Writings about Music

On the Street of Dreams

Opening Day at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Michael Robinson at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on opening day

I was invited to opening day for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles yesterday, September 30, 2021. It is breathtakingly engaging, celebrating an art form created by Jewish Americans with an incalculable influence upon composers, musicians, and nearly everyone else in terms of dreaming consciousness and realization.

Here are some of the photos I took - enjoy!

Cher (costume)

 

Dorothy's slippers

 

Judy Garland

 

Herbert Stothart conducting

 

The Dude (costume)

 

Brad Pitt (costume)

 

Russell Crowe (costume)

 

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell (costumes)

 

Gary Oldman as Dracula (costume)

 

Le Melomane (as composers we are supposed to use our heads and our hearts!)

The museum includes a slew of fantastic videos playing for our collective edification and sheer pleasure.

Off the welcoming central hub of the Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby, there is a new restaurant, Fanny's, not open yesterday, which looks beyond cool, evoking the Golden Age of Hollywood; something we all hope will continue to be timeless.

Everything about the Academy Museum speaks of spaciousness, vision, substance, and the original promise of California. The only thing missing is any ergonomic seating for those there for hours wishing to rest a few minutes, something that might easily be added.

While I personally have not pursued working in Hollywood, film scores and commercials are occasionally influenced by my music, and I take that as a compliment.

 

Dream-Realm (that's just intonation you're hearing) is the opening track of the Mango-Bird album

Pizza from Roberta's in Culver City (From the night before last. They're originally from Brooklyn, as are myriad movie legends, too good not to include here!)

- Michael Robinson, October 2021, Los Angeles

 

© 2021 Michael Robinson All rights reserved

 

Michael Robinson is a Los Angeles-based composer and musicologist. His 155 albums include 148 albums for meruvina and 7 albums of piano improvisations. He has been a lecturer at UCLA, Bard College and California State University.