to name a handful. And while the celebs have long since scattered, the
pace of activity has yet to return to pre-renovation levels.
Though the renovation and its aftermath have placed great demands on
Krupp, they also have left him with an even deeper sense of the
observatory's place in L.A. life. "I have lived through the experience
of all of the elements of the community laying their claim on the
building when it reopened," he says. "And those claims are laid in a
variety of ways. They're not bad: 'I want to be there when this happens,
I want to do this.' Some of them were wonderful." Shortly before the
ribbon cutting, he got a request from a woman who was present at the
observatory's 1935 grand opening. She wanted to be invited to the
re-opening. "Are you kidding?"' says Krupp. "Of course we'll invite her.
She had a fair claim."
 Southern Californians' "claims" on the observatory often are established
in childhood, as some 50,000 school kids visit on field trips every
year. "It is difficult to talk to anyone who has spent any time in Los
Angeles and find that they do not remember their first visit to Griffith
Observatory," says Krupp. "Usually those people remember a trip on a
school bus."
Childhood visits, Krupp says, have a long-term impact, even if it's
usually not a deep one. "The observatory never was intended and
shouldn't be thought of as a place to have a deep impact on people's
knowledge and background. I mean, that's why you go to college," says
Krupp. "The observatory's real genius is, in fact, inspiring people to
do the next thing, whatever that might be. And so these moments where
people come, say as part of a school group and experience the place ...
there's that little part of their life and their mind (that) has been
affected. The ripple of that you can never, ever assess."
One of those riding the ripples is 75-year-old Robert Branch, who
remembers visiting the observatory as a 12-year-old Boy Scout in 1944.
That got him hooked. From the end of World War II until about 1950, he
took in a planetarium show every month. "It was almost a religious
experience to sit under that dome, have it darken, and then see the
night sky projected onto the ceiling," says Branch, who has long been
involved in the Pomona Valley Amateur Astronomers.
For his part, Krupp talks of Angelenos making the "pilgrimage" up that
winding mountain to the place that puts earth, sky and L.A. in a
different perspective. Astronomy, he says, "prompts the big questions
and those big questions invite curiosity. Curiosity then leads to a
quest for more accurate descriptions of nature. And more accurate
descriptions of nature are a demonstrated tool of survival. We're simply
engaged in an age-old human enterprise, which is getting alert and ...
assimilating and synthesizing and analyzing."
But if the observatory is some sort of Cosmic Cathedral, Krupp takes a
decidedly low-pressure, just-glad-you-came approach to his parishioners.
This is not a city overrun with people waiting tables and tending bar
until they get their big break in astronomy. Krupp knows that prior to
the renovation, about half of visitors didn't even set foot inside,
content to gaze upon L.A. from this lofty site, "which is fine," he
says. Krupp, though, isn't above using a little showbiz savvy to draw
those eyes inside.
Sure, in his first weeks working here, as a grad student at UCLA, he
detested giving the planetarium shows, which didn't fit into his view of
"Serious Science." But by his third week, Krupp had succumbed to "the
smell of the grease paint, the roar of the crowd."
Now he revels in that showman's role. Wearing loud star-themed ties and
dispensing pithy quotes-he has long called the observatory the "hood
ornament of Los Angeles"-Krupp is often recognized by repeat visitors as
he strides around the museum, and he has been known to give his share of
impromptu talks. At the observatory, "performance goes on every day," he
says. "And it's always a delight to me."
 Krupp keeps honing the show. His goal is for the Griffith to reach the
point where a visitor can't walk through the place without encountering
a guide talking to a group of people. "I'm not talking about a docent,"
he says. "I'm talking about entertainment and showmanship." Krupp
recently came across one of his guides giving a spontaneous talk to a
group of visitors as they waited in line to enter the planetarium show.
Afterwards, the group broke into applause. Perfect. That's just what
Krupp is looking for.
