When Jeremiahs and my New Years plans changed on Saturday morning we decided, somewhat last-minute, to meet up with friends at the Cirk-O-Six Sea of Dreams in Downtown LA. That might have been the best decision we made this year! We hopped on the Metro Subway near Jeremiahs house and rode it all the way downtown for FREE! On NYE the Metro was on the house and running all night long. Its a shame more people didnt take advantage of it.
We arrived at the gorgeous Los Angeles Theater on Broadway and Sixth Street for the Sea of Dreams. From the outside, this theater looks like a somewhat rundown old movie theater but when you step inside, you are amazed by the beautiful interiors (check out the web site at www.losangelestheatre.com for photos). The theater is three stories, complete with a huge auditorium on the top floor and ballroom on the bottom floor where DJs were spinning the entire night. Everyone seemed in the New Years spirit that evening, with many people dressed to the nines in festive costumes. The energy in the theater reminded me much of the Xingolati cruise (see review here)and the evening featured some of the same performers from the cruise.
The cathedral-ceiling auditorium on the top floor had the main stage which featured performances by Lucha VaVoom, Lucent Dossier, and Cirque Berzerk among others. The second floor featured an interactive DJ room put together by The Do Lab and another room with a specially curated art gallery and live painting. The bottom floor, with the stunning ballroom, had DJs spinning all night long.
About half an hour before the strike of 12 we made our way into the auditorium to get a seat and watch some burlesque, compliments of the Buxoticas from Lucha Va Voom (another great event that cant be missed and will be back February 14, 15 and 16th). Everyone was amazed by their dancing. I was especially impressed by the male dancer who came out in an astronaut suit on a pogo stick and managed to strip and pogo at the same time! Kitten DeVille was another favorite for me as well. When the clock hit 12, the place went crazy and balloons and confetti showered the crowd.
What a spectacular feeling of energy!
After midnight, Jeremiah and I wandered the theater and just took in everything the gorgeous decor of the theater, the crowd, the dancers and performers wandering the throughout, the DJ rooms, etc. Its hard to put the whole evening into words, other than it was a most memorable experience that will be hard to top. Sometime after two o clock, we wandered back to the Metro station in Pershing Square to catch our free ride home. As is often the case in downtown, we encountered a few homeless people along the way who seemed to also be in the celebratory spirit of the New Year, so we rewarded them with the train-fare that we had planned on forking up for the ride to-and-fro. They were all very gracious. On the ride back we met a nice photographer (www.mkowal.com) and exchanged conversation about how great downtown LA and the subway are. Judging by its start, I think 2006 is going to be a great year!
