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Pets District – DINE WITH DOGGY! NEW CALIFORNIA BILL PASSED

nohoarts
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Great news for the pet-parent world! On August 21st, California’s governor signed a new bill permitting dogs at outdoor dining locations. Gov. Jerry Brown developed statewide implementations for restaurants to accommodate pets, including having a separate entrance for outdoor seating, and regulating how dogs are to be maintained while dining.

This is especially great news for those of us living in the wonderful NoHo Arts District and who love to have dinner for two. There have always been amazing places to dine in the arts district, and now your doggies can enjoy the same deliciousness you have! Even better news is that the arts district has a TON of restaurants with outdoor seating. Eating out can be a whole new adventure again!

For your dining pleasure, below is a list of some of the restaurants in the NoHo Arts District where you and your pet can dine. Enjoy!

COFFEE
Right in the middle of all the action there are a few coffee hotspot cafes. The first is The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Wi-fi and outdoor seating with shade are just a few bonuses you and your pup will enjoy here. The drinks are dynamic and delicious and there may even be nibbles that are dog-friendly!

Starbucks is another cafe that lands on the corner of two main arts district roads. This location is always packed and popular, and the outdoor seating is more secure with concrete barriers between the seats and the roads. There’s plenty of shade and plenty of artists to mingle with!

Republic of Pie goes down as a favorite on my list. Not only does it have wi-fi and shaded outdoor seating, but the menu. is. delicious. Try the chai tea latte or any of the pastries and meals – they’re to die for! Of the three coffee hot spots, this is the place where most of the doggies frequent. You’ll likely run into someone you know here, and after a few visits, so will your pup!

BREAKFAST, LUNCH and DINNER

There are so many that not all can fit on the list, so here are my favorites!

Bow & Truss is so posh that your pet will leave holding its head a little higher. This restaurant screams “artistic” and “upscale”, and it has the menu to match. The outdoor seating is romantic and relaxed, bring your dog and they’ll most likely provide a bowl of their best water for him or her.

The Eclectic is another trendy restaurant on a popular and main road. The entire menu is made from scratch, so you and your pet will have quality and delicious dishes. This location is prime for its perfect weather control, and the outdoor seating has an open yet secure layout.

Want more than just food? Check out Pyramido! This Greek and Mediterranean restaurant offers one of the largest outdoor seating of this bunch, and is a fun place to enjoy hookah! The combination of the two will likely leave you and your furry loved one relaxing here for longer periods.

For more casual places to dine, Skynny Kitchen is the place to be. The outdoor seating is limited, but worth the visit. The design and layout are very smart and earthy, just the place where your dog wants to be.

Pitfire Artisan Pizza is another restaurant with large outdoor seating. Ordering is more fast paced and breezy here. This restaurant is another place where, when visited often enough, your doggy will likely see friends on a regular basis. Plus, the pizza is delish!

Hopefully this inspires you to take your pet on a dining spree and explore some great food. Eat, relax, and introduce your pup to all the places you’re sure to love!

NOTE: **Just because it’s legal, restaurants can still ban canines by outdoor tables if they choose. It’s up to the individual eatery to decide whether or not to accept the policy. Before taking your dog, check with the eatery if they allow dogs on their patio.**

Movie Review >> Two of Summer’s Best: Love is Strange; The Trip to Italy

Mike Peros
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The premise of the beautifully acted Love is Strange might remind some viewers of Leo McCarey’s 1937 Make Way for Tomorrow. In that classic drama, an aging couple is forced to live separately with different relatives after they lose their home, and despite the hardships that ensue, what abides is their undying love and devotion.

Ben and George are similarly in love; a longtime (39 years) couple, Ben (John Lithgow) is a retired artist while George (Alfred Molina) is a Catholic school music teacher. As the film begins, they are readying themselves for their wedding, and in the little exchanges prior to the ceremony, one not only sees their affection but also the little quirks that are endearing so long as you’re with that person. Soon after their idyllic park wedding and intimate reception in their New York City apartment, reality begins to intrude. Even though the school has known about George (and Ben) for years, their wedding (followed by honeymoon shots posted on facebook) is termed a violation of the Catholic school’s moral clause and George is fired.

The loss of George’s salary forces the couple to sell their apartment and rely on a number of uncertain external factors, namely the possibility of another job, the availability of an affordable rental in NYC, and the kindness of others. One relative has a room for both of them in remote Poughkeepsie (only 90 minutes by car, but neither knows how to drive) but the practicality of that, given the need for George to be able to look for a job and apartment , as well as see his private students, is ultimately discounted. As in the earlier Make Way…, the couple must live apart, in the homes of some well-intentioned, initially patient friends and relatives. George is offered a couch by the two party-loving gay cops downstairs while Ben stays in Brooklyn with his nephew Eliot (Darren Burrows), novelist wife Jane (Marisa Tomei) and their brooding teenage son Joey (Charlie Tahan). All try to make the respective arrangements work: the cops try to get George to share their passion for modern technology and the Game of Thrones, while Eliot and Jane try to make Ben feel at home and perhaps pick up the old paint brush. However, as the movie makes clear, good intentions are sometimes not enough: George is uncomfortable amidst the constant parties and fruitless job searches, while Ben’s attempts to engage Jane (who needs quiet in order to write) in conversation gradually test her patience, while his desire to paint gets him into some unintended rivalry with Joey.

In the nicely observant screenplay by Ira Sachs and Maurice Zacharias, love is indeed strange; the very freedom that Ben and George have sought has resulted in their being kept apart, though George never loses his inherent faith; Eliot and Jane love Ben, but are at a loss to help, given their own difficulties with each other and their son; Joey may be in love, but doesn’t know how to act on it. The script and Ira Sachs’ direction allow the actors room to create multi-layered portraits, from Marisa Tomei’s agonized mother , Charlie Tahan’s rebellious, sensitive son to the two towering performers at the film’s center. John Lithgow and Alfred Molina have rarely been better as the loving couple who refuse to let diminished circumstances affect their love for each other; their tender scene in Joey’s room is exquisitely acted with touches of bittersweet humor. In addition, the screenplay doesn’t milk what might be the obvious dramatic moments; rather it looks for the unexpected, so that a late scene with a boy standing in a stairwell can indeed be rather moving. Love is Strange is the most tender love story of the year.

I loved 2011’s The Trip, directed by Michael Winterbottom and starring Steve Coogan and Ron Brydon as lightly fictionalized versions of themselves, touring the stately homes of England, sampling cuisine, and engaging in hilarious bouts of improvisation, especially the dueling Michael Caine’s. Now with the release of The Trip to Italy, I can say that it’s one of my favorite films of 2014, and another sequel that is even better than its predecessor. Not that it would have been a sure thing—Coogan and Brydon remark early on that a sequel is usually inferior (Brydon brings up the go-to exception: Godfather II), and both admit there is a bit of implausibility with the premise, given the two actors know little about food as they do a culinary tour of Italy for a magazine. Those expecting spot-on impressions and improvisational bouts of brilliance will not be disappointed; Michael Caine comes up again, along with dueling Bonds, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Christian Bale, Hugh Grant, Richard Burton reciting Lord Byron, among a host of others; and there are some bits (still funny) that might be more familiar to British audiences, like a riff on venerable talk show host Michael Parkinson.

Yet even more than the first Trip, The Trip to Italy touches on themes of friendship, mortality, morality, masculinity, aging and insecurity (sometimes in tandem–especially with regard to the opposite sex). This time around, Brydon is going through a career and midlife crisis; he’s been offered a shot at an American crime film, and the attentions of a lovely ship’s mate, while Coogan is dealing with an unwelcome career hiatus and some issues with his son. Their exploration of ancient ruins of Pompeii inspires them to ruminate about death…and for Brydon, in one instance, to do his hilarious “Man in the Box” impression, much to the disgust of Coogan. All this occurs among some of the most beautiful scenery on display this cinematic season. The Trip to Italy is a delight from the opening phone call to the twilight finish; you won’t regret the time spent in Coogan and Brydon’s company.

Without Annette – Meet the Jubers

Lisa Bianconi
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WITHOUT ANNETTE – Interview with Hope Juber and Laurence Juber

Without Annett - Hope and Laurence Juber www.nohoartsdistrict.com

Hope Juber and Laurence Juber discuss their latest stage venture the world premiere comedy “Without Annette” which has been enjoying critical success and continues to sell out week after week. Hope co-wrote the play with Jeff Doucette who also directs. Her husband Laurence (a Grammy-winning guitarist formerly with Wings) serves as producer, along with Gabrieal Griego. We talk about how the play came about, the writing process, and how the two work together on creative ventures.

Hope, you grew up in Los Angeles and started acting in television and then writing for television, which is legendary for very long hours. How did you get involved in theatre and where did you find the time?

I have always loved theatre, and got my degree in theatre before I went into television. In the 80s, I created a comedy rock band called The Housewives that my father, Sherwood Schwartz loved. He was looking to create a musical based on his show Gilligan’s Island and, as I was married to a talented musician, he asked me to write the score with Laurence and the magic of live theatre just pulled me back in. There is nothing like it. I’d answer the second part of the question, but I have run out of time.

Do you find that writing for theatre is different than writing for TV?

Very different in the inherent limitations of stage and blocking, but good writing is still good writing.

Without Annette is comedy improv. What is the role of a writer in improv?

Hope: Without Annette is actually a scripted play set in an improv class. This allows a unique opportunity to blend the two. The exercises within the class can be improvised, and the actors must improvise from their character’s point of view.

As a writer, I find improvisation immensely helpful. It encourages left turns in the brain, and keeps you receptive to ideas. I was taking an improvisation workshop with Jeff Doucette. He is an amazing improvisor and a seriously wonderful character actor. As I was looking around at all the individuals in the class, it occurred to me that it was a very fertile ground for a play, as each of us had our own unique reason for being there.

Laurence: There was a lot of work that went into finding the right cast and then running an improv workshop to develop a ‘group mind’. Without Annette has a dynamic that is comparable to big band jazz, where a tight ensemble performs structured arrangements with room for improvised riffs. It’s one of the things I found so compelling about this piece.

Laurence, what are the duties of a producer in theatre? What artistic input does the producer have?

It’s not particularly glamorous – a lot of spreadsheets, check writing, phone calls, emails and figuring out advertising/marketing angles. We are very lucky to have The Whitefire as our neighborhood theatre, so that was an easy call to make. There are a lot of details and deadlines. My job artistically is to help it come to life – I wanted to see this particular work on its feet.

What are the challenges of producing a show like Without Annette?

It’s double cast (one role is triple cast), so there are 23 available performers in the company and two stage managers. Gabrieal Griego is co-producing which takes some of the load from me. It’s less complicated than doing a musical plus we have a minimal set, so the logistics are manageable. It’s configured to move in and out of the theatre one night a week, so the focus is on the piece and the finely-drawn characters.

As a musician, have you been called on to add music to the production?

Music and comedy are natural bedfellows. I’m playing the musical interludes live and also doing a pre-show mini-concert, so I recommend arriving early. I have concert commitments, but fortunately I’ll only miss one Annette show during the run. Hope and I also wrote a couple of songs for the improv show finale of the play.

Is there life in the theatre for you after Annette?

Hope: I will continue to write, create and produce. I am always working on something. I have recently rewritten my musical It’s The Housewives! for a four-person cast, and I would love to see that up soon.

Laurence: There are ongoing discussions about our other musicals and I expect to continue to work creatively in theatre.

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Without Annette www.nohoartsdistrict.com

Without Annette runs Thursdays at 8:00pm through October 2nd (Dark Sept. 4th and Sept. 25th) at The Whitefire Theatre located at 13500 Ventura Blvd. at Sunnyslope in Sherman Oaks 91423.

For information please visit http://www.withoutannette.info

Tickets are $34 and can be purchased in advance at www.plays411.com or (323) 960-5773.

Performances have Sold Out since opening. Catch it while you can!

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.

Wake Up and Draw, NoHo

Lisa Bianconi
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“Wake Up and Draw” with The Hero Initiative at Blastoff Comics!

Blastoff Comics Wake Up and Draw www.nohoartsdistrict.com

The NoHo Arts District dot Com team is always eager to help support worthy causes and especially ones that involve artists. So when we received word that North Hollywood’s own Blastoff Comics was doing a Wake and Draw event, we had to help spread the word.

The Hero Initiative, the charitable organization dedicated to helping veteran comic creators in medical or financial need, is celebrating the 97th birthday of Jack “King” Kirby on August 28 with a lot of help and love from Jillian Kirby and her parents, Connie and Neal Kirby. Jillian Kirby, Jack’s granddaughter, has spearheaded the “Kirby4Heroes” campaign, which celebrates the King’s birthday all across the globe with a variety of great events that benefit The Hero Initiative!

