By Linda de
Vries
“Destination . . . Chorale Bel Canto” posts several times in
advance of each of our concerts, offering ideas for a different day trip
to the city in which we’re singing, with a Chorale Bel Canto concert at the
center of your experience. These trips appeal to a wide variety of interests
and share fascinating, sometimes intricate, connections between the city
and the music.
On June 8, 2014, Chorale Bel Canto is in Downey presenting America Sings! This
concert is a collaboration with the Claremont Chorale under the direction of
Gregory Norton, and features the music
of Aaron Copland, Randall Thompson, and a concert
version of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess with 130 singers, guest soloists,
and full orchestra.
Enjoy good old American fun as a
prelude to an afternoon of American Music!
Morning. Begin
your day at Golf n Stuff, a family
fun park located at 10555 E. Firestone Blvd., in nearby Norwalk, 562-868-9956. It’s open from 10:00 a.m. daily and closes
at 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, but is open until midnight on Fridays
and Saturdays.
It features four miniature golf courses, Indy Race Cars,
Bumper Boats, Bumper Cars, a Disk ‘O Thrill Ride, a Kiddie Train, a game
Arcade, and a snack bar. Fun for the whole family!
You be the guide, but since you’ll be heading to the concert
at 4:00 p.m., this might not be the day to bring your littlest ones. Children
eight years and up should enjoy the concert as well as Golf n Stuff. Adults
will love the miniature golf!
Golf n Stuff has been
the location for key scenes in films and music videos. Even though film makers
select their shots carefully, it can still be rewarding to visit the actual
locations of films you’ve loved. If this film is a favorite of yours, you might
want to screen it again before visiting, and enjoy seeing the sites “in
person.”
In Karate
Kid (1984), following the embarrassment of having to push the car to
start it, Daniel and Ali go on a date to Golf
n Stuff. The park was built in 1970 and the water slide was added in 1990.
Alas, fans, the waterslide was removed in 1996, but the arcade and other
features look virtually the same as in the film.
Korn the nu metal band from Bakersfield formed in 1993
shot the music video for “shoots N’ Ladders” at Golf N Stuff in 1995. Avril Lavigne, the French-Canadian
singer-songwriter shot filmed the music video for “Girlfriend” here in 2006,
and Rebecca Black filmed the video
for “Person of Interest” here in 2011.
Lunch. You might want to grab a bite at the
snack bar here at Golf n Stuff and remain in Norwalk for the early afternoon
before the concert, or make your way to nearby Downey, where
you have several choices!
Afternoon. In the early afternoon, you might stay at Golf n Stuff. Or, if you move on to Downey, you
might enjoy the games at the Greek Festival. If films are your thing, you
might want to plot your personal route and mosey your way from Norwalk to
Downey via some other famous film locations.
Excelsior High School at 15711 S. Pioneer Boulevard at the
corner of Alondra and Pioneer, although founded in 1903 with the current campus
built in 1924, graduated its last class in 1981 and now houses the Norwalk
Adult School. Soon after its closure, the campus was the location for several
films and TV shows.
Grease 2 (1982), with Maxwell Caulfield and
Michelle Pheiffer, was filmed at Excelsior, as were High School USA (1983) with Michael J. Fox and Reform School Girls (1986). The TV series Square Pegs (1982-83) was also filmed on this campus. In an unusual connection, one of the co-stars of the show, Merritt
Butrick, trained as an actor at California Institute of the Arts with the
writer of this blog post. Sadly, he died of AIDS at the age of 29.
Additional
sites in Norwalk may be seen in other films. The Norwalk train station (Front
and Funston) was used in The Postman
Always Rings Twice (1946). The Greyhound Bus Station (Front and San
Antonio) was the location for Life
(1999), Frailty (2001), Heroes, the TV series (2007), and The Master (2012).
Front Street
was also used in Another Day in Paradise (1989)
and Best Men (1997), while the Golden
West Ballroom (Studebaker between Imperial and Firestone) appears in Corvette Summer (1978). Other Norwalk
locations may be seen in CHIPs
(1983), Suburbia (1984), Cutting Class—Brad Pitt’s first major
role--(1989), Speed (1994), Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead—Keystone
Lanes on Imperial Highway—(1995), Monk
(2004), and Brüno (2009).
4:00. Head to the Downey Civic Theatre at 8435 Firestone Blvd. and listen to Chorale Bel Canto in America
Sings! This concert of 20th century American music is a
fitting climax to your day steeped in Americana.
Dinner. If you
didn’t lunch there, you might want to return to the Greek Festival, which is
open until 11:00 p.m. Or, for traditional 20th century American
dining, try nearby Pico Rivera, either Dal Rae Restaurant at 9023 Washington
Boulevard (562-949-2444) or Clearman’s Steak ‘n’ Stein at 9545 Whittier
Boulevard (562-699-4716).
