A lost tradition? Summer was when Scientology celebs partied in Hollywood
Geoff Levin was once a fixture at the Scientology Hollywood Celebrity Centre, and he reminds us that in these warm summer days, it would normally be gearing up for its big annual bash…
This August, the Hollywood Celebrity Centre should be holding its 55th anniversary Gala. But as far as I can tell, there is no record of an annual Gala being held since 2014 (the 45th anniversary). Why not?
I really don't know. But here are a few stories of what it was like and my memories of it....
The annual CC gala was where all Scientology celebrities were encouraged to invite their non-Scientology celebrity friends and family. I had met almost all the creative artists who stepped through the portals of CC. I was one of the founding members of Celebrity Centre in 1969.
One Gala story sticks out for me in particular. This was August 2003 and the event was very popular at that time. Protocol was that celebrities were not allowed into the event area right away, which was the Celebrity Centre parking lot decorated and transformed. We were all standing in line and lo and behold that included David and Shelly Miscavige. They were standing alone. So I went over to him and started a conversation. He knew who I was. I told him about the Dianetics theme — used in the famous 1986 television commercial that had sold so many books — and how the original recording had much more impact than the recording that Gold re-recorded.
He was very interested and asked me to send him the original recording. Then Miscavige started telling me about his plan to replace live introductory lecturers with a series of videos for new public. I had seen a few and I wasn’t impressed. Of course I did not say anything. He also invited me to tour his new Mad Hatter recording facility that he had purchased from Chick Corea. At the time I was excited I had made a good impression on him. (I was still being avoided by other Sea Org executives because they knew I was ex-SO.)
Four month later I received this letter from Miscavige...
December 24, 2003
Dear Geoff,
It was great seeing you at Celebrity Centre Gala. And thank you for your letter of August 22nd. Please excuse the horrible delay. Life has been a bit of a blur since that point, as you may have heard, I've been traveling pretty much nonstop. I think somebody calculated it, and the miles are equivalent to circumnavigating the globe twice — and all of it in just the last 2 months!
So, I finally got to hear the original 1986 Dianetics theme. You’re right — it’s got that “it” quality. The analogy you gave in your letter is certainly apt. While there are some pieces that can create an impact on an audience after they become familiar with it, it’s a unique and rare one that works the first time they hear it. That is, beginning with the first note. Your '86 Dianetics theme is positively that latter unique and rare commodity.
As for repeating Affluences, believe me — Dianetics is going to be pushed harder than ever in our history. There was and is no problem on selling books. We only fall down on the next step — that is moving them onto Book One services and smoothly onto the main Bridge. To that end, you may have heard about some of the new type of orgs I have been establishing. I'll be giving the full briefing on what they are really about at the March 13th event. But this is going to be a whole new era of Div 6 — call it the Golden Age of Public Divisions. I've been working on the matter for several years and it has to do with recovery of all lost tech on Public Divisions — every function ever performed from 1950 all the way to the present. This was only possible by finally recovering the entire LRH library of lectures and, believe it or not, going through all of them. As regards Dianetics, you only saw the first step with the new DVD. There's something much bigger that will be happening and the result won't just be the ability to cater to unprecedented quantities in our orgs, but also in missions and right down to group level providing the tech in a format that even the newest Book Oner can start a group and practically run it at the competence level of a Class VIII. And no, I'm not overstating it!
As for your offer of help, I have passed this on to the Golden Era people. No small part of establishing the studio in LA was to provide a means for people, like yourself, to be directly involved in all new dissemination efforts.
Have you seen the new Mad Hatter? If not, please contact the President's Office at Celebrity Centre or the Studio Manager (Chandra Benjamin, 323 665-8284) who can give you a tour.
Finally, thank you for the latest Celestial Navigations CD. I'm hoping to get some time after the holidays to sit down and enjoy it.
Until then, I hope all is well with you and I'm sure we'll be hearing from each other in the future.
Love,
Dave
The “new type of orgs” he’s referring to is, of course, the “Ideal Orgs” project that was just getting going then in 2003 and has become such an obsession for Miscavige ever since. And it’s also interesting to see him refer to “lost tech.” This has been the unstated reality of Scientology under Miscavige: It just isn’t working, but the next innovation of new orgs, or new republished books, or new “admin” rules will magically turn this failing organization into a success.
