Easter Rites Shut Out at Bowl--Again

For the fifth consecutive year, the Hollywood Bowl Easter Sunrise service--a celebrated annual event since 1921--has been shut out of the Bowl by ongoing construction projects.

Early this year, heavy rains dashed any hopes to ready the outdoor theater for the return of the service known over the years for celebrity narrators, soloists and big-name clergy.

And structural renovation work expected to be undertaken each winter to preserve the May-to-October concert and special event schedule may prevent the service’s return for as many as three more years, a Bowl spokeswoman said Friday.

A retired Lutheran minister who often takes part in the service expressed doubt that the event will be able to bounce back.

“It will be tough, and cost dollars we do not have” for promotion, programs and stagehands, said the Rev. Harry Durkee of Burbank, a former pastor of Hollywood Lutheran Church.

But producer-publicist Norma Foster, who directs a scaled-down 6 a.m. sunrise service at the Woman’s Club of Hollywood with an ongoing group of volunteers, contended that enough hoopla can be generated for its now-suspended 75th-anniversary service in some future year at the amphitheater in Cahuenga Pass.

“We will invite back all the stars, major clergy and choirs who have appeared in the service in the past,” said Foster.

Entertainers still living who have appeared in the Bowl sunrise service include Charlton Heston, Rhonda Fleming, Robert Stack, Mickey Rooney, Shirley Jones and Robert Guillaume. The clergy include Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller and then-Hollywood pastor John Lloyd Ogilvie, now U.S. Senate chaplain.

The service peaked in popularity in the 1940s when attendance reached 30,000 for at least two years. The crowds were under 20,000 in the 1960s, including one year in that decade when Bowl construction moved the service to the Hollywood High football field. The turn-style count for the 1980 service was 11,894, and crowds dipped below that in ensuing years.

The 73rd annual service in 1993 was the last at the Bowl. The 74th annual Easter rites were at Hollywood United Methodist Church in 1994, but, since then, despite scaled-down services at the Woman’s Club following the same format, the appellation “75th annual” has been held in abeyance until the return to the Hollywood Bowl.

Inquiries about the Hollywood Bowl service arise every spring, especially from people who say they remember rising in the predawn hours, packing coffee to fight off the April chill and taking seats facing a large, lighted cross on the other side of the Hollywood Freeway.

“Having Christians of all denominations gather at the Bowl to worship as the sun rises on Easter morning was a very moving experience,” said Paul Tamburelli, who now lives in the Phoenix area and is visiting relatives this weekend in Los Angeles.

“I had hoped to duplicate those memories for my wife and three teenage children.”

Hollywood Bowl officials say they want to have the Easter sunrise service back but the holiday typically comes in April, which does not give construction crews enough time unless it is an exceptionally dry winter, said Vanessa Butler, associate publicity director for the Bowl.

Some other venerable Easter sunrise services are available in scenic outdoor settings, usually starting at 6 or 6:30 a.m.

The 89th annual Mt. Rubidoux Easter Sunrise Service--atop a hill in Riverside--calls itself the nation’s oldest. But sponsors of the Red Rock Canyon service north of Mojave insist their event is older and will conduct what they say is their 91st this year.

The 73rd annual Mt. McGroarty sunrise service near Sunland-Tujunga provides predawn transportation from Foothill Boulevard and Hillhaven Street for worshipers up the 2,000-foot mountain.

Oceanside sunrise services organized by community church groups include rites at Morro Bay and at the west end of the Santa Monica Pier.

Many large cemeteries hold sunrise services with the help of local clergy groups. More than 7,000 people are expected to attend 6 a.m. services at the Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks at Glendale, Hollywood Hills, Cypress, Covina Hills and Long Beach.

A sunrise service in the form of an Easter musical drama will be performed for the fourth year at Vasquez Rocks by members of three Agua Dulce churches.

Many, though not all, sunrise services tend to feature evangelical and charismatic ministers and choirs, largely because those churches have kept the traditions alive, often along with local Kiwanis Clubs.

The Hollywood Bowl service, which was for years carried by Armed Forces Radio and televised locally, tended to be more eclectic in its choice of clergy and celebrity guests.

But to raise money and assemble an impressive lineup for the 75th Easter sunrise service, Foster admitted: “We need a definite date when the Bowl will be ready.”

Following are details about some San Fernando Valley area sunrise services:

* About 2,500 worshipers are expected for the 22nd annual community sunrise service at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, Hollywood Hills, across the Los Angeles River from Burbank. White doves will be released at the conclusion of the 6 a.m. service co-sponsored by the Burbank Ministerial Assn. The Rev. Ron Hafer, chaplain at Biola University, will be the keynote speaker, and music will be provided by a 45-voice choir from First Baptist Church of La Crescenta.

* Pastor Lola Burbick of the Tujunga Foursquare Church will give the sermon at the Mt. McGroarty sunrise service conducted on a ridge near a lighted cross. Transportation up the mountain is available starting at 4:30 a.m.

* Although Vasquez Rocks has been the scene of community sunrise services for decades, this year the scenic parkland will again be the stage for a production of the Easter story, featuring Josh Sheridan playing Jesus. The 6 a.m. musical play and service includes a brief message by the Rev. Larry Hall Sr., pastor of the Agua Dulce Foursquare Church. The setting, off the Antelope Valley Freeway in Agua Dulce, is limited to 400 cars.

* The Rev. John Nagel of Westlake Village United Methodist Church will deliver the Easter message at the 30th annual sunrise service at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park at 5600 Lindero Canyon Road, Westlake Village. Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Congregational clergy are also participating in the 6 a.m. service.

* EASTER FORECAST: Lingering showers may mar Sunday events. B8