The Hero Initiative has recruited over 40 artists to get up on the morning of August 28, 2014, to simply “Wake Up and Draw.” Search the hashtag: #WakeUpAndDraw to see all the great drawings as they happen live! All drawings will be featured in a special gallery at ComicArtFans.com, and fans can bid on them in an eBay auction at a later date!

Artist Tone Rodriguez will be creating his piece live in the Blastoff Comics store starting at 11 a.m. on Thursday, August 28!

Fans can visit the official Kirby4Heroes campaign Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/kirby4heroes and donate via the PayPal link at www.HeroInitiative.org. Please type in “Kirby4Heroes” in the special instructions box.

Come down to North Hollywood Thursday and see some great art being created for a great cause!

WHEN: Thursday, August 28 at 11AM

WHERE: Blastoff Comics
5118 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, California 91601
818-980-2665

FACEBOOK  |  TWITTER

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**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.  

NoHo Senior Arts Colony, Road Theatre…an arts partnership

Lisa Bianconi
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Backstage Talk with the Creative Team Behind the Road Theatre’s Summer Playwright Winner, Nobody’s Home

Q & A with Marc Mantell & William Knight

NoHo Senior Arts Colony and The Road Theatre www.nohoartsdistrict.com

In a cafeteria on the verge of destruction, six lonely women come together and their lives are forever changed.

This is the setting of a new dramedy written by North Hollywood local Marc Mantell, and directed by North Hollywood’s William Knight.

The play, called Nobody’s Home, was recently featured by the award-winning Road Theatre Company as the winner of its Summer Playwright Competition.

A touching comedic force set in the late 1970s, Nobody’s Home grabs at the chords of the audience’s heart strings while also making them laugh as its six characters develop life-long bonds.

Mantell and Knight, both residents of the NoHo Senior Arts Colony, recently provided some interesting insights into their amazing accomplishment:

Q: What inspired you to write this?

Mantell: While I’ve written several plays throughout my career, this was in fact the first play I ever wrote. I was in my early twenties at the time and didn’t know very much about the industry yet.

The play was written about six elderly women in a time where a play strictly about women might not have been as widely accepted. Therefore, this play ended up on the back burner for many years and resurfaced when I saw the Road Theatre’s Summer Playwright Competition at the NoHo Senior Arts Colony.

Q: What inspired you to enter this contest?

Mantell: I had always loved this play and was reminded of this when I saw the entry for the contest.

When I had originally written the play in my early twenties, I gave it to a friend of mine who was an actress at the time to review.

She was impressed with the play and gave it to a famous actress that she was working with. Within a short period of time, major Broadway and Film stars were reading, recommending and passing the play around to each other.

Before I knew it, the play had gone through Joan Fontaine and ended up with Katherine Hepburn; all of whom were pushing for this to be produced on stage or as a film.

Although producing the play never came to fruition, this was a very exciting experience for a young guy in his early twenties, especially for the first play I had ever written.

Q: Do you have plans to write any other plays in the future?

Mantell: Absolutely! I thoroughly enjoy writing and creating different stories, plays and even musicals. Throughout my career, I’ve written several plays, eight screen plays and three musicals.

This year I’ve had major productions in Bogota, Columbia and in Houston of my new musicals.

The NoHo Senior Arts Colony also offers a free writing class that I take almost every Friday. Diana Rosen, a wonderful instructor brings a different inanimate object of some sort to each class. We use this as inspiration to write and express our own unique creativity.

Q: Have you ever directed anything like this before?

Knight: Directing was a relatively new experience for me since most of my experience lies within acting. I worked On and Off Broadway for almost 15 years in New York City and have done several TV, film and voiceover projects here in Hollywood.

However, when I was approached by the Road Theatre to direct Nobody’s Home, I thought this would be a fun and exciting new experience.

Q: What was the biggest challenge in directing this play?

Knight: The Road Theatre and I collaborated together to find the cast of Nobody’s Home. One of the cast members was a fellow resident at the NoHo Senior Arts Colony.

Once the cast was determined, the biggest challenge was coordinating rehearsals with everyone’s busy schedules. All of the cast members had their own unique commitments, and getting everyone together in the same room at the same time was our biggest hurdle.

We were able to do it, though, rehearsing in the library and the community room. By the time the show came around we were ready to go!

Q: Has the NoHo Senior Arts Colony played a role in the development/production of this play?

Knight: The NoHo Senior Arts Colony created an intimate, creative environment where individuals like myself can thrive.

The community features art exhibitions from different residents in the lobby each month, the theatre is in our building, and there are a variety of classes available to all of us.

It was a wonderful experience to have a few of my fellow NoHo Senior Arts Colony residents come together to work on this project. This is one of the many reasons I truly enjoy living in this community.

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Apartments at NoHo Senior Arts Colony are now available for lease. The community is for adults age 62+ and features one-and two bedroom apartments. Art and social programs referenced above are available free of charge to our residents. The community also features on-site art openings, theatre previews and play readings by the professional Road Theatre Company. Whether you are an artist or simply take pleasure in the creativity of life, visit www.nohoseniorartscolony.com or call 855-399-5381. NOHO Senior Arts Colony is located at 10747 Magnolia Boulevard in North Hollywood, California.

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.  

NoHo’s Aaron Johnson Releases New EP

Caroline McElroy
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Under the name Godson, Aaron Johnson’s new EP has already been seen in stores online and on radio stations all over the world since its official release on May 13th, 2014. The album ‘Chilled Coffee’ is an all digital, instrumental acid jazz/hip hop EP with 10 original songs. His current work has over 20k plays, 275+ fans in over 40 countries with a strong base primarily in Europe and South America on Soundcloud alone.

Fans got a preview back in May when Johnson debuted the album’s trailer on YouTube: http://youtu.be/2m9H2WLKlus?list=UU6SKNkudhoVsVW3WVSMFadw Following the EP’s success, Johnson has set aside about 20-limited collections of his album on CD for fans or media requests.

Following the release, Johnson is finalizing the production of his EP’s first single, “Higher.” The single has already won the California edition of Coast2Coast’s ‘Hottest in the State 3’ mixtape contest which was announced on August 7th. “Higher” will boast its own music video online featuring Godson himself on his official YouTube page. The single’s pre-order date is set for September 9th and the official release date is September 22nd.

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NoHoartsdistrict.com likes to showcase local artists, so we took a few minutes to interview Aaron.

Tell us about about your training and work
I’m a 21-year-old California-native, illustrator, writer and producer whose passion has been noted as “walking the line between the cutting edge and the nostalgic.” I am not professionally trained but am self-taught. I produce mainly Jazz, Classical, Hip Hop, and R&B. My musical influences range from Quincy Jones to Rob Dougan and Nobuo Uematsu.

(Johnson is regularly collaborating with artists around the world. He has produced remixes of Top 40 tracks, as well as provided compositions for a short film “Friends Anyway” by James Whitley.)

Why do you like living in NoHo?
NoHo has great pads. Whether they’re apartments or townhouses! Seven years later, I can still say honestly, this is the best place we’ve ever lived. It’s smack dab in the middle a hundred incredible restaurants, pharmacies and grocery stores all within walking distance (it seems like we get a flier for a new take-out place every other week.)

Some Advice?
NoHo’s full of pro recording studios tailored for the indie budget, however, I couldn’t find a single one that wasn’t overbooked when I started working on my album over two years ago. (Word to the wise, make sure you reserve your spot in a studio before the summer time and before the holidays! If you’re anything like me, you realize that good music is only half the picture: I’m the kind of guy who works at his best with others, and the Arts District is full of talented artists who like to work outside of the box and experiment with non-mainstream genres. Well, maybe you’re not as reclusive as I am. It was in this city that I started to gain exposure but not necessarily ‘through’ the city itself. My fanbase is made of introspective, passionate and creative (if not alternative!) songwriters and music lovers. But my fan base is almost entirely digital. Up to this point, I never really put myself out there. A lot of it had to do with simply not thinking I was good enough. With opportunities in a city like this, that kind of neglect should be criminal!

For media inquiries regarding ‘Chilled Coffee’ EP, individuals are encouraged to contact Aaron Johnson directly at (818) 519-3822 or via email at aaronjohnsonGS@gmail.com. To learn more about the artist or to buy purchase the album, please visit: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id877652632

Interior Design – Neutral Living Room

Christopher Porikos
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What I Like About This Room

Over the last three years I’ve written about many things. From organizing tips to the next big color to designing with one color. But now I thought I would do something a little different. For the next few articles I want to show you some designs I really like and explain why.

This first room is a favorite. The neutral tones evoke an understated elegance. It allows many things to take center stage without being too loud. It’s comfortable and all things play well together. Now it’s a little ‘too’ staged for my taste, so I would many a few subtle changes without losing the integrity of the design.

1. Let’s add window treatments for some softness. Adding roller shades or drapery panels creates another layer of interest.
2. I would change the table scape on the coffee table. Adding lower items allows you and your guests to converse without obstruction.
3. I might consider using a smaller mirror over the fireplace. It seems a bit large and heavy.

Other than those few changes, this is a room I could live with. What are your thoughts? Let me know.

Enjoy!

What are your NoHo weekend plans?

Lisa Bianconi
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Here’s the NoHo eNews

Here’s your NoHo arts community update!

We look forward to sharing lots of fun and unique news, events, profiles and updates on what’s happening in the NoHo Arts District. Every OTHER Thursday we send out our NoHo e-News. Do you get it? It takes 30 seconds. Make sure you sign up, it’s FREE. Sign up HERE>>

This issue of the NoHo e-News is about what’s going on in North Hollywood and a selection of some theatre shows. But we have a ton of them. Did you know that the NoHo Arts District has the highest concentration of theatres outside of New York City? Just check out the NoHo Arts District Theatre Guide>>

Here’s a glimpse at what’s going on in North Hollywood…ENJOY NOHO!

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.

The Summer NoHo Park Carnival is almost here

Lisa Bianconi
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Get Out And Have Some Fun at North Hollywood Park’s Summer Carnival 2014: August 29 – 31

NoHo Carnvial www.nohoartsdistrict.com

When: Friday, August 29 from 5-11PM
Saturday, August 30 and Sunday, August 31 from 3-11PM

Where: North Hollywood Park – Southside
11455 Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601
Tujunga and Magnolia, across from Amelia Earhart Library

Each year the North Hollywood Recreation Center runs two carnivals, one mother’s day weekend and one at the end of summer/beginning of fall. This year the carnival lands over the Labor Day weekend. The carnivals that are on an arrangement with the carnival operators where The North Hollywood Park gets a good percentage of the ticket and food sales. This is a major fundraiser for our NoHo neighborhood park and they are able to generate funds to help keep the park staffed and programmed for the community throughout the year.

North Hollywood Recreation Center offers many sports and cultural classes and leagues throughout the year and offer great camps when the kids are on vacation from school in summer, winter and in spring. Some of their popular programs currently are our: 1.) basketball geagues, which run in summer and winter for boys and girls ages 5-15, 2.) ongoing cultural classes such as Karate Do-Shotokan (ages 3 and up ) and piano (ages 5 and up) and 3.) the popular summer camp (Camp Odyssey) for ages 5 to 13, which just completed a successful 2014 summer season. They are also in the process of starting many new programs at North Hollywood park, including art classes, drama classes, girls volleyball leagues and sports training camps.

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**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.  

Dance – The Hart Behind the MixMatch Dance Festival

nohoarts
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PHOTO A Headshot

My dear readers, it is my great pleasure to share with you the work of my colleague and treasured friend, Amanda Hart. She is diversified and successful in the dance community, from studio teacher to choreographer to artistic director and beyond, and her passion for dance makes Los Angeles a better place to be an artist for us all. I hope her story inspires your own, as we can always learn from and lean on one another.

PHOTO 1
Amanda as a young dancer

A California native, Amanda’s early training began with the Sierra Performing Arts Center in Visalia, California under the technical instruction of Susan Pallas and Melinda Cordell (ABT). After winning many awards in the competition dance world, she was accepted into The Fresno Ballet Company and continued on to receive her BFA in Dance from the California Institute of the Arts in 2005.

Amanda was accepted in the Strathmore and Cambridge Women’s Who’s Who and was nominated for a 2009 Horton Award for Outstanding Production of a Festival or Series. This year, she was recognized as a Woman of Outstanding Leadership in 2014 by The International Women’s Leadership Association and had the pleasure of accepting the Best Dance Company of 2013 award by the Pasadena Awards Program. She is the Artistic Director of her own, Hart Pulse Dance Company (HPDC), HartBeats Dance Outreach Programs, annual MixMatch Dance Festival and is currently on the Board of Directors for the Dance Resource Center of Los Angeles (DRC).

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MixMatch Dance Festival, photo by victorvicphoto.com

The Annual MixMatch Dance Festival was created 8 years ago by Amanda Hart and Sandra Rasor as a small-scale production bringing together a few local artists in an attempt to provide exposure for local choreographers and establish Hart Pulse Dance Company as a new contemporary dance company in the LA area.

