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Martha Scott, Palisades Pioneer, Dies at 98

Martha Scott poses for a “glamour” shot as part of the successful career she enjoyed as an opera singer and a stage actress.

=Martha Ellen Scott, daughter of the founder of Pacific Palisades and an accomplished opera singer, passed away on July 17 at her home in Hancock Park. She was 98. Scott, one of six children, was born in Pasadena in 1911, where her father, Charles, was the minister at Lincoln Avenue Methodist Church. He later led the search for a site for a new religious community under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church. That community would be called Pacific Palisades. On January 14, 1922, Rev. Scott and other Founders and their families assembled under the oaks in Temescal Canyon and drew lots for their choice of home sites in the first two tracts of Pacific Palisades. Martha drew the slips and the winners were announced. That fall, Martha moved with her family from a tent in the canyon to a cottage located on the main entrance to the ‘developed’ part of the canyon (off today’s Sunset Boulevard). She recalled in ‘Pacific Palisades: From the Mountains to the Sea’ that her father hastily drew up a floor plan for their permanent home over breakfast one morning as her mother, Anna Elizabeth, looked on apprehensively. As a youngster, Martha roamed, often on horseback, along the cliffs and canyons that look out upon the Pacific Ocean. The first church services and grammar school classes were held in the cafeteria (which is still located in Temescal Gateway Park), which was heated in the winter by a pot-bellied stove. Most of the children came from the construction site and spoke little English, Martha recalled. The teacher was a portly lady, unimaginative in her methods, and ill prepared for the challenge. It was a temptation for Martha and some of the other students to play truant and find more interesting pursuits in the out-of-doors. Living in the Scott family was an adventure in itself, Martha recalled. For both Dr. and Mrs. Scott, religion provided a deep-seated faith, a special buoyancy of body and mind. Both were physical culture enthusiasts, exercising each morning and allowing their children a bedtime romp through the house’in the buff’to be sure they would sleep soundly. Martha recalled her teenage years as ‘flapper’ years for girls, and that boys had a craze for ‘strip-downs. Young fellows of high school age would put a car together from the junk yard”two seats to sit on, in a back of that a gas tank, and four wheels, and a little bit of motor and maybe a windshield, and maybe not.’ An accomplished opera singer, Martha performed as a soloist in Europe and the United States. She married Saul Shapiro, a longtime Monterey Park real estate developer, and the couple raised four children. She is survived by sons Joel and David, daughters Celia and Ruth, and grandchildren Ana, Lucas, Powel, Sharon and Liza, plus many dear family and friends. The family wishes that memorial donations be made to a Field Science Camp at Temescal Canyon’a program that provides enrichment for underserved urban youth. Checks should be made to MRCA with a notation (in memory of Martha Scott) and mailed to Mountains Recreations and Conservation Authority, L.A. River Center and Gardens, 570 West Avenue 26, suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90065.

Slosson Viau, Jr., 91; Western Airlines Advertising Director

Longtime Pacific Palisades resident Slosson E. Viau, Jr., died on July 19, one week after celebrating his 67th wedding anniversary with his lifetime love, Marjorie Zahl Viau. Slosson had been coping with a rare bone-marrow disease, but lived a completely normal life until just a week before his passing. He was 91.   Slosson, a third-generation Californian, was born in Fresno in 1917. He grew up on a 100-acre vineyard on the outskirts of Sanger owned by his father, a Montreal-born entrepreneur and rancher. His mother was a teacher and principal of nearby Granville School. Slosson had an older brother and sister as well as a younger brother who died in infancy. He graduated from Fresno State College and attended one year of law school at UC Berkeley prior to moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in radio. He participated in a CBS workshop in Hollywood for aspiring broadcasters (including the young Chet Huntley) prior to the outbreak of World War II.   On July 12, 1942, before leaving for Europe, Slosson married Marjorie, a native of Missouri and an art teacher for the Beverly Hills School District. He served in the 593rd Signal Corps Battalion of the Army, attached to the Air Force. During his three years of service, Slosson acquired life experiences that he would later chronicle in his ‘Reflections on a G.I. Crossing.’   On May 20, 1946, Slosson began his long career with Western Airlines. He climbed the corporate ladder and eventually became Director of Advertising Services, before retiring in 1981. He helped develop Western’s ‘The Only Way to Fly’ campaign and enjoyed decades of international travel, developing relationships around the world that have endured to the present day.   A resident of the Palisades since 1966, Slosson was a member of Westwood Community Methodist Church for over 60 years and participated in the Westwood Village Rotary. He was a vital, generous and compassionate man.   Slosson is survived by his wife, Marjorie; his sons, Rev. Slosson E. Viau III, a pastor at Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church in Seattle, and Randy, an author and investor who lives in the Palisades and in Idyllwild; two grandsons, David and Sean (both of Seattle), and two great-grandchildren, Zachary and Naomi.   In tribute to Slosson, visit www.mem.com

