Southern California Guide

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 More than a century ago, real estate baron Henry Huntington brought super-surfer George Freeth from the surfers’ paradise in Hawaii to the Southern California seaside resort of Redondo Beach.  This exciting new addition to the fledgling beach town proved only the beginning of the diverse community which it has become. Today, vacationers […]

In the charming, rustic open-air Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, I was deeply touched by the story of the aftermath of the 1988 crash of Pam Am 103 over Lockerbie Scotland, the first of what would become many senseless acts of terrorism.  Inspired by a true story, The Women of Lockerbie, by Deborah Brevoort, […]

Attending a performance of the Pageant of the Masters each summer at the Irvine Bowl in the picturesque town of Laguna Beach is a tradition I always look forward to.  Every year I am captivated by the astoundingly accurate recreations of life-sized great works of art which magically appear on stage accompanied by live orchestral […]

A human cast of more than 40 in addition to a cast of amazing life-sized equine puppets brought what was originally described as a children’s book to life on the Ahmanson stage of the Los Angeles Music Center.  The author, Michael Morpurgo disagrees.  He feels that the tale set during World War I in England […]

Shades of Gray — no not that book — it’s a new one man play written and performed by Tom Dugan — Robert E. Lee- Shades of Gray at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills.  Mr. Dugan, whose critically acclaimed one-man play, Nazi-Hunter — Simon Wiesenthal, is back bringing to life another perhaps misunderstood historical figure […]

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.  […]

Cirque du Soliel has done it again!  Iris — A Journey Through the World of Cinema debuted last night at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre, home to the Oscars.  Appropriately named after that colorful part of the human eye which gathers light and enables vision as does the lens of a camera, Iris offers a salute to […]

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 […]

The ten enormously talented and versatile men and women of Diavolo  had members of the audience holding our collective breath as we viewed their unique performance at the 2011 season opening of The Broad Stage.  The show combines  ballet, modern dance, gymnastics, martial arts and acrobatics enhanced by a dramatic musical score. Founded in Los […]

Every seat in the casual, intimate Celebration Theatre in Hollywood was filled to capacity for the opening night (July 16) of the Los Angeles premiere of a new musical, “title of show.”  Fresh from Broadway, this unique musical is a show about making a musical created by and for people who love musicals, and the […]

One of my favorite summer outings is enjoying theatrical entertainment in the rustic Will Geer Theatre Botanicum in Topanga.  Over the weekend I viewed a fascinating play about the famous opera diva Maria Callas in Master Class which I enjoyed at the Los Angeles Music Center more than a decade ago.  This was more a […]

Last night I attended the opening of a strikingly original black comedy, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, a blistering graphic satire with a moral message about violence, which closed with a standing ovation followed by a private party honoring the actors.  The play is set on a rocky Irish island where a hard-boiled terrorist considered too […]