What was initially conceived as a small project by and for recent CalArts graduates quickly turned into a larger-scale production the following year, when Hart Pulse Dance Company invited dance companies and choreographers from across the US to submit their works for consideration. MixMatch’s third year brought so many submissions that three completely different shows were needed to showcase all the accepted talent!

By year five, Hart Pulse Dance Company’s Board of Directors decided they needed a larger facility. MixMatch was moved from Venice’s Electric Lodge to Santa Monica’s Miles Playhouse, where it currently presents 4-5 different productions in one weekend at the end of August annually.

MixMatch presents an array of dance, dancers and choreographers to the LA community and connects artists within the dance world, cultivating beautiful, effective relationships that produce more and more dance in LA, in Southern California, in the United States, and beyond.

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KC: MixMatch is coming up this weekend, and there are over 60 pieces on the bill! How many hats do you wear to manage a festival of this size?
AH: Currently, I wear almost all of the hats. I am in charge of producing, directing and organizing the entire festival. Organizing submissions, organizing all materials needed from artists, communicating with the artists, preparing the music and programs for the performances and preparing the materials that my team will need during the week of production.

The Board reviews applicant submissions. Sandra Rasor is House Manager and is extremely important the week of the shows. She checks all dancers in during tech/dress and gives the low down to all participants to keep everything organized. May Choi runs sound and helps me in the booth while I do lights. We have various Stage Managers – Erin Demos, Angela Todaro, Morgan Ashley – all either HPDC Board Members or dancers, who keep back stage running smoothly and everyone up to speed on where we are in the show. The same people have consistently filled these rolls and this contributes directly to a successful run. We are constantly told how smooth and professional the festival is, and it’s because we all know the ropes, my staff all know me and how I like things, and we’re all one big happy family.

PHOTO 4
MixMatch Festival 2013, photo by victorvicphoto.com

I truly believe that if you want something done right, you do it yourself. MixMatch has grown beyond my individual grasp, even if I do so much with it still. My team is amazing and I’m so lucky that I trust them and they make up for what I can’t do. It really allows me the ability to give 110% to the heavy load I love bearing.

KC: Tell us about the lineage of the HPDC forming and what you’ve learned along the way that would help others who are aspiring to have or already have a company together. What was the vision behind your conviction?
AH: MixMatch started because I wanted to start HPDC. I just didn’t have enough material to host my own show and wanted to share the stage with other amazing artists. The first show was invite only. It was such a success that I was able to create HPDC and complete the 501c3 process, making HPDC a Non-Profit dance company.

I wanted to make an actual company, because I wanted to dive into bringing more stable contemporary dance to LA. I wanted to have a base, an actual product to market, outside of myself. I also wanted to have other choreographers work for HPDC and wanted to bring dancers on and have them say, “I dance for HPDC.” This has expanded to getting asked to do shows hosted by other companies frequently. It’s a wonderful compliment. We’ve traveled to New York, Santa Barbara and do local shows too.

PHOTO 5 
photo by victorvicphoto.com

KC: I’d like to acknowledge the awards and grants you’ve received for the Company. How did you make this happen?
AH: We’ve received our awards out of the blue. Again, another amazing compliment and such a blessing. I will randomly receive notice that we’ve won these awards and am beyond grateful. I never feel like HPDC is big enough to be known. So it’s always a surprise. I don’t expect people to know who I am or what HPDC is. I WANT them to know about HPDC and work really hard for this goal. But I guess it’s good I think we have a far way to go, or maybe I wouldn’t work so hard.

PHOTO 6 
Best Dance Company Award 2013 to HPDC from Pasadena Awards Program

KC: What were your original goals for MixMatch? How have your aspirations progressed?
AH: MixMatch happened because Sandra Rasor and I wanted to do a show one night while we were out at dinner. I had done a mixed-bill show with my fellow graduates Jenae Ferguson Milhalik, Micki Bless and Sarah Lockwood called “Sugar Struggle” a few months prior and wanted to keep the ball rolling. We had all JUST graduated with our BFAs in Dance from CalArt. In our first year into the real world, we were ready to take it by storm. I’m grateful I started young because all the work didn’t seem like anything but fun, almost make-believe. You feel less accountable and more risky. I learned a lot in my early to mid-twenties that I’m glad I have under my belt now.

MixMatch has grown dramatically every year! It’s unreal and I’m just trying to catch up. Our team needs to grow and we need to keep rolling with this thing! It’s amazing! I love seeing the community come together for dance AND I love bringing so many artists together. It’s THE BEST feeling to have so many artists working collectively , feeling united, joyous and loving each other so much. It fuels the fire.

PHOTO 7
MixMatch Festival 2013, photo by victorvicphoto.com

Originally, I wanted to have a fun little show with my friends. Now, I want to expose as many artists as I can and bring all forms of dance to my audiences, BAM, all in one show. “Come to MixMatch, see everything!!” That’s what I want. And I want it all to be affordable. MixMatch tickets are only $17 this year, our first ticket rise from $15 over the last 7 years. It will stay $17 for a very long time. MixMatch also has the lowest submission fee I’ve ever come across for festival consideration. And we offer our artists professional, high-end video and photos, and give participating companies comp tickets. While we do hope to turn a growing profit with each passing year, it’s not THE goal of the festival. THE goal is our audience and our artists’ experience.

KC: How do you see MixMatch contributing to the LA dance scene?
AH: MixMatch brings artists, from all over the US, together to not only perform with one another, but to create and cultivate lasting relationships in life and business. Many of our artists work together after MixMatch for many years. Many friendships are built within the performance weekend. It’s one of my favorite things to see unfold.

PHOTO 8
MixMatch Festival 2013, photo by victorvicphoto.com

Our location in Santa Monica is pretty central to the 3rd Street Promenade, a local and tourist hot spot. This helps us promote and grow our audiences. The big picture with MixMatch is to hit everyone with everything dance! We want every type of person; artists, non-artists, all shapes, shades and ages, all humans period, to be at MixMatch because they know they’ll see something they like since we offer such a mixed performance, every performance. We want our bill to be more and more mixed each year. Hip Hop next to tap next to ballet next to modern, next to tribal and pole. You name it, we want it.

PHOTO 9 
Amanda teaching ballet to her dance students in Montrose, CA

KC: I know your students value your commitment to them and passion for dance. How does teaching continue your mission?

AH: When I teach, I keep the same philosophy: I want everyone to love dance. My favorite thing about teaching is sharing my love of dance, seeing dance make my students happy, and watching them love themselves through hard work and accomplishment with dance. It’s magical.

KC: Advice! What truths do you hold dear that others may benefit from knowing?
AH: Be a good human! Dance is amazing and should never hold any secrets. The dance world in LA is a struggle, but still successful. We make a difference! We are so blessed to share our art. As creators, we need to come together for our common goals to present our work and be successful with our creativity. I’m a firm believer of sharing and caring with dance. And I love talking to fellow dancers about ideas and advise. We all learn so much from each other.

PHOTO 10 
Miss Amanda and her tiny dancers

KC: Future exploits, expansions, deviations? What lies ahead for Lady Hart?
AH: Growth and more hard work. Let’s get at it!

Thank you Amanda for your vision and inspiration!

The Eighth Annual MixMatch Dance Festival is August 28 – August 31st. Click here for more information, and click here for tickets.

A sample of the companies participating (click on name for links):
ArtBark International, AXXIOM Dance Collective, Nancy Evans Dance Theatre, Jacksonville Dance Theatre,  Merge Dance Theatre,  Fuse Dance Company, Watson Dance, Hart Pulse Dance Company, Critical Mass Dance Company, and more!!!!

PHOTO 11

 

Filmmaking – The more you do, the more you do

Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros
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gustavo

The more you do, the more you do
Gustavo The Great, Angeles National Forest, 2011

A great friend of mine, who is also an accountant, reminds me regularly of the importance, as I am essentially a freelancer, of cultivating and maintaining multiple income streams. She is right of course, and while I would like to have a larger multiple of streams of income than I have at present, it also got me thinking about multiple streams of creativity.

More fun, less money!

Right now I am a little run off my feet, with a couple of writing outlets to maintain, a feature screenplay project in full swing with two other writers, a short film to complete shooting, one to begin pre-production on and a recently acquired partnership in film co-op group to submit ideas to, as well as a family and too many animals to look after, oh and I am working on my MA, phew, long sentence!

But the upside of all this mayhem is that it seems as if the more creatively busy I am the more creative I become. The busy seems to stimulate the juices, so to speak.

So the more you do, the more you do, if you know what I mean.

I suppose this may not work for everyone, but creative people usually thrive under pressure and sometimes pressure is exactly what is needed to kick ourselves up the bum, take a chance and really get out there.

Believe me I know well enough how daunting it can seem when everyone else is up to something and you are not, but remember that’s mostly because they just get on with it. As Woody Allen says, “eighty percent of success is showing up.”

As a very, very independent filmmaker getting busy can mean a myriad of things. Writing, location scouting, which I do constantly whilst running around taking part in life in general. You could be watching movies, or “researching” as I remind my kids I am doing when I am parked in front to the TV. You can read about filmmaking, watch interviews with filmmakers, always an invaluable source of inspiration, and there are a million ways to busy oneself online of course.

But the most valuable ways to involve and include yourself in the independent filmmaking world is not only to do it, to make something, but to actually put it out there and tell people about it.

We all like to make something for ourselves, but you will learn a lot form including a “viewer” in the equation. If only to panic less and less when someone sees something you have done. After all a film is not like a painting in the attic, it certainly won’t keep us young a beautiful hiding away from the world!

I had a great meeting today with a very wise and much younger filmmaker who I am collaborating with on a project. we talked about how people talk a lot about what they want to do, but rarely do it, and what a shame that is. But it’s just human nature, there are dreamers and there are doers.

The trick is, I think, to be a dreamer that ‘does.’

Right now there are in production several TV shows specifically designed to inspire independent filmmakers like you and me.

Project Green Light, the reboot whose submission deadline is next week.

The Pursuit of Truth, a documentary filmmaking reality show.

The Chair, pitting two directors against each other with the same script.

I know these shows may seem a farfetched way of working, and you are probably right, but they will at least make interesting viewing and you can always learn from someone else’s mistakes!

It’s also going to be interesting to see how a little money can help or hinder a filmmaker’s vision.

There are also many filmmaking sights/coops encouraging you to submit your ideas etc. My current favorite is Juntoboxfilms, mostly because they keep tweeting my articles…but also because they support, inform, guide and eventually actually produce independent filmmakers, just like us. You should check out their website, it’s really interesting. http://www.juntoboxfilms.com

All this programming, all these short films, long form shorts films, web series, indie features sizzle reels, filmed pitches – whatever you want to call them, they shouldn’t discourage you from your goal of filmmaking.

Right now it feels like 15 years ago in the music business. Everyone has a laptop and a studio in their living room and can make an album/movie.

But we all know that just because you can and have, doesn’t mean everyone should. Many terrible dance tracks have taught us this, if nothing else!

All this ‘noise’ should tell you one thing, that what you have is all the more special, all the more real. And ‘real’ is ‘truth’ and ‘truth’ is ‘authentic’ and ‘authentic is what touches people and that’s what we all want in the end, to touch people, even just a little.

So bring something to the conversation, add something new to something old.

Make your film, and make your mark and take a chance.

For as the very wise and very wonderful Mr. Mike Nichols once said…

“The only safe thing is to take a chance.”

 

NoHo Choreographers Win the EMMY

Lisa Bianconi
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North Hollywood business owners and famed choreographers, Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo, take home the prestigious EMMY® statue

Tabitha and Napoleon choreographers EMMYS www.nohoartsdistrict.com

We must give a HUGE North Hollywood shout out to Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo for winning the prestigious EMMY® for Outstanding Choreography for the FOX “So You Think You Can Dance” routines : Puttin’ on the Ritz / Gold Rush / Run the World. You may know this dynamic dancing, husband and wife duo as NappyTabs, the name of their dance ware store and rehearsal studio right in the heart of the NoHo Arts District. You have definitely seen dancers in the neighborhood sporting their dance ware line, especially those zipper pants.

Tabitha and Napoleon were awarded the Emmy from the Television Academy at the 2014 Creative Arts Emmy® Awards for programs and individual achievements at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.

This first ceremony of the 66th Emmy Awards honored guest performers on television dramas and comedy series, as well as the many talented artists and craftspeople behind the scenes to create television excellence. Produced for the 20th year by Spike Jones, Jr., this year’s Creative Arts Awards featured an array of notable presenters, among them Jane Lynch, Tony Hale, Amy Schumer, Allison Janney, Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum, Comedy Central’s Key & Peele, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, Morgan Freeman, Tony Goldwyn, Aisha Tyler, Joe Manganiello and Carrie Preston. Highlights included Jon Voight’s moving posthumous presentation of the Academy’s prestigious Governors Award to casting icon, Marion Dougherty. Voight was one of Dougherty’s discoveries.