Joy J. Pattin, 59; Former Teacher at St. Matthew’s

Joy Griesa Weatherwax Jerrick Pattin, a former resident of Pacific Palisades and teacher at St. Matthew’s School, died on July 17 at her home in Lawrence, Kansas, after a five-year battle with endometrial cancer. She was 59. A native Lawrencian, Joy attended Lawrence High School, where she was active in Girl Scouts, cheerleading and swimming. After earning her degree in education at the University of Kansas, she spent more than 30 years doing what she loved most: educating students, K-12. She taught junior high and coached girls volleyball in Bonner Springs before moving to the Palisades, where she taught kindergarten/first grade and elementary physical education at St. Matthew’s. During her 10-year stay here, Joy was a basketball, volleyball and soccer coach and an active member in the community, from Girl Scout leader to PTA member. Upon returning to Lawrence in 1991, Joy was a substitute teacher for the remaining years of her life. She loved fishing, camping, animals, the Royals, exploring new things and spending time with her family and friends. Aptly named, Joy embodied a contagious spirit’always smiling and capturing the most life had to offer. She is survived by her mother, Elizabeth Griesa Weatherwax; her husband, Marty Pattin; her four children, Jessica and Jill Jerrick (and their father Michael Jerrick), Jeff Pattin (wife Gina) and Jon Pattin (wife Pam); grandchildren Bailey, Blaine, Brock, Forrest, Carly and Grady; and brothers David Weatherwax and Scott Weatherwax (wife Vicki).   She was predeceased by her father, John T. Weatherwax, and two brothers, John Thomas, Jr., and William Stevens.   Memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Joy J. Pattin, 59; Former Teacher at St. Matthew’s

Joy Griesa Weatherwax Jerrick Pattin, a former resident of Pacific Palisades and teacher at St. Matthew’s School, died on July 17 at her home in Lawrence, Kansas, after a five-year battle with endometrial cancer. She was 59. A native Lawrencian, Joy attended Lawrence High School, where she was active in Girl Scouts, cheerleading and swimming. After earning her degree in education at the University of Kansas, she spent more than 30 years doing what she loved most: educating students, K-12. She taught junior high and coached girls volleyball in Bonner Springs before moving to the Palisades, where she taught kindergarten/first grade and elementary physical education at St. Matthew’s. During her 10-year stay here, Joy was a basketball, volleyball and soccer coach and an active member in the community, from Girl Scout leader to PTA member. Upon returning to Lawrence in 1991, Joy was a substitute teacher for the remaining years of her life. She loved fishing, camping, animals, the Royals, exploring new things and spending time with her family and friends. Aptly named, Joy embodied a contagious spirit’always smiling and capturing the most life had to offer. She is survived by her mother, Elizabeth Griesa Weatherwax; her husband, Marty Pattin; her four children, Jessica and Jill Jerrick (and their father Michael Jerrick), Jeff Pattin (wife Gina) and Jon Pattin (wife Pam); grandchildren Bailey, Blaine, Brock, Forrest, Carly and Grady; and brothers David Weatherwax and Scott Weatherwax (wife Vicki).   She was predeceased by her father, John T. Weatherwax, and two brothers, John Thomas, Jr., and William Stevens.   Memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Richardson Joins Palisades Veterinary Center on Via

