May 2017 – Observations Along the Road

Changes to the California Highways Website: Jan – May 2017

Posted onWednesday, May 31, 2017Saturday, June 3, 2017Authorcahwyguy

Much as I tell myself that I won’t wait more than two months between updates, life gets away from me, my weekends get booked with theatre, and (boom) five months have passed. So it goes, I guess. Let’s start with the important numbers first: 40,818 songs on the iPod, up from 39,653 since Decmeber, with 582 songs on the “5 or Less” list (including two cast albums about Los Angeles, including one about Freeway Dreams), and about 6636 on the “10 or Less” list.

So far, in 2017, we’ve seen the passage of a gas tax proposal to fund roads (if it survives, hopefully), the inauguration of Donald Trump’s administration (which hopefully won’t survive), a proposal for a gazillion bajillion dollars — trust me, it’s yuge — in infrastructure funding in the administration’s spending proposal (which won’t survive in its present form, and would include more toll roads), and the seeming death of Route 1 due to actual weather, and Route 710 due to political weather — and when and whether either will return as a zombie is unknown. Depends on the brains available.

But this site does not work on political opinion. We work on facts: news reports, reports from the fields, legislative actions, transportation commission actions. But before I go into that, a question for those reading this on my website. At times I’ve had the urge to redo the website into something responsive, which would likely take a lot of time. I’ve also worried about the fact that I don’t serve everything via https://. But this is primarily an information site, that doesn’t handle any personal or sensitive data. Going responsive would require Javascript to resize and rearrange pages for phones, as opposed to full width web pages as in the current design. There’s no content management system to do this for me (although the blog is WordPress). My tools still generate hand-coded HTML, at some generation before HTML4 (pretty-much before CSS). I’m inclined not to change things if they work, but if you think I need to do the effort, please drop me a note.

Updates were made to the following highways, based on my reading of the papers (which are posted to the roadgeeking category at the “Observations Along The Road” and to the California Highways Facebook group) as well as any backed up email changes. I also reviewed the the AAroads forum. This resulted in changes on the following routes, with credit as indicated [my research⁽¹⁾, contributions of information or leads (via direct mail) from Max Rockatansky⁽²⁾: Route 1⁽¹⁾, Route 4⁽¹⁾, I-5⁽¹⁾, I-8⁽¹⁾, Route 9⁽¹⁾, I-10⁽¹⁾, Route 12⁽¹⁾, Route 29⁽¹⁾, Route 35⁽¹⁾, Route 37⁽¹⁾, Route 39⁽¹⁾, Route 46⁽¹⁾, US 50⁽¹⁾, Route 55⁽¹⁾, Route 58⁽¹⁾, Route 65⁽¹⁾, Former US 66⁽¹⁾, Route 67⁽¹⁾, Route 74⁽¹⁾, Route 75⁽¹⁾, Route 76⁽¹⁾, Route 79⁽¹⁾, I-80⁽¹⁾, Route 84⁽¹⁾, Route 91⁽¹⁾, Route 94⁽¹⁾, Route 99⁽¹⁾, US 101⁽¹⁾, I-110⁽¹⁾, Route 121⁽¹⁾, Route 125⁽¹⁾, Route 142⁽¹⁾, Route 174⁽¹⁾, Route 190⁽¹⁾, I-210⁽¹⁾, Route 273⁽¹⁾, I-405⁽¹⁾, I-580⁽¹⁾, Route 710⁽¹⁾, I-805⁽¹⁾, I-980⁽¹⁾, County Route J1⁽²⁾. Note: I was out of it, and didn’t pick up that much from AAroad (so folks there should just email me desired changes), and no one really emailed me anything during this change period.

Gribblenation.com supposedly closed as of the end of 2016, and Gribblenation.net actually closed as of January 2017. However, gribblenation.com still seems to be up. Per the discussion over on AAroads, a number of pieces will be moving to new sites as of January 2017. Those so identified have been updated. If you were at gibblenation.com or .net and have a new site, please mail me information on the corrected link. Otherwise, your entry has been deleted. As always, if you have a regional road page, please send me the link. If you had a page, please make sure I have the correct link.

Reviewed the Pending Legislation page, based on the new California Legislature site. As usual, I recommend to every Californian that they visit the legislative website regularly and see what their legis-critters are doing. Right now, we’re at the point everything for this legislative session has been sent to the Governor for signature. I noted the passage/veto of the following bills and resolutions (for some of these, I’ve highlighted key phrases in red):

May 2017 Headlines About California Highways

Posted onMonday, May 29, 2017Authorcahwyguy

Memorial Day. First and foremost, a thank you to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our country. Their service has made it possible for me to spend a weekend working on pages about California Highways. Which I am. Which also means I need to incorporate the May Headlines, and thus need to post them first. So here goes:

Caltrans Proposes Safety Upgrades Along Entire SR-110 Arroyo Seco Parkway. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, May 2, about its plans to improve motorist and worker safety along the entire length of the SR-110 Arroyo Seco Parkway route from Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles. With the SR-110 Safety Enhancement Project, Caltrans proposes to install metal beam guardrails and concrete barriers, add maintenance vehicle pullouts, remove several thousand feet of curb and gutters, and apply graffiti-resistant coating at various locations along the freeway.
Marin carpool lane hours could expand by June. Southbound Highway 101 carpool lane hours could be extended in Marin as soon as next month in hopes of better traffic flow for commuters sharing rides and buses. The southbound Highway 101 commute between north Novato and the Civic Center is considered “very degraded,” with traffic flows at less than 45 mph between 50 and 75 percent of the time. The southbound carpool lane is limited to two or more people in a vehicle from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m.
Bay Bridge bike path has new $2 million ‘vista point;’ will open seven days a week starting Tuesday. Bicyclists and pedestrians seeking awe-inspiring views of the East Bay will soon be able to get their fix seven days a week. Starting Tuesday, the 2.2-mile path along the eastern span of the Bay Bridge will open during weekdays. After three years of stopping a mere 525 feet shy of Yerba Buena Island, the path was finally completed in October, but it was only accessible on weekends while Caltrans disassembled the remaining portion of the old Bay Bridge.

A Cycle of Relationships | “Hello, Again” @ Chromolume

Posted onSunday, May 28, 2017Wednesday, May 31, 2017Authorcahwyguy

Some theatre is pure entertaining fluff. It isn’t there to make a point; sometimes, it isn’t even there to tell a story. It’s goal — pure and simple — is to have you walking out of the theatre with a smile on your face and a song in your heart. Think a jukebox musical, such as Mamma Mia, An American in Paris, or 70, Girls, 70, and you get my drift.

