by Cole » Sat Jan 18, 2003 4:11 pm
From what I was able to find out, the city council in Hollywood, where the El Capitan Theatre is located, ultimately gave approval to an enormous mural of Michael Jackson. It was planned to be put on the east side of the theater, but I don’t know if the project was ever completed. There’s nothing on the theater’s web site about a huge mural of Michael Jackson on the exterior of the building. When the mural was originally proposed back in 1992, a group of people objected and wanted a mural of Orson Welles instead, with over 1,000 people signing a petition favoring Welles over Michael Jackson. They claimed that CITIZEN KANE was the first movie shown at the theater, and therefore a mural of Welles would be a better choice since Jackson had no connection with the theater. The city council rejected the petition thinking a mural of Jackson would be better at luring tourists and money, but again I suspect the whole project was scuttled anyway. Incidentally, according to the theater’s web site, CITIZEN KANE “premiered” at the theater, but I always thought it premiered at a theater in New York City.