The NoHo Arts District can actually be called the NoHo Dance District with seven dance studios. Here are the multiple winners and you can see the dance shows “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing With The Stars” are on this list. Go Dance!

PROGRAMS WITH MULTIPLE AWARDS

Saturday Night Live 5
COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey 4
Game Of Thrones 4
Sherlock: His Last Vow (Masterpiece) 4
True Detective 4
Deadliest Catch 3
Disney Mickey Mouse 3
Orange Is The New Black 3
The Simpsons 3
The Square 3
67th Annual Tony Awards 2
American Horror Story: Coven 2
American Masters 2
Black Sails 2
Dancing With The Stars 2
So You Think You Can Dance 2

You can watch the Emmys® Backstage LIVE! online show in conjunction with the 66th Emmy Awards telecast, which airs live coast-to-coast on Monday, August 25 at 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT on NBC. Backstage LIVE! is a free, all-access behind-the-scenes pass to the Emmys that will live stream simultaneously with the NBC broadcast on Emmys.com, NBC.com and Yahoo.com.

This year’s Backstage LIVE! second-screen experience includes four components: the live show video stream, real-time social media, synchronized content and – for the first time ever — a Spanish-language translated director’s cut. The live show coverage will include more than fifteen cameras positioned in various areas backstage at the Emmy Awards telecast, giving viewers at home the added bonus of watching exciting moments that aren’t seen on the network show. 

EMMYS www.nohoartsdistrict.com

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.  

Health – The How’s and Why’s of Daily Deep Breathing

Jack Witt
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DeepBreathing

Having a panic attack is no fun. Feeling anxious and nervous certainly isn’t very much fun either. But millions of people suffer these symptoms each and every day and don’t know how to control it naturally (without meds), and/or they don’t take the time to practice what they might know will help: Deep Breathing.

You see, deep breathing techniques help to stimulate our Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS), the nervous system responsible for activities that occur while our bodies are at rest. (The opposite of the PNS is our sympathetic nervous system, which stimulates activities while we’re in our fight or flight mode. It’s sort of our “excited” state of existence.)

By recognizing, nurturing, and controlling our PNS, we can remain “calm, cool, and collected” during what we might perceive are times of stress and anxiety, thus allowing us to think intuitively and orderly and be in the moment and act confidently and responsibly.

So how do we do this PNS managing? Simply by focused breathing with a reason, A.K.A “Deep Breathing”.

I just read an article on Huffington Post “Stress Release Tactics Navy Seals Swear By”. The system they use is called ” 4 x 4 x 4 breathing”. Inhale deeply for four counts, then exhale for four counts and repeat the cycle for four minutes several times a day. You’re guaranteed to feel calmer on the battleground of life.

Pranayama breathing, which is often performed in yoga and meditation, is an ancient practice of breath control. There are six types of Pranayama breathing. YogaOutlet.com does a nice job of instructing us through one of the most popular Pranayama breathing techniques.  Ujjai breath calms the mind and is said to be highly beneficial to those suffering from insomnia and mental tension.

Start by siting in a comfortable cross-legged position.

  1. Inhale deeply through your mouth. Feel the air of your inhalations passing down through your windpipe.
  2. Now slightly contract the back of the throat, as you do when you whisper, and exhale. Imagine your breath is fogging up a window.
  3. Keep this contraction of the throat as you inhale and exhale, then gently close your mouth and continue breathing through your nose.
  4. Concentrate on the sound of the breath, which will soothe your mind. It should be audible to you, but not so loud that someone standing several feet away can hear it.
  5. Let your inhalations fill your belly, ribs, and chest; completely release the air on your exhalations.
  6. Begin to synchronize your breath with your movements, inhaling with upward moves and exhaling with downward moves.

Resistance breathing is another method, described by Therese Borchard’s “Three Deep Breathing Exercises to Reduce Anxiety” article in phychcentral.com.

Resistance breathing is exactly what its name suggests: breathing that creates resistance to the flow of air. Per the authors:

Resistance can be created by pursing the lips, placing the tip of the tongue against the inside of the upper teeth, hissing through the clenched teeth, tightening the throat muscles, partly closing the glottis, narrowing the space between the vocal cords, or using an external object such as breathing through a straw.

Therese thinks it’s interesting when they explain that singing and chanting – all musical sounds created by contracting vocal cords — are forms of resistance breathing, and that is why they provide that relaxed sensation you can get meditating (if you can meditate).

So if your starting out, or haven’t done any controlled breathing exercises in a while, just simply make some time each day to do it. Don’t force or rush it. Let it come and develop naturally. After 5,10, or maybe 20 minutes you’ll start to feel a refreshing feeling from deep inside your gut, and you’ll realize just how short and narrow your breaths were prior to starting the breathing exercise.

Here’s a cool breathing fact: Of all the automatic functions of the body — cardiovascular, digestive, hormonal, glandular, immune — only the breath can be easily controlled voluntarily, explain Richard P. Brown, M.D. and Patricia L. Gerbarg, M.D. in their book, “The Healing Power of the Breath.”

Cheers,

Jack Witt, MS, CPT
Fitness and Health Coach
“Get Fit with Witt”
Individuals / Groups / Corporate
310.562.5629 Cell / 818.760.3891 Main
www.getfitwithWitt.com
https://twitter.com/GetfitwithWitt

* New exercise & diet books “Tight, Tone, and Trim” and “Cut, Cool, and Confident“

* Peru Adventure Trip with Machu Picchu Hike April 16-24, 2015

It’s Just Sex Returns to NoHo

Lisa Bianconi
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“It’s Just Sex” Returns to NoHo – Where It All Started

It's Just Sex at the Secret Rose Theatre www.nohoartsdistrict.com

Did you know that NoHo has the highest concentration of theatres outside of New York City? Yes world, L.A. is definitely a theatre town! The NoHo Arts District dot Com team is always thrilled to share the many successes of our growing North Hollywood neighborhood. We especially like to share the success of our theatres and the shows they produce. So let’s give a huge NoHo “Welcome Back” to L.A.’s longest-running comedy and the Off-Broadway hit – “It’s Just Sex” at The Secret Rose Theatre.

So what’s the show all about?

The play follows the story of three normal married couples – each dealing with the realities and issues of modern marriage – who get together for an innocent cocktail party. But a game of truth or dare leads to a surprising and cleverly-staged partner-swap and the couples are left to deal with the hilarious consequences. “As the liquor flows, games are plays, secrets are spilled, boundaries are broken and reality gets swapped for fantasy.”

How long has the show run?

“It’s Just Sex” ran for almost three years in L.A. and 10 months Off-Broadway in New York at the Actors’ Temple Theater.

What do you think is the secret to the show’s success?

Three reasons – it’s funny, it’s sexy and everyone relates to the characters and the situations. The show is perfect date-night entertainment and provokes great conversation afterwards. It just works. It is fast paced and very funny and gets you thinking about your own life, relationship and how you’d deal with a topic everyone thinks about but never actually experiences.

What’s up next for the show?

We open at the Secret Rose in North Hollywood on August 22 with plans to raise money for a Las Vegas production early next year at a major hotel-casino. It will also be produced in Austin, Texas at the 300-seat Oneworld Theater in September and has been licensed for productions in Brazil and Israel for 2015. There is also the potential of a production in London.

The new cast for It’s Just Sex Los Angeles 2014 includes: John Colella & Reamy Hall (who are a real-life married couple), Andy Hirsch, Stephanie Fredricks, Betsy Russell and Vincent Spano.

It's Just Sex at The Secret Rose www.nohoartsdistrict.com

You can find It’s Just Sex on Facebook – www.facebook.com/ItsJustSexComedy and Twitter @ItsJustSexPlay

See what folks are saying about the show:

“A comic home run. Unapologetically commercial. It’s thoughtful naughtiness rocks the house.” A comic home run” – L.A. Times

“Convulsively funny” – Variety

“Sweet, Passionate, Thought-provoking, convincingly enthusiastic … Rick Shaw adds nice directorial touches.” – N.Y. Times

“GO! Provocative and surprisingly enlightening. Sharp, funny and concise..” – L.A. Weekly

“Hilarious & thought-provoking” – Fox 11 TV

“One of New York’s sexiest events” – TimeOut New York

“A Turn-On! Sexy, Naughty and Surprisingly Emotional. It’s Just Sex is spicing things up Off-Broadway. A Very Funny, Entertaining and Clever new comedy.” – Broadway World L.A.

“GO SEE THIS SHOW! It will make you laugh. It will make you think. Wildly hilarious, creatively staged. A mini-masterpiece of contemporary morals.” – www.nohoartsdistrict.com

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.  

We got an Elixir in NoHo…

Lisa Bianconi
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Elixir, North Hollywood’s new variety show

We create art in NoHo, yes. But the NoHo Arts District really is a neighborhood that entertains, LIVE. And The Federal Bar does just that. Our local gastropub and night club is now home to one of L.A.’s hottest variety show: Elixir – The Show. It happens monthly on a Friday so check their calendar for dates. We asked the folks who put on this monthly extravaganza to give us a bit more info so you too can enjoy the show.

Elixir The Show at The Federal Bar www.nohoartsdistrict.com

What is Elixir?

Elixir is a show that conjures up the spirits of the heyday of live entertainment. We take you back to a time when men didn’t leave the house without a suit-jacket and hat, and women would NEVER leave the house in yoga pants or PJs. The ambiance of the show is best described as the Rat Pack, meeting up with Mad Men at the Playboy club for a martini or three. A true variety show, borrowing from shows like the Ed Sullivan show, hell, even the Gong Show to some extent. We love the variety.

We also believe in audience participation, so our guests can win prize, get personalized dance performances, participate in sketches, you name it!

The show originated from an idea that it was time to let all of these talented artists we have in the NoHo and surrounding communities get together and perform for the love of the art. Too often the artists spend a bulk of their time selling tickets and attracting guests for the club or the promoters to get paid on. Elixir is a free show that leaves the pretentiousness, hollywood attitude and competitive nature of performing in LA at the door.

The end result, you get a show with between 20-35 performers, all working together to make the best evening of entertainment possible for our guests. A lot of talent, a lot of acts, working toward ONE SHOW. It has been truly amazing to watch this Elixir family grow and evolve. The sky’s the limit with the talent in this show!

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How do you choose your performers?

Wow, talking about evolving. Early on we scrambled to find talent. No one knew who we were and we would still be booking talent on show day. Flash forward to today and what was imagined has become reality. We regularly, at least weekly, have artists calling on us asking to collaborate with other acts (a dance troupe wants this singer, a songstress wants to see that guy doing some pole art while she sings), we have guests that come to see a friend perform and then they want to be a part of this. We even have people that have heard of Elixir but never been to a show calling on us to see if they can participate and become part of the family.

We’ve booked talent that has NEVER performed in front of an audience before and we’ve had nationally ranked and world famous acts grace our stages. That adds another level of variety to our show.

What this has allowed us to do is to focus on the types of performers and performances we have. Ultimately the “art” that the artists wants to bring to the show has to fit into the brand, after that we make sure that they will gel with the rest of the family. Very rarely, if ever, does someone just join a show, they join the family.

Elixir the Show at The Federal Bar www.nohoartsdistrict.com

Why did you choose the Federal Bar??

The Federal Bar is a great space for our show and the management and staff of the bar believe in this brand. When we moved to The Federal Bar we were looking for two things, additional space (our crowd had outgrown the previous location) and we needed to have food! The Federal was our first choice, not wanting to leave the NoHo Arts District, and thankfully they approached us with open arms and have shown nothing but love and support. Their food is great, as are their drinks and ambiance. They were sort of a no-brainer for the next evolution of Elixir – The Show.

What’s this month’s theme?

We are really excited to celebrate our 2nd Anniversary show coming up this month (August 22nd)! And with that, we’ve chosen an 80s theme. The music, dance, comedy and outfits will be screaming “I LOVE THE 80s”. It’s a bit of self indulgence as I’m an 80’s kid and for that one night, I can pretend I’m Don Johnson, Richard Grieco or George Michael like I used to (with only limited laughter). We have performances (song and dance) that include all genres from that decade. We expect a lot of very tight parachute pants, every pair of jeans to be acid-washed, torn and pegged, side ponytails, mall bangs and everyone will be wearing hoop earrings.

We don’t usually to an individual theme show as we focus on being a show that people will get dressed to the 9s for. We need more excuses to look our best in this laid back town. But we usually do a halloween show and a holiday show as well.

Elixir 80s Show at The Federal Bar www.nohoartsdistrict.com

Where do you see Elixir heading?

We are always looking for the next bigger, better opportunities so we can continue to evolve this show into the next national phenomenon. Corporate events, conferences and awards shows, we’ll bring the business. Casino venues, you can bet on it!

