Cynthia: I was recently at The Theatre At Ace Hotel to see Benjamin Millepied’s (of Black Swan fame) L.A. Dance Project and guess what I stumbled upon in a dark corner of the lobby.
This!
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| Cynthia and Our Lady of Feral Cats The Theatre At Ace Hotel |
Cynthia: You are looking at a shrine to feral cats. (with an uneasy me looking on) Incredible. And kind of really ugly. And weird.
Marcy: And creepy. And disturbing.
Cynthia: Yes. That too. It was just so bizarre.
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| Cat Shrine at The Theatre At Ace Hotel |
Cynthia: But still. A shrine to feral cats? Amazing. Unexpected. Awesome.
Marcy: I guess you’ll take what you can get.
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| Cat at The Theatre At Ace Hotel |
Cynthia: The artist, Kevin Willis, was commissioned by Ace to create this work. The statue is officially called Cathedral of Our Ladyfingers.
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| Cathedral of Our Ladyfingers at The Theatre At Ace Hotel |
Marcy yowls in terror and runs to safety under the couch.
Cynthia: It’s okay Marcy! You can’t even see those fingers in real life since the lobby is so dark. Marcy?
Anyway, Alvin-Christian from Global Studies heard it referred to as Our Lady Of The Feral Cats during a tour by the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation recently.
The Theatre At Ace Hotel is the refurbished United Artists Theatre that was founded by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks in 1927. Pickford was fond of the Spanish Gothic style of the time and as you can see, decorated accordingly.
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| The Theatre At Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles |
Cynthia: The theatre is … well… a lot of things. Gothic. Garish. Grotesque. Gorgeous. Gold. Gold. Gold. Some of my friends thought it beautiful. Others thought it ugly. I felt uneasy and somewhat claustrophobic while there. Let’s just call it… incredible,,, since I was wide-eyed and incredulous the whole time I was there.
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| Lobby at The Theatre At Ace Hotel |
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| Cynthia at The Theatre At Ace Hotel Wearing: Anthropologie Estrie Henley ModCloth Essential Elegance Skirt |
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| The Theatre At Ace Hotel |
Cynthia: What do you think, Marcy? Shall we worship at the shrine to feral cats in the gaudiest of theatres?
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| Our Lady of the Feral Cats The Theatre At Ace Hotel |
Marcy: No.
Cynthia: Are you going to come out from under the couch soon?
Marcy: No.
11 Comments
Ay ya ya. That is. That is. Um, I have no words. I love the bizarre. So, I can appreciate that it is kind of cool that it actually exists…
That theater is amazing! I love, love, love it! So gorgeous! I have never heard of that theater before. It is gaudy, but awesome!
You look beautiful! I adore that outfit. That shirt with skirt is lovely and the belt just completes it perfectly.
Jenni
Thank you, Jenni!!
The theatre just opened – or reopened rather – this past week. L.A. Dance Project was their first show. It is something you should definitely check out next time you are in Downtown Los Angeles. It is an absolutely stunning place. Besides the Spanish Gothic style there is also a lot of Art Deco. The place feels haunted even and they do their best to make you think Mary Pickford's ghost is hanging out!
xo,cynthia
The theater and the sculpture seemed very churchy to me, which I equate with creepy. In defense of the fingers, maybe they represent a comforting scratch behind the ears for each of the feral kitties.
Hmmmm… that is a very sweet idea. That is how I will think of those creepy fingers now. Thank you! Maybe if I tell Marcy that she will come out from under the couch.
xo,cynthia
One L.A. Times writer described the decor as "neo-Inquisition." I have to agree. That place began to give me the serious heebie-jeebies. The Bates Motel ain't got nothin' on the Ace.
It certainly felt like a place where human sacrifices might happen. Shivers.
Maybe it will become a stop on some of those Haunted House tours.
xo,cynthia
I would love to have one of those cat statues. It may be fun to have a cat statue area in the garden. I would have preferred a big cat statue instead of the man in this sculpture.
I love your outfit also. The 50's look is one of my favorites and I just bought one of ModCloth's 50's style skirts too.
By the way, I liked your outfit that you submitted on Effortless Anthropologie this last Sunday. It was a very nice picture of you.
I will have to check out that theater someday. It looks pretty in the photos and not scary to me.
Thanks for sharing,
Stacey
Oh Stacey – I hope you post some outfit pics of you in your new skirt. Which one did you get? I love mine from Modcloth. It is so comfortable and the perfect length.
A cat statue would be great in your garden. Although you really already have live cat statues in your garden. Which are infinitely better! 🙂
Thank you so much for your kind words about my outfits! Today I had a meltdown trying to take a picture for my new post. I don't know why it is so difficult to get a good pic but sometimes I really struggle with it. And neither Marcy OR Penelope would pose with me. I may have to fire them from the blog. lol
xo,cynthia
Yeah, "our lady" is pretty creepy…what's up with the fiingers? Marcy-am I missing something here? I'm lost and honestly creeped out…Anyway, love your look…that's a beautiful skirt and it's so cute paired with the red belt. TTYL!:)
Thank you, Merrie!
I have to say that I am still creeped out by this – and the whole theatre. It was a very disturbing place. Even my husband was a little freaked out by it all. lol
xo,cynthia
merrie – you are not missing anything. people do the strangest things and it makes me glad to be a cat.
meow,marcy
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