The Hollywood Reporter – August 14, 2019

About Town

People, Places,

Preoccupations

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 26 AUGUST 14, 2019

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establish a full-time tourism
office in China, in Beijing, in
2006,” she says, “and now oper-
ates four full-time offices there.”
Those shoppers who do make
the trip to L.A.’s tony retail zone
increasingly are seeking experi-
ences and personalization: The
free Louis Vuitton X pop-up
exhibition and shop on Rodeo
(open through Sept. 15) is “on
everybody’s list,” says Pollard
Bayme. L.A.-based luxury busi-
ness consultant Ann Shatilla
estimates that it draws 5,000 to

A new Grammy Museum exhibit reveals the late producer’s pivotal role

in helping artists from Elvis to Led Zeppelin usher in the age of the

arena tour: ‘His attitude was nobody did it better than him’ By Gary Baum

How Jerry Weintraub Remade

the Live Music Business

B

y the end of his life,

Jerry Weintraub,

who died in 2015, was

best known in Hollywood for

producing and appearing in

the Ocean’s movies. But before

entering the film industry,

the onetime assistant to Lew

Wasserman made his name,

and his fortune, in the 1970s by

revolutionizing the

concert business

— the focus of a

Grammy Museum

exhibition, opening

Aug. 15 and run-

ning through early December,

which draws from his family’s

personal archives. It chronicles

how, beginning when he con-

vinced Colonel Parker to take

Beverly Hills’ Bold Summer events to lure
shoppers kicked off Aug. 1.

Elvis on the road, he invented

the national arena act. “He went

around to regional promoters,

went direct to these bigger

venues that hadn’t been used

in this way before, and allowed

artists to own their tours,” says

show curator Kelsey Goelz. “He

innovated the model, making

enemies along the way.”

From photos and contracts

to tour merch like bomber

jackets, the exhibit documents

1 Jerry

Weintraub

(center)

with The

Carpenters

in the 1970s.

2 From left:

Richard

LaGravenese,

Michael

Douglas, Matt

Damon and

Weintraub

in 2013 in

Cannes for

the Behind the

Candelabra

photocall.

Goelz

1

2

L.A. master Ed Ruscha boasts Hollywood col-

lectors from Jay-Z to Owen Wilson, but few can

lay claim to as many of his works as architect

Fred Clarke, partner of the late Cesar Pelli (thei r

firm was behind West Hollywood’s Pacific

Design Center). Now 35 of those

works — accumulated by Clarke

and his wife, Laura, he says, as

they saw Ruscha’s “evolution” —

will be auctioned by Christie’s on

Sept. 27. Highlights include the

1998 word painting A Person Who Is Very Nice,

estimated to draw up to $700,000 — a bargain

given Ruscha’s 2014 high mark: $30.4 million

for large-scale painting Smash. — JORDAN RIEFE

35 ED RUSCHA WORKS ON THE BLOCK

Ruscha’s 1966 screenprint Standard Station (Engberg 5)

is estimated to draw as much as $300,000.

10,000 visitors a day. And Beverly
Hills rolled out Bold Summer
programming Thursdays through
Saturdays in August to lure shop-
pers with extended shopping
hours, live music and art events.
Personal shopper and stylist
Joseph Katz notes that products
exclusive to the Beverly Hills
flagships of Hermès, Chanel
and Louis Vuitton are evergreen
draws. “Clients from Asia and the
Gulf love very limited or unique
pieces that nobody can get back
home.” Pollard Bayme’s custom-
ers also prize extreme (and pricey)
personalization. “That’s why a lot
of these clients are big couture
clients. Everyone has a pair of
Yeezy sneakers, but we can sew
your name in them and have them
painted by an artist that shows at
MOCA. I’ve had alien spaceships
put on Gucci sneakers with crazy
thread that looks like fire coming
off them, just so it’s something
that nobody else has,” she says.
“When you’re at the point where
you can have anything money can
buy, the next step is making it
your own.”

Weintraub’s supersizing of

American live music and how

he lured an unrivaled client

stable including the Beach

Boys, The Eagles, Led Zeppelin

and the Bee Gees. As for his

crowning achievement, son

Michael Weintraub, who grew

up hopscotching the globe with

his father — Wembley with Neil

Diamond, Budokan with Bob

Dylan — believes it was Frank

Sinatra’s 1974 ABC special

at Madison Square Garden,

billed as The Main Event, which

ended with “My Way.” “I don’t

ever remember him going to a

show that he didn’t have some

involvement in,” says Michael.

“Then again, his attitude was

nobody did it better than him.”

Ruscha