You can find Elixir The Show here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElixirTheShow
Instagram: @ElixirTheShow
Twitter: @ElixirTheShow
YouTube: Elixir YouTube Channel

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.  

National Thrift Shop Day

Lisa Bianconi
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Whoever coined the phrase One man’s “trash” is another man’s “treasure” must have been a thrift shop aficionado.

Hey North Hollywood! Are you a thrift shopper? Are you a vintage shopper? Do you like to search for those rare finds? If so, we’ve got the perfect national holiday for you: National Thrift Shop Day on August 17. So grab your best pal and head over to one of the many thrift shops in our area. Got a favorite or found something absolute divine at one of our vintage shops? Tweet us a pic at @OfficialNoHo.

Let’s recycle, repurpose and reuse: shop at a thrift shop!

The resale market is booming thanks to cost-conscious consumers and the popular Macklemore song. Here’s a parody of the song!

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According to The Association of Resale Professionals, the industry has experienced a growth approximately 7% a year for the past two years. There are currently more than 25,000 resale, consignment and Not For Profit resale shops in the United States. According to America’s Research Group, a consumer research firm, about 16 – 18% of Americans will shop at a thrift store during a given year.

As The Association of Resale Professionals says: “Resale is the ultimate in recycling!”

Kathy E’s Boutique
11054 Magnolia Blvd. North Hollywood, California 91601

North Hollywood’s flagship vintage clothing shop is Kathy’s E Boutique. Starting out as collectors, the owner of the boutique Kathy and partner Ernestine have been sharing their love for vintage fashion with customers since 1988. The powder blue boutique located on Magnolia Boulevard offers vintage apparel from the 19th century to the present, for women and men.

National Thrift Shop Day www.nohoartsdistrict.com

Suzanne’s Resale Boutique
4355 Tujunga Ave. Studio City, CA 91604

 

Out of The Closet
4227 Lankershim Ave. North Hollywood, CA 91602

 Thrift Shops Day www.nohoartsdistrict.com

It’s A Wrap
3315 W. Magnolia Blvd. Burbank, CA 91505

 

Goodwill Industries Thrift Store
5855 Lankershim Blvd. North Hollywood, CA 91601

 

American Way Thrift Store
3226 W. Magnolia Blvd. Burbank, CA 91505

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.  

SILVER SNAKES Interview with Alex Estrada on Year of the Snake

Caroline McElroy
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SILVER SNAKES Interview with Alex Estrada on Year of the Snake

silversnakes

We’ve been talking about Silver Snakes for a few years now, and if you’re already familiar with what they do you’re ahead of the learning curve. Featuring members of Horse The Band, the SoCal rock group have made quite an impression on the music scene with the 90s-inspired jams captured on their latest album Year of The Snake.

Having shared the stage with acts like Coheed and Cambria, Defeater, and Scale The Summit, Silver Snakes have been infecting crowds with their toxic venom, awing spectators across the nation with a compelling stage performance that affects the nervous system for weeks.

In this interview frontman Alex Estrada talks to us about the band’s latest record, what it was like playing with Coheed, and running his own recording studio. If you don’t already know him by name, you likely know his work — he’s produced some rad records, like the first Touche Amore album.

Oh and how could we forget? If you’re in the LA area, SS will be doing a show with Intronaut on November 4th at the Roxy and on December 18th with United Nations at Los Globos.

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Here’s what’s covered:

00:04 Deadhead (feat. members of Touche Amore)
01:43 his relationship with Touche & recording their first album
03:31 his old band Cathedrals
04:19 the first Silver Snakes show ever
05:08 working with Steve Choi of RX Bandits
06:29 opening for Coheed and Cambria
07:27 being held hostage by strippers in New Orleans
08:46 why he started his own recording studio
09:30 recording Year of the Snake
11:11 advice to young engineers/producers/musicians
Bands mentioned in this interview:

Deadhead
Touche Amore
Cathedrals
Polygraph
The CafFiends
Coalesce
Jesuit
Tragedy
His Hero is Gone
Dear Life
RX Bandits
Shiner
HUM
Failure
Peace’d Out
Coheed and Cambria
Iron Maiden
Aeges
Smashing Pumpkins

A Piazza in NoHo?

Lisa Bianconi
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Piazza, Plaza, Square. Whatever you would like to call it, we are making one right here in North Hollywood!

NoHo Piazza www.nohoartsdistrict.com

Our NoHo Arts District is not only growing in terms of new businesses and residents, it’s also growing its public spaces. NoHo’s getting a new piazza! They officially call it a Plaza but the NoHo Arts District dot Com team thinks we should officially call this new space: The NoHo Piazza. To find out more about the NoHo Piazza, The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), in conjunction with the NoHo Business Improvements District and the office of Councilmember Krekorian, will host a community discussion on the approved People St.

WHEN: Wednesday, August 13 from 6-7PM

WHERE: North Hollywood Library
5211 Tujunga Ave.
North Hollywood, CA 91601

Just off Lankershim Blvd. across from the old Phil’s Diner, People St. will beautify and convert the alleyway into a pedestrian-friendly plaza. It will turn what was an empty space into a safe and comfortable place by providing residents and visitors with an opportunity to enjoy the lovely weather and food from our fantastic area restaurants. The plaza will also give the NoHo community a new venue for meetings, classes and other events.

As part of Mayor Garcetti’s Great Streets Program, the city launched People St., a program administered by the LADOT to help organizations efficiently create new public spaces in their neighborhoods. The three types of projects a neighborhood could implement are: Parklets, Plazas and Bike Corrals.

We will continue to bring you news on the NoHo Piazza as it comes.

NoHo Piazza NoHo Plaza www.nohoartsdistrict.com

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.

Movie Reviews – Guardians of the Galaxy; Magic in the Moonlight; Lucy

Mike Peros
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guardians-of-the-galaxy

There’s plenty of action in Guardians of the Galaxy, the latest Marvel cash cow to enter the multiplexes, but what might really win you over is the lighthearted, often funny nature of the enterprise.

The plot is kind of a variation on the “McGuffin,” only played out on an intergalactic scale in the not-too-distant future. Our intrepid rapscallion space-adventurer/hero Peter Quill (a very engaging Chris Pratt), gets hold of a mysterious orb that everyone in the galaxy wants—the evildoers led by Ronan (Lee Pace) want the orb for, well…nefarious purposes, such as using it to destroy the good peace-loving people of Xandar (led by Glenn Close, assisted by John C.Reilly). At the same time, Quill’s gleefully unscrupulous mentor (Michael Rooker) would love to get the orb for his own mercenary purposes—meanwhile, the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance.

Under the direction of James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy delivers the goods in many ways: the special effects are consistently top-notch; the screenplay (by Gunn and Nicole Perlman) gives room for a nominal degree of exposition, plenty of action and humor—as well as opportunities for the quirky characters to have some breathing room. Amidst an early onslaught of unfamiliar terms and names, you’ll soon get a pretty good idea who the good guys and the bad guys are. And yes, the god guys must go through a cycle of reluctance, distrust, and eventual mutual respect before they can save the world (that’s a given in genre movies–think of this as The Magnificent Five), but what an entertaining bunch they are: Chris Pratt’s Quill, torn between honor and profit, clinging to the memory of his late mother (by way of a cassette Walkman prepared by Mom, playing the Eighties’ greatest hits) which leads to some inspired acts of heroism and frequent funny bits of business; Zoe Saldana’s dazzling Gamora, green-skinned, acrobatic and lethal—both in action and words; Dave Bautista’s Drax, excellent as a grieving brute on a literal, single-minded quest for vengeance. Alongside this very human element, many of the biggest laughs (as well as some surprising emotional heft) play out in the friendship between the two bounty hunters who join them—and who happen to be a raccoon and a tree. Vin Diesel voices Groot, a creature notable for his bravery and compassion, as well as a limited, if eloquently delivered vocabulary, while Bradley Cooper makes a meal out of his role as Rocket, a fast-talking, smart-aleck raccoon fond of huge weapons, coarse humor—and absolutely devoted to his best friend Groot. Theirs is the relationship to root for.

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Woody Allen’s latest Magic in the Moonlight, is a thoroughly entertaining concoction, a beautifully filmed romantic comedy complete with period (1920s European) flavor, an inspired soundtrack, and some clever dialogue skillfully delivered by a terrific, well-cast ensemble of expert players. The premise is simple: worldly, jaded magician Colin Firth is summoned to a chateau on the south of France to expose the so-called machinations of young psychic Emma Stone—who seems to have some positively uncanny powers of clairvoyance-as well as a degree of youthful charm—none of which is lost on Mr. Firth, even if he is a bit slow on the uptake..

Now some critics have taken Woody to task for this movie, looking at each line and situation as being analogous to the Woodman’s personal life, and condemning the movie practically outright as a result (or because of the belief that for every “masterpiece” like Blue Jasmine, there has to be the requisite minor work). However, I contend that Magic in the Moonlight, lightweight bauble it may be, is Allen’s most enjoyable film in many a moon (and I’m including Midnight in Paris). Allen’s screenplay is full of wit, clever payoffs– and thankfully free of the head-scratchers that seem to impinge on Allen’s recent work; the cinematography is gorgeous and the musical choices (both popular and classical) are sublime; and the performances excellent throughout. Hamish Linklater is charming as a wealthy, naïve, perpetually serenading swain; Emma Stone is radiant and winning as the psychic; Colin Firth is nothing short of superb as a magician who knows all the tricks—yet won’t close himself off entirely from life’s infinite possibilities; Firth has a way with dialogue that makes the Allen wit seem even sharper, and manages to make what could have been an unpalatable character very appealing indeed. If you try to see Magic in the Moonlight with an open, slightly romantic mind, you might discover a very enchanting movie that would not have been out of place among the works of Lubitsch, Sturges, and Wilder.

Luc Besson’s Lucy begins as Scarlett Johansson’s wary student in Taiwan is coerced into delivering a suspicious suitcase to some very deadly characters. The result is beatings, torture, and the unintended absorption of a very, very potent experimental drug that, in essence, turns Lucy into something akin to a superhuman-and much, much more. If you’ve seen the trailers, you may expect Scarlett’s Lucy to kick some serious butt—and she does (not nearly enough) in a few brutal, nicely choreographed scenes of mayhem. You may also expect Morgan Freeman to be the audience’s stand-in, both expressing awe at Lucy’s endeavors, as well as explaining certain scientific developments. Lucy also acquires a valuable ally in the form of a French police official (nicely played by Avr Waked) who can’t help but be astounded by her. However, you may also feel slightly let down by the enterprise—it begins well, gains some traction, then branches off into Lucy meets Altered States, generally lacking suspense along the way. The pace slackens when it should accelerate, giving time to meditate on some preposterous plot developments. However, Ms. Johansson is splendid throughout, managing to make us care about a character whose humanity is diminished as she becomes superhuman. The best scene is early on, as an altered Lucy–while undergoing some fateful surgery—takes the time to make a heart-to-heart phone call to her mother. The scene is a reminder that while the action is fine—one might wish there was more of it—but it’s Scarlett Johansson’s skills that make us care for this Lucy.

Scott Haze, The Unapologetic Child of God

NoHo - North Hollywood
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scott-haze
When thinking of Scott Haze, the indefatigable actor, writer and director- an ancillary trinity- the lyrics “no day but today” echo through my mind. Yes, it’s this call to action to live each day as if it were your last- brought to us by the Broadway mega-hit musical Rent- that really encompasses his journey thus far.

You see, just last Friday, August 1st, was the nation-wide release of James Franco’s Child of God, starring Haze in the lead role as the gaunt, cave-dwelling necrophiliac Lester Ballard. Having screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival, where it was an Official Selection, it’s Haze’s first film to open in theaters across the country. And he’s literally in almost every frame of the film- carrying the movie on the shoulders of his brilliantly haunting performance. And even with all of that in mind, he wastes no time getting in action around the next thing he’s out to fulfill on.

“As a kid, I’ve always wanted this dream to happen, and it’s finally happening,” he says during our interview. “Because I’m doing so much right now: directing a movie, performing in a play and having a movie open in theaters all at the same time, I don’t get to stop and reflect for too long. But there are definitely moments throughout the day when it hits me, and it brings tears to my eyes.”

It’s inside these moments of clarity when Haze is probably most present to how far he’s come since his days running around Allen, Texas, with his best friend, reenacting scenes from movies like The Basketball Diaries, and Dog Day Afternoon. Now Haze spends his mornings discussing Child of God with the press, his evenings on stage, performing in the Off-Broadway, Franco-directed The Long Shrift, and his late nights busy editing his documentary on Kenyan entrepreneur and humanitarian Dr. Charles Mulli, which he wrapped shooting a week before rehearsals for The Long Shrift began.

