Lovin’ Feeling at Work for Old Theater

Sitting in the crowded upstairs ballroom at the Balboa Pavilion, watching the boat lights of Newport Harbor through the rain, it was easy to reflect on the history of the Balboa Peninsula.

It seemed fitting, as everyone had gathered Thursday night to raise money to restore the historic Balboa Theater. And especially when the evening’s entertainer, Bill Medley, was doing his own historical reflecting.

It was 36 years ago that Medley and

his friend Bobby Hatfield played their first gig under the name the Righteous Brothers at the old Balboa Rendezvous, since burned down, just two blocks away.

“It was a huge room, and we’d get 2,000 kids a night,” Medley said later. “It was those 2,000 kids that got us the attention of L.A. radio, and that really created the Righteous Brothers.”

Medley affectionately calls Hatfield his little brother, but that’s because he’s shorter, and looks younger. Actually, Hatfield is older by a month.

They are 58 now, but still performing more than 100 shows a year together. Medley works another month and a half on his own.

Medley’s show Thursday night was gratis, to help a Balboa community group work toward its goal of raising $750,000 needed to reopen the theater in the summer of 2000 as a center for plays, live performances, and film retrospectives.

Led by Balboa resident Dayna Pettit, the Balboa Performing Arts Theatre Foundation persuaded the city in October to purchase the theater for $480,000, on condition the group restore it.

Maybe some of you have been around long enough to remember when it opened at 707 W. Balboa Blvd. as the elegant Ritz Theater in 1927. The Ritz was popular with the Hollywood crowd for its vaudeville. It was also a popular speak-easy during Prohibition.

In 1939, the name changed to the Balboa Theater and it switched to movies. Hard times came three decades later, and the Balboa was briefly renamed--brace yourselves--the Pussycat Theater. The movies it showed left the neighbors shuddering.

In the mid ‘70s, however, it became a revival house for films like “Casablanca” and “Citizen Kane.” That’s the Balboa that people like Pettit remember, and want to see brought back. Medley, now a Balboa resident himself, said helping out was a pleasure.

“When I was a kid in Santa Ana, my dad used to bring us down to Balboa to the fun zone,” he said. “Those were great times. I’d been to the Balboa Theater numerous times.”

Surprisingly, for all the benefits Medley has performed, he had never performed at the Pavilion, Newport Beach’s most famous structure. Built at the water’s edge in 1905, right at the end of the old Pacific Electric train line, it was once a popular stop for major big bands. Medley said he’s attended several performances there, but never took the stage himself.

Thursday night, he became a footnote in the building’s history.

The mane covering Medley’s neck is now mostly gray, and that rich deep voice that made him wealthy now has a raspy edge. With his toddler granddaughter, K.C., in the audience, Medley joked that he was just a “big loud Grandpa” on stage.

But Grandpa is still a great talent; he had that room of baby boomers rocking in the aisles. Hatfield was in the crowd, and joined him onstage to perform “Unchained Melody” and their signature song together, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.”

When Medley mentioned that the record industry had recently announced that song as the most played recording in radio history, the old Pavilion almost shook from the cheers.

By the way, Medley and Hatfield got $50 apiece each night for playing at the Rendezvous. That’s $50 more than Medley made Thursday night. But he’s not complaining.

“If anybody had told me in my 20s that I’d still be singing these same songs at 58, and people would still be loving it, I wouldn’t have believed it. But here we are.”

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com