Hotel Shangri-la at the Ocean Hosts PBS SoCaL's Sneak Peek of Season 2's Premiere of "Mr. Selfridge" on MASTERPIECE

An invitation-only event hosted by the Hotel Shangri-la at the Ocean in Santa Monica offered VIP guests an exclusive PBS SoCaL sneak peek of Season 2’s premiere of “Mr. Selfridge” on MASTERPIECE. Owner of the Hotel Shangri-la Tamie Adaya, welcomed guests for an intimate cocktail reception in the hotel’s Suite 700 rooftop bar and lounge, followed by the screening in the Penthouse Suite.  After the screening, guests had a chance to tour several of the hotel’s beautiful accommodations, including the luxurious and spacious Rock N Roll Suite designed with the rock star in mind.

Evoking the form of a grand ocean liner and the very essence of the Golden Age of Hollywood, the Hotel Shangri-La at the Ocean has been welcoming guests since 1939. A landmark and architectural gem in the Streamline Moderne style boasts a recent $30 million update; the Art Deco sumptuous guest rooms and suites offer iconic views of the ocean or the city with a lush life experience that is anything but ordinary – a truly perfect venue at the ocean.

Mr. Selfridge

At the unfashionable end of Oxford Street in 1909 London, an American retail tycoon arrives to jettison fusty British tradition and open one of the finest department stores the world has ever seen: Selfridges. Three-time Emmy® winner Jeremy Piven (in his first television appearance since his iconic role as Hollywood agent Ari Gold in Entourage) stars as Harry Gordon Selfridge, the flamboyant entrepreneur and showman seeking to provide London's shoppers with the ultimate merchandise and the ultimate thrill.

Emmy® Award-winning writer Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice, Bleak House) conjures the opulence and excitement of Selfridges and the story of its founder, a man of exuberant, outsized, and potentially dangerous, appetite. Behind Selfridges' lavish shop windows, gleaming counters, and majestic doors, appetite intersects with ambition and desire not just for Harry, but for his staff, his family, and the various women drawn to the store and the man. Zoe Tapper (Stage Beauty) is showgirl and temptress Ellen Love; Frances O’Connor (Madame Bovary) as is Harry's loyal wife, Rose; Grégory Fitoussi (Spiral) is the mercurial window designer extraordinaire, Henri Leclair; and Aisling Loftus (Case Histories) is the spunky shop girl Agnes Towler. Mr. Selfridge airs Sundays, March 31 through May 19, 2013 at 9pm ET (check local listings) on PBS' MASTERPIECE Classic.