It has been a long time since I’ve been to the Greek Theatre, and what I saw there on July 21 was shocking. The venue hadn’t changed. What was different, what I have never seen before, was a headliner surrendering top billing to become part of an integrated jumbo jumble of talent. The Counting Crows [...]

Thursday, July 9, brought the opening performance of the 2009 Marina del Rey Summer Concert Series in Burton Chace Park at 13650 Mindanao Way. The ambitious program featured “Serenade to Music” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, “Gloria” by Francis Poulenc, and “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff. I suppose when you have the 82-member Southern California Master [...]

With each passing day, the Los Angeles Film Festival grows more exciting. In Westwood Village, Broxton Avenue was closed in order to accommodate a makeshift theater complete with a Michelin Man-like portable movie screen and a pretty good sound system. Friday’s feature? “Ghostbusters.” It’s a rare weekend indeed when I get to see a film [...]

I like festivals. I like the dynamic of people coming together in a celebratory atmosphere enjoying a unifying aspect, be it cuisine, ethnicity, or art. From pie eating contests to star-studded galas to actual cash prizes, festivals offer moments in time that don’t happen in our day-to-day lives, not even in Hollywood. And once again [...]