Artistic Director Dale Franzen has fashioned the Broad Stage’s second season for omnibus tastes, offering 81 performances at the Santa Monica theater between September and May. Mikhail Baryshnikov brings two U.S. premieres of dances for the opening gala and season opener on September 4 and 5. Other highlights include Broadway’s Savion Glover; Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, from London; chamber music, jazz, world music, baroque, dance, opera/voice; and family and educational programs. Faced with the continuing uncertain state of the arts, a dismal economy and a lean budget, Franzen, a Pacific Palisades resident, has managed to create programming that satisfies the sophisticated audiences she attracts. ‘No doubt, last year was challenging,’ she tells the Palisadian-Post. ‘The week after we opened, the world fell apart and everybody stayed home.’ But despite the abbreviated season (40 performances) she says that she is pleased. ‘We had 12,000 come through the door; we’ve done well.’ While the challenges for Franzen remain the same, somehow things seem to fall on the right side of the balance sheet. Her pay-as-you-go philosophy (tightening staff, making cuts and keeping services in-house) has kept the Broad within its $1.2-million budget and allowed her to focus on seeking donations, large and small. ‘Some foundations froze, but others opened up,’ says Franzen, who is also grateful for her contacts, many of whom she developed over her 20-years as a professional opera singer (lyric soprano). Certainly one of the most important angels are the Broads, who helped launch the theater with a $10-million endowment for programming and arts education. ‘Eli and Edye came into my life at the best time. It was a great piece of timing; they have been extraordinary with my board, the budget and long-term strategy. Eli is brilliant and caring. I can call him up and he helps me. He is famous for his laser ability to zero in on things.’ Other advisors include L.A. Opera’s Pl’cido Domingo, actor/producer Tom Hulce, who assisted with booking Baryshnikov for the second season, and KCRW General Manager Ruth Seymour. ‘Ruth has been a mentor to me,’ Franzen says. ‘I admire her; she had a vision and has remained flexible and timely.’ Franzen also finds her counsel as a woman instructive. ‘I trust her, she’s a woman who’s not afraid.’ Franzen has also shaped a board she thinks has the background, connections and strategic thinking skills to build a community, to move the theater from its founding-year challenges to become a longtime theatrical entity. With this in mind, the board has begun to talk about a five-year strategic plan. ‘Nonprofits can’t afford to think about themselves as nonprofits any more,’ Franzen explains. ‘The original definition of nonprofit is ‘for the public good.’ All of us need to start thinking that way. My goal even in a 500-seat theater is to try to break even, but not to lose money. In order to do this I need to be thinking more strategically about a variety of income streams. With a new board chair, Austin Veutner, and a strong passionate board, we are looking at a long term strategy to protect this nonprofit.’ Believe it or not, Franzen says, her biggest challenge is spreading the word that the Broad Stage is out there. ‘I want everybody to know about this theater, and they don’t. ‘We need to spread the net through programming, the press, articles and just people talking. You can tweet, you can e-mail, but sometimes it takes actually getting someone to come to the theater by picking up the phone.’ There will be multiple reasons for visiting the Broad in the 2009-10 season, Franzen promises. She understands that the Westside wants dance, but she decided to cut out an expanded dance series in order to bring theater. It’s simple economics: unless she gets a major underwriter, such as KCRW’s support for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, individual performers don’t require the rehearsal and tech expenses that dance and theater do. Doubtless, the opening celebration with Baryshnikov elevates the programming bar, and the story behind this coup underscores the behind-the-scenes work of an artistic director. ‘I was lucky,’ Franzen says, simply. Five years ago, she spoke with Baryshnikov’s publicist, explaining to him that what Misha was doing with his foundation (The Baryshnikov Arts Center) was similar to what she wanted to do with the Broad Stage and the smaller (126-seat) Edye Second Space. One thing led to another. Franzen began talking to Misha’s executive director, Stamford Makishi, about doing a program at the Broad. While encouraged, Franzen was not able to close the deal until March of this year, when she was ready to go to press with the season brochure and she got the call that it was a go. ‘Relationships are very important,’ she says. ‘It took me five trips to New York to get Baryshnikov.’ The legendary dancer will offer two new dances by Alexei Ratmansky’the recently appointed artist in residence at the American Ballet Theatre’and Benjamin Millepied, first soloist with the New York City Ballet. Prima ballerina Ana Laguna will share the duet. Theater programs include not only Shakespeare’s ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost,’ (November) but New-York based puppeteer Basil Twist, who will perform his version of ‘Petrouchka,’ accompanied by Stravinsky’s score for two pianos in February 2010. Franzen is also presenting ‘Jane Austen Unscripted with High Tea’ at the Edye Second Space in December, which she saw at a smaller Hollywood theater last year. ‘It’s great to have the Edye to try things out; it’s our think tank.’ In reviewing the inaugural year, Franzen says that it is still too soon to know what does or doesn’t work. That’s why she is still working as hard as ever, seeing theater, listening to music and all the while ‘getting stronger and getting clearer about what our needs are.’ For information and subscription series tickets, visit www.thebroadstage.com or call 818-461-9244.