Billy Richardson is the new vet at Pacific Palisades Veterinary Center, 853 Via de la Paz.
Billy Richardson is the new vet at Pacific Palisades Veterinary Center, 853 Via de la Paz.
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer

Veterinarian Billy Richardson has joined Dr. Kathy Litochleb at the Pacific Palisades Veterinary Center on Via de la Paz, giving her greater flexibility as owner of the business she has had since 1993.   ’This is a one-doctor practice and she was looking for more stability,’ says Richardson, who arrived here from North Carolina in May. Now when Litochleb goes on vacation or wants a day off, Richardson can cover for her.   Growing up in horse country in Elizabethtown, Kentucky (near Louisville), Richardson knew he wanted to be a veterinarian. His father was a trainer on a 10-acre farm, where he worked with five to six thoroughbreds.   ’Horses were my life,’ Richardson says. ‘I saw the respect that my dad had for the vet.’   Richardson attended the University of Kentucky, which offers a veterinary school program through an agreement with Auburn University.   During college and summers he worked for James Moorehead, resident veterinarian at Three Chimney Farms, a premier horse farm that was home to the legendary Seattle Slew.   Richardson’s father died when he was 20, the year before he started his veterinary classes. ‘I had my path paved, then my dad passed away,’ he says. ‘It turned my life upside down.’   He started to reassess what was important to him and realized that he wanted a family life, which made him question his original choice of working only with horses.   Equine vets in Kentucky are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ‘I didn’t want to overlook a family, which was important to me,’ Richardson says. ‘I saw that horse vets weren’t making it to their kids’ soccer games or dance recitals.’   He decided to pursue a career as a small animal vet, which he says is not 9 to 5, but still offers a better balance.   After completing his veterinary degree in 2005, Richardson moved to Tallahassee to work at a clinic, which is where he met his wife Nikki, who was a receptionist there while attending Florida State University. After she graduated with a degree in communication and broadcast journalism in April 2008, the couple married and relocated to Charlotte.   Last fall, they decided that North Carolina was not the right location for them and began focusing on California. Richardson had already discovered Pacific Palisades through a former college friend, Josh Lee, who moved here six years ago with a T-shirt design clothing business.   ’I had visited Josh every three to six months,’ he says. ‘I fell in love with the weather and the outdoor life.’   In February, Richardson visited 10 vet clinics from Marina del Rey to Malibu and Granada Hills, but settled on Palisades Veterinary in a town he describes as ‘a hidden gem.’   ’The ideal for me is to be a vet in a small town, where you can be part of the community. Pacific Palisades is the closest I can get to a small town and still be close to a large city.’   Richardson was sitting on a bench outside the clinic, speaking to the Palisadian-Post, when one of his ‘patients,’ Rocky, a Wheaton terrier, rushed over to greet him.   ’He’s a great doctor and an amazing guy,’ said the dog’s owner, Rigo Manzanares. ‘Rocky loves him to death.’   ’It’s such a neat thing to see patients on the sidewalk,’ Richardson says. ‘I didn’t have that in Charlotte.’   In addition to working with medical conditions and performing ultrasounds and surgery, Richardson is also interested in behavior modification. ‘Far too often we have ‘cute’ puppies and we throw out all rules and boundaries,’ he says. ‘We have to get them to respect us, and we have to be in control.’   He points out that our pets are not kids, but animals. For example, when a puppy jumps up, instead of rewarding this behavior, which we do if we pet it or give it attention, we should make the animal sit, then reward that behavior instead.   When asked about cats and behavior modification, Richardson agrees that ‘cats are tough,’ and if there’s a new behavioral issue, then it’s important to first rule out any medical or metabolic issues that might be causing it.   He admits that he became interested in animal behavior because of his 12-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Jack, who challenges him constantly. The breed is intelligent, athletic and bores easily, which means they will create their own ‘fun’ when left alone. Richardson’s wife is currently working at Denise Carolyn, a woman’s shop on Antioch, and the couple enjoy walking to their jobs.   ’We love it,’ says Nikki, who had just finished a class at the YMCA and happened to pass her husband while he was being interviewed. ‘It’s a great town and people are so nice and friendly.’   ’This is a treasure,’ says Richardson, who is at the clinic 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Thursday and Sunday and every other Saturday.   Call: (310) 573-7707.