Yes, it would seem that after every completed accomplishment, Haze goes out and gets an even bigger game. But what’s extraordinary about him is not only the fact that he’s able to take on more, but the fact that he consistently raises the level of his performance each time. And all the press around Child of God certainly points to that.

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Based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel, Child of God takes place in Sevier County, Tennessee, after a loathed Ballard attempts to disrupt the auctioning of his family’s farm, eventually finding consolation dwelling in underground caves and becoming intimate with the dead bodies of his slaughtered victims. Haze’s performance is both harrowing and vulnerable at the same time, a consequence of all the research he did, even temporarily moving to Sevier County where he stayed in a secluded cabin in the woods in order to really connect to the isolation needed for this role and to perfect the accent specific only to that part of the country.

And it’s this dedication and single-point focus that Haze brought to the character that produced the performance that has everyone talking. “I have another television interview and a Q&A for Child of God scheduled for today, then a second Q&A after the play tonight,” he says. “And I don’t take any of it for granted because there are so many talented artists out there who don’t ever get to experience this.”

And this is exactly what moved Haze to take on The Long Shrift in spite of challenges that might have caused most people to hesitate. “It’s been a really wild process putting this play together in a matter of a couple of weeks while changing the script all the way up until opening night,” he says. “And because of James’ schedule, we had a very limited amount of time. We only had four previews when, normally, we would have had two weeks of previews.” In The Long Shrift, Haze’s Off-Broadway debut, he plays the leading role of Richard Singer, the unassuming teenage boy turned accused rapist who, after serving nine years in jail, is faced with the re-emergence of his accuser in his life.

“And I’m learning so much in regards to the discipline it takes,” he says. “When I direct my own plays, I have the freedom to do whatever I want. But this experience has shown me a completely new and different structure to follow and how to work within those rules. It’s a whole different ballgame.”

scott3

The Long Shrift runs through the end of August at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York, with Haze taking every opportunity possible to foster a collaboration between the Rattlestick and his own Sherry Theater in North Hollywood. And what that looks like now is him working with the Rattleestick’s artistic director David Van Asselt to create leadership and accountability on both coasts. “The relationship I’m building with the Rattlestick Theater and the merging between the Rattlestick and the Sherry Theater is priceless because now anything I want to do in New York, I can do,” he comments. “So it’s like the gates have opened in terms of what I can do at the Sherry Theater in North Hollywood and then reproduce that in New York. And it’s been great to have the Sherry Theater supported by an established group of well-respected artists out here in New York.”

And in addition to merging the two theater companies, Scott is garnering much anticipation for the release of his new documentary, which follows the life of Dr. Charles Mulli, the rags-to-riches super hero who has devoted his life to liberating over 7000 children in Kenya from the threat of AIDS, prostitution, drugs, gangs, hunger and poverty.

“I’m so proud of this documentary, and I really can’t wait for people to see it,” he says. “I’m working with my editor Alex Mackenzie via the internet since I’m here in New York; he sends me clips and I send him notes back- and it’s been great because we shot it in a way that’s not at all a documentary, but more of an innovate, narrative film.”

Coming up, you can look for Haze in James Franco’s The Sound and the Fury, which will be screened at the upcoming Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. And then there’s Jeff Nichols’ film Midnight Special, where Haze will be co-starring opposite Michael Shannon. “Working with Jeff Nichols was great because he’s someone whom I’ve wanted to work and collaborate with for a long time,” he says. “And he’s someone whom I have the ultimate respect for, and I’m happy to call him my friend now.”

Yes, of all the things to love and envy about Scott Haze, it’s nice to know that as talented and majestic as he is, he’s still humbled and moved by the talents of others, and possibly even a little intimidated.

“So there’s this little rumor going around that Robert De Niro is coming to see The Long Shrift, and I’ve been telling everyone not to tell me when he’s coming. I’m glad he’s coming, but I don’t want to know when he’s in house.” Something tells me that on that evening, the attention won’t be on De Niro.

Two Roads Theater

nohoarts
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Two Roads Theater

58 plush theatre seats – capacity expandable to 65

Address: 4348 Tujunga Ave Studio City, CA 91604
Contact: Email: winningactors@gmail.com 818-415-9568

Two Roads Gallery, located in the store-front lobby, is a hybrid-gallery of contemporary art featuring well-known local artists. Exhibits change regularly and can be modified to fit the theme of a production.

Fully Handicapped Accessible

Central AC/Heat

12-foot Lighted Marquee.

Dressing Room/Storage Trailer with mirrors and lights

Private Bathroom for Cast & Crew

Polished, concrete floors.

Private parking behind the theatre plus plentiful safe neighborhood parking.

STAGE AND TECH SPECS.

Elevated Stage Dimensions: 18′ wide x 18′ deep x 12′ high.

Well-maintained light, sound and video systems

– Over 20 light instruments

12-channel, programmable, LepreCon light board.

6-channel stereo, 5-speaker Klipsch surround sound,

CD/DVD player, Video & Computer hook- ups.

Video Projection System w/ wide 120-inch movie screen.

Upgraded electrical throughout.

4-channel mini-mixing sound board with 4 inputs.

Dedicated light booth.

Music – Lovin’ The Spoonful

nohoarts
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lovinspoonful

When Paul McCartney first noticed John Lennon and Mick Jagger first ran into Keith Richards, these chance encounters changed pop music and popular culture. When Steve Boone first met John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky, it was like the rock and roll version of eharmony.com.

In his charming, and at times chilling, memoir “Hotter than a Match Head: Life on the Run with the Lovin’ Spoonful,” (co-written with Tony Moss) Boone, the group’s bassist, relates that he came to Greenwich Village in December 1964 with no intention other than to share an apartment with his older brother, Skip.

Over the previous two years, Boone, born in 1943, had played bass in an r’n’b/rock and roll band with Skip – the Kingsmen, though not the group that gave the world “Louie, Louie” — and gone on an extended, non-musical tour of Europe with a best friend. He liked to play music, and he liked even more that girls liked guys who played music, but there was no sense with Boone as there was with the leaders of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones that it was rock and roll or nothing.

It was with a kind of bemused acquiescence that Boone agreed to the suggestion of Joe Butler, the Kingsmen’s drummer, to look up these two guys who needed a bassist for the group they were hoping to assemble.

The blind date went extremely well. While there is a Hollywood-like feel to some of the dialogue the authors reconstruct from the initial meeting — Sebastian is quoted as saying “When we saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, we knew this is what’s coming next” — the book effectively conveys the excitement that crackled through the room within hours of Boone’s arrival.

Steve Boone 

Jamming on rock and roll standards, Boone realized “The more we played, the better it seemed to get, and before I knew it we had spent a couple of hours at the Village Music Hall . . . .” Soon, the trio added the very same Joe Butler as drummer, and one of the three top American rock and roll groups between 1965 and 1967 had formed.

During that span, the Lovin’ Spoonful had seven Top 10 hits in America, two of which, “Do You Believe in Magic” and “Summer in the City” are widely considered among the best rock and roll singles of all time. Though Sebastian was the Spoonful’s chief composer, Boone co-wrote “Summer in the City” — “hotter than a match head” is a line from that #1 record — and also the gentle, sympathetic “You Didn’t Have to be so Nice.”

“Magic” came out eight months after the Village jam session. Eight months after the McCartney/Lennon meeting, the Beatles hadn’t even made it to Hamburg. As for the Stones, I’m not altogether sure Keith and Mick had done more than talk incessantly about the blues during the first year of their acquaintance.

Boone’s story by contrast features blood and tears but not so much sweat. The absence of professional struggle, and the hardening of attitudes and loss of innocence that comes with it, may in the end have proved more a curse than a blessing for the author. Much of what makes the book compulsively readable is Boone’s naiveté and frequent feelings of bewilderment, which he is more than willing to share. Among other telling details, we learn that Boone didn’t even lose his virginity until after he turned 21 — and months after the Spoonful came together — which may be a record for any member of a major pop group from the 1960s.
To the very end, where we find a 70-year-old Boone performing occasional gigs with the newest version of the Spoonful and hanging out with his 38-year-old wife, you get the feeling that he’s never completely come to terms with what others — not only musicians — would regard as a rock and roll fantasy come true. In any field, fantastic luck is invariably followed by the wrenching question, “Why me?”

Boone asked that same question although in a different way in May 1966, a year before the Summer of Love, when he and Zal were busted in San Francisco for possession of marijuana. The cops had stopped Boone’s car — for reasons that remain unclear — after a party and in conducting a quick search, pulled out a bag of weed. Instead of remaining cool, an understandably panicked pair of long-haired musicians pleaded with the cops for a break.

After spending the night in jail, Boone and Yanovsky were brought before a high-powered group that included the San Francisco chief of police and district attorney. The DA offered the rock stars a deal: Help an undercover officer gain access to a party or two, and the possession charges will go away.
In the book, Boone is emphatic that agreeing to the deal contradicted his own personal code of ethics and that of his colleague as well. But Yanovsky, a Canadian, feared deportation, and without its bass player and lead guitarist, the Spoonful would have been all but finished. Whether they did it for the band, for themselves, or both, Boone and Yanovsky (who died in 2002) said yes to the deal.

The decision continues to haunt Boone, in part because he believes negative fallout through the years has harmed the Spoonful’s standing with critics and fans of 1960s rock and roll. In his book, Boone states, “Remember that the American rock press — in particular Rolling Stone — grew out of the San Francisco counterculture, and during the period that followed the bust there was definitely an understanding and shorthand among those types that the Spoonful were finks.” Boone maintains that that contemptuous attitude is part of the reason the Beach Boys and Byrds are typically ranked ahead of the Spoonful in lists of the top American bands of the mid-1960s.

The Spoonful played its last gig with John Sebastian in June 1968. Aside from the inevitable personality conflicts, driven by ego, creative differences, and Sebastian’s gooey relationship with a woman none of the others could stand, the Spoonful, like many other talented rock groups from the period, were not well-prepared to make the transition from singles to albums, from AM to FM, and from pop to art.

Ex-rock stars are not so much boring as they are bored, which can lead to exhibitionism, self-destructive behavior, and really dumb choices. Boone started out the 1970s well. He lived on a boat with his wife — readers who enjoy sailing will especially appreciate this section of the book — continued his recreational use of drugs, and was on the lookout for new artists to work with. There was every reason to think that he would ease into his 30s and 40s.

But then Boone’s wife had an affair, his best friend died of an overdose, and he encountered difficulties landing work in the music business, though he spent several productive months in the studio with Little Feat.

Heavily in debt and lacking steady employment, Boone agreed in 1975 to sail from the Eastern Seaboard to Colombia, pick up drugs, and deliver them to a house back in the states. For a time, the drug-running life was as much of a rush as was being a member of the Lovin’ Spoonful.

“Being a pirate gave me everything I wanted. An opportunity to sail, all the free weed I could smoke and more money than I’d ever seen in my life.” Boone kept at it for another four years, avoiding several close calls with the authorities until he was finally arrested, though the charges were dropped.

A year after Boone retired from drug running, in October 1981, he was arrested again, this time due to information provided by his cheating ex-wife: She too had gotten into the drug-loading business. In 1983, Boone pleaded guilty to a single charge of felony conspiracy for which he received a sentence of 30 days in confinement and another four years and 11 months on probation.

The 1980s, which began with the John Bonham’s death after a drinking binge and the murder of John Lennon, were not often kind to rock stars from 10 and 20 years earlier. In Boone’s case, he became addicted to the drug Dilaudid, which he describes as “a medical-grade form of morphine,” and a few years later, after a traffic accident, he became hooked on the painkiller Percocet. Add copious amounts of cocaine, and toward the end of that dismal decade, Boone weighed 145 pounds. “It was right there that I had a talk with myself,” writes Boone, “Boy, you’d better get a grip.”

With the exception of an ill-advised marriage — wife # 3 — to a kooky woman who fancied herself a mermaid, Boone has mostly stayed true to that advice. He got sufficiently sober to successfully pursue royalties owed the Spoonful from way back and has split much of his time the last 15 years playing concerts with the current version of the group — sans Sebastian — and working as a freelance carpenter/handyman in Florida, where he lives with his current wife, Lena.

In 2000, the Spoonful was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Whether Boone’s band was as good as were the Beach Boys and the Byrds or, as the author would argue, far better than the Doors, the Lovin’ Spoonful released a series of exceptional singles during what many rightly regard as the greatest five-year period in rock history. Like the sound of Roger McGuinn’s 12-string and the harmonies of the Wilson brothers, the Spoonful’s blend of Yanovsky’s brief, brilliant guitar lines, Sebastian’s songwriting talents and beguiling vocals, and the good-time groove of the Boone/Butler rhythm section defined American rock and roll in the mid-1960s.

It’s a great story, and Boone tells it well.

Planning Your NoHo Weekend? Here’s some help.

Lisa Bianconi
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Here’s your NoHo arts community update!