On to the main event: The centerpiece of a Griffith visit is the
planetarium show, movie magic projected onto the observatory's dome,
accompanied by live narration by actors. Ann Hassett, the veteran TV
producer brought in to help create the new show, was worried at first
about what sort of reception she would receive from the astronomers
about "this not being your boring, old-fashioned science film." But
those concerns were quickly quelled. "Everyone wanted this to be a
unique experience for the viewer ... not a science lecture."
Shh. The show is starting. The actress narrating the presentation holds
aloft a glowing orb as she begins the story. Audience members lean back
and watch the domed ceiling fill with images. To swelling music, they
take in the breathtaking flashes of stars and galaxies-the Big Bang is a
blast to watch-but they also meet several historical figures. The story
takes viewers from Ptolemy to Galileo and beyond, seeking to inspire
young people by putting a human face on astronomy. The script seeks to
pique interest in the big questions: "Who are we? Why are we here? Why
is the world the way it is?"
When it's over, and the audience is filing out, Gina Grubbs and her
teenage nephew Jonathan Hall are overheard marveling at the production.
"That woman was good at storytelling," says Grubbs. They gush on after
being approached for an interview. "She (the narrator) kept me
captivated through the whole thing," says Hall, a 16-year-old from
Yucaipa who plans to become a mechanic. "It's interesting how they make
it all real and stuff."
Rave reviews for an astronomy show? From a backwards-cap-wearing
teenager? That's right. At the Griffith, celestial stars and the
Tinseltown kind don't collide. They work side by side. They conspire.
Griffith Facts
Whether serving as a field-trip magnet, make-out spot or movie backdrop,
the Griffith Observatory is one of Southern California's most beloved
institutions. And even if you've never visited the observatory, you've
almost certainly seen the place on the silver screen. Here's the lowdown
on this lofty attraction:
The backstory: After making his fortune in mining, "Colonel"
Griffith J. Griffith in 1896 donated more than 3,000 acres to the city
of Los Angeles for a park, with plans for a railway whisking visitors to
its highest peak. Then came trouble: Griffith shot his wife in the head
in 1903. She survived, permanently disfigured. After a sensational trial
and "alcoholic insanity" defense, Griffith spent about two years in
prison. Griffith then set out to do right, crusading for prison reform
and donating funds for an observatory and Greek theatre to be built in
the park. He died in 1919, long before the Griffith Observatory's 1935
opening.
The setting: The observatory is perched at 1,135 feet on a bluff
along the south slope of Mt. Hollywood in Griffith Park, which
encompasses more than 4,200 acres and also is home to the Los Angeles
Zoo, the Greek Theater and the Museum of the American West. Originally,
the observatory was to be built at the very top of Mt. Hollywood at
1,640 feet, but that proved impractical. In subsequent years, though,
there were many failed proposals to build on that higher ground for
other purposes, ranging from a revolving restaurant to a star-shaped
Hollywood Hall of Fame with aerial tramway. A fire in early May burned
more than 800 acres in Griffith Park.
The flicks: Even before the observatory opened to the public in
1935, film crews arrived to shoot scenes for the Gene Autry sci-fi
western serial Phantom Empire. The Griffith served as the palace
of Ming the Merciless in the 1930s Flash Gordon serials and is entwined
into the plot of 1955's Rebel Without a Cause. More recent films shot
here include The Terminator (1984), Dragnet (1987), the
Rocketeer (1991), Bowfinger (1999) and Charlie's Angels:
Full Throttle (2003).
The renovation: The museum closed from January 2002 until
November 2006 for a $93 million expansion and makeover. Crews carved out
40,000 square feet of new space beneath it. Additions include a 200-seat
theatre, classroom, cafe and 60 new exhibitions. New attractions include
The Big Picture: a 152-feet-long by 20-feet-high image showing more than
a million stars, galaxies and other celestial objects. The planetarium
has been revamped with plushier seating and a new show, "Centered in the
Universe." One caveat: limited parking-that perennial L.A. plague-means
that, as of press time, reservations for off-site parking and a shuttle
ride to the observatory are required.
Sources: Professor Mike Eberts of Glendale Community College, and Edwin
Krupp '66 of Griffith Observatory, www.griffithobs.org. |
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