James Roday

To many of us, he’s the frenetic observational genius with a white hot wit Sean Spencer on USA’s Psych.  It’s a good thing to be.  As an admitted addict of USA’s original programming, I count on those characters to help me blow off steam after a long day of the intensity we call every day life in the City of Angels.  But I have to admit to being surprised (and more than a little excited) when I found out that James Roday was about to hit a local stage right here on theater row to perform a play with the theater company he founded (Red Dog Squadron).

Extinction, a play written by a classmate (Gabe McKinley) of James’ from his NYU days, is the story of two college friends on a wild trip to Atlantic City, a place they go to descend into their favorite vices with dark abandon.  But on this particular trip, something is different and results in a high stakes showdown between friends.  Co-staring with him is a close friend, Michael Weston, an actor who has been on many of the best shows on television from Six Feet Under to House.

I had the opportunity to speak with James and found out what I couldn’t discover with a little Google stalking.  My first question when confronted with someone having the courageousness to do theater in a city notoriously unappreciative of the medium is always about the dangers of that endeavor.  But he was unphased by it.  Red Dog Squadron was something he created as a way to keep himself anchored in the place that first made him want to pursue a creative life.  It was also a means to do all the theater he didn’t get to do between college and a fully formed career.  Like many actors coming out of school, he expected to pay his dues doing stage work while bartending to pay the bills.  But Hollywood came calling early on, rendering that transition unnecessary.

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Those marvelous, magical purveyors of joy at Lucent Dossier will finally returned to a regular presence in their hometown beginning this upcoming Wednesday November 11th.  The new residency will be housed in the post apocolyptic meets vintage hot spot H.Wood in the heart of Hollywood through the end of the year.

If you’ve never experienced Lucent Dossier…. GO!  If you know why so many of us love these people to bits, now is your chance to play again and bring all your friends.

What can you expect from this latest incarnation?

Let the night take you away and if you please, indulge in a rose water foot bath, Post Portal Post Office, uplifting aura readings, Sweet Teddy Bear Tea Party and herbal elixirs to cleanse your soul.  What Lucent does best is create wonderlands for our guests to lose themselves in, so let us be your guide into a fantastical realm where brilliance and insanity fuse together in an exotic kind of ecstatic bliss.

H.Wood is located at 1738 N. Orange, Los Angeles, CA 90028.  Parking can be found in the Hollywood Highland Complex (rates are $2 for 4 hours with validation!)  Dinner is available.  Doors open at 8pm.  The show begins at 9 p.m. and lasts through to midnight.  Stay afterward until 2 a.m. to dance.  General admission is  $15 adv/door (Or join the Lucent Dossier mailing list for discount ticket “secret password.”)  VIP Table reservations are available by contacting H.Wood.

Dan over at Drink:Eat:Play is putting on another one of those classy dress up fun events this weekend.  They are transforming the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel into a 1920’s “Speak Easy”.  The tickets are valued at $75 each so this is no slouch of a give away.  Tix include unlimited cocktails in the Speak Easy lounge made from the best whiskey, scotch and gin with the help of The Edison and K&L Wine merchants.

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

My theory is that, like Halloween, one is either a fan of David Lynch’s films or not.  I am.  Recently, I watched Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” for the second time, and the first time since moving to the Los Angeles area.  It was quite eye-opening.

As for the film itself, I understood more the second time around.  “Mulholland Drive” simply cannot be viewed only once (unless you are in the category of unfortunate people who don’t like David Lynch films, in which case once is probably too much).  But then I did some research, and found out some really interesting things.  Since I rented and do not own the dvd, I did not know that Lynch inserted ten clues to watching the movie inside the back cover of the dvd box.
  Get a clue, after the jump

OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD. Seriously, I am slobbering stoked about this. Say what you want about recent Death Cab: Gibbard’s early work with the band, like in “We Have the Facts And We’re Voting Yes,” and his collaborations with Dntel (The Postal Service came about as a result of their first correspondence, the song “(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan”) is just fantastic. And Jay Farrar, the other half of Uncle Tupelo (the seminal alt-country outfit that split to form both Wilco and Farrar’s Son Volt) is a great songwriter.

But even I am flabbergasted at what Farrar’s attempted: setting the words of Kerouac to music. The album “One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur,” primarily composed by Farrar with collaboration from Gibbard, sounds like the perfect storm of awesome. Apparently the two musicians realized their mutual love for the writer of “On the Road,” while they were involved in the production of a documentary of the same name about Kerouac (which screens tomorrow at Arclight with a Q&A with the director & producers; the film includes reflections on Kerouac by Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Sam Shepard, and more).

