Sunrise Service Returns to Hollywood Bowl

Linda Groff surveyed the wooden cross, a calla lily bloom poised in her right hand. “Where do we need something?” she asked.

She jabbed the water vial containing the lily into the Styrofoam that was strapped to the cross with chicken wire. What had been, half an hour before, a dull-colored, rough-hewn cross now sprouted a cloak of velvety white lilies.

“It looks nice, doesn’t it?” said Groff, a teacher at Cal State Dominguez Hills, who on this cloudy Saturday morning was one of a troop of volunteers readying the Hollywood Bowl for the legendary Easter sunrise service, which begins at 5:30 a.m. today.

The organizers put out a call for lilies, offering in exchange reserved box seats for the admission-free service. What they got were mostly potted Easter lily plants--which were lined up on the perimeter of the stage--and only some of the calla lilies they needed.

Volunteer Patricia Underwood, who has been working on the flowers for the annual service since the 1960s, brought lilies from a neighbor’s garden. “I think it was OK,” she said, suddenly not sure. “I just go gingerly down the driveway with my knife.”

The Easter extravaganza of choirs, dancers, musicians and clergy (seven are scheduled to participate) returns today to the Hollywood Bowl after a five-year absence due to ongoing renovations during the Bowl’s down seasons.

The sunrise service dates back to a gathering organized by silent film stars in 1919 and moved to the Bowl in 1921. The service survived a 1993 rift among its board members and accusations that the event had come under the control of a television ministry.

The program returns larger than ever. Producer Norma Foster estimates that during the service 700 people will cross the stage.

On Saturday, they all seemed to be crossing the stage at the same time as rehearsal began.

The audience of about 100 had donned sweaters and jackets to watch in the chilly air. Pauline Gutierrez, a business manager for a medical office, watched her daughter, Felicia, sing with a choir. She and her family will rise at 3:30 a.m. today to get to the Bowl on time.

“We always talked about going to a sunrise service,” said Gutierrez, who is Catholic. “Now we have to be here. But it’s exciting.”

Igor Russo brought his 91-year-old godfather, Jose Goncalves, visiting from Brazil. “He’s a big classical music fan,” said Russo. “It’s heaven for him to be here.”

Actress Dyan Cannon brought “JC--Jeepers Creepers,” she said, laughing as she looked down at her Chihuahua, clad in a black sweater and curled in his own carrying case.

Cannon will recite a poem titled “The Master Is Coming,” joining a long line of actresses--Mary Pickford, Shirley Jones, Elizabeth Taylor--who have read at the services.

“I’m a Christian. And my mother is Jewish,” Cannon said, explaining her religious roots. “I’ve got Old Testament and New Testament in me.”

The service is multidenominational. Although most who came to watch the rehearsal were Christian, not all were traditional Christians.

“We’re Messianic Jews--we’re Jewish people who’ve come to know Jesus is the Messiah,” said Bob Kern, who was watching his son, Michael, 11, sing with the L.A. Citywide Children’s Christian Choir.

Last Thursday, Kern and his family had a Seder. Today, he will bring 20 people to the Easter service.

His mother-in-law, Bernice Wergeles of Coconut Creek, Fla., said she doesn’t share the beliefs of her daughter and son-in-law, but she will be there at sunrise. “I’ve been to all kinds of services,” she said. “I have friends of all religions.”