Raven Jake Dawes

Romeo and Juliet at the Old Zoo

In the interests of gittin' out more on the cheap, Raven Jake hauled himself out to see some live theater, specifically the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival. Every weekend in the summer, the Independent Shakespeare Company performs one of two of the Bard's plays and for July, the hit pick was "Romeo and Juliet." That feller to the left is André Martin playing an excellent Mercutio.

Now you might be thinking, "Good for you. Jake - but what does that have to do with me?" Well good news, friends! Not only is "Much Ado About Nothing" playing for the rest of August,  "Romeo and Juliet" is back for the first week of September, specifically:

Thursday, 9/3, Friday, 9/4 and Sunday 9/6

So pack yourself a picnic and head over to the Old Zoo. After you climb around in the bear pen a while, you ought to be ready to soak up some culture. 

Some very nice performances, nontraditional casting, a punk-ish live score, lots of jumpin' around by the characters keeps you on your toes, and best of all - it's free! Please do kick down what you can, though. They rely on donations to keep goin'. 

Here's the website: http://www.iscla.org/

TwentyWonder Benefit for Down Syndrome

Folks, I’ve gotten behind on my posting, and my adventures. Looks like I’ve got some catching up to do. Now you might have noticed that just about every time you go to some fundraiser, no matter what the organization is, they follow the same dang format: hotel, conference center-style chicken marsala, boring speeches about said cause, lots of self-congratulating from the organizers. TwentyWonder ain’t like that.

Now we went last year and it was pretty terrific. And this year’s line-up was just as good. Instead of boring speeches, they have Mexican-style wrestling. Instead of chicken marsala, they have food trucks. Instead of a hotel, they have the Derby Doll Warehouse and an exhibition rollerderby match. Instead of self-congratulatory introductions they put the focus on the beneficiaries – adults with trisomy 21 aka Down syndrome. And then there are the acrobats. Can’t leave them out.

Shout out to Jim Hodgson, whose son Henry motivated him to start TwentyWonder five years ago. Jim’s now the full-time Director of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles (DSALA), and still chief TwentyWonder wrangler. All proceeds for the event go to the DSALA for programs to support people with Down syndrome who are 18 years and older. There are a lot of programs to support school-aged kids with Down Syndrome, but few to support these folks and their families once they become adults. So the need is definitely there.

“TwentyWonder, a Carnival of the Mind” goes down like a 3-ring circus. The evening starts with roller derby, moves on to lounge acts in the Cool Room (which is also the room with air conditioning; it was a mite warm last night) then a stunning show by Cirque Berzerk, followed up by music and wrestling. In the meantime, there’s a midway in the main hall with lots of little booths and exhibits to inspire thinkin’ about science.

There’s a chair that magnifies your pulse 32,000x and features red flashing lights until you’re having a relaxed rave of one,  an entomologist with tarantulas to play with and lots of bug specimens, a couple of UCLA students explaining planetary mass, some presidential reinactors hosting Mad Libs (changed to mad liberties) Willie Wonka hawking benefit chocolates and golden tickets, a couple of bars, Tom Woodruff's batmobile and so much more.

You sure won’t want to miss it in 2015.

Aladdin and his Winter Wish

Tonight I'm headed out to the Pasadena Playhouse to see Aladdin and his Winter Wish. 

Jordan Fisher, Ben Giroux, Bruce Vilanch and Ben Vereen  in "Aladdin's Winter Wish" at The Pasadena Playhouse Photo credit: Clarence Alford

 

An Arabian Nights story performed as a British-style "panto" to celebrate the winter holidays seems pretty unlikely, but the Playhouse has had some rather ingenious  sucesses litle by just this kind of "thinking outside the box." Case in point - my favorite production of last year was "A Night with Janis Joplin," followed by Cirque-a-Palooza, both at the Pasadena Playhouse.  So I'm goin' in with an open mind, and I'll let y'all know how it woks out.

 

Last Weekend for Cirque-a-Palooza

The  historic Pasadena Playhouse has taken a significant departure in its offerings this summer by presenting "Cirque-a-Palooza." Instead of intimate plays and single-performer showcases, this production very loosely based on the material and performances popularized by Cirque du Soleil, features a huge cast, sideshow performances, magic and juggling and acrobatics and much, much more. It has a special appeal to families with young children and affordable ticket prices. Unfortunately, this is the last weekend to enjoy this very special opportunity in the beautiful setting of the Pasadena Playhouse..

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013
ROAD TO PALOOZA: A CIRQUE VARIETY SPECTACULAR
8:00 p.m. - Mainstage
BILLY'S UNSPEAKABLE ACTS
8:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre
WET THE HIPPO
10:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre

SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 2013

TEN WEST
12:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre
STUDIO ZANNI
2:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre
AMY G.
4:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre
GRAND GUIGNOLERS
6:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre
ROAD TO PALOOZA: A CIRQUE VARIETY SPECTACULAR
8:00 p.m. - Mainstage
BUTT KAPINSKI
8:30 p.m. - Makineni Library
GRAND GUIGNOLERS
10:00 p.m. - Carrie Hamilton Theatre

Tickets to all CIRQUE-A-PALOOZA shows are available at The Pasadena Playhouse box office, online or by calling 626-356-7529.