Some theatre is there to make a clear point and statement. You are entertained, but walk out with a specific message intended by the authors. Think of Hamilton or Scottsboro Boys.

Some theatre leaves you scratching your head. It doesn’t fall into the “bad theatre” bin (i.e., poorly written story, poor acting, etc.), but its intent isn’t otherwise clear. It entertained you, but wasn’t entertaining. It had a message, but it was something to be teased out as opposed to being a brickbat to the head.

Last night’s show, Hello, Again at Chromolume Theatre (FB), with book, music, and lyrics by Michael John LaChuisa (FB), based on the 1897 play La Ronde by Arnold Schnitzler, was such a show. The music was dark and operatic at times. The story seemed to be trying to make a point, but the ultimate meaning and goal of that point was elusive. The basic subject matter — a series of sexual relationships — was uncomfortable at the minimum, and potentially triggery at the maximum (my wife said the show needed a trigger warning for the nature of the sex). In retrospect, this shouldn’t have surprised me. I’m familiar with some of LaChuisa’s music — I have the albums to First Lady Suite, Little Fish, See What I Wanna See, Giant, Queen of the Mist, and The Wild Party, and I’ve looked into the albums of Bernarda Alba and Marie Christie, but haven’t gotten them because the music is dark. LaChiusa has the occasional lighter song, but in general his music is deep and dark, melodic but not rhythmic – something unique. That doesn’t make his shows bad, but they are definitely not the typical Broadway fluff.

The structure of Hello, Again is a musical round. Not in the sense of multiple voices singing different songs coming together (although, looking back, it may have done that unintentionally). Rather, the show forms a circle of scenes told through a quasi-operatic, almost sung-through, score. The whore and the soldier in the 1900s, the soldier and the nurse in the 1940s, the nurse and the college boy in the 1960s, the college boy and the young wife in the 1930s, the young wife and the husband in the 1950s, the husband and the young thing in the 1910s, the young thing and the writer in the 1970s, the writer and the actress in the 1920s, the actress and the senator in the 1980s, circling back to the senator and the whore in the 1990s. These are essentially the same characters as in La Ronde, except that La Ronde was in a single timeframe, and LaChuisa changed La Ronde‘s “young miss” to “young thing” to introduce a gay relationship into the mix. La Ronde‘s point was to show the similarity of relationships across all strata of society, from the whore at the bottom, to the elite at the top.

As an aside, I’m not sure whether LaChiusa’s jumping around in the timestream helps the show. It served to confuse me, and to draw my attention to the program to see when we were. This is especially true when the implication seems to be that the character in one scene is seemingly the same character in the next. That works for adjacent-in-the-normal-direction decades; it is confusing when you go back in time.

So I walked out and the end of Hello, Again at the Chromolume conflicted. There were outstanding performances and the vocals were spot on, but I didn’t warm to the show. It left me uncomfortable, unsure. On the way home, my wife and I discussed the show. Our conclusion was that the show highlighted a continual pattern of relationships whose focus was the quick and hard sex (“wham, bam, thank you ma’am”), sometimes not fully consensual. None of the relationships in the round had any depth or love in them. They were couplings of convenience, almost all of them (for their era) being couplings of unequal power. They were consensual — so perhaps they weren’t rape in the conventional sense — but they were also not expressions of love. They were expressions of something darker: one side of a relationship using the other side for a particular purpose. They were portrayed in an ultimately negative light — moral bankruptcy, meaningless.

But through all of this, what was LaChiusa, or ultimately Schnitzler, trying to say? Our existence is a series of meaningless relationships where love is replaced by using other people? That nothing ever changes in how people treat and use people? That meaningless relationships exist across all strata and all ages?

Not cheery stuff. Not the typical stuff of musicals, which are more idealized romantic love as opposed to meaningless unbalanced power dynamic sex.

I think my wife was right: this stuff needs a trigger warning. The combination of the power dynamics and meaningless sex makes this borderline sexual abuse, and those with sensitivities may find the material disturbing.

But despite the nature of this musical and its ultimately cynical message, I don’t believe it is a bad musical. There are many for whom its message about men, women, and society will resonate. There are many for whom this represents their relationship arcs: sex and power dynamics, first; endearing or enduring love a distant second. It is certainly something emphasized by many “Hollywood” relationships. I tend to have a more positive and upbeat outlook regarding relationships, and I’m not sure this is something I’d see again. But as they say, YMMV.

Setting aside the story, the performances (under the direction of Richard Van Slyke (FB) — a REP East alumni!) were uniformly excellent. So much so, in fact, that it is difficult to single out one performer above another. So let me introduce the primary cast, and we’ll continue the analysis on the other side: Michelle Holmes (FB) – The Whore; Cesar Cipriano (FB) – The Soldier; Allison Lind (Actor FB; FB) – The Nurse; Bretten M. Popiel (FB) – The College Boy; Sarah Randall Hunt (FB) – The Young Wife; Corey Rieger (FB) – The Husband; Kevin Corsini (FB) – The Young Thing; Joe Hernandez-Kolski (FB) – The Writer; Tal Fox (FB) – The Actress; and Michael Corbett (Actor FB; FB) – The Senator. Understudies were Nadia Ahern (Actor FB; FB) – Whore/Actress; David Callander (FB) – Husband/Senator; Kim Dalton (FB) – Nurse/Young Wife; Bradley Alan Turner (FB) – Writer/Soldier; and Judd Yort (FB) – College Boy/Young Thing.

Looking back this morning, which performances stick in my head? The first is Tal Fox. Not only when she was onstage in her role as The Actress, but in other smaller background parts, she had a look that was unique and caught your eye — which was drawn to her wonderful facial expressions. In whatever character she was, her face was reacting in a fantastic way that was a delight to watch.

Allison Lind’s Nurse was also fun to watch for the spunk and character she brought to the role. She also had one of the stronger dance routines in the show. Both were delightful to see. [Although I must admit I missed seeing the understudy for this role, as we have seen Kim in a number of shows and always enjoy her performances]

Bretten Popiel’s College Boy was another actor that was just fun to watch — he brought a great sense of playfulness to the role and that fun was transmitted to the audience.