We look forward to sharing lots of fun and unique news, events, profiles and updates on what’s happening in the NoHo Arts District. Every OTHER Thursday we send out our NoHo e-News. Do you get it? It takes 30 seconds. Make sure you sign up, it’s FREE. Sign up HERE>>

This issue of the NoHo e-News is about what’s going on in North Hollywood and a selection of some theatre shows. But we have a ton of them. Did you know that the NoHo Arts District has the highest concentration of theatres outside of New York City? Just check out the NoHo Arts District Theatre Guide>>

Here’s a glimpse at what’s going on in North Hollywood…ENJOY NOHO!

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.

North Hollywood Poet Publishes 25th book

Lisa Bianconi
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Radomir Vojtech Luza – Poet Laureate of North Hollywood Pens New York Nadir: A Collection of Poetry

Radomir Vojtech Luza

The poem, “America,” from Radomir Vojtech Luza’s latest collection of poetry, “New York Nadir,”  may not have been written in Alan Ginsberg’s living room, but it was probably scribbled in the den in something of a time warp.

The poem combines heartfelt opinions with historical facts and keen observations that make it an odd ode to this country, something on the scale of Ginsberg’s world-famous “Howl.”

“America,” the first poem in “New York Nadir,” is also a moving testimonial to the African American community and the trails it has blazed.

And if “Howl” put Ginsberg on the map, “America” should do the same for the 50-year-old Luza, who has been writing poetry for 30 years, and has 25 books, including 16 collections of poetry to show for it.

“Nadir” is a creative tour de force for Luza, the Poet Laureate of North Hollywood, CA and a Pushcart Prize nominee, who combines psychology, philosophy and social consciousness in this 39-poem masterpiece.

In the book synopsis, Luza writes of leaving New York City and his ex-wife and moving to Los Angeles, where he encountered homelessness, sleeping on bus benches and in shelters and a stay in a mental hospital. This, he says, inspired him to write “Nadir,” which the dictionary defines as meaning rock bottom or hopelessness. Poems that stand-out include “Cleveland,” the collection’s third poem. The intricacy, delicacy and loneliness in and in-between the lines make for a stirring and expertly-woven poem inspired by a city crying for help and understanding from anyone who will listen. The tapestry glows like a rainbow. This is nothing short of a brilliant effort. One requiring a keen eye and a true belief in one’s instincts.

“The easy way is getting harder
The numbness of instinct
The intrusion of genius
The arrogance of confidence

Your warehouses and flats
Buy words my sweaters take
My angels fake
My sister makes
Your rivers snake and shake through castrated
Causeways and bulletproof heartaches”

“Just A Writer” is an early poem in the book that hits home for the genuine and honest, yet somewhat awkward and shy Luza. As is the case with many poems here, it has a highly personal substance and style, touched by thoughts of what might have been and should have been, but, most importantly, of what is. In other words, this poem is as human, gentle and tender as the entire collection.

“I want to be Elvis
But I’m just a writer
A tired, weary wordsmith
The apple of my mother’s eye The end of my father’s boot
The tender planet of my existence
The death of my innocence
The birth of my ignorance”

“Her Eyes” is another poem that exemplifies Luza’s uncanny ability to play with and twist words and meanings around. It is his choice of nouns, adjectives and adverbs that sets Luza apart from other poets and writers. He sees the entire picture at a fleeting glance, not merely the tip of his nose. And in doing so, he underscores the feelings and facts that others sometimes miss on purpose.

“Thursday’s supper in
The blue of her corners
Dripping like absentee
Fathers on holiday from
Their holidays
Her eyes orbs of another destination
Orbs of sweet decadence”

The second to last poem, “Divorce” is the antithesis of the collection.

It is deeply confessional and charged with imagery and feeling. The poem also shows the influence of Luza’s favorite poet, Sylvia Plath, in its dark despair, passion, fluid word flow and intimate bluntness. “Nadir,” as a whole, is modeled on Plath’s last collection before her suicide, the ground-breaking “Ariel.” The poem is an ode to Luza’s ex-wife and to what could have been had his ego, and possibly his bipolar illness, not sabotaged the relationship. It is a sad and tragic state of affairs that Luza somehow finds a way to make less hopeless with a combination of vivid and vibrant description and brutal honesty. This is a beautiful and uproarious poem, indeed, despite the bleak subject matter.

“I want love
Fucking love
The kind of love that saves adulterers and child molesters
That disowns the cranium and gives an enema to peace
That earns the balance, that holy altar, between books and bunji
The kind of love that only you can give
That untwists tangerines”

On the back cover, Luza quotes other writers, including three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee, as to the quality of his writing and poetry.

“I have read Radomir Luza’s poetry and journals,” Albee writes, “and find the work absorbing. There is great honesty, pathos and dark humor in the writing. His is a fascinating talent.”

New York City poet Jay Chollick seems to understand Luza equally well.

“It is in his poetry,” Chollick points out, “that Radomir comes through most forcefully. Drawing on the dramatic traumatic experiences of a lifetime, he sifts through their rough disorder, to find in mingled pain, shock and random happiness, the hard-won understanding and closure that only art can bring.”

All in all, you really can’t go wrong with “New York Nadir.” If vulnerable, confessional and truly authentic poems are your cup of tea, this “Nadir” proves that there is a unique, sensitive, powerful and relatively new voice on the Los Angeles literary scene. That voice belongs to Radomir Vojtech Luza

We, the readers and lovers of poetry, should devour not only Luza’s latest effort, but any piece of literature by him that came before or will come after.

This collection was written in a profoundly transcendental and transitional period in his life. It, therefore, bears careful reading.

Published by Author House Copyright c 2014.
Price : $13.95

Email Luza at radluza@sbcglobal.net
New York Nadir>>
Here’s his collection of works>>

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.

Actors’ Equity Association Opens In North Hollywood

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Actors’ Equity Now Calls NoHo Home!

Actors Equity North Hollywood home

Actors’ Equity Association (“AEA” or Equity) opened its new Western Regional headquarters at 5636 Tujunga Avenue in the NoHo Arts District on Tuesday, July 29. Built in 1948, the newly renovated 18,700-square-foot facility is a free-standing, one-story structure that features a state-of-the art audition center (opening fall 2014), on-site parking for up to 50 vehicles and a branch office of the Actors Federal Credit Union.

Designed to deliver an optimal audition experience for its members in a quality-controlled environment, the hallmark of Equity’s NoHo building is the union’s first-ever western region audition center. With brick industrial walls and 30-foot bow-and-truss ceiling, the new center is an unobstructed space featuring sound-attenuated audition rooms, sprung-wood dance floors, mirrored walls with ballet barres, a designated dancer warm-up space and private changing rooms. The building is conveniently located near bus and metro transit lines and easily accessible to the 101, 134 and 170 freeways.

Having previously leased space at 6755 Hollywood Blvd., AEA purchased the Tujunga Ave. property in November 2012 for $5.2 million, with an additional $1.5 million allocated from Equity’s reserves to cover build out and renovations. The building marks AEA’s sixth location in the Los Angeles area since opening its first Western Region office in 1921.

Actors Equity NoHo Arts District

“The building allows Equity opportunity for growth and income and provides long-term cost savings for the Association,” said Steven DiPaola, Equity’s Assistant Executive Director for Finance and Administration who represented Equity in the purchase and oversaw the project in its entirety. He continued: “In addition to our New York and Chicago buildings, we now have a third, tangible real estate investment that strengthens our portfolio and expands our abilities in Los Angeles.”

Denham Wolf Real Estate Services, under the guidance of Dee Jay Bankhead, led the project management from August 2013 and will remain engaged with the project until its completion. Denham Wolf has provided complete oversight of the facility’s design and construction, and the project marks the firm’s first renovation project in California. Denham Wolf previously oversaw the renovation and expansion of AEA’s national headquarters and new audition center in Times Square at 165 West 46th Street, completed in May 2013.

ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION
Founded on May 26, 1913 by 112 actors, Actors’ Equity Association (“AEA” or “Equity”) is the performing arts union representing more than 49,000 professional stage actors and stage managers in the United States. AEA seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions for its members, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. Visit, www.ActorsEquity.org. Twitter, @ActorsEquity.

Facility construction partners and local unions include: OKB Architecture; Mata Construction (general contractor); United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers & Allied Workers (Local 220; Local 36); IBEW Electricians (Local 11); Carpenters (Local 1506); Sheet Metal/HVAC (Local 105); Steam, Refrigeration, Air Conditioning & Pipefitters (Local 250); Plumbers & Steamfitters (Local 582); Glaziers, Architecture Metal and Glass Workers (IUPAT Local 636); Drywall Finishers (IUPAT Local 1136); Floorcovering (Local 1247);

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.  

Actor quick tip #79 – When to get headshots

Fran Montano
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Actor quick tip #79 – When to get headshots

Actors will often ask their acting teachers if they are “ready to audition.”

Do actors also ask their coaches if they are “ready for headshots?” Is that a crazy idea? Personally, I don’t believe you should give too much power to your acting teacher. (Unless, of course, it’s me!) I do see a pattern here that’s worth a conversation. As with career advice from anyone in the industry, take it and muse on it; it may or may not apply to you. This conversation is based on years of observation, working with actors just moving to LA.

My simple advice to actors is this: If you’ve just moved to LA to pursue an acting career, wait 3 months after studying in a good, challenging class before getting new headshots. If you are a beginning actor, wait at least 6-9 months after studying. I base this not as being an expert in the headshot business, but after observing patterns, working with both new and experienced actors over the past 30 years.

Most of the time I’ll see a new actor arrive on the scene, and the first thing they do is go out and get expensive pictures. Great, now they are ready to go to work. If they begin training, and acclimate themselves to LA, in 6-9 months those shots are no longer that good. And even if they are good, after training the actor is now in a much more vulnerable, revealing place. “This picture doesn’t show you off as well as it could,” is a comment they often get. Most actors I’ve observed need new pictures taken, based on opinions of their peers, casting professionals, and agents that they’ve met.

Why? Let’s look at this. Moving to LA is challenging, as is studying to be an actor. We put up our guard, our armor, our “image” to protect ourselves. Then, after settling in, we take a class and the unraveling begins. The purpose of taking a good acting class is to strip you of your tricks, your armor, your “game,” so you are raw, present, and able to tell the truth in imaginative circumstances without ego. Your instrument becomes more vulnerable, and you are more in touch with yourself – your emotions, your openness, your feelings, who you are. You discover yourself. It begins to show in you – in your eyes, your smile, your aura, your vulnerability, and your honesty. You become more open, more present on stage and in front of the camera. You become more sincere, and genuine.

All these qualities must be revealed in your headshot. Adjusting to LA life takes time, as does learning to reveal yourself and to expose your deep emotions. You must be fully present to take a good headshot, one that shows “who you are.” It often takes some time (and tough work on yourself) to figure that out. Allow yourself the time and work that you need, so that your talent and light show up in your headshot. It’s well worth the investment, and will surely pay off.

Hit and Runs Need to Stop

Lisa Bianconi
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Assemblyman Mike Gatto Trying to Put an End to Hit and Run Crimes

Mike Gatto Yellow Alert hit and run

Did you know there are 20,000 hit and run cases in Los Angeles each year?  This issue hits home with us in North Hollywood. Our neighborhood experienced a hit and run that proved fatal right in the heart of the NoHo Arts District. Recently, a 17-year-old pedestrian was killed and his brother was injured in a hit-and-run accident in North Hollywood that appears to have happened during a street race. If you feel this is unacceptable, get involved and read more about the proposed legislation to help deter hit and runs.

State Assemblyman Mike Gatto authored A.B. 1532 that will suspend the drivers licenses of those who participate in a hit-and-run. He also proposed AB 47 which is an Amber Alert-like system that’s aim is to catch these hit and run criminals. The bills must be passed in the State Senate and approved by the Governor. Then the hit-and-run alerts could begin in January 2015. Check out the L.A. Times article and video for more information.

For more information on the bills, visit Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s official site.

Here’s more on the Hit and Run Alerts

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**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.  

The Great Wall Mural Gets A Bubble Bath

Lisa Bianconi
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Artist Judith Baca, Volunteers to Give the Great Wall of Los Angeles Mural a ‘Bubble Bath’

The Great Wall Mural of Los Angeles www.nohoartsdistrict.com

WHAT: Great Wall of Los Angeles Mural ‘Bubble Bath’ cleaning

WHEN: THIS FRIDAY, AUGUST 1

• LA City Councilmember Paul Krekorian will be there from 4 to 4:30 p.m.
• The cleaning will last from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: Coldwater Canyon between Burbank Blvd and Oxnard St, Valley Glen (5798 Coldwater Canyon Ave 91607)

WHO: Councilmember Paul Krekorian; Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) Co-Founder, UCLA Professor and mural artist Judith F. Baca; Filmmaker Donna Deitch; and mural conservators and community volunteers. The event is organized by SPARC.