Unraveling the Art of Fiber

Palisadian Nicki Bair displays her three-dimensional woven sculpture called “My Tapestry Spiral.”
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer

At first blush, one wonders why Nicki Bair, a Pacific Palisades artist who bursts like soap bubbles with creative ideas, chose the meditative nature of weaving over the quicksilver of watercolor. In her case, technique and texture trump time. The art of weaving and tapestry is a rediscovery for many artists, who are attracted by many aspects of fiber art. Bair and fellow weaver Merna Strauch, a Palisades Highlands resident, recently received top honors in the Fiber Open II, a national juried exhibition, held early this month at the Studio Channel Islands Art Center. Bair won the Handweavers Guild of America Award for outstanding creativity and craftsmanship for her three-dimensional woven sculpture, ‘My Tapestry Spiral.’ Strauch took first place for her wedge-weave tapestry, ‘Echoes.’ Both women became friends through their participation in several of the many local and national weaving associations that provide training and camaraderie to like-minded artists. Although Nicki’s mother was a weaver, it wasn’t until her death in 2002 when Nicki inherited her mom’s black four-harness loom that had stood in her kitchen, that she discovered her mother’s joy. Merna took up weaving in the 1970s, after taking a course at the Smithsonian when she and her husband Ralph lived in Washington, D. C. ‘I started out using a picture frame, but then in the late ’70s I bought loom.’ As with many specialty arts, there are accoutrements to accompany weaving. When Nicki’s mother died, Nicki’s sister announced that ‘all the art stuff goes to Nicki.’ So she inherited the loom, books and boxes of yarn. In the ensuing years, she has collected four more looms, each of which is in service, which explains how she can develop so many ideas simultaneously. A vertical loom, one of three in her living room, is used for tapestry, another horizontal loom equipped with eight different shafts is for complex patterns. She uses her mother’s loom for sentimental reasons, and as a source of inspiration. While enjoying traditional weaving’the interlacing of two distinct sets of yarn, the warp and weft’Nicki and Merna are also drawn to the creative possibilities found in tapestry. In this form of textile art, all the warp threads are hidden in the complete work. ‘In tapestry you can do whatever you want, using the tactile quality of your yarn,’ Merna says. ‘The other distinction with tapestry is that the weft is discontinuous. You don’t have to go from one side to the other, which allows you to interlace each colored weft back and forth in its own small pattern area.’ Nicki and Merna also share a similar background in math. Merna majored in math at UCLA and was employed as a math technician at the aerospace firm AirResearch, where she assisted on the first Project Mercury. Later, she worked as a public health statistician. She is amused that her jobs were made redundant by the advent of computers. At that point, she retired to weave and to do volunteer work. ‘I was a potter before I was a weaver,’ Merna says. ‘I remember when the children were little, I would wait until my husband came home from work to do my ceramics. But when I discovered weaving, it was much less messy and not breakable like clay, so the choice was easy.’ She does prefer to work on small pieces, not only for space considerations, but for time. Nicki enjoyed a career as a financial executive with Transamerica Services in Los Angeles. She liked the challenge of building things, like mutual fund products, but not so much running them. So, five years ago, she retired, no longer challenged. ‘I had this thought of what I’d do when I retired,’ she recalls. ‘I’d either start a financial planning business or perhaps become an artist. My friends thought I was crazy to want to do art, so I did.’ Nicki rises early and sits down at one of her looms to work the morning through. On one loom, she is weaving a piece with sewing thread, which glows like spider’s silk. On the horizontal loom in the living room, she is developing her latest idea: a murder mystery. ‘I am writing the story in words and weaving in weft. Each character will have its own identifying pattern, as will the mood of the drama: scary, confusing, calm.’ Every four inches, Nicki has slipped in a court reporter’s erasing tape with words printed on it, which she describes as ‘the words not used.’ If this weren’t enough, Nicki imagines this ‘book’ made into a kimono, lined with pieced silk that will have a stencil of the front and back covers of the book. She expects to enter this in a contest and plans to have the material completed by October. For the intricate pieces, Nicki uses a pattern. Merna laughs, pointing to Nicki’s pattern for one of her beetle series that, as appropriate to her mathematical background, was created on an Excel spreadsheet. Weaving provides not only an artistic outlet, but also a sanctuary, the friends explain. In her recent award-winning piece, Merna explored the frontiers of the tapestry medium. For a number of years, she included small areas of wedge weave in her tapestries. This distorts the edge of the piece, producing a scalloped effect. The other side of the piece had the traditional straight selvedge. Her challenge? What happens when the distorted area on one side meets the traditional tapestry woven area? The answer came in the monochromatic ‘Edges’ series. ‘Echoes’ is the fifth piece in the series. Nicki’s winning piece came out looking like 17 yards of fusilli, she says, pointing to its spiral shape. There is a growing population of weavers, the women agree. ‘I think it comes from an interest in knitting,’ Merna says. ‘Now there are smaller looms aimed at knitters. They are portable so you can carry them around and can be practical if you live in a small apartment.’ As an avenue to friendship, both women feel deep loyalty to the Seaside Weavers, a Westside group, that Merna has been affiliated with for 30 years. ‘We have been thinking about writing a book about traveling together,’ says Merna, recalling the many life stories the members have shared over the decades. For more information, contact The Weaving Diva nicki@nickibair.com

