The Children’s After School Theater 1st-4th
graders’ musical performances of Annie Jr. are Friday May 31 at 7 p.m.,
Saturday June 1 at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., and Sunday June 2 at 12:30 p.m. in
Simkins Hall at First United Methodist. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for
seniors/children. For more info: santamonicaumc.org

Taken from the plays, playlets and poetry of “Theatre of the Absurd” playwright Eugène Ionesco (Rhinoceros, The Bald Soprano, Exit the King), Ionescopade is a zany musical vaudeville featuring mime, farce and parody – all hilariously balanced on the edge of madness.

Composer/lyricist Mildred Kayden was Ionesco’s guest in his Paris apartment while creating the work, and they remained friends until his death in 1994. “Ionesco was always very loving and warm,” says Kayden, now 90. “He always insisted that life is funny. We need to look at life and find the humor in it, or we can’t take it.”

“Ionescopade is a vaudeville, so it’s episodic, fast moving, a little naughty and very, very funny,” explains director and choreographer Bill Castellino. “When I first approached it in 1981, I saw it as an entertaining, silly evening of non-sequitors. Thirty years later, it all makes a new kind of sense. The world around the play has changed. Continuous access to information, multi-tasking and endless news cycles make seeming non-sequitors normal in daily life. Like a true piece of art, Ionesco’s work lived during his time, and now it continues to live in other periods.”

He continues, “Ionesco wrote during and after WWII in France, and his plays are impacted by the Nazi occupation, repression, informants, paranoia and liberation. Now, in a post-911 world, these topics resonate afresh, and that’s fascinating to me. Humanity uses laughter to survive oppression. Ionescopade shines light on this very human resilience.”

Performances of Ionescopade take place on Fridays and Saturdays @ 8 pm and Sundays @ 2 pm*, May 31 through August 11. (*On Sunday, June 2 only, the performance will be @ 5 pm with no 2 pm matinee.) Additional weeknight performances are scheduled on Wednesdays @ 8 pm on June 19, July 17 and July 31, and on Thursdays @ 8 pm on June 13, June 27, July 11 and July 25. Tickets are $30, except opening weekend (May 31, June 1 and June 2) which are $34 and include a reception with the actors. The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, 90025. For reservations and information, call (310) 477-2055 or go to www.OdysseyTheatre.com.

June 1 – July 6, 2013

Reception: Saturday, June 1, 4-6pm

Gallery hours: Tues-Fri, 10am-5:30pm, Sat, 11am-5:30pm

Jenny Okun’s ninth solo exhibition at Craig Krull Gallery consists of images that Okun has made to be projected on the stage of the opera, Dulce Rosa, which is being presented at the LA Philharmonic from May 17 – June 9 at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.  Using a medium format camera, Okun creates multiple exposure photographs that are both abstract and architecturally specific.  When viewing the images, one senses the drama of Dulce Rosa as its protagonist plans revenge in a South American country.  The horizontal format of each montage of photographs transports the viewer through shifting space and light, hinting at the pacing and moods of the opera.
Concurrently, the gallery will present an exhibition of recent landscape paintings by Bruce Everett.  After spending many years in Southern California, Everett recently moved to the central coast and, like many cultural historians and geographers, he recognizes Point Conception as the border between Southern and Northern California.  Entitled, North of Conception, this exhibition includes views of the vineyards, oaks and rolling hills that characterize the Central Coast.

Weight Watchers sponsors a special,  free day of activities and demonstrations that will get you in the mood to move. Great offers and fun surprises are featured in celebration of a program 50 years in the making.

On Saturday, June 1, the City of Santa Monica presents its 22nd annual Santa Monica Festival. The event is a celebration of all that is unique to one of Southern California’s most innovative cities and favorite beachside destinations. Showcasing sustainable living and culture through an array of fun, family-friendly activities and performances, this free festival provides an opportunity for residents and visitors alike to come together, to connect, create, and celebrate Santa Monica.

WHAT:          The Santa Monica Festival features live music, dance performances, art workshops, food trucks, cooking demonstrations, fitness classes, and other interactive activities that reflect the culture and diversity of this unique beach City.

WHEN:          Saturday, June 1, 2013

11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

WHERE:       Clover Park, 2600 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, Calif.

COST:            The Santa Monica Festival is free of charge, and open to all. No reservations are required. Parking and bike valet are also free.

INFO:             For more information on parking, food trucks, live entertainment, and a line up of the day’s events, please visit www.smgov.net/festival. Become a fan on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

The festival is presented by the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division and the Office of Sustainability and the Environment (OSE). It is produced by Community Arts Resources (CARS).

The Los Angeles Children’s Theater’s magical production of the classic fairy tale Cinderella features three real sisters in the leading roles.

The lovely and talented Ashleigh, Beau and Brooke Dawson play Cinderella and her two evil stepsisters with the realism only possible with three real sisters! 

LACT’s Cinderella is filled with miracles and wonder.  This enchanting production features dazzling magical tricks, delightful dance numbers, extravagant costumes, enchanting scenic and lighting design, and memorable characters.

Cinderella shares a glorious dance with the Prince, but then is discovered as a ragamuffin in a ragged dress.  Will the Prince love her when he finds her? Was she the thief who stole the glass slipper…or the future Princess? Will the Prince even let her try on the glass slipper in such a state as she is?

Come see this delightful and “true” version of Cinderella at the Little Theater. Great for all audiences ages 3 and up.

The Children’s After School Theater 1st-4th
graders’ musical performances of Annie Jr. are Friday May 31 at 7 p.m.,
Saturday June 1 at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., and Sunday June 2 at 12:30 p.m. in
Simkins Hall at First United Methodist. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for
seniors/children. For more info: santamonicaumc.org

In five sessions, drop ins welcome.
Saturdays, 6/1, 6/8, 6/15, 6/22, 6/29, 2-4pm
Class Cost: Pregister online for $100 + $25 material fee for all five sessions. Please bring material fee in cash to the first session. Sign up here (account creation required, takes up to 24 hrs to process): http://recenroll.smgov.net/adet.sdi?activity_id=32490

… Or drop in on each the day-of for $30 cash at the door – call (310) 458-2239 for info.

Students will learn about basic jewelry making technique and tools in the first class. In following classes students will make projects of their choosing utilizing found materials. Found materials range from discarded jewelry parts to bottle caps, paper, hardware and more. In the last class students will make an upcycled display for their pieces. Students are encouraged to bring in their own materials and photos for inspiration.

Artist Bethany King, born in Missouri and raised on a farm in Tennessee, began making jewelry as young as can be remembered. Resources were always limited so she found a knack for repurposing anything and everything – from shoeboxes to discarded lost and found items – with a potential for becoming a work of art. After relocating to Los Angeles in 2011, her design style evolved and her passion for repurposing exploded thus beginning her journey towards building a business that caters to the broken and discarded world, creating a renewed and revitalized vision of endless potential for new beginnings. The reDiscover Center promotes resource conservation, creativity, and community engagement, by recycling everyday discards donated by business and giving them new purpose as hands-on learning materials.

In Person Advance Registration: For cash or check payments, advance registration is accepted in person at the Ken Edwards Center, 1527 4th St., Santa Monica CA 90401 (just south of Broadway), between 8:30-5pm M-Th & every other Friday. Please remember to bring cash to cover material fees on the first day of class.

Day-of Registration: For drop-ins, please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of class with cash to cover both the class and material fee. It is advisable to call ahead in case a class has reached capacity.

Parking and Transport: Parking is free for 1.5 hours in Parking Structure 7 (off Broadway west of 4th) or 8 (off 2nd St. north of Colorado) adjacent to the Santa Monica Place Mall. The first 1.5 hours are free, the next hour is $1 followed by $1.50 every 30 min. thereafter to a maximum of $14. There are also meters on Ocean Avenue, $2/hr maximum 2 hours. Buses that serve 1450 Ocean include Routes 1, 7 and Rapid 7, 10. Visit bigbluebus.com for more information.

General Info: For more information about classes and registration, please contact Community Classes at (310) 458-2239, community.classes@smgov.net.

Giving the local middle school and high school girls in our community a chance to express themselves through song, dance, skits, personal stories, spoken word & more! Featuring performances by YWCA program participants ages 11-18.

When:  Sunday, June 2, 2013 – Walk begins at 9:00 a.m.

Where:   Santa Monica Pier, Lot 1 North (next to the Pier)

Time:     7:30 a.m. – Registration Opens

8:30 a.m. – Opening Ceremony; 8:45 a.m. – Warm-Up

9:00 a.m. – Walk Begins, 1 or 3 mile options

               Until 12:00 noon – The Arthritis Walk Village will feature live entertainment,

Kids Zone, activities, refreshments, and food.

At the Event…

• Choose either a three-mile or one-mile walk route
• Maureen and the Mercury 5, with lead singer Maureen Davis, will entertain
• Enjoy the fun, festivities, food and free health information
• Meet Youth Honoree Gwendolyn Whiting; Medical Honorees Susan A. Baker, M.D. and Kevin Ehrhart, M.D.
• Live Entertainment at the Festival Zone and along the route
• Children welcome; City of Santa Monica does not permit animals at this event