All of the actors gave strong performances with this vocally difficult score. La Chiusa’s music doesn’t have your typical rhythms, and exhibits (at least to my ear) very odd ranges. This cast handled it all with seeming aplomb.

Music for the production was provided by the onstage music director, Brenda Varda (FB), behind the piano. Most of it was great; the only nit was that the actors mispronounced the Yiddish זײַ געזונט , which was particularly noticable in the second verse when they sang “tuh zei guzing” as if it was the Hebrew צ as opposed to ז. Choreography was by Bretten M. Popiel (FB), and seemed period appropriate. I particularly enjoyed the nurse’s dances.

Turning to the production and creative sides: Scenic design was by Chromolume regular Lauren J. Peters (FB) and was a creative use of the limited black-box space the theatre provides: abstract backdrops, with the sense of place primarily provided through the props and scenery pieces. The lighting design by Richard Fong (FB) worked reasonably well, as did James Esposito (FB)’s sound design (except for one nit: during the end of the second scene, the rain effects were confusing at first, with the bass thunder seemingly coming from something external to the building). Michael Mullen (FB)’s costume design seemed somewhat period, and was sexy without being too revealing. However, my wife had some quibbles with the nurses’ uniform not being as precise as it should have been (she noted that nurses would not have gone out with those wrinkles, worn open toed shoes, or had anything like long hair). As for me, I just wondered whether they got the ranks and forms correct on the military uniforms, and where the hell they found those leisure suits and polyester shirts for the ’70s (which brought back bad memories — I had shirts like that in those years). Other behind the scenes support included: Mara Aguilar (FB) – Stage Manager; Armen Janazyan (FB) – Assistant Stage Manager; Ken Werther Publicity (FB) – Publicity.

The last performance of Hello, Again at Chromolume Theatre (FB) is tonight (5/28) at 7:00 PM. Call (323) 510-2688 to make a reservation. Chromolume will have a production at the upcoming Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB): Slightly Off Broadway. I’m kicking myself for not seeing their past productions at Fringe, especially Pasek and Paul’s Edges: A Song Cycle, which they did in 2016 and does not have a cast recording. I discovered this after the fact from their YouTube channel, where I also discovered another musical I didn’t know (and they had done): Next Thing You Know, with the great song “Hungover“.

One additional note: I love subscribing at the smaller and regional theatres! The Pantages and Ahmanson never know your name. But little theatres like Chromolume, Actors Co-op, and in the past, the Colony and REP East get to know you, and the people there are like family. You don’t need to present anything when you check in; they know you and see you coming in the door, and have everything ready. These theatres need your support, and treasure every subscriber. Find a local theatre you like and subscribe. You might not like everything you see. But you will find a home.

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Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), the Chromolume Theatre (FB) in the West Adams district, and a mini-subscription at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals). I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows: Today, my wife is off to the Simi Valley Cajun and Blues Festival (FB) on Sunday, as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is playing, while I work on the highway pages. As for June? Three words: Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB). This is the current planned schedule for HFF. To see the full Fringe guide, click here.

Saturday, June 3: Unavailable to Fringe
Sunday, June 4: Until 4p – Annual Gluten Free Expo | [K/R] ⇒ 6p – Hey Hollywood! My Hustle has ADHD | [D/K/R] ⇒ 8p – Robot Monster the Musical | [D/K/R] ⇒ 930p – Buffy Kills Edward: The Musical | [D/K/R]
Saturday, June 10: 3p – The Heart Change – Ink Theatre | [D/K] ⇒ 5:30p – 86’d | [D/K] ⇒ 7p – Insuppressible: The Unauthorized Leah Remini Story | [D/K]
Sunday, June 11: 3p – Five Guys Named Moe at Ebony Repertory Theatre (FB) | [D]
Saturday, June 17: 3:30p – Zombie Clown Trump | [D/K] ⇒ 5:30p – Conversations ‘Bout The Girls | [D/K] ⇒ 7:30p – Inversion | [D/K]
Sunday, June 18: Fathers Day – Open
Saturday, June 24: 11:30a – Hello Again, The Songs of Allan Sherman [D/K/R] ⇒ 3p – Slightly Off Broadway (Chromolume) | [D/K/R] ⇒ 5:30p – Trump in Space | [D/K/R] ⇒ 7p – The ABCs | [D/K/R] ⇒ 9p – Reasons to be Pretty / Maxwelton | [D/K/R]
Sunday, June 25: 2p – Transition | [D/K] ⇒ 4p – Khant Hotel | [D/K] ⇒ 5:30p – Bachelorette by Leslye Headland | [D/K]

With respect to the Hollywood Fringe Festival: I’d like to recommend Hello Again, The Songs of Allan Sherman. Linden, the artist, did the show for our synagogue Mens Club back in October, and it was a delight. So good, in fact, that we’re going to see the show again during Fringe. If you want a fun show full of parody music, see this one.

July brings us back to normal theatre (° = pending confirmation). We start with The Voysey Inheritance at Actors Co-op (FB) the first weekend. The second weekend is currently open, but we’re thinking about Animal Farm at Theatricum Botanicum (FB). The third weekend brings Peter Pan at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) and Ruthie and Me at Actors Co-op (FB). The fourth weekend of July has a hold for Motown/Miracle | Harlem/Renaissance from Muse/ique (FB). The last weekend of July brings The Last 5 Years at Actors Co-op (FB). August will (hopefully) start with Brian Setzer° at the Hollywood Bowl (FB) on August 2, followed by The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) on the weekend. We may also squeeze in On The Twentieth Century at the Pan-Andreas Theatre in Hollywood from Proof Doubt Closer (FB), as a friend is in the cast. The second weekend of August? What made sitting through The Bodyguard worth it: Hamilton at the Hollywood Pantages (FB). I’m still scheduling September, but so far we have The 39 Steps° at Actors Co-op (FB) and Pacific Overtures at Chromolume Theatre (FB). There’s also the Men of TAS Golf Tournament, if any theatre company reading this wants to donate tickets to our silent auction (hint, hint). More as the schedule fleshes out, of course, but we’re booking all the way out in mid to late 2018 already!

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Note: Lastly, want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget.

