Fabiana Medici is the BEST acting coach/teacher/instructor mentor anyone in LA could possibly ask…read morefor! She made me fall back in love with acting after leaving it for years! I don't think I would have made it out here in Los Angeles without her! If you're on the fence or even debating on if you should hire her for ANY job the answer should and needs to be YES! A million times yes. She's the bright light this industry needs in these rough times. And yeah I just can't recommend her enough.

Fabiana Medici has been my Method Acting teacher at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in…read moreLos Angeles for the past 12 weeks, and she has truly made me fall in love with Method Acting. The way she guides the class is incredibly intuitive and grounded. There's something very spiritual about her approach, she sees people deeply and clearly. Fabiana knows exactly when to push you and when to hold back, which creates a safe but challenging space to do real work. she sees right through me, in the best way possible, and knows how to guide me to get better each week. What I appreciate most is how she teaches truth. She's shown me the difference between feeling the truth and forcing the truth, and that distinction alone has completely changed the way I approach acting. Nothing feels performative or fake, it's about honesty, presence, and listening to your instincts. Everything about her teaching feels intentional, generous, and deeply knowledgeable. She's an incredible teacher, and I'm so grateful to have learned from her. I couldn't recommend her more.

As part of the Carpenter Performing Arts Center Arts for Life events, the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra…read moreconducted by Mitch Glickman, performed a memorable program. In honor of the Ninety-fifth Anniversary of the premiere of George Gershwin's Rapsody in Blue, it was played in its original form. In the program was ASCAP Foundation competition winner Permission by G. Patrick Gandy and Regeneration by Erica Seguine. There were stunning passages in both. Hopefully recordings will be made so that they will be enjoyed again rather than the oft "great music heard only once". But in fact, Rapsody in Blue as played today may be a unique performance. In 1924, Paul Whitman was anxious to introduce jazz in concert form. Gershwin had a short schedule in which to produce his Rapsody in Blue for its Aeolian Hall premiere. (I'd love to muse that my Grandparents attended, but they were busy with babies) Through the years this beloved piece was honed and embellished to its present day familiarity. Mitch Glickman and Grammy winner Bill Cunliff were eloquent in demostrating this. This is a magnificent orchestra, as Glickman proudly called "a crayon box" of the industrys' best. Culled from many musical areas, they are who we hear in film, recordings, game videos. Children were present, even a baby, whose sweet gurgling seem to enhance rather than distract. A major mission of the Orchestra is to bring music to the area schools. Some schools not having music performances for many decades. I wish them well.

I've seen a few shows at Interact and they have all been very good. The production value is high…read morewith solid acting, good sets and costumes, and a company really devoted to professional theatre. In LA there is a lot of theatre, and much of it is not worth seeing, but you can count on Interact to deliver. They tend to specialize in classic works and shows that are family appropriate. You'll be able to take your grandma without any hesitation. Most recently I saw "The Matchmaker" and was really impressed. Such a great story with very funny characters... the actors were all very good at comedy and kept the audience laughing. It made me think that there is a reason why some of these plays are classics, and I'm glad there's a company like this one to bring them back to life for us.

Judy Judy Judy Well,…read moreyour final resting spot maybe not somewhere over the rainbow but you're at least somewhere over HOLLYWOOD... Judy Garland had a mausoleum burial @ HFC. Now Judy was originally buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in New York, but her remains were moved to Hollywood Forever in 2017 at the request of her family.... Someone gave those magic slippers to her for the afterlife journey not to Kansas but to HOLLYWOOD! Judy has a large granite wall for honoring or paying homage to her legacy when visiting. Fellow fans have left items for her at the site but be respectful in gifts.. Just an FYI Toto is not far away in the cemetery but this is all about Judy at the moment and forever.

i got to give frances gumm aka judy garland her respect big time. she was able to get the part of…read moredorothy in one of hollywood's most classic movie and was able to play a young teenager even though she was 20ish . when i look back in my opinion no one could have play a better dorothy .she was a big hollywood star which shined even brighter with that classic role. she had a daughter by the name of liza minelli who did a pretty good job of being her own star without people adding miss garland in the mix. her personal life was filled with many husbands ,plenty of booze and pills. miss garland died young at 47 due to an overdose and she really looked older in her later years then her actual age. from a star is born to the wizard of oz miss judy garland is an hollywood movie star that was from the golden age of hollywood that is long gone. P.s. Google JUDY GARLAND , Her story is really interesting .

