The List
A highly selective preview of upcoming events
03/01/2010
Saintly and Sinful Art
March 6 — The Folk Tree in Pasadena hosts its annual Easter season exhibition, “Saints & Sinners XXIII,” which opens with a reception from 2 to 6 p.m. Area artists explore the tension between good and evil and the sacred and profane; Latin American (primarily Mexican) religious folk art and artifacts are also on display. A variety of media are represented, including painting, printmaking, assemblage, cut paper, paper maché, drawing, mixed media and more. “Saints & Sinners XXIII” continues through April 10.
The Folk Tree is located at 217 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena. Call (626) 795-8733
or visit folktree.com.
The Bard and an American Classic
March 6 — The repertory theater company A Noise Within launches two productions in March. The first is Much Ado About Nothing, which opens at 8 p.m.; Michael Murray directs Shakespeare’s tale of Beatrice and Benedict, who engage in a comedic battle of wills as they struggle with their mutual attraction. The play continues through May 21. Then Andrew Traister directs Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing!, opening at 8 p.m. March 20. The American classic, chronicling the struggles of the Berger family in economically ravaged New York City during the 1930s, continues through May 23. Tickets cost $40 and $44 for each play.
A Noise Within is located at 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Call (818) 240-0910, ext. 1,
or visit anoisewithin.org.
For Whom the School Bell Tolls
March 9 — The Assistance League of Arcadia, a nonprofit organization assisting children, seniors and families in need, celebrates the 40th anniversary of Operation School Bell, a program providing clothes and school supplies to needy children in Arcadia and surrounding communities. An open house runs from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Assistance League Chapter House. Light refreshments and chapter house tours will be offered.
The Assistance League of Arcadia Chapter House is located at 100 S. Santa Anita Ave., Arcadia. Call (626) 446-7605 or visit arcadia.assistanceleague.org.
Dark Comedy at the Autry
March 13 — Native Voices at the Autry, America’s leading Native American theater company, continues its season with the West Coast premiere of the one-man show Tales of an Urban Indian by Canadian playwright and actor Darrell Dennis. The dark semi-autobiographical comedy explores life through the eyes of a contemporary American Indian who experiences an often hilarious form of culture shock as he moves from the reservation to the city. Dennis is a veteran of the Second City comedy school, and his play is the basis of a hit Canadian television show of the same name. Herbie Barnes directs. Tales opens at 8 p.m. at the Autry’s Wells Fargo Theater and continues through March 28. Performances begin at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets cost $20 ($12 for Autry members).
The Autry National Center is located at 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park.
Call (866) 468-3399 or visit nativevoicesattheautry.org.
Mansions and Music
March 14 — The Pasadena Conservatory of Music presents “Illumination,” part of its Mansions & Music concert series, at 3 p.m. at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in La Caňada Flintridge. Pianist Mark Robson performs Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt Regards Sur L’Enfant-Jesus. Artist Edward Beckett’s Secular Icons will also be on display. Admission costs $75, and a reception follows the performance.
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy is located at 440 St. Katherine Dr., La Cañada Flintridge. Call (626)683-3355.
A Century of Plein Air
March 14 — The California Art Club celebrates its centennial with a sale and exhibition, “Plein Air Paintings of the Arroyo Seco,” from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at La Casita del Arroyo Foundation. The event features new works by many of the country’s leading landscape painters, using many of the same techniques first employed by the club’s founders 100 years ago. Proceeds benefit the club’s educational arts programs and the foundation’s efforts to conserve the drought-tolerant gardens at La Casita.
La Casita del Arroyo Foundation is located at 177 S. Arroyo Blvd., Pasadena. Call (626) 583-9009 or visit californiaartclub.org.
Treasures Go Under the Hammer
March 16 — John Moran Auctioneers’ first antiques auction of the year features more than 200 lots of decorative and fine arts items from private estates and collections — European and American paintings, bronzes, silver, porcelain, pottery, glass, Arts and Crafts furnishings and Native American artifacts. Highlights include a green Tiffany floor lamp with a green leaded-glass shade and a 1925 figural group of gilt bronze, ivory and onyx, titled Les Amis Toujours (pictured left), by Romanian/French Art Deco master Demetre Chiparus. The sale at the Pasadena Convention Center is held in two sessions: the 3 p.m. Discovery Sale, an uncatalogued auction open to floor and absentee bidding only, and the 6:30 p.m. Evening Sale of items with estimated values of $400 to $30,000, described in an illustrated catalog available at johnmoran.com. Bidding is available from the floor, by absentee, phone and Internet via Artfact.com.