How Appropos | “Freeway Dreams” @ WriteAct Rep

Posted onSaturday, May 27, 2017Authorcahwyguy

I recently received a press release from a publicist¹ about a “world premiere” musical at Write Act Repertory (FB)² at the Brickhouse Theatre (FB) called Freeway Dreams. How appropos, I thought. After all, my hobby is California Highways; I developed and maintained the California Highways page³. I commute every day on the LA freeways, driving a vanpool between Northridge and El Segundo (35 miles, one way) across the 405. I attend live theatre almost every week, and write up every show I go to. If there was anyone who should be writing up a musical about freeways, it is me. So I made my usual arrangement with the publicist⁴, figured out a spot in my increasingly full schedule, which resulted in our seeing the show last night in North Hollywood, after a 109 minute freeway commute home.

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¹: There are those who believe I am a theatre critic. I tell them I’m a cybersecurity specialist who just loves going to live performances (especially theatre), and then sharing that experience as an audience member via write ups on my blog. Still, I’ve learned a lot over the years.
²: You’ll notice no web site links. Write Act: Get your website act together. You have a link on your postcard: It gives a Wix error that the site isn’t set up yet. You have another link on your Facebook page: it gives a 403 Forbidden (although some subpages do work). You don’t have a direct link to your Brown Paper Tickets site on your postcard, nor is it on your current FB page. You need a proper website to promote your work.
³: Everything you want to know about numbered highways in California but were afraid to ask.
⁴: Most critics accept free tickets. I don’t. My real life job has strong ethics rules about what we can accept from suppliers, and I apply them to life. Free tickets could be seen as influence to a critic. I arrange for ½ price tickets, what I would have paid on Goldstar.
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Freeway Dreams, with book, music, and lyrics by Wayne Moore (FB) (one song co-authored by Jason Blume), started out as a cabaret show back in 1992 at The Gardenia Club in West Hollywood. There was a cycle of songs (eventually recorded as a “cast” album) with introductions and rough characters, but it wasn’t a fleshed out musical. After numerous requests for the script, Moore decided to flesh the song cycle out into a musical — better defining characters, snipping a song here and there. The result was this one-hour, no intermission musical.

The story framework is much like the cabaret show: A tourist bus of Japanese tourists has overturned on the Hollywood Freeway (US 101) turning the freeway into a parking lot. Four commuters — an aspiring actor, a young woman of unspecified employment, a casting director, and a pizza delivery guy — are stuck on the road and start to daydream. The bulk of those songs are those dreams.

As a song cycle, the show is very enjoyable. The songs are great, they are performed well, and fun to listen to. I’m sure that many of the songs on the cast album will get rated ★★★★★ on my iPod.

As a musical, the show is… a good start. I think — if the show is to have a longer life — more work is required. One review I saw commented on the dated references in the show (they suggested replacing pizza delivery with Uber, for example), and the overuse of the radio motif for news. I disagree to an extent — we still get our traffic reports on the radio, for example — but I do feel there needs to be nods to modern technology such as streaming music or podcasts. My observation is a bit deeper: I think that we need to learn more about these characters and their life, and see a greater arc than just “stuck on a freeway”. There also needs to be more of a connection to Los Angeles than just Hollywood and the opening song. There are precious few LA musicals (Billy Barnes LA, Bruce Kimmel’s LA: Then and Now), and this needs to go beyond the stereotypical Hollywood schtick. Where are the harried parents stuck on the freeway, the business executives that work downtown, the people commuting to aerospace and technology jobs. There is potential to make this something deeper — a commentary on the Los Angeles mindset to balance out the stereotypical New York condescension of the city that so much theatre has. The show needs more book, something that moves it beyond the fun song cycle at bit more. There are also songs that seem throwaway — no real connection to character or story (“The Bette Davis Chorus” is one such song — cute and enjoyable, but shoehorned in). The potential — the seed — is there; it just needs to drive past a few more exits to reach its ultimate destination, avoiding the temptation (to abuse a metaphor) of jumping off onto the surface streets now. Surface streets always seem like a good idea at the time….

As a commuter, there are realism problems. The show portrays drivers holding phones while driving, smoking pot on the freeway, and getting out of their cars on a stuck freeway to talk to other drivers. Those are either problematic behaviors or illegal behaviors, and should be rethought so as not to encourage other drivers (although there could be a great song in there about some of the stupid things drivers do while commuting). There is lots of potential in a musical about commuters and the freeway. But it needs to be done right.

So, story-wise, the summary is thus: A great song cycle (performed well), but it needs a bit more fleshing out to be a stronger book musical.

Turning to the “performed well” part: Under the direction and choreography of Jim Blanchette (FB), the actors effectively convey the story through songs, movement, and facial expressions (especially when they are in the background of songs). The theatre is a pure black box space — no fly, no follow-spot or moving mirrors. There is no set other than a projection screen. The sense of place and story and setting must come must come from the performers and props, and Blanchette has brought that out well.

The strongest performance — and a real positive surprise — was Leslie Rubino (FB)’s Deborah. From the opening number I was really impressed with her voice and her expression, and she had the time of her life with “Doncha Wanna Know”. She was just a delight to watch. Note: Based on her FB page, I believe we’ll be seeing her again soon in the HFF show, Insuppressible: The Unauthorized Leah Remini Story.

Also strong was Stephanie B. Andersen (FB; FB-Fan) as Brenda, the casting agent. We’ve seen this actress before — we enjoyed her quite a bit in the 2013 bare revival — and (for the most part) she was great in both performance and singing in numbers such as “I Have This Friend.”. I particular enjoyed watching her expressions during the show. Alas, at our performance, she was having a bad night with one number (I fear she had a bad distracting headache), but knowing her strengths I’m willing to view it as a one-off, and wish her better. I’m sure every other night she knocks that number out of the park!

I enjoyed (and my wife indicated she really enjoyed) Jonathan Brett (FB)’s performance as Lee, the pizza delivery guy. He demonstrated some wonderful comic timing in his interactions and expressions, and had a strong singing voice in numbers such as “and a pizza to go”.

Rounding out the cast was Darren Mangler (FB)’s Andrew. Mangler brought good expression and timing to his characters, but was just a tad weaker on the singing side (but that is when compared to the rest of the ensemble, meaning he was still pretty good).

Alternatives were Ashley Douglas (FB) [Brenda Alternative] and Aubrie Alexander (FB) [Deborah Alternative]. I’ll just note that we’ve seen Alexander before in Bat Boy, and I’m pretty sure that was her sitting behind us at last night’s show :-).

Lastly on the performance side: the director, Jim Blanchette (FB), had an uncredited performance as the “offscreen voices” — sitting in the audience, he provided all the unintelligible voices on the other side of the cell phone conversations. A bit odd, perhaps, but this is small intimate theatre. At least the credit gives me the chance to note that Blanchette has worked with an alum of the late great REP theatre in Santa Clarita, the also late, great Kyle Kulish.

Turning to the production side: As noted, this was a simple black box theatre. The basic scenery was solely the projections designed by Ken Cosby (FB). These worked well, although a few had me puzzling — as a freeway commuter in LA — exactly where they were taken. The lighting design was by Mark Baker (FB), who has one of the best bio’s I’ve read of late. The lighting worked well, except for the lighting during “My Superman” where odd shadows were created due to the positioning of the lights. I fear that was less Baker’s problem and more a fault of the facility, which didn’t have proper spots nor good placement locations for moving mirror lights. There were no credits for the properties, but the cardboard cars were cute. Other production credits: Wayne Moore (FB) – Musical Direction; Tamra Pica (FB) – Producer / Casting; Jonathan Harrison – Stage Manager / Associate Producer; and John Lant – Producing Artistic Director.

Write Act Repertory (FB)’s production of Freeway Dreams continues at the Brickhouse Theatre (FB) until Sunday, June 11. It is an enjoyable song cycle. Tickets are $15 and are available through Brown Paper Tickets. The show does not appear to be listed on either Goldstar or LA Stage Tix.

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Upcoming Shows: May concludes with Hello Again at the Chromolume Theatre (FB) tonight [plus my wife is off to the Simi Valley Cajun and Blues Festival (FB) on Sunday, as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is playing, while I work on the highway pages].

As for June? Three words: Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB). This is the current planned schedule for HFF. Not all is ticketed — we are ticketing in two groups: this weekend (¹), and right after June 1st (²), to split the charges. To see the full Fringe guide, click here.

Saturday, June 3: Unavailable to Fringe
Sunday, June 4: Until 4p – Annual Gluten Free Expo | [K/R] ⇒ 6p – Hey Hollywood! My Hustle has ADHD | [D/K/R] ⇒ 8p – Robot Monster the Musical | [D/K/R] ⇒ 930p – Buffy Kills Edward: The Musical | [D/K/R]
Saturday, June 10: 3p – The Heart Change – Ink Theatre | [D²/K²] ⇒ 5:30p – 86’d | [D/K] ⇒ 7p – Insuppressible: The Unauthorized Leah Remini Story | [D²/K²]
Sunday, June 11: 3p – Five Guys Named Moe at Ebony Repertory Theatre (FB) | [D]
Saturday, June 17: 1p – Pretty, Witty Nell | [D²/K²] (Poss. Canc.) ⇒ 3:30p – Zombie Clown Trump | [D/K] ⇒ 5:30p – Conversations ‘Bout The Girls | [D/K] ⇒ 7:30p – Inversion | [D/K]
Sunday, June 18: Fathers Day – Open
Saturday, June 24: 11:30a – Hello Again, The Songs of Allan Sherman [D²/K²/R²] ⇒ 3p – Slightly Off Broadway (Chromolume) | [D²/K²/R²] ⇒ 5:30p – Trump in Space | [D/K/R²] ⇒ 7p – The ABCs | [D/K/R²] ⇒ 9p – Reasons to be Pretty / Maxwelton | [D/K/R²]
Sunday, June 25: 2p – Transition | [D/K] ⇒ 4p – Khant Hotel | [D²/K²] ⇒ 5:30p – Bachelorette by Leslye Headland | [D²/K²]

Two, Four, Six, Eight, …

Posted onFriday, May 26, 2017Authorcahwyguy

Here is some recently collected news chum, linked by a numerical progression:

One Credit Score. Matadors Community Credit Union has a nice piece on how the credit score system is changing, and how what worked before may not benefit you in the future. Given the dependence on a single score, this can be pretty important.
Two Web Sites That Hurt Mental Health. A recent study looked at the impact of social media websites on the mental health of teens. Two websites were found to be most problematic: Instagram and Snapchat.
Four Things to Know About California IDs. California will be moving to new RealID compliant IDs. Here are four things to know about the transition. I found this a really-interesting read.
Eight Common Dog Behaviors. Want to know what your dog is thinking. Here are eight behaviors, decoded.
Ten Types of Streets. Have you ever wondered about the difference between a street and avenue? Here’s an explanation of 10 different types of streets and roads, with a few more higher speed definitions thrown in.
Twelve Household Chores. Here’s an explanation of 12 household chores and how frequently they should be done.
Sixteen Food Hacks. Here are 16 food hacks and tips from restaurant workers.

Tea Time 2017

Posted onThursday, May 25, 2017Thursday, January 17, 2019Authorcahwyguy

As I’m down to my last tin of tea, other than my large tin of Iranian Ceylon, it is time to do another tea order. My last order was in July 2015, so it has almost been 2 years. Again, the bulk of the order is from Upton Tea (who has great varietals), except for one tea that they are out of. Here’s what I’m ordering this time (as before, teas shown with 🍵 are new this year; ☕ indicates repeats from 2015; ☕☕ indicates repeats from 2013; ☕☕☕ repeats from 2012):

TD06: Orthodox BOP Darjeeling. 🍵 The best value in Darjeeling tea. Broken leaf Darjeeling is often overlooked, either because the price is so reasonable or because too much value is placed on a more stylish leaf. This flavorful BOP blend offers a great cup at a very attractive price. $8.25/125g.
TD50: No.1 Tippy Orthodox GFOP Darjeeling. ☕☕ An exceptional golden tip Darjeeling blend. We first introduced this tea in 1990 and it continues to be our most popular Darjeeling. $9.75/125g.
TA20: Tippy Orthodox FBOP Assam. 🍵 A uniform, broken-leaf tea with bold character and strong, malty flavor. This tea is a great choice for breakfast and throughout the day. $6.50/100g.
TA27: Halmari CTC BOP. 🍵 A bold CTC style tea with rich flavor. The dark liquor will readily take milk. Especially suited as a bracing morning tea. $6.25/125g.
TP12: Premium China Keemun. ☕☕ Often called the burgundy of China teas, this North China Congou is rich, flavorful and appropriate for any time of day. We offer this as our basic Keemun, although it is in the middle range of the standard series. $6.50/125g.
ZG20: First Grade Gunpowder Green. ☕☕☕ Superior grade of green tea in the style of gunpowder teas (tightly rolled tea leaves resembling gunpowder pellets). $5.75/125g.
ZG14: Young Hyson Imperial Organic.☕ This organic tea has the bold flavor of a high-fired tea, yet it has a pleasing smoothness with delicate sweetness. The thin, well-twisted leaves produce a liquor with a pale green color. This is a very popular style of China green tea with a bolder leaf. $6.00/100g.
ZM44: Osmanthus Oolong Se Chung. 🍵 Se Chung Oolong, naturally scented with osmanthus flowers. The flavorful, aromatic cup has a full body, with hints of ripe fruit. The finish is sweet and lingering. $7.60/125g
TB49: Darjeeling-Ceylon Iced Tea Blend. ☕☕☕ Half whole-leaf Darjeeling and half OP Ceylon. A great hot tea as well! The brewing information provided is for making an iced tea concentrate. $7.00/125g.
TB15: Java Blend. ☕☕ A rich breakfast blend especially suited for those who enjoy a powerful cup in the morning. This also is a great choice for iced tea. Java teas are never expensive, so you get the best produced for a few cents a cup. $5.75/125g.
TK12: Rukeri Estate Rwanda BOP Organic 🍵 The cup has a full flavor and aroma, with a medium body. May be enjoyed plain, but it is strong enough to accommodate a touch of milk. Longer steepings yield a robust cup with notes of rose and peppery hints. At briefer steepings, the liquor is sweeter and more delicate. $6.50/125g.
TC05: Ceylon BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe). ☕☕ A choice blend of regional Ceylons. [Note: Both TN05 ☕ and TN10 🍵 were out of stock]. $6.00/125g.
TC88: St. James Estate BOP. 🍵 This broken-leaf tea yields an aromatic, bright-coppery cup. The full-bodied liquor is pleasantly pungent and is accentuated with mellow wintergreen notes. $6.00/125g
TB02: Leadenhall Street Breakfast Blend. ☕ A tribute to the famous London tea auctions, our Leadenhall Street Breakfast Blend is a blend of two classic British teas: a brisk Ceylon and a thick, malty Assam. The result is a flavorful mixture which lends itself to the addition of milk. $6.50/125g.
TB05: Mincing Lane Breakfast Blend. ☕☕☕ For this blend, we paired a hearty Assam with a smooth and flavorful Yunnan, for a cup that is highly enjoyable. The invigorating liquor has a full mouth feel, subtle spicy notes, and a lingering aftertaste. While milk is recommended, it is enjoyable plain. $8.75/125g.
TB14: Scottish Breakfast Blend. ☕☕ Blended to appeal to those who favor an eye-opening experience in the morning, this tea yields a cup with a round, full flavor, malty notes, and brisk character. A perfect choice to start the day. $6.25/125g.
TB30: Kensington Breakfast Blend. 🍵 A bit lighter than our River Shannon Blend, this English Breakfast style tea is a rich blend of Assam, Ceylon, and Keemun. Best with milk. $7.00/125g
TB75: Baker Street Afternoon Blend. ☕☕ A bit of Lapsang Souchong is blended with Keemun and Darjeeling, yielding a mildly smoky tea. Perfect for an afternoon uplift. Another special (whole-leaf) blend from our London source of fine teas. $8.25/125g.
TB86: Richmond Park Blend. ☕ A mellow, whole-leaf blend of Keemun, Ceylon, and Darjeeling. An exceptional tea which is smooth enough for drinking plain, and sturdy enough to take milk or lemon. From our London blender. $8.25/125g.
TE85: Creme Caramel. ☕☕ Pieces of caramel are added to a black tea from Sri Lanka to create a delicious blend with a mild, creamy aroma and sweet caramel flavor. Enjoyable on cold days, and throughout the seasons. This is a bolder leaf version of our former TE86.This product contains dairy. $6.25/125g.

A number of teas that I wanted — TF25/Wild Cherry 🍵, TF90/Vanilla ☕, TE45/Midsummer Dream ☕☕, and TE21/Monk’s Blend ☕☕☕ — were unavailable. I’ll find another source for those. Additionally, I ordered the following for my wife:

TC64: Victorian Brew BOP1. 🍵 This uniquely named Ceylon offering produces a liquor that has a mildly spicy, sweet aroma with citrus hints. The flavor is rich and smooth with notes of honey and biscuit as well as a hint of cherry. The lingering finish has refreshing citrus-like hints. $6.80/100g
TE13: Chocolate Earl Grey. 🍵 A premium black tea combining the popular tastes of bergamot and chocolate with a hint of lemon. Decorated with flower petals and lemon peel for a delightful presentation.This product contains soy.
TE94: Mélange de Chamonix. ☕☕ Fine India tea is blended with cocoa, cardamom, and a hint of cinnamon to produce a balanced and warming cup. A delicate treat for any chocolate or tea lover. $10.75/125g.
TE90: Christmas Tea; Mélange Noël. 🍵. A blend of black tea with cloves, vanilla and cardamom. Decorated with citrus peel, rose petals and almond pieces.This product contains tree nuts (almonds). $7.25/125g.

Again, we had some out of stocks: TE35/Hearthside Chai Tea.

For the missing teas, I searched around and found Pittsburgh Tea, from where I ordered:

Monk’s Blend Tea loose tea. Medium bodied and flavoury with piquant Ceylon character. Blended with natural flavor oils of vanilla and grenadine, which impart a smooth and unique heavenly flavor. $6.99/.25 lb
Vanilla Black Tea. Black tea, Calendula & Sunflower petals, and Natural flavors. $6.99/.25 lb.
Cherry Black Tea. This premium Ceylon tea flavored with summer cherries is treat for any Chekhov fans musing in their cherry orchard. Lovely candied cherry aroma, juicy flavor and slightly dry finish. If you’ve never read Chekhov, it doesn’t have a happy ending. If you’d never tried our Cherry Black tea, it’ll make up for it. $6.99/.25 lb.

Hopefully, Pittsburgh Tea is just temporary and the needed items will come back into stock at Upton. For reference, here are some links to even older tea orders: 2012 (Franklin Tea (which, alas, closed in 2015), Stash Tea, Upton Tea), 2011 (Franklin Tea, Stash Tea), 2010 (Special Teas (which was owned by, and later merged into, Teavana, and of course Teavana was later purchased by Starbucks), Stash Tea, Franklin Tea), 2009 (Stash Tea), 2008 (Franklin Tea, Stash Tea, Surfas, Lupicia, Teavana), 2007 (Stash Tea), 2006 #2 (Stash Tea), 2006 #1 (Stash Tea, Adagio Tea), and 2004 (Stash Tea).

Going to the Dogs | “Lucky Stiff” @ Actors Co-Op

Posted onSunday, May 21, 2017Monday, May 22, 2017Authorcahwyguy

Actors often keep track of their Broadway Debuts — the first time they were on a Broadway stage. But how much does an actor’s first show represent where they will be going in their career. The answer is: often not much. Unless they get that starring role from the get-go, there are often years of hard ensemble, swing, and understudy roles before the true talent shines through. For every Bebe Neuwirth at the top in Chicago, there’s the same actress in a background role in Sweet Charity.

What about composing teams? How much does their first show say about where they will be going? One can’t say for Rodgers and Hammerstein — they each worked with other composers before their first show, Oklahoma. For Kander and Ebb, did Flora: The Red Menace indicate where they would eventually go? Did Godspell fortell Wicked for Stephen Schwartz? How representative was Saturday Night for Sondheim? Parade for Jerry Herman?

When we look at the key new composing teams from the 1980s, one of the best is Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. They’ve given us such great shows as Ragtime, Once on this Island, Seussical, and Anastasia. Their first produced show was a farcical murder mystery, Lucky Stiff (a production of which recently opened at Actors Co-op (FB) in Hollywood), based on “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” written by Michael Butterworth. The plot is, well, a farce. A hapless shoe salesman (Harry Witherspoon) in England inherits $6 million from his gambler uncle (Tony Hendon) in New Jersey, who he has never met. There’s one condition: he take the corpse on one last vacation to Monte Carlo. If he doesn’t do this, the $6 million will go to the Universal Dog Home in Brooklyn (and Harry hates dogs). Meanwhile, in Atlantic City, Tony’s lover Rita LaPorta, who shot Tony because she thought he was cheating on him, convinces her dentist brother, Vincent DiRuzzo to go to Monte Carlo with him to get back the $6 million, which she and Tony embezzled from Rita’s gambler husband, to whom she confessed that it was her brother that stole the money and then lost it gambling (and thus, the husband has a contract out on Vinnie). Lastly, the Universal Dog House is watching everything though a field representative, Annabel Glick, because if Tony doesn’t fulfill the terms of the letter, the money goes to them.

That, mind you, is the set up. This is a farce so there is plenty of mistaken identities, doors slamming, distractions, but there’s not a single sardines. There is, however, the requisite character who is blind but for her glasses, which she refuses to wear, a drunken maid, nuns, and Arab sheiks.

However, the focus of this opening treatise is whether this silly fluff of a show was predictive of the team that would give us Ragtime and Once on this Island, Seussical and Man of No Importance, My Favorite Year and Anastasia. I think the answer is … yes. Although a number of songs are silly, there are glimpses of the greatness to come. Especially in numbers like “Times Like This” and “Nice”, the team’s ability to tell tender ballads is fortold. The opening number “Something Funny’s Going On” as well as “Him, Them, It, Her” shows the ability to construct humorous multipart choral numbers. So although the story is a silly farce, it does show the genius yet to come.

Now, as farces go, this is not a tightly crafted as, say, Noises Off. It calls for overacting at times, it creates absurd situations, and has some truly bad lines reflective of the times (“she don’t just can-can, she will-will”). It requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. But it is also very funny, and I think most people will find laugh-out-loud humor in the story. If not, well they will at least appreciate some of the songs.

Lucky Stiff Prodction Photos In many ways, the success of a farce depends on the execution of the story. Split second timing, a willingness to go overboard when appropriate, and the ability to play for the joke is critical. For a musical farce, you need to be able to handle the music and choreography as well, which is also tightly timed. Director Stephen Van Dorn (FB) and Choreographer Julie Hall (FB) lead the cast reasonably well in this regard. The movement coordination during the second act chase (“Him, Them, It, Her”) works very well, and the players handle the farcical aspects pretty well (although, at times, they overplay it too much).

In the lead couple positions were Brandon Parrish (FB) as Harry Witherspoon, and Claire Adams (FB) as Annabel Glick. Parrish, who has to be the straight man to much of the humor and craziness going around him, handles the situations with aplomb. He also sings quite well (a side we didn’t see in 33 Variations). Adams, who we last saw as Hero’s target of adoration in Cabrillo’s Forum, handled the humor here as well. She also did a great job with one of my favorite songs in this show, “Times Like These”.

The protagonist … make that catalyst … for this story, Anthony Hendon, is played by Vito Viscuso (FB). I must say that his performance was a bit stiff. (pause for effect) Now that we are past that joke, seriously, Viscuso handled the part of a corpse very well, really only standing and dancing in one number. This is not an indictment of his acting, however, as we saw him in the previous production at Actors Co-Op, Cats Paw, where he was spectacular.

Our comedic second couple, Tony’s lover Rita LaPorta and her brother, Dr. Vincent DiRuzzio, were portrayed by Rory Patterson (FB) and Brian Habicht (FB), respectively. Patterson threw herself in the role wholecloth, playing it broadly for the humor and handling her comic numbers quite well (looking back, almost all of her numbers are comic numbers). Habicht also handled the humor quite well, especially in “The Phone Call” (his call back to his wife) and the closing scenes.

The remaining sole actor named role was David Atkinson (FB)’s Luigi Gaudi, who is a person Harry first meets on the train, and then keeps running into. He plays this well for the comedy.

Rounding out the cast are an ensemble of four, who handle multiple characters each (and are thus credited as Woman 1 and 2, and Man 1 and 2). These versatile players are: Gina D’Acciaro (FB) [Woman 1: Landlady, Miss Thorsby, Nurse, Southern Lady #1, Dancing Portrait, Drunken Maid], Alastair James Murden (FB) [Man 1: Surly Lorry Driver, Solicitor, Prosperous Man on Train, Clothing Salesman, French Emcee, Croupier, Nun, Old Texan]; Selah Victor (FB) [Woman 2: Dominique du Monaco, Spinster, Southern Lady #2, Dancing Roulette Wheel]; and Jose Villarreal (FB) [Man 2: Offstage Telegram Deliverer, Vicious Punk, Mr Loomis the Eye Patient, French Waiter on Train, Stationmaster’s Voice, Bellhop, French Waiter in Club, Dapper Gambler, Leper]. Note that one of our two programs had a slip that the Woman 2’s roles were being split between choreographer Julie Hall (FB) [Spinster, Southern Lady] and producer Catherine Gray (FB) [Dominique], but I don’t know if that applied to our performance. D’Acciaro did a wonderfully over-the-top performance as the requisite drunken maid, and Murden stood out as the emcee. I’m not sure who was playing Dominique (who gets the number “Speaking French”), but whoever did it at our performance handled it quite well, including the intentional overplay on the acting.

