Southern California Guide

by Valerie Summers The multi-talented Hershey Felder filled the house on opening night at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.  Multi-talented is an understatement when describing this brilliant actor, playwright, composer, virtuoso pianist, set designer, singer and storyteller who possesses an impressive and intimate knowledge of the personal history of […]

by Valerie Summers The best recipe for fun filled holiday entertainment calls for a mixture of Charles Dickens’ traditional and beloved A Christmas Carol spiced with contemporary comments about the world we live in. Mix in the musical genius of Carole King.  Stir thoroughly with a colorful, talented group of actors, singers and dancers who […]

by Valerie Summers Six exceptionally multi- talented performers, both singers and musicians, brought the house down with their renditions of the songs of stars of Rock and Roll as well as some of their own compositions. The energy flowing between the stage and the audience was palpable as the musicians encouraged participation with singing along […]

Josh Grisetti and Rob McClure with the cast of Something Rotten! Photo: Jeremy Daniel by Valerie Summers In all my years of attending theatrical productions, last night, at the opening of Something Rotten! at the Ahmanson Theatre, I witnessed a first…a standing ovation in the midst of the performance.  Multi-award winning brothers Karey Kirkpatrick and […]

by Valerie Summers The Los Angeles premiere of Honkey Tonk Laundry at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre makes for an evening bursting with the talent of its two stars, Bets Malone and Misty Cotton.  Displaying the kind of friendship like Thelma and Louise, these two women get back at the men who done them wrong supporting […]

by Valerie Summers   Kinky Boots exploded onto the stage of the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood to a packed house and did not disappoint.  The colorful, high energy performers introduced the audience to some unusual characters in the unlikely setting of a gentlemen’s shoe factory in England about to go out of business.  Winner of […]

by Valerie Summers Expertly choreographed to reflect the title of this high energy recreation of the 1987 film, Dirty Dancing exploded onto the stage of Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre.  The story takes place during the summer of 1963 in a Catskill Mountain resort where 17-year old “Baby” Houseman, her older sister and parents are vacationing for […]

by Valerie Summers Although the Valley Performing Arts Center opened three years ago, my first visit occurred recently when I headed over to the San Fernando Valley for a performance featuring the great jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis.   Situated on the southeast corner of  the California State University, Northridge campus, the stunning  glass walled landmark […]

by Valerie Summers Multi-talented does not begin to describe  Daniel Beaty, star of The Tallest Tree in the Forest which just opened at the Mark Taper Forum at the Los Angeles Music Center.  In this one-man show, Beaty artfully and believably portrays the life story Paul Robeson but embellishes the tale with more than a […]

by Valerie Summers Inspired by the beauty of the Arizona desert, Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the most acclaimed architects in the world, designed his winter camp on a site at the base of McDowell Mountain which commanded a view of the entire Valley of the Sun in Scottsdale.  Arizona’s desert held a special appeal […]

by Valerie Summers The iconic blue and yellow striped tent is back on the beach next to the Santa Monica Pier.  An excited crowd gathered  under the gigantic tent in anticipation of what was in store.  The newest Cirque du Soleil continues to amaze and delight audiences with its unique themes, amazing talent and comedy.  […]

Five very talented actresses, well chosen not only for their voices but also their persona, make the story, Having It All,  that much more believable.   The scene is the waiting room at JFK airport where five strangers from various walks of life initially trapped together due to delay after delay, become intimate friends.  A […]