The duo is bringing their makeshift band, which is composed of other Death Cab, Son Volt, and Mountain Goats members, here to LA for two of the 6 US dates they’ll be playing. They’ll be at Largo at the Coronet this week on the 22nd, and the El Rey on the 23rd. I am SO there.

I have fond memories of the boxy Volvo’s I used to own.  And probably less fond ones of seeing the Playboy sticker outlines on truck mudflaps.  Somehow I wouldn’t have thought to combine the two.

I guess it’s the neighborhood.  I am not sure whether the driver ahead of me on La Cienega was heading to the vegan Real Food Daily restaurant, or perhaps to the Live Nude Girls Girls Girls strip club, since they are right across the street from each other.

The PA holds cue cards for "Keanu" while "Pappas" looks on.

The longest running theater show in Los Angeles celebrated its two year anniversary on Saturday at the Dragonfly in Hollywood. Point Break LIVE! has been extremely successful, and with good reason. It is one of the most entertaining theater pieces in my memory; even better than Cats. (Okay, granted: most shows are better than Cats. Point Break LIVE! is exceptionally good, though.)

Point Break LIVE! is an absurdist stage adaptation of the classic 1991 movie starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. The twist to this show is that at every performance the role of “Keanu” is performed by a member of the audience (hence, the cue cards.) Because the show has been running for two years, I’m certain there are dozens of reviews more eloquent than mine just on the other side of a Google search. This is not so much a review as an unabashed endorsement.

Buy tickets. See this show. Now! I’m already planning to see it again with other friends.

Point Break LIVE! is a spectacular interactive theater show with comedy, stunts, special-ish effects, hot half-naked surfer dudes…everything you could want in a big budget action movie, but on a seriously diminished budget. There are so many delightful surprises in this show, I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoiling any of the fun. I will include this, though, from the Point Break LIVE! ticketing site:

“This show is not for the squeamish, uptight, faint of heart, or the easily offended. Theater snobs probably won’t get it. If you are looking for a traditional theater experience – STAY THE F**K AWAY FROM THIS SHOW.”

MetBlogs readers don’t fit any of those categories, so you should all enjoy it immensely. Point Break LIVE! runs Saturday evenings at the Dragonfly in Hollywood. Get tickets here.

PRO TIP: When you collect your tickets at the box office, you’ll be offered a “survival kit” for a buck. Take it. It may be the best dollar you’ll ever spend. Seriously.

zombies on the loose

Picture it hundreds of zombies parading down Hollywood Blvd 6:15 PM Wednesday 9/30. Wanna participate but can’t do the make-up right yourself?  Be at Grauman’s Chinese at 4PM for a free zombie make over.  Yes, free, zip, nada, zilch no money outta your pocket for this one.

Also, if you really want to do the night up right there is a free screening (don’t you just love the word free???) of Zombieland immediately following the zombie march.  To get in all you need to do is rsvp to zombielandla@gmail.com before the 30th.  If you want to learn more about the movie “Zombieland” that this is all in promo for check out the trailer here.  This should be a great publicity stunt to partake in.  Consider it your pre-Halloween warm up and have some fun!

Deets: Zombie Walks LA,  Grauman’s Chinese, 6925 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood CA 90028

Pic by Vickie S a metblogs reader from the San Diego Zombie march.

Only ten performances of this wack-tastic ’splosion of Python-y goodness will grace the Ricardo Montalban Theatre, a venue I have always wanted to visit because of its name but have never been inside.

“A Night Without Monty Python” is a cherrypicking spectacular of Python’s best-loved moments, from the Spanish Inquisition, to the Ministry of Silly Walks, the Lumberjack and Spam songs, and scads more (go here for full list).

Eric Idle isn’t IN it (although an appearance would not surprise me), but he directs Alan Tudyk (Dodgeball, Dollhouse) and Jane Leeves (Frasier), Jim Piddock (who’s been in just about everything, ever) and a few others, plus likely guest-star cameos throughout the run.

This one’ll sell out, folks. Tix are here…for now.

Amoeba Hollywood @ night by Jodi

Amoeba is one of my very favorite places in L.A. It’s my go-to spot for unloading old CDs, thumbing through the bins of deeply discounted DVDs, and buying previously owned music. Besides being a place with a  fantastic selection of music of all genres, movies, live performances, and more, Amoeba is dog friendly and encourages folks to bring their canine pals along to shop.

Considering the store’s open arms policy to dogs, it’s not too much of a suprise that they are hosting a pet adoption this afternoon from 12pm to 4pm. Lange Foundation is a local organization dedicated to finding new homes for pets in need, as well as a sterilization program throughout L.A. County. They will have some furry friends for you to meet and possibly take home. At 4pm there will be a charity auction to benefit the group. Even if you aren’t looking to add a pet to your family, stop by and support a great cause.

Amoeba Music is located at 6400 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood.