![\"Frankie](\"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/avalon.jpg\")
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Tom Paxton often says about nostalgia that it is OK to look back, as long as you don’t stare.<\/p>\nTom Paxton often says about nostalgia that it is OK to look back, as long as you don’t stare.<\/p>\n
Thursday night, when we saw Frankie Avalon<\/a> at the Soraya\/VPAC<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>), it felt like it was a staring contest — there was that much nostalgia. Admittedly, Avalon’s long career<\/a> — dating from the 1950s to today, can lend one to nostalgia. Admittedly, the age of the audience made that nostalgia successful (we were some of the younger folks there). But the show was dripping in nostalgia none-the-less.<\/p>\n I didn’t scribble down a set list, but just get the latest Everly Avalon (i.e., Edan Everly and Frankie Avalon) album “The Good Old Days”, and you’ll have much of the show. I do have a few observations I want to share, however… I’ll note that overall, the show was enjoyable and a trip down memory lane.<\/p>\n But, as I said, musically the show was a load of fun. It was a very fast 90-110 minutes. But don’t go expecting anything newer than “Beauty School Dropout”.<\/p>\n 🎭<\/p>\n Ob. Disclaimer<\/strong>: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I\u2019ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I\u2019ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I\u2019m 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 (or I\u2019ll make a donation to the theatre, in lieu of payment). I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at\u00a05 Star Theatricals<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>), the\u00a0Hollywood Pantages<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>),\u00a0Actors Co-op<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>), \u00a0the Soraya\/VPAC<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>), and the\u00a0Musical Theatre Guild<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>). 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\u2019s production, I focus on the positive \u2014 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.<\/p>\n Upcoming Shows<\/strong>:<\/p>\n November concludes with Bandstand\u00a0<\/em>at\u00a0Broadway in Thousand Oaks<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n December is getting busy, given that we lose two weekends to\u00a0ACSAC<\/a>, and the small theatres are often darker around the holidays. The weekend after ACSAC brings an outing of our new live theatre group at our synagogue to\u00a0Eight Nights\u00a0<\/em>at the\u00a0Anteaus Theatre Company<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>).\u00a0 I also have a hold for December 21 for\u00a0Elf\u00a0<\/em>at\u00a0Canyon Theatre Guild<\/a>.<\/p>\n Looking to early 2020: most of the January is currently quiet, but the middle of the month is busy, with\u00a0What The Constitution Means To Me\u00a0<\/em>at the\u00a0Mark Taper Forum<\/a>, and\u00a0Frozen\u00a0<\/em>at the\u00a0Hollywood Pantages<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>) the third weekend, and\u00a0Cirque \u00c9loize<\/a>\u00a0at \u00a0the Soraya\/VPAC<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>) the last weekend. Things start heating up in February, with\u00a0The Last Ship\u00a0<\/em>(with Sting) at\u00a0the Ahmanson Theatre<\/a>\u00a0the first weekend;\u00a0A Body of Water\u00a0<\/em>at\u00a0Actors Co-op<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>) and\u00a0It Shoulda Been You\u00a0<\/em>at\u00a0Musical Theatre Guild<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>) the third weekend; and (whew!)\u00a0\u00a0The Simon and Garfunkel Story\u00a0<\/em>at the\u00a0Hollywood Pantages<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>),\u00a0Escape to Margaritaville\u00a0<\/em>at the\u00a0Dolby Theatre<\/a>\/Broadway in LA (FB<\/a>), and\u00a0Step Afrika\u00a0<\/em>at\u00a0the Soraya\/VPAC<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>) the fourth weekend. Yes, that is the Pantages and the Dolby the same day \u2014 that\u2019s what I get for not entering season tickets on my calendar before ticketing a bonus show. March comes in like a lamb, with the first two weekends (2\/29 and 3\/7) being quiet\u2026 but goes out like a Lion. The 2nd weekend brings the MRJ Man of the Year dinner; the 3rd\u00a0Morris\u2019 Room<\/em>\u00a0at\u00a0Actors Co-op<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>) ; and the last bringing\u00a0Spongebob Squarepants\u00a0<\/em>at the\u00a0Dolby Theatre<\/a>\/Broadway in LA (FB<\/a>) and\u00a0the MoTAS\/TBH Seder<\/a>. April is similarly busy: the 1st weekend is\u00a0Mamma Mia<\/em>\u00a0at\u00a05 Star Theatricals<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>); the 2nd is during Pesach and is open (but has\u00a0Count Basie\u00a0<\/em>at\u00a0the Soraya\/VPAC<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>) the Thursday before); the 3rd is\u00a0Once on This Island<\/em>\u00a0at\u00a0the Ahmanson Theatre<\/a>; the last is\u00a0Hamilton\u00a0<\/em>at the\u00a0Hollywood Pantages<\/a>\u00a0(FB<\/a>), and the first weekend of May is\u00a0Mean Girls\u00a0<\/em>at the\u00a0Dolby Theatre<\/a>\/Broadway in LA (FB<\/a>)<\/p>\n As always, I\u2019m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as\u00a0Better-Lemons<\/a>,\u00a0Musicals in LA<\/a>,\u00a0@ This Stage<\/a>,\u00a0Footlights<\/a>, as well as productions I see on\u00a0Goldstar<\/a>,\u00a0LA Stage Tix<\/a>,\u00a0Plays411<\/a>\u00a0or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on\u00a0How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget<\/a>. Want to learn about all the great theatre in Southern California? Read\u00a0my post on how Los Angeles (and its environs) is the best area for theatre in the Country<\/a>!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tom Paxton often says about nostalgia that it is OK to look back, as long as you don’t stare. Thursday night, when we saw Frankie Avalon at the Soraya\/VPAC\u00a0(FB), it felt like it was a staring contest — there was that much nostalgia. Admittedly, Avalon’s long career — dating from the 1950s to today, can Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108,51],"tags":[531,354,523],"class_list":["post-15612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-concerts","category-reviews","tag-concerts-2019","tag-csun-vpac","tag-reviews-2019"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15612"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15619,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15612\/revisions\/15619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n