Two more Gala experiences stick out for me. The first was when Isaac Hayes brought down the house sitting at the piano performing “The Theme From Shaft.” He had a full band behind him and this was one of the few times at a Gala that the crowd got to hear a music artist of his stature perform. The audience was literally lifted off the ground. He was a gifted songwriter and sweet man. I had a chance to work with him musically on a project for the improv group Interplay.
The second performance that was a show stopper for me was the year that Beck showed up at a gala. There was a full band performing with a few singers doing cover songs. The performances that year were uninspired and very superficial, it was Hollywood glitz. This was exact opposite of Beck’s down to earth style. So at the last minute, Beck declined to perform on the main stage with the band and instead asked to have a mic and electric piano set up in the center of the crowd. There were some technical difficulties with the sound. I was angry with the sound men for not getting it together. Beck was a true professional and waited patiently until everything worked. It was just him and the electric piano and he performed one song that blew away all the loud band music and slick singers. His soft baritone voice with his poetic, honest lyrics brought true aesthetics to that night. I was mesmerized. It was interesting that much of the older crowd did not get it.
Another incident occurred in 2014 (the 45th anniversary) when I was really mentally out of Scientology. I had paid for a regular ticket to the Gala and was assured by Pam Lancaster I would still be included and have access to the celebrity waiting area. I arrived and was blown off and ushered to the grounds next to Franklin Blvd. with a group of people I did not know. And when we were finally allowed in to the event area there were a bunch of blue-suited security guards to make sure I could not talk to my friends like Kirstie Allie, Mark Isham, Giovanni Ribisi or Billy Sheehan in a cordoned-off area. I was able to wave at Kirstie and she came over to talk to me. I left that event vowing never to come to another Gala. But that turned out to be the last documented anniversary event.
As an aside, I have observed that Celebrity Centre consistently put its main emphasis on well known actors and rich business people. Musicians, unless they were huge like Isaac, were considered B-level celebrities, even when they were successful with their specific audiences.
This quote from L. Ron Hubbard is always shown to artists in all fields: “A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists.” In 1968 this got me interested in Hubbard when I first read that quote. On the Celebrity Centre website it is front and center. They claim Hubbard was an artist and created Celebrity Centre to help other artists.
It isn’t true. I worked directly with Hubbard. I saw first hand that he was not artistic, he was a competent plagiarist. He created Celebrity Centre to exploit artists because he knew the public would respond to celebrity endorsements and would bring in more people and more money.
No more Galas is a sign of how effective Tony, Mike, Leah, Chris, Clair and Marc and so many others have been, exposing the abuses and crimes of the Scientology organizations.
— Geoff Levin
Want to help?
Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special material for subscribers. Or, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com.
Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:
Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history
Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea
Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time
Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology
Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain
Here’s the link to today’s post at tonyortega.org
And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.
Paid subscribers get access to a special podcast series…
Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars on the week’s news
Just as well they aren't doing galas anymore. What a nightmare! A full stage with cameras, lighting and sound in a parking lot that is too small. The neighbors all hated the loud sound at all hours of the night as rehearsals and sound checks went on. Sometimes for a full week!
In 2004 they had Beck on the main stage, and his sampler died during "Where it's At". As the sound technician for the whole event, I was "fully responsible" in the Scientology sense, meaning I should magically have been able to revive Beck's equipment using OT Phenomena. Sincerely, I knew I would be punished for it even though my equipment all worked flawlessly.
At that point I had literally been up for three days and was expected to stay up all night to help break down the event. Only to face severe punishment when I got back to Gold. Sitting in the little bathroom in the basement of CC that the staff are not supposed to use, I counted out my cash and came up with about $300 net worth. Enough to start a new life?
Hell to the YES! Thank God and Greyhound I was GONE. Stuffed some socks and underwear in my little tool bag, acted like I was going to the burger joint, crossed the street and caught a city bus instead. Back to Silicon Valley where I belong. Do you know the way to San Jose?
70's music references aside, it was the Gala that broke me. Sometimes you have to break to heal.
If you were there when CC was created, you know it wasn’t Hubbard’s baby, but Yvonne’s. Without her, it was nothing, and it eventually killed her. It sounds like the gala was something I would have hated. A thing my hubby and I call a must miss event. A place where the shiny happy people get put in one place while the hoi polloi sit there and ogle them.
It’s hard to have a gala when the few remaining celebrities have no friends who would willingly set foot in the door of Scientology.