Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [71]
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MY DATE WITH EMMY Andrea Schulte-Peevers
There were eight of us in a limo as long as Florida, dressed to kill, guzzling champagne and headed to the high-school prom. No, wait. I’d plucked three grey hairs earlier, my crimson gown was a tad (ahem!) snug and one of the other ladies was expecting her second child. Oh yeah. That’s right. We were on our way to the Prime-Time Emmy Awards, but still as excited and goofy as kids expecting a cell-phone call from Mom reminding us to behave.
We queued in an interminable line of other limos and finally leapt out onto 100 yards of red carpet. Paparazzi flashes blitzed us into further insensibility. The fans gaped and twittered – but not for us. I turned around and stared right at Jim Brolin and ‘Babs’ Streisand (who was draped in a curtain-like frock possibly designed by Julie Andrews), smiling and waving to the cheering crowd.
‘Oh my Gawd! He’s so handsome!’ gushed my friend as Tom Selleck cut a swath along the crimson like the bow of an aircraft carrier. And then there was adorable but wraith-like Teri Hatcher looking like she could really use a Big Mac. Zach Braff, James Spader, Felicity Huffman, Patricia Arquette… Oh! We were racking ’em up now alright! Then it was the plunge into the mothership of the Shrine where we sat in the ‘nosebleed’ balcony, next to that season’s cast of The Amazing Race.
If sucking up were an art – and believe me, in Hollywood it is – the Emmies would be the Louvre. For four hours we were awash in tomorrow’s headlines, gushing lists of ‘thank yous’ including swamis and pedicurists, and listening to the orchestra honking out their welcomes for the winners. We were swallowed by Hollywood’s endless appetite for self-congratulations and ego-enhancement. But heck, if the excess be wretched, play on! My limo awaits!
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MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE
Run by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, this museum (Map; information 310-553-8403; www.museumoftolerance.com; 9786 W Pico Blvd; adult/child/student & senior $13/10/11; 11am-6:30pm Mon-Thu, 11am-3:30pm Fri, 11am-7:30pm Sun; ) uses interactive technology to make visitors confront racism and bigotry, with particular focus given to the Holocaust. You can study various Nazi-era memorabilia, including letters by Anne Frank, a bunk bed from the Majdanek camp and Göring’s dress-uniform cap. Lectures by Holocaust survivors take place several times a week.
A renovation in 2007 added a new history wall that celebrates diversity, exposes intolerance and champions rights in America. You can also cast your opinion on current issues in a poll booth with the results tabulated instantly for all to see. The 2nd floor has been converted into a creative space for interactive children’s programs.
The last entry is 2½ hours before closing, and reservations ( 310-772-2505) are suggested.
A separate exhibit called Finding Our Families, Finding Ourselves (adult/child under 12 & student/senior $8/6/7; same as main museum) examines the diversity of American society and what it means to be an American. It follows the personal histories of poet Maya Angelou, comedian Billy Crystal, musician Carlos Santana and baseball coach Joe Torre.
GREYSTONE MANSION & PARK
Gloomy and gothic, this 1928 castlelike mansion (Map; 310-550-4654; www.greystonemansion.org; 905 Loma Vista Dr; park admission free; park 10am-6pm Apr-Oct, 10am-5pm Nov-Mar; ) seems more suited for foggy Scottish moors than shiny Beverly Hills. In 1929 its owner, oil heir Ned Doheny, was found with a bullet in his head along with his male secretary in an alleged murder-suicide – an unsolved mystery to this day.
Nobody’s lived here since but the mansion