This time, I'm not Yelping the venue, I'm Yelping the group themselves. In fact, though they're…read morelisted under their mailing address - I think for the past year, they've been performing at studio/stage at 520 N. Western, within the boundaries, I think, of Koreatown. It's a nice (tiny) little space, but more importantly, I think Playwright's Arena has very quietly been doing some of the most important work in L.A for the past few years. Their current production (if you happen to see this in July 2007) is a truly wonderful play by the late John Belluso, a disabled playwright who was doing some of his best work when he died at an early age. His plays are incredibly smart, political, personal, and specific, and they can range from incredibly frightening looks at just how far around the bend caregivers can go, to PYRETOWN, the play that's up right now: Basically, a very clear-eyed, surprisingly unsentimental look at a very believable relationship between a 23 year-old quadriplegic and a 42 year-old single mother who's reaching the end of her rope. Beautiful. Unique. Theatre cut down to its essence: Great writing, great acting, nicely supported by simple and effective designs. Even if this extraordinary play isn't up by the time you catch it, you should just always go see anything Playwright's Arena does. They're doing the most consistently diverse (in every sense of the word) theatre, and no matter what your stripe, I think you're going to find yourself touched in ways no other medium can touch you. Check 'em out whenever they've got something up!

Playwright's areana and the Latino Theater Company presented this play called Bonded. The play was…read moreexcellent. This is a play about slaves in 1829 Virginia which is about eroticism, romance and sexuality in African-American slave narrtaives. Starring Eric B Anthony(Asa), Terrence C Clemmons(Sonny), Carl Crudup(Jack) and beautiful Toyin Moses(Lily). The theater is nice, clean and intimate. A variety of restaurants across the streets

I went for the Glass, he went for the Kafka…read more May 5. While apparently the rest of the city was freely downing Cinco de Mayo tacos and tequila, we attended the final performance of the production of the opera In The Penal Colony at The Studio Theater CSULB. This is a fine small auditorium, well planned and comfortable. That comfort is essential for full attention to be given to the many aspects, somber and sober, of this excellent (with caveat) production. First, the raison d'être for my attending. I find that this opera is one of Philip Glass' most stunningly beautiful. The string quintet, though mounted out of sight, was the engine for this brilliant study of a killing "machine". The strong voices of tenor Doug Jones and baritone Zeffis Quinn Hollis were superb. I consider this an important work well developed and well measured by conductor Andreas Mitisek. I would not want to engage in criticism out of my realm. The book of Kafka's short stories is bedside awaiting me to pick it up. Somewhere along the line in the twentieth century, opera went slightly mad in its desire to stage productions that meet modern needs. (Next season's King Arthur [as a comic book superhero] by Henry Purcell in collaboration with whimsically juvenile-loving Musica Angelica arouses much curiosity. Get ready kids.) Kafka wrote of inhumanity and absurdity of humans over a hundred years ago. The added text from the student's ensemble personal incarcerations diminished that theme. There was an important point to make, no question, but youth personalized stories led to unanswered questions and reduced their message. Corral students freedom of speech, really? Really that's the kid's sugar treat. Poor staging revolved around stomping students many with muddy line delivery. Stage direction to place them behind a stark curtain (à la Julie Taymor, à la wayang kulit) and silent for ultimate expressiveness was inspired. Poorly developed as a Greek chorus but when given the opportunity to act, Morgan Pimental, John E. Pizzini, Matthew Limas and especially Mark Oliver ably shone through the ponderous choreography.

Long Beach Opera is a small company. Size doesn't matter. Most of the voices are good and the…read moreorchestra is stronger than their size would indicate. Their venue (the Terrace Theater) does not have the best acoustics, but they are doing edgier productions that what you see at the neighboring Los Angeles Opera. I am a fan.

Harriet and the ladies of the String Quartet were just fantastic. I contacted them about 4 months…read moreout from my wedding last summer and was sooo pleased to find they were free on the date of our wedding. I mean, they've played for Oprah! I had a unique "vision" for our outdoor wedding ceremony, involving some specific music, both popular and traditional, plus involving a friend of mine to sing. Unfortunately the friend lived in upstate New York and wouldn't be able to practice with the Ladies until the day of the wedding. I felt so lucky to have found Harriet, because she was so creative and open-minded and had some great ideas for my husband and I. We paid a deposit and sent in the rest the week of the wedding. The ladies were practicing with my friend as I pulled in to the ceremony site an hour ahead of time and sounded gorgeous. They played everything from Pachabel's Canon to Paul Stookey's The wedding Song, to Van Morrison and the Beatles and an Irish Recessional Song "Haste to the Wedding." Her motto was- if you can find the music, we can play it! The ladies were so professional and wonderful and my only regret is that I hardly got to spend any time with them! Harriet, I am so grateful for your talent and professionalism and wonderful spirit. Thank you for making our wedding so special!

The LCSQ played for our son's traditional Jewish wedding Saturday, June 1, 2013. I can only say…read morethey were fantastic. They set the musical tone and played before, during cocktails and as part of the ceremony. I can only highly recommend these talented ladies for any event you may be planning. I guarantee I will be using them again.

This Pro-Am dance team puts on a amazing fundraiser event each year for a different charity. They…read moreuse their connections and influence from the dance and business world to put on a world class dance show as part of the event. This year many of the dancers from the TV show, Dancing with the Stars" performed to raise money to end human trafficking. It was OUTSTANDING! The professional dancers, music and choreography was captivating. The dinner was delicious and elegant. Robyn and Italo deserve 10 stars for the events they throw to support worthy causes.