The Pasadena Convention Center is located at 300 E. Green St., Pasadena. For sale information, call (626) 793-1833 or visit johnmoran.com.
San Marino League Art Walk Hits the Road
March 19 and 20 — The San Marino League’s Art Walk XXVI visits four Pasadena homes to view private art collections and antiques from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Stops include two historic Vista del Arroyo bungalows designed by noted architect Myron Hunt, a nearby neo-classic residence and a contemporary home in the Oak Knoll area. Tickets cost $35. Home locations are provided with ticket purchase. Proceeds fund scholarships for students at Art Center College of Design and an endowment for the Japanese Garden at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.
Call (626) 578-8510 or visit sanmarinoleague.org.
Hugh Hewitt Speaks at Benefit
March 20 — Pasadena’s Elizabeth House hosts its annual fundraising gala, “Where Love Embraces Life,” at the University Club of Pasadena. Author and conservative talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt is the guest speaker. The event starts at 6 p.m. with cocktails and a silent auction, followed by the dinner and speaker at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $150. The organization operates the San Gabriel Valley’s only shelter for homeless pregnant women and their children.
The University Club of Pasadena is located at 175 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena.
Call (626) 577-4434 or visit elizabethhouse.net.
Talking Art at Boston Court
March 20 — Boston Court Performing Arts Center hosts “ARTTalk,” a spoken word festival, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event includes live readings, music, poetry, dance and theater, featuring established and up-and-coming performers, poets and authors. The event is free and appropriate for all ages.
Boston Court Performing Arts Center is located at 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena.
Call (626) 744-0340 or visit playhousedistrict.org/arttalk.
LACO Comes to the Alex
March 21 — The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra performs works of Schulhoff, Mendelssohn and Weill at 8 p.m. at Glendale’s Alex Theatre. LACO Music Director Jeffrey Kahane conducts and performs as featured piano soloist; Daniel Hope is the violin soloist. Tickets cost from $18 to $100. The concert repeats at 7 p.m. Sunday at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
The Alex Theatre is located at 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Call (213) 622-7001 or visit laco.org.
Joyous Inspiration in Arcadia
March 21 — The San Marino Celebrity Series presents the F.A.M.E. Gospel Choir in a concert, “Joyous Inspiration,” at 4 p.m. at Arcadia’s Santa Anita Church. The group will perform traditional hymns and contemporary praise songs, including I’ll Fly Away and Amazing Grace. Tickets cost $30. The Celebrity Series, sponsored by the San Marino Guild of Huntington Hospital, raises funds for the pediatric section of the hospital’s new trauma and emergency center.
Santa Anita Church is located at 226 Colorado Pl., Arcadia. Call (626) 405-0497 or
(626) 441-1465 or email smcelebrityseries@gmail.com.
A Call for Cycling Volunteers
Through May 23 — The 2010 Amgen Tour of California travels through 16 host cities from May 16 to 23, and organizers have put out the call for volunteers. The cycling event, which comes through Pasadena May 21, needs volunteer course marshals, media assistants, security staff, site decorators and more. Volunteers must be over age 18 or accompanied by an adult.
Sign up online by visiting amgentourofcalifornia.com/tour/volunteer.
Picture This
March 24 — The Clickers & Flickers Photography Network holds its monthly networking dinner at 6:30 p.m. at The Castaway in Burbank. This month’s special guest is Heng Qi, one of China’s top photojournalists, who will discuss “Building a Bridge between America and China through Photography.” He has served as editor and photographer for China’s Xinhua News Agency and is currently based in its Los Angeles bureau. The event is open to all levels of photography enthusiasts as well as non-photographers. The cost is $59. Reservations are required.
The Castaway is located at 1250 Harvard Rd., Burbank. For network information, call (626) 794-7447 or visit clickersandflickers.com.
Highlighting the Art of Writing
March 25 —The Pasadena Museum of California Art, known for its showcases of art, design and music of the Golden State, celebrates another medium with its “Written in California” series. The program highlights Southern California authors of varying backgrounds and styles who’ve all drawn inspiration from the state’s creative environment. This month’s author is Altadena resident Michelle Huneven, reading from her new novel, Blame, which features arresting descriptions of the Southern California landscape. Art galleries are open for viewing starting at 6 p.m., and the reading — free with the museum’s special admission rate of $5 — starts at 7 p.m.
The Pasadena Museum of California Art is located at 490 E. Union St., Pasadena.
Call (626) 568-3665 or visit pmcaonline.org.
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT