21st Annual Music Box Steps Day!

LOS ANGELES – On Saturday, October 17, from 12 noon to 4pm, the 21st annual Music Box Steps Day will be held at Laurel & Hardy Park, 900 Vendome Street in Silver Lake. A fun and educational film festival for the whole family, the event is free and is organized by the Silver Lake Improvement Association (SLIA) with support from the 4th and 13th Council Districts, Make Music LA, the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council (SLNC), local businesses and Music Box Steps Day is named for and celebrated at the famed film site of Laurel & Hardy’s 1932 Oscar-winning short film The Music Box. Its aim, first and foremost, is to commemorate the 133 stairs upon which the classic comedy team attempted, with hilarious results, to deliver a player piano to a hilltop house.

    In addition to multiple screenings of the 29-minute film (and other L&H classics) in a tent set up in Laurel & Hardy Park across from the Steps, the festival regularly features Laurel & Hardy look-alikes, free food, a magic show, live music, educational presentations and diplays, and fabulous raffle prizes donated by local restaurants and other businesses. Government officials and other VIPs partake in the festivities, along with representatives from Sons of the Desert (the international L & H fan club) and Hollywood Heritage (the district’s chief historical and preservation society).

Music Box Steps Day is the brainchild of Vincent Brook, SLIA board member, media studies professor, and creator of the festival in 1995. “The Music Box is a cinematic treasure and we are proud to keep its memory alive,” Brook says. “We are thrilled that this classic film was shot in the heart of Silver Lake. Music Box Steps Day is our way of honoring the comic genius of Laurel & Hardy and reminding local youth, their families and others of this historical jewel in The Steps are featured in tourist books, and film buffs from around the world have flocked to see (and set foot on) them over the years. Music Box Steps Day itself has attracted fans from as far away as England, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany—some coming all the way just for this event!

For more information, call 323-663-7641.

About the Silver Lake Improvement Association

SLIA was founded in 1989, during a period of high crime activity, by locals dedicated to creating and maintaining a clean, safe, and vibrant community environment. Armed with true grit and great spirit, SLIA targeted those neighborhood hotspots that people whispered about but no one took steps to fix. Before long, SLIA had grown into a thriving non-profit organization with over 100 member households. Once greater safety had been achieved, the group turned its attention to cultural and other quality of life projects, such as contributing to the planting of over 300 trees, co-founding the Gateway to Silver Lake beautification project, helping organize and participating in the SLNC, overseeing the Sunset Triangle Plaza, and, last not least, putting on the hugely popular Music Box Steps Day.