I stopped into the Spring Fling at Bergamot Art Station this past Saturday for a tiny sampling of all that this unique gallery complex has to offer. Spring Fling is extra fun; the doors swing open, the crowds swell in, people gather around the complimentary bar, dine at food trucks and enjoy music - a festive way to usher in the spring art... Read more →

On Sunday, March 20, the first day of spring, Spring de Haviland headed to the Santa Monica Pier, prepared to collect advice for a “kindness o'gram” to send to this year's presidential candidates as part of her 5th annual Spring Into Kindness Campaign. Four years ago, de Haviland put the focus of her event on how the presidential... Read more →

One was a music major on the East Coast. One studied communications in Illinois. One spent time working in Wisconsin. One helped drug addicts in rural California. Their backgrounds are different, their interests diverse, their careers distinct. But their paths will converge Thursday evening at Ocean House, where they will be honored by... Read more →

By Kathryn Whitney Boole I had expected that “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” was going to be a wacky comedy about the experiences of an embedded reporter during the war in the Afghanistan. The movie turned out to be something entirely different, and so much more than I anticipated. This is a very important film in many ways. From very first... Read more →

This week I've seen three theatre productions written by women. The Jewish Women's Theatre's latest production, “The Blessing of a Broken Heart” at The Braid in Santa Monica, is based on National Jewish Book Award and Edgerton New Play Award-winner Sherri Mandell's book of the same name, adapted for the stage by Todd Salovey. At... Read more →

Take two brilliant actors who are so “real” that you forget they're acting. Add a fine director to guide them through their adventure, and top it off with a script that is so intelligent, engrossing and thought-provoking that it leaves you, as a good book does, feeling wistful when it comes to an end. Such a play is Laura Eason's... Read more →

The Knight of Cups is a tarot card that represents a messenger. It also signifies energy, drive, imagination and creativity - and a commitment to use one's imagination to enhance the world. Some believe tarot cards have the power of prophecy. In practicality the cards offer life lessons. The protagonist in the film "Knight of Cups," a... Read more →

In 2014 I went to the massive, impossibly sprawling Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland (reporting on some of it here). To find the gems in the solo performance genre, you must sit in countless small venues and watch a lot of one-person shows. But you can count on whatever's playing at Edinburgh's Traverse Theater to be top quality. It's... Read more →

He is a non-observant Jew, she is an ardent Catholic, and they meet cute. He sees her through the front window of an art gallery in Soho and jumps out of his Uber to meet her. He bumbles awkwardly through an introduction and she, for some inexplicable reason, is charmed. Thus begins writer/director Dan Frischman's dramedy “Sex, Faith, and... Read more →

Robert Segal is extremely proud of his new horse. Though the horse is not a living breathing animal, but instead a mindful meditation tool on the website Helpguide.org; one his wife Jeanne will warn you may be upsetting for some to use, as mindful meditation is hard on those who are not comfortable with their emotions. The Segals know a lot... Read more →

Why open an umbrella with your hands when you can create a series of 20-plus chain reactions using science and technology skills to accomplish the same goal? That's the challenge put forth by the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, a highlight of the innovation expo taking place March 12 on the Santa Monica Pier. Students from Santa Monica High... Read more →

By Kathryn Whitney Boole "The Wave" (Bolgen) is a Norwegian gem of a movie that exists as proof that a great disaster film does not need to boast an A-list star to thrill its audience, nor does it even need to be spoken in the language of its audience. "The Wave" is indeed one of the best disaster movies I've ever seen. It is set on a more... Read more →

“Tempest Redux” reimagines one of Shakespeare's most beloved and complex plays, now onstage at The Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles. John Farmanesh-Bocca, who ran Shakespeare Santa Monica for 10 years (staging the Bard's classics on a municipal tennis court), is the director and choreographer of this reconstructed rendition of “The... Read more →

In the children's nursery song the cheese stands alone. Hi-ho the derry-o, the cheese stands alone. In the Jewish home it is the mother who often stands alone, because her children frequently see her as opinionated, pushy, stubborn, and embarrassing. As seen by those children who grow up to be comedians, however, those negative... Read more →

My Oscar Choices 2016 Not that it's going to make any difference in the ballots, as I'm not a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences…however here is the list of winners that I would have voted for - in some cases not the list of whom I actually think will win the awards. Below you'll also see a final round of reviews for... Read more →