This rather dramatic shot show the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra playing an Easter sunrise service at a packed Hollywood Bowl. This was in 1924; that year Easter Sunday fell on April 20. The first time the LAPO played an Easter service was in 1921. Three years later there was still no shell. That wouldn’t be built for a another two years. I don’t know about other services, but this one featured a “living cross” which I presume means the choir was dressed in white and arranged in the shape of a cross. The event was certainly well attended – there doesn’t appear to be an empty seat in the house—or the hillside, as the case may be.
Friend W. said: “In ‘21, the first year in Daisy Dell (now the Hollywood Bowl) services were also held at Mt Lowe’s Inspiration Point; Avalon; Mount Washington; Lookout Mountain, Signal Hill; Greek theater at Owensmouth (Canoga Park); Eagle Rock; and on the heights of Mt. Robidoux above downtown.”
Easter’s the same date this year as it was in that photograph! It’s mentioned the first such service was in 1921 and, unfortunately the last one was in 2021.
The Hollywood Bowl no longer holds an Easter sunrise service every year. The long-standing tradition has been canceled in recent years due to various factors, including renovations, a theft, financial constraints, the pandemic and declining attendance.
I was inspired to attend one of these from a similar photograph as the above that was taken in 1944 or ’45. The services were non-denominational and open to everyone and one of those things anyone could really have enjoyed in some way. The living cross that is mentioned above seems to have been a staple of the services each year. It’s sad to me when long traditions like this disappear.
Martin, I agree. I was thinking about the Bowl this Easter weekend. You probably could lay the blame on Covid and finances. Things change. At least we will always have these stunning photographs. The sunrise mass at the Bowl always received national attention. Yes, originally known as Daisy Dell and thanks to Mrs. Stevenson, heir to the Pittsburgh Paint family, she had a wonderful idea, building a theater that would present religious plays. The rest is history.
From the LA Daily News:
“The tradition of the Living Cross was established by Hugo Kirchhoffer, the first purveyor to notice the natural basin, which provided the perfect acoustics for performances.
In the Living Cross, more than 300 children stand on a platform shaped like a cross wearing black robes. But when dawn breaks over the hills, the children drop their black robes in unison for resilient white ones.
Marjory Hopper participated in the 1948 Living Cross when she was just 9 years old and remembers it as a little nerve-wracking.
‘My biggest fear was that the black robe wouldn’t come off, even though we rehearsed it so many times,’ Hopper said, chuckling to herself. ‘But it was very moving. It is a beautiful memory.'”
Thanks for that, Bernard!