“The Great Wall of Los Angeles is a cultural treasure for the San Fernando Valley and all of Los Angeles,” said City Councilmember Paul Krekorian. “As the longest mural in the world, it is also one of the most important, showcasing the incredible diversity that shaped our city and continues to make it great. I’m happy to partner with SPARC to clean and maintain the mural so that everyone can enjoy the rich, rewarding visual experience it provides.”

WHY: The Great Wall of Los Angeles is America’s largest monument to interracial harmony and the signature work of the SPARC. Mural conservators and volunteers will be on-site to support the effort to wash over 2,500 feet of mural in one day. Layers of dirt, spider webs and fertilizer contaminates will be removed.

The mural is the vision and completed under the direction of SPARC Co-Founder and Distinguished UCLA Professor, Judith F. Baca. Initiated in 1976, the mural was created over five summers and employed over 400 youth and their families from diverse, social and economic backgrounds working with artists, oral historians, ethnologists, scholars, and hundreds of community members. The Great Wall of LA chronicles the contributions made by ethnic and diverse people to the history of America from pre-historic time to the 1950s. Read the full history of the Great Wall of Los Angeles>>

The Great Wall of Los Angeles site has been a cultural destination site for over 35 years. The San Fernando Valley is proud to have this iconic cultural landmark in its backyard and local government officials, agencies and the community continue to support SPARC’s efforts to promote it, maintain it, and expand it. By next year an Interpretive “Green” Bridge will be built, made out of rammed earth and recycled debris of the LA River, ultimately “cementing” a relationship between the conservation and ethnic history of LA. Future plans to include additional decades are in the works, as well as providing basic amenities at the site, benches, picnic tables, restrooms and educational kiosks. As the mother of all murals in Los Angeles, the Great Wall of Los Angeles is a testament to the power of murals, both in scale and in message.

About SPARC: SPARC is a LA-based non-profit arts organization committed to Art, Community, Education and Social Justice. Founded in 1976 by UCLA Professor and muralist Judith F. Baca, filmmaker Donna Deitch, and artist Christina Schlesinger, SPARC is a cultural center that creates public art as a vehicle to promote civic dialogue, foster cross-cultural understanding and address critical social issues. We accomplish our mission by producing, preserving and teaching methods to create community-based, public art.

For more information about the Great Wall of Los Angeles: http://www.SPARCinLA.org or call 310.822-9560 x10.

The Great Wall of Los Angeles Mural www.nohoartsdistrict.com

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.  

Dancer Wellness: Warm-up Inspiration

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PHOTO 1

How does your warm-up support your goals as an artist? Do you have a different warm-up to meet the variety of physical demands you encounter or just one that does the trick? Have you spent much time creating different warm-ups for classes versus rehearsals, auditions versus performances? The reality is, your own warm-up could benefit you far more if you customize it to match your various activities and projects.

Do you…Have a teacher that only does everything on the right side and never the left? Are you rehearsing a piece that requires a lot of upper body lifting and inversions, or maybe lower body work with leaps and floor work? Are you teaching classes where you are demonstrating and correcting your students’ alignment? Have a performance coming up that challenges your abilities and pushes your edge?

Whether your body is accustomed to your weekly flow or is having to meet erratic and far-ranging demands, preparing yourself to walk into the studio or onto the stage is, in my opinion, a critical factor for success and satisfaction.

PHOTO 2

We can borrow from anywhere to create warm-ups, but really we are our own best resource when it comes to what to do, for how long, and why. I encourage you to take the time to go through a planning process, for it will not only have physical benefits, but any time we invest in a creative dialogue with our bodies builds awareness, connectivity, self-identification, artistry, and more. Below, I have provided some key information to consider, and a pool of ideas to draw from to add variety and thoroughness.

PHOTO 3

To Stretch or Not to Stretch?
The benefits of stretching are found when warm tissues (muscles and fascia) can lengthen. Because of this, I recommend saving most of your stretching to recuperate as a cool down. Starting off with stretching is the opposite of this and too much stretching may de-activate muscles that will later need to work rigorously (hamstrings and gluteals in particular). Also, stretching typically requires a larger range of motion than the muscles and/or joints may be prepared for so early on. Rather, “loosen up” by getting the blood flowing first.

Dance classes often provide an aspect of “warming up” the body as well as a series of stretches that lead us through larger ranges of motion and require a moderate level of coordination and connectivity to perform efficiently. So prime your body for this with your own routine first.

TO START
Do an activity that increases your heart rate and respiration (small jumps, climbing stairs, a slow-paced jog, jumping jacks, etc). This will supply your muscles with blood and oxygen, and activates your joints, soft tissues, and nervous system.

PHOTO 4

ELEMENTS TO INCLUDE
Conscious Breathing
• Every cell in our body respires, so every breath we concentrate on taking can connect us to any cell in our bodies! Focusing on the breath can be grounding and centering and improve mental acuity and information retention (We need this!). The diaphragm and respiratory muscles comprise much of the “core” of the body, and syncopating your breath with your movement fosters connectivity, movement phrasing, and even musicality. (To read more about this, check out my blog on the diaphragm here).

What we call ’I’ is just a swinging door, which moves when we inhale and when we exhale. ~Shunryu Suzuki

PHOTO 5

Range of Motion
• Start with smaller movements of the whole body and individual joints, and increase gradually
• Full range of motion in all planes – forward-back, side-side, up-down, rotation

Practicing Change
Activate your nervous system
• Changing levels – floor work, plie, releve, off the floor
• Changing facing – shift directions
• Changing weight – shift from bearing weight on different body parts
• Changing orientation – take your head off center, spiral and twist for dimensionality

Balance
• Restore what has been used a lot by stretching
• Recuperate with counter-movement and strengthening

PHOTO 6

ELEMENTS TO EXPLORE
Use some of these concepts to bring variety to your usual warm up with a new layer of focus, or to create a dynamic warm-up/movement exploration to underpin the movement in your current dance project or performance preparation.

Polarities
• Upper/Lower, Inner/Outer, Function/Expression, Stability/Mobility, Lead/Follow

Body Shaping (whole body or body part)
• Wall, Ball, Pin, Screw, Pyramid…
• narrow, wide, rise, fall, advance, retreat, open, close…

Quality and Dynamism
• soft, sharp, light, heavy, direct, indirect, fast, slow, float, bind…

PHOTO 7

So get to know yourself and your true movement potential! Ask questions of your experience and find answers you never knew were there. You can use a short or long warm-up to inspire your own creativity and expression as an individual, and understand how your body can align with not just the steps in a piece of choreography but so much more!

Want some help? Always feel free to send me a line: newpathwellnees@gmail.com

Happy dancing!!

(c) Kate Fox Colie, 2014

Do we have any songwriters in North Hollywood?

Lisa Bianconi
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Are You Ready to Submit YOUR Music to The International Songwriting Competition?

International Songwriting Competition

Well how many recording studios do we have in the NoHo Arts District? LOTS. How many recording artists call North Hollywood their home? LOTS. How many times have you heard someone on the streets singing, people making music on their laptops or writing lyrics in a notebook? LOTS. We make music too in NoHo. So it’s only right to pass along the International Songwriting Competition (ISC) information to our creative NoHo Arts community. The ISC is not only an opportunity for songwriters, musicians and performers to win cash and prizes, but it’s also to help further their music careers, and gain recognition and exposure in the music industry.

What is the ISC?
The ISC – International Songwriting Competition is an annual song contest for both aspiring and established songwriters to have their songs heard in a professional, international arena. ISC is designed to nurture the musical talent of songwriters on all levels and promote excellence in the art of songwriting. Both amateur and professional songwriters and musicians are invited to participate. ISC has the most prestigious panel of judges of all the songwriting and music contests in the world, offering exposure and the opportunity to have your songs heard by the most influential decision-makers in the music industry.

What are the ISC Categories?
The categories include: AAA (Adult Album Alternative), Adult Contemporary (AC), Americana, Blues, Children’s Music, Comedy/Novelty, Country, Dance/Electronica, Folk/Singer-Songwriter, Gospel/Christian, Instrumental, Jazz, Latin Music, Lyrics Only, Music Video, Performance, Pop/Top 40, R&B/Hip-Hop, Rock, Teen, World Music, and Unsigned Only. Entrants may submit as many songs as they wish – in the same category or in multiple categories. In addition to cash and merchandise prizes, winners benefit from a multilateral promotional campaign designed to give international exposure and attention to their songwriting achievements.

Depending on the category, submissions are judged on the following criteria:
• Creativity
• Originality
• Lyrics (excludes songs that do not have lyrics)
• Melody
• Arrangement
• Overall likeability
Some categories may have additional criteria

Submit YOUR Music>>

So who are the judges of this competition?
This year, ISC has expanded on the participation of music industry executives, offering the opportunity for artists to have their music heard by the highest level of decision-makers in the music business. Judges include Presidents and CEOs from Republic, Atlantic, Warner Bros., Elektra, Columbia, Virgin, Sony Music Latin, Mercury, Wind-Up, Tommy Boy, Alligator, S-Curve, and Concord Music Group. Coupled with additional high-profile industry executives and an notable group of recording artists – many of whom are currently dominating the charts – ISC offers the opportunity for artists to have their music heard by the most impressive and elite panel of judges yet.

“This year we decided to invite more record company executives in order to open up more opportunities to songwriters and artists,” states Candace Avery, Founder and Director. “It is so difficult for up-and-coming artists to reach these elusive music executives, so this is an incredible chance for artists to have their music heard by the people who actually make career-changing decisions. We are very excited and honored that so many high-level industry professionals want to participate – this is truly unprecedented in any competition.”

2014 ISC judges include:

Recording Artists

Tom Waits; American Authors; Pat Metheny; Sara Evans; Bastille; Casting Crowns; Avicii; Wayne Shorter; John Hiatt; Keane; DJ Snake; Robben Ford; Danilo Perez; Kenny Wayne Shepherd; Martina McBride; Newsboys; Jon Secada; The Chainsmokers; Jason Isbell; Afro Celt Sound System; London Grammar; Michael W. Smith; Craig Morgan; Gerald Casale (Devo); Jean-Luc Ponty; James Cotton; Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes); Darryl McDaniels (Run D.M.C.); Matt Thiessen (Relient K); Chayanne; J. Holiday; and more to be announced.

Industry Executives

Monte Lipman (Founder and Chairman/CEO, Republic Records); Craig Kallman (Chairman/CEO, Atlantic Records); Dan McCarroll (President, Warner Bros. Records); Jeff Castelaz (President, Elektra Records); Alison Donald (Co-President, Columbia Records UK); Ted Cockle (President, Virgin Records UK); Mike Smith (President, Mercury Records UK); Nir Seroussi (President, Sony Music Latin); Ed Vetri (President, Wind-Up Records); Rosie Lopez (President, Tommy Boy Entertainment); Glen Barros (President, Concord Music Group); Rex Rideout (VP of A&R, Motown Records); Jay Landers (Executive VP of A&R, Verve Music Group); Bryan Stewart (VP of A&R, Curb Records); Jason McArthur (VP of A&R, Provident Label Group / Sony Music Entertainment); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Angel Carrasco (Sr. VP A&R, Latin America, Sony); Keith Naftaly (Executive VP of A&R, RCA Records); Steve Lillywhite (Producer); Joseph Burney (VP of A&R, RCA Inspiration/Sony Music Entertainment); Richard Stumpf (CEO, Atlas Publishing); Steve Greenberg (CEO, S-Curve Records); Kim Buie (A&R, Thirty Tigers); Albert Schilcher (VP of Music and Music Marketing, MTV International); Gary Briggs (Senior VP of A&R/Producer, New West Records); Lori Teig (VP of Talent, VEVO); Jermaine Hall (Editor-In-Chief, Vibe Magazine); Jamie Masada (Owner, Laugh Factory); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Julie Kertes (General Manager, National Parenting Publications Awards, NAPPA); Claire S. Green (President, Parents’ Choice Foundation); Leib Ostrow (Founder/CEO, Music For Little People); Wende Curtis (Owner, Comedy Works); and more to be announced.

See list of judges>>

Please visit http://www.songwritingcompetition.com for an entry form or more details.

ISC is sponsored by Lowden Guitars, Berklee College Of Music, Airplay Direct, D’Addario, DiscMakers, Thayers, SongU.com, The Music Business Registry, Indie Venue Bible, Celebrity Access, Tunecore, Independent Mastering, George Stein, Esq., Songtrust, and Taxi.

International Songwriting Competition www.nohoartsdistrict.com

**** For information on Los Angeles theatre, tickets to theatre in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District, theatre reviews, the NoHo Event Calendar, restaurants, news and local businesses in NoHo, or anything and everything about the NoHo Arts Community, bookmark nohoartsdistrict.com.  

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