Author Tackles Creme Patisserie and More

Denise Roig will read from her book “Butter Cream” at Village Books tomorrow night. Her parents Jacky and Rafe Roig have lived in Pacific Palisades since 1960.
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer

‘I’d long dreamed of moving into food writing,’ Denise Roig explains in ‘Butter Cream: A Year in a Montreal Pastry School’ (Signature), which documents the rigors of wrestling with flour and butter, the temperaments of teachers and her fellow students’any or all of which could explode and often did in the heat of a baker’s kitchen. Roig, who grew up in Pacific Palisades and graduated from Palisades High in 1965, will talk about her book on Friday, July 31 at 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. When at age 56 Roig signed up for a professional program at The Pearson School of Culinary Arts, she did it almost breathlessly, not because of her passion for French pastry, but to escape the monotony that had set in after years of teaching writing to university students, who had a lackadaisical attitude. The school was located just blocks from her home in Montreal; she passed it every day on her way to and from work at Concordia University. It wasn’t as if any school would have inspired her, Roig was interested in baking and thought herself a pretty good p’tissier. She had been a serious baker at 17, having learned at the side of her mother, Jacky, ‘a baker without equal.’ Feeling awkward and conspicuous because she was the oldest in the program and the only American, Roig elected at the start not to reveal her intention of writing a book. She wanted to blend in, be a student among students,’ she told her husband Ray ‘Beauch’ Beauchemin.   The school offers the only government-supported pastry-making program in English in Montreal, and is considered to be as professional and competitive as the more expensive and ‘snootier’ male-dominated French counterpart: the ITHQ (l’Institut de tourism et l’h’telerie du Qu’bec). There were 23 women and one man, Qiang, in Roig’s program that year, 2003.   Roig’s intention was to write a journal of sorts with each chapter punctuated by a recipe, and she received a $10,000 Canada Council Grant to help with the cost of not working for a year. ‘I pitched the book a month into pastry school,’ Roig says during an interview at her parents’ house in the Palisades. ‘I saw this as an exploration of how we learn to master something, observing myself and my classmates. How do we get perfect at something?’ Her efforts at hiding her book plans were soon revealed, but by that time, she was integrated with her classmates, who were encouraging. ‘I filled up five notebooks,’ she says. ‘I took notes on everything: paper towels, books, my official textbook and even in the margins of my recipe cards.’   In the first year of the project, Roig asked members of her woman’s fiction group to read the first three chapters and was surprised by their unanimous response. ‘They said, ‘We want to know about Denise as a character.’ Now I had five people urging me to write the ‘B’ role’the other part of the story.’ Roig reworked the manuscript, splicing her own thoughts, feelings, fears, and triumphs into the narrative. She describes the classroom, the Lab as it is called, the rotating oven, the blast freezer, and the giant Hobart mixers. Her uniform, a white, high-necked chef’s jacket and houndstooth-check pants, must be worn every day. No jewelry, not even a wedding ring, is permitted; fingernails must be kept short and unpolished, and students must wear a hairnet at all times.   Readers learn about her teachers and Roig’s assessment of each one, along with recipes and technique. She appreciates Claudette’s high expectations and hyperorganization, and Ardis’s food science and know-how and womanly warmth. But she loves and so appreciates the humanness of Alfred, a short, bald, teddy-bear of a chef, who is the teacher for the biggest module of the year”Creams, Fillings and Glazes.’   ’With Alfred, we laugh, we learn, and we come out better people,’ she writes. The year is tough as Roig must balance the eight-hour, highly intense school days while laboring under her own self-doubts’her track record of quitting (the Juilliard dance program), memories of her haunting eating disorder’and maintaining a home life with Beauch and their daughter, Georgia, a special needs child. She makes friends, especially with Jen, who sits on the other side of her in class. She’s 18, but they become pals and are often are paired together for class assignments. ‘There is an evenness about her,’ Roig says. ‘I watched her grow up that year and although she grew up making Duncan Hines, she was talented right away.’ Roig came to appreciate her school, a working-class school, which she learned was more what the real world of professional cooking resembles. ‘Our teachers told us that we were going to be apprentice chefs for a long time, we were not going to be creating masterpieces right away. This first year was not a year to be creative. It was all about repetition, repetition and following what the chef tells you. Qui, Chef!’ In the end, Roig realized that, for the first time, she was part of a team. She had bonded with these people. ‘Even with the pressure, the laundry, the fights, I’m part of something here,’ she writes. ‘I’m a girl again, a girl among girls (plus Qiang, whom we treat as one of the girls), giggling about boobs and boys while we learn something new. I’m learning the real, non-corporate, non-buzz-word meaning of teamwork. This is my team.’ Since last September, Roig and her family have been living in the wealthy United Arab Emirate of Abu Dhabi, where Beauch was hired as deputy foreign editor of the National, an English-language newspaper owned by the royal family. While living in an Arab state more than 6,000 miles from Montreal has required some adjustments, Roig has baked a tremendous amount. ‘It is comforting for me and a connection to my neighbors. You have to reach out to people, so we have invited many people to our home for breakfast or dinner.’

Hidden Ambition Exposed in ‘Caesar’

Aaron Hendry (Marc Antony) and Carl Palmer (Julius Caesar). Photo: Ian Flanders
Aaron Hendry (Marc Antony) and Carl Palmer (Julius Caesar). Photo: Ian Flanders

