The historic Crest Theater in Westwood will reopen Saturday under a new name following a multi-million dollar renovation.
The theater will now be called the UCLA Nimoy Theater, or simply, The Nimoy. It was named after ‘Star Trek’ actor, director, and philanthropist, Leonard Nimoy. The school said the renovations were a gift from Nimoy’s widow, Susan.
The theater has 150 permanent seats on the risers, but also has a flexible seating area that can allow up to 299 seats, the school said in a press release.
The murals that were done in the theater in the 1980s were also restored.
“The murals are indicative of Los Angeles, Westwood, and Hollywood Landmarks from 1939 specifically, which is the year before the original building was built,” Meryl Friedman with UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance told KNX News’ Margaret Carrero. “And so I think that there is a large community affection for that, and it's also historical.
She called the theater reopening “exciting.”
“Many of our colleagues are experiencing - as have we - real challenges and how we come back and how we support artists,” she said. “And the fact that UCL A stuck with the vision and built a new theater when many theaters are shuttering is really amazing and we feel very lucky and fortunate and optimistic about this opportunity that we have as part of the restoration.”
The theater will celebrate its first performance on Saturday night with Grammy Award-winning poet J. Ivy.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok