SUNRISE, SUNSET

The Whisky in 1980 - Decked out in punk/ska garb. It would close in 1982.

The Whisky A Go-Go
Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA
Originally opened in 1964

The Whisky in 1982- the stripped and shuttered Whisky A Go-Go reveals old ads for legendary rock and roll acts that once played there. The once popular nightclub reopened in 1986

A More Perfect Union

The Union Station train terminal in Downtown Los Angeles, Ca.         Built in 1939

Mission-style exterior of Union Station

Art Deco lamp in Union Station waiting room 

Decor of Union Station combines both Southwest and Art Deco styles

Can't Stop The Muses

The Hollywood Bowl "Muse" Fountain in Los Angeles, Ca.

The George Stanley Fountain was built in 1940 (sculptor George Stanley was also the designer of the Academy Award statuette) and features stylized representations of the muses of Music (top photo), Dance (below) and drama (Ok, so I missed that one).

A table-sized reproduction of the fountain appears in the 1980 motion picture, "Xanadu" (Sonny Malone's apartment). The cult roller disco musical makes extensive use of the Streamline Moderne design style in its art direction and production design.   

XANADU FALLS ON HARD TIMES

1981 Photos of The Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, Ca.

Built in 1935, the auditorium closed in 1972.

A cinematically spruced-up version appeared in the sensational 1980 roller-disco musical, "Xanadu" and that's the way most people remember it.

Alas, Los Angeles, a city with a notorious reputation for ignoring its history, allowed the landmark site to fall into disrepair and neglect, and on May 24, 1989 The Pan Pacific Auditorium burned down.

What We Have Have Made Is Real: We Are In Xanadu

Back in 2002, at a Santa Monica, California exercise studio, dancer Ken Anderson held a "Xanadu-Weekend" of special classes and events in celebration of the iconically camp 1980 movie starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. Here is the entrance to the studio, retrofitted and created exclusively by Bruce Zwinge to capture the look and feel of the roller disco in the movie. The huge "Xanadu" sign is plywood and the terrific Pan Pacific Auditorium "fins" that grace the doorway are ingeniously crafted out of cardboard.

Bruce Zwinge & Ken Anderson

Bruce Zwinge's construction of the famous Pan Pacific Streamline Moderne fins in various states of completion.
Hard to believe that one man was responsible for transforming the old Voight fitness studio into a real-life Xanadu for this special event. His work is nothing short of AMAZING!

Workshop Close up of Bruce Zwinge's construction of the enormous ELO logo that graced the wall of the studio for the Xanadu Weekend classes (pic of final result, below)

Bruce Zwinge made 6 "Xanadu Flags" to adorn the interior of the studio. Each flag has an airbrushed "X" on it in the familiar Xanadu font. Photo is of the flags in his workshop. Hard to get a sense of scale here, but the flagpoles were well over 6 feet tall and the flags themselves were the size of three king-sized sheets

For more info about that special weekend, check out this link: http://www.xanadu-fitness.com/news.html