Julius Caesar was one of the first of Shakespeare’s plays I studied. My eighth-grade teacher favored having little groups of us act out certain scenes in the play. A good pedagogy, for, lo, these many decades later, I recaptured not only the narrative line but also the memorable passages of poised and skillful rhetoric embedded in Theatricum Botanicum’s production. The tragedy unwinds as the inexorable result of Caesar’s unchecked ambition. And while the play is named for Caesar, it pivots on the character of Brutus, whose integrity and gentility make his decision to join the conspirators to assassinate the arrogant and megalomanaical Caesar his moral dilemma. Mike Peebler’s Brutus is a Stoic, serious in nature, but he also displays tenderness, as seen in the touching picture of his wife’s love and his affection for her, and for his young servant, Lucius. The scene between the visibly pregnant Portia (Susan Angelo) and Brutus is one of the play’s most moving moments. To serve the plot, Caesar must show an outsized ego, giving little hint of the attributes that made him one of the world’s great leaders. In this production, Carl Palmer still manages to portray a flesh-and-blood Caesar, who is at once a boisterous ‘good ol’ boy’ and a deferential husband to his wife, Calpurnia (D.J. Harner). Speaking of boisterous, Aaron Hendry’s Marc Antony displays equal parts of frolicsome sexuality, military prowess, and astute political purpose. Geer’s decision to cast Melora Marshall in the important role of Cassius was a misstep. Not even this highly gifted actor was able to present Cassius as more than a sullen, mordant Roman. He is the man, after all, who is the dynamic personality among the rebels, and who convinces Brutus to join the conspirators. Yet in this interpretation, he doesn’t resemble that man whom Caesar estimates as having a sharp intelligence who ‘looks quite through the deeds of men.’ A woman in the role, played straight with no hint of irony, doesn’t convince us of this powerful military man who had once fought against Caesar. Director Ellen Geer offers a straightforward reading of the text ably interpreted by the cast. While the theme is all too familiar to modern audiences, she avoids coloring the action for dramatic effect. The events themselves provide more than enough action, particularly as choreographed on and around the expansive outdoor stage at the Theatricum. In the end, the marvel of ‘Julius Caesar’ is Shakespeare’s blank verse, with its characteristic heightening of imagination and language. So many great speeches: Brutus’ soliloquy rationalizing the need for killing Caesar; Antony’s speech over Caesar’s body, and the orations of Brutus and Antony at Caesar’s funeral. ‘Julius Caesar’ plays Sundays in August at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, August 29 at 4 p.m., with additional shows in September. For tickets, call 310-455-3723 or visit www.theatricum.com.

Annie Jr. Is Summer Fun

Elizabeth Ryan as Annie (center) sings a “Hard-Knock Life” with the other orphans in the Theatre Palisades Youth production of “Annie Jr.”
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer

‘Annie Jr.,’ presented by Theatre Palisades Youth, is a perfectly delightful offering. One can’t go wrong listening to children with great voices, watching a Palisadian Labrador retriever make its acting debut, paying for reasonably priced tickets at a local theater, and enjoying a snack bar filled with Krispy Kreme doughnuts and candy.   All of this is available at Pierson Playhouse at 941 Temescal Canyon Rd. tonight through Sunday in the youth’s annual summer production.   The musical is based on the old comic strip, ‘Little Orphan Annie,’ and has music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin and book by Thomas Meehan. The musical opened on Broadway in 1977 and ran for nearly six years. I saw it on two occasions, once with my stepdaughter, a second time with my younger sister. They both loved it, but we were seated so far up in the balcony that both my younger guests wondered how they could get seats closer. At the Pierson every seat is near the stage and at the production last Saturday night there were few vacant seats.   I had forgotten how fun the songs are, including ‘Hard-Knock Life,’ ‘Little Girls,’ ‘You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,’ and ‘Easy Street.’ Of course ‘Tomorrow’ is the song that instantly comes to mind, but it has been sung so often by children screeching it that I dreaded hearing it again. I was pleasantly surprised by the sweetness in Elizabeth Ryan’s voice as she sang, making the song totally enjoyable. As Annie, Ryan has a great deal of stage presence, which seems to come naturally.   She is one of many kids who live in the orphanage, run by Miss Hannigan (Veronica Ellis) who doesn’t like the little girls and spends most of her time threatening them. Played by Ellis with great aplomb, it is hard to image that this actress is only 12. Vocally, she handled her solo, ‘Little Girls,’ with maturity, and when singing with Jake Spivak (Rooster) and Megan Wheeler (Lily), the number was first-rate, with exactly the right balance.   Bryson Rawn plays Daddy Warbucks, the billionaire who decides to take in an orphan over Christmas. Annie is chosen and the interaction between the two leads is sweet’which seems to be true of this entire production. Katie Reinhold (Grace) is Warbucks’ secretary, and is lovely as well.   Trouble arises when Annie wants to find her real parents and Warbucks, in an effort to help the child, promises a $50,000 reward. This is an open invitation for all sorts of unscrupulous characters to try and win the money, including Rooster, Hannigan’s brother.   Director Dorothy Dillingham Blue has taken a cast of 32 young actors, ages 7 to 14, and given them all a chance to be seen and showcased, never easy on a small stage. The costuming on this show is spectacular’from the orphans’ ragged clothes to Grace’s tailored outfits to Warbucks’ staff. The set is nice, and includes a fully-lit Christmas tree.   A special nod has to go to the ‘littlest’ orphan, Stella Smyth (Molly), who with her exuberance and voice fills the stage. Topping off the grand evening, Sandy, the dog (Sandy Verrone) whose three owners Marianne, Teddy and Patric were all part of the production, slipped off the stage looking for ‘treats.’   Shows are July 30, 31 and August 1 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 2, at 2 p.m. For tickets ($12) call (310) 454-1970.