Music was under the direction of Taylor Stephenson who was also playing the keyboards behind the scenery (and who we have heard and seen at numerous Chance shows). Joining him were Malila Hollow (FB), also on keyboards and synthesizer, Nic Gonzales/FB on bass, and Jorge Zuniga (FB) on drums.

Finally, turning to the creative and production side: The scenic design by Lex Gernon (FB) worked reasonably well, although there was no good explanation about why the door to #5 was upside down (which was oddly distracting). However, the parachute made up for it. The scenic design was supported by Nicholas Acciani (FB)’s properties, which for the most part worked well. The lighting design by Lisa D. Katz (FB) served to define the mood appropriately and direct attention. On the other hand, Warren Davis (FB)’s — or the execution thereof — had some problems at our performance, with mics cutting in and out and odd static at times. Vicki Conrad (FB)’s costume design worked well, although some (going with the theme) were a bit on the stereotypical side. Hair and makeup was by Krys Fehervari (FB). Remining production credits: E. K. Dagenfield (FB) – Dialect Coach; Leticia Gonzalez (FB) – Stage Manager; James Ledesma (FB) and Derek Copenhaver (FB) – Assistant Stage Managers; Heather Chesley (FB) – Artistic Chairperson, David Elzer/Demand PR (FB) – Publicity; Selah Victor (FB) – Production Manager, and Catherine Gray (FB) – Producer.

Lucky Stiff continues at Actors Co-op (FB) through June 18. Tickets are available through Actors Co-Op; discount tickets may be available through Goldstar. Actor’s Co-Op has announced their summer Actors Co-Op Too! season as well as their 2017-2018 season. I’ve written up my thoughts on their season here; in short – subscribe!

🎩 🎩 🎩

Upcoming Shows: May concludes with a production from Write Act Rep (FB) at their new home in North Hollywood, Freeway Dreams, followed by Hello Again at the Chromolume Theatre (FB) [plus my wife is off to the Simi Valley Cajun and Blues Festival (FB) on Sunday, as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is playing, while I work on the highway pages].

Saturday, June 3: Unavailable to Fringe
Sunday, June 4: Until 4p – Annual Gluten Free Expo | [K/R] ⇒ 6p – Hey Hollywood! My Hustle has ADHD | [D/K/R] ⇒ 8p – Robot Monster the Musical | [D/K/R] ⇒ 930p – Buffy Kills Edward: The Musical | [D/K/R]
Saturday, June 10: 3p – The Heart Change – Ink Theatre | [D²/K²] ⇒ 5:30p – 86’d | [D/K] ⇒ 7p – Insuppressible: The Unauthorized Leah Remini Story | [D²/K²]
Sunday, June 11: 3p – Five Guys Named Moe at Ebony Repertory Theatre (FB) | [D]
Saturday, June 17: 1p – Pretty, Witty Nell | [D²/K²] (Poss. Canc.) ⇒ 3:30p – Zombie Clown Trump | [D/K] ⇒ 5:30p – Conversations ‘Bout The Girls | [D/K] ⇒ 7:30p – Inversion | [D/K]
Sunday, June 18: Fathers Day – Open
Saturday, June 24: 11:30a – Hello Again, The Songs of Allan Sherman [D²/K²/R²] ⇒ 3p – Slightly Off Broadway (Chromolume) | [D²/K²/R²] ⇒ 5:30p – Trump in Space | [D/K/R²] ⇒ 7p – The ABCs | [D/K/R²] ⇒ 9p – Reasons to be Pretty / Maxwelton | [D/K/R²]
Sunday, June 25: 2p – Transition | [D/K] ⇒ 4p – Khant Hotel | [D²/K²] ⇒ 5:30p – Bachelorette by Leslye Headland | [D²/K²]

New From The Old

Posted onTuesday, May 16, 2017Authorcahwyguy

Today’s news chum post brings you five stories of new coming from the old:

North Hollywood. Emerging from the surface parking lot that just turned into a paid parking lot will be a new mixed use development. The plan would include 1,500 units of housing, 150,000 square feet of retail, and 450,000 square feet of offices (and 5,400 parking spaces). The project will be spread across a complex of new buildings centered around the intersection of Lankershim and Chandler. Plans also include a public plaza and a new entrance to the North Hollywood station, located beneath South Chandler on the western side of Lankershim (explaining the long empty stub on the S end of the North Hollywood station).
Masonic Lodge / Marciano Museum. The long shuttered Masonic Lodge on Wilshire (where once gigantic Lodge 42, my dad’s lodge, once met) is about to be reborn as the Marciano Art Museum. Here’s everything you need to know about it. The museum will be free and open to the public from Thursday through Saturday. Wednesdays will be reserved for school groups, and the museum will provide transportation reimbursements for all L.A. County public school visits. Advanced ticket reservations are required, and can be reserved online by setting up a free account (which takes less than 30 seconds) on their website.
Macy’s Woodland Hills / Woodland Hills Post Office. The long-standing post office in Woodland Hills on Clarendon (right next to where my father-in-law’s accounting office was) is closing. But don’t fear, Woodland Hills. They are moving — for perhaps 18 months — into the shuttered Macy’s at the Promenade Mall. Also facing closure and relocation are the Reseda and Northridge post offices.
Orange Grove Bistro / Hyatt Place. CSUN is getting a hotel. They are building it where the Orange Grove Bistro is now, and it will provide not only rooms for parents and visiting scholars, but a full-service restaurant and meeting rooms. This will be useful for campus, but I fear the traffic.
TWA Flight Center / Hotel. Moving out of LA for a moment, the unique long-shuttered TWA flight center at JFK Airport is becoming a hotel. Nearly 14 years after its closure—the TWA terminal finally found a new purpose. According to plans by JetBlue and a hotel developer, the original head house will be transformed into an airport hotel, consisting of 505 new guest rooms while maintaining many of the airport’s original icons, including the Lisbon Lounge and the Paris Café.