There were a total of 4 short one act plays in the 1 1/2 hours.   They dealt with contemporary issues in a humorous sort of way.   The plays were all original material written by either Benjamin Epstein or Gary Kluger.   They write entirely new plays for each performance night. They weren’t always perfect, at times a little contrived or trite, but they kept me smiling throughout the performances.

The actors come out of the La Canada workshops. Some of the actors were really good at what they did and their performances were what really held the entire play together.   In particular I enjoyed the performances of Lanell Scott as the crusty PE instructor in “Teachers” and Deb Snyder as “Inga” in “Mad Scientist”.

Directly from their mission statement was this little bit.   “Our theatre will reflect the society of its time, and it will project the deepest longings of man, longings for order; for meaning; and for purpose in life. And, not just life as it is, but life as it should be; life as it could be; life as it once was in Gan Eden.” They succeeded and kept the preachy religious stuff out in the process.

The performances are family friendly and this would be a great way to introduce kids to neighborhood theatre (and theatre in general). The cost of admission is $12 for adults and well worth it for the chuckles and overall enjoyable evening. The December edition is planned to be Holiday Themed on 12/17.

Details: Black Box Theatre, Montrose Community Church 2416 Montrose Avenue, Montrose CA 91020 818/731-6740

(Pick by me of their actual set with the craptastic cell phone cam before performances started)

click for a full view with map

The LAAA is having its annual Aurora Holiday Art Sale Saturday only 11/21.  There is a preview sale that includes complimentary champagne starting at 6pm that will cost you 25 bones.  Its free after 7PM but no free booze.   (Their flier does get bigger with a click for all the details you could ever want).

The best part of this show is that it is all about affordable art for collectors and exposing them to up-and-coming artists.  Artists like my friend Ginger Van Hook who was picked up after the jurists viewed her work at last weekends Inglewood Art Walk.

Among the participants are two of my favorite artists Ginger Van Hook (photography) and Luke Van Hook (painting).  They will be hosting the closing reception 5-7Pm on Sunday 11/15 at their studio located at 703 E Hyde Park Blvd, Inglewood, CA.

More information on the artists and art can be found at the Inglewood Open Studio blog.

Photo “Hot Pink Peppers”  by Ginger Van Hook and used with permission.

To win.  Tell me your favorite classic cocktail (my choice varies, classic martini, side car or cosmopolitan).   Tell me the ingredients.  Make sure you include a legit email address so I can collect your information for ticket pick up at will call.  Sorry, since this is a booze filled event you must be 21 to enter.  Remember this is a classy event so you have to dress accordingly.  First two complete responses win!

For those of you not fortunate enough to win tix you can order your general admission tix here.  For those of you wanting to splurge for the VIP tickets that include access to a private lounge with all sorts of extra goodies at $150 you can order your tickets here.

Deets: Nov 7, 8PM-11PM,  Hollywood Renaissance Hotel, 1755 N Highland Ave, Hollywood 90028

The Cobra 427 was Carrol Shelby’s effort to get an A/C Cobra homologated for racing and have something that could beat the Corvette of the era. (Homologation is the process of producing enough cars for road use so they can be used as a “stock” road car for track use).   Though he missed getting homologation completed in time for the 1965 racing season, it was eventually was and became a terror of the race tracks even into the 1970’s by private racing teams.

A couple of more pics after the jump.

Found on Road Alive is part of a random series celebrating LA’s center of car culture status.  All pics by me with the trusty cell cam and do get bigger with a click.

MAFA "Featured Artist" Rouzanna Berberian

Art is the word in the SGV this weekend. Specifically FREE Art shows and receptions in Pasadena and Monrovia starting Friday night running through Sunday. Pasadena will kick it off with ARTNight on Friday and host its ARTWalk on Saturday.  Saturday is the first day of the Monrovia Association of Fine Arts (MAFA) 46th Annual “Celebrate the Arts” that runs all weekend.

The featured artist at this years Celebrate the Arts is Rouzanna Berberian. I’ve enjoyed her art since I saw her first exhibition a couple of years ago. She uses very bold, expressive brush strokes with equally powerful colors in her paintings to stir some deep emotional connections. She can be found in space 6 in Monrovia’s Library Park located in Old Town Monrovia at 312 S Myrtle Ave.

In conjunction with MAFA the folks at NuVein will be hosting a Comic Con at the Monrovia Library on Saturday only. Additionally NuVein has numerous musicians scheduled to play through out Old Town Monrovia as well as Library Park adding to the overall festivities of the weekend.

Both the Pasadena ARTWalk and the Celebrate the Arts will have numerous kid friendly venues where they can can learn about art as well as create their own art.

Details
Pasadena ARTNight – Through out Pasadena/Old town Pasadena. Friday 10/9/09 6-10PM

• Bike friendly map HERE
• Gold Line HERE with Free shuttles HERE.

Pasadena ARTWalk - Pasadena Museum of California Art and other Gallery’s in the Playhouse District. Saturday 10/10 12-5PM

• Location of the PMCA Gallery HERE

MAFA “Celebrate the Arts” Saturday 10/10 & Sunday 10/11 10AM-6PM

• Located in Monrovia’s Library Park – Map HERE

Pic by Enilde VanHook and used with permission. Disclosure – I serve on the board MAFA and will have a show space at the show this weekend so you can roll in a little self promotion to this post as well.