Thursday, July 30 – Thursday, August 6

THURSDAY, JULY 30

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy’s weekly Family Fun Campfire Night, featuring nature tales, campfire songs, games and, of course, marshmallows, 7 p.m. in Temescal Gateway Park. Parking is $7, but the campfire is free. East Coast writer Adrienne Kane discusses and signs ‘Cooking and Screaming: Finding My Own Recipe for Recovery,’ 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. Kane, who blogs on nosherteria.com, provides a recipe-filled memoir about loss, recovery, and finding oneself through food and cooking. Theatre Palisades Youth’s production of ‘Annie, Jr.,’ 7:30 p.m. at the Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd. Performances continue July 31 and August 1 at 7:30 and August 2 at 2 p.m. For tickets ($12), call the box office at 310-454-1970. (See Sue Pascoe’s review, page 11.)

FRIDAY, JULY 31

‘Forrest Gump,’ the 1994 film featuring Pacific Palisades resident Tom Hanks, will screen at 1 p.m. at the Palisades Branch Library, 861 Alma Real Dr. Admission is free. Fun Family Friday Nights, a free Palisades-Malibu YMCA community event series sponsored by the Palisades Rotary Club, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Simon Meadow in Temescal Gateway Park. Pre-registration is not required. Parking inside the park is $7. Tonight’s theme: Hawaiian Luau, featuring songs, games, sports and dinner. Contact: Nicole Rosenloecher at (310) 454-5591. PaliHi alumnus Denise Roig, author of ‘Butter Cream: A Year in a Montreal Pastry School,’ will discuss her book at 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. (See story, page 10.)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1

The sixth annual Movies in the Park series debuts with ‘Men in Black,’ 8 p.m. on the Field of Dreams at the Palisades Recreation Center. Free admission.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2

Palisadians Gavin MacLeod and Linda Jackson star in a reading of playwright Josh Greenfeld’s ‘Whooosh!,’ 7 p.m. at the Pierson Playhouse on Temescal Canyon Road. Tickets at the door: $15.

MONDAY, AUGUST 3

  Pajama Storytime, for children of all ages (parents and teddy bears welcome, too), 7 p.m. at the Palisades Branch Library community room, 861 Alma Real.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4

Story-Craft Time, ‘suggested’ for ages 4 and up, 4 p.m. at the Palisades Branch Library, 861 Alma Real. The Temescal Canyon Association’s summer evening hiking group will seek out the secret stairways of Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica Canyon. Meet in the Temescal Gateway parking lot at 6 p.m. for carpooling. No dogs! Expect to be back by 9 p.m. Information: temcanyon.org.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6

Former newspaper reporter Deirdre Shaw discusses and signs ‘Love Or Something Like It,’ 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. Shaw’s insightful first novel (published by Random House) depicts a woman in her 30s redefining her life as she moves from New York to Hollywood, where she and Toby, a TV writer, share a Laurel Canyon cottage.’