Three years ago, actress Mariel Hemingway appeared on an episode of ‘Everyday Italian,’ the Food Network cooking show hosted by Palisadian Giada DeLaurentiis.   ’My youngest daughter, Langley, was obsessed with Giada,’ says Hemingway, who appeared on the show with Langley. Today, Hemingway herself is becoming known for her culinary skills, thanks to her latest book, ‘Mariel’s Kitchen: Simple Ingredients for a Delicious and Satisfying Life’ (HarperCollins). Hemingway will sign copies of her book and greet fans tomorrow night, July 3, at Palisades-Malibu YMCA’s inaugural ‘Fun Family Friday Nights,’ 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Simon Meadow in Temescal Gateway Park.   ’Mariel’s Kitchen’ is the logical extension of Hemingway’s own obsession with fitness, wellness and stillness, the actress tells the Palisadian-Post. ‘It’s my first cook book,’ Hemingway, 47, says. ‘It was originally about greening your kitchen because I believe the way that you eat and set up your kitchen is the first step in becoming helping your environment.’ In ‘Mariel’s Kitchen,’ readers will discover course-by-course recipes including such delicacies as a cauliflower, celery, and green pea salad; cranberry ‘blisscuit’ mini muffins; roasted chicken with rosemary and root vegetables; and seared wild salmon with minted mango salsa. Hungry readers will also find a spinach and mushroom lasagna, buffalo meat loaf (‘one of the best meats you can get is buffalo; it’s just a healthy meat’) and such desserts as lemon zest cheesecake, pumpkin walnut balls (‘That was my new creation’) and pear sorbet with balsamic port syrup. ‘I created those for my kids,’ she says of her quite-emerald spinach pancakes. ‘I just love everything green.’ ‘Mariel’s Kitchen’ is organized by seasons, utilizing ingredients specific to winter, spring, summer and autumn. ‘It’s a gluten-free cookbook. Some are family recipes that I tweaked to make healthier. We over-process wheat grain so much in this country that I believe we have an allergic reaction to gluten. ‘Food in its simplicity is the best kind of food,’ Hemingway says. ‘Shopping at the farmers market, supporting local merchants.’ Hemingway believes her penchant for cooking is genetic. She credits her dad, John Hadley Hemingway. ‘My father grew up in Paris, and he never believed that anyone in America could really cook,’ Hemingway says. ‘When he married my mother, a native Idahoan, he was convinced she couldn’t cook so he sent her to Le Cordon Bleu. Julia Child was at their wedding.’ Hemingway has always been connected to food service. Divorced earlier this year, she had been married since 1984 to Stephen Crisman, a restaurateur who co-founded the Hard Rock Caf’. They have two daughters, Dree, 22, and the aforementioned Langley, 20. In the 1980s, Hemingway and Crisman ran seven Sam’s Caf’ restaurants nationwide (‘Sam’ was Crisman’s nickname for Hemingway). Hemingway, of course, is not the only author in her family. Today marks the anniversary of the death of her grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, who was widely considered the 20th century’s most important American writer. He died in 1961, about four months before granddaughter Mariel was born. Hemingway starred in films representing two phases of filmmaker Woody Allen’s career: his 1979 classic ‘Manhattan,’ and 1997’s well-reviewed ‘Deconstructing Harry.’ ‘It was kind of a surreal experience,’ Hemingway recalls of shooting ‘Manhattan,’ in which she played Allen’s love interest. ‘I had never kissed anyone until I kissed Woody Allen in the film. I had to practice at home. I would look in the mirror and kiss my arm for an hour. ‘I was a kid,’ she continues. ‘I came from Idaho. I didn’t understand sexuality. It was like being on another planet. It was an amazing experience to be in ‘Manhattan’ even though I had already made ‘Lipstick.” Hemingway also played in 2001’s ‘Perfume’ (not a sequel to ‘Lipstick’). ”Perfume’ was all improvised,’ Hemingway says. ‘There was no script at all. It was scary but really fun.’ Speaking of sequels, 1987’s ‘Superman IV: The Quest for Peace’ may not be a career highlight for anyone involved, but Hemingway got to work with some of Hollywood’s most talented actors. ‘It was great to work with Gene Hackman, and Christopher Reeve was a gentle sweet soul,’ Hemingway says. ‘It was a great time in my life, and I was newly married.’ Earlier this year, Hemingway appeared with the late David Carradine in ‘The Golden Boys,’ ‘a period piece, a sweet, sweet film. But currently I’m producing stuff and I only work in films when something comes along that really moves me.’ Hemingway wants to get a motion picture made based on grandpa Ernest’s ‘A Moveable Feast,’ his memoir of his insouciant, intoxicated 20-something years in Paris with F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Unlike her hard-drinking, hard-living grandfather, this third-generation Hemingway prefers cleaner living and healthy food with fresh ingredients. She is currently developing ‘The Mariel Hemingway Show,’ which will address her passions”health, wellness, and food’in a talk show format. ‘Everyone I pitched it to has really liked it,’ Hemingway says. ‘Nobody’s done a holistic show; it’s not just food, it’s everything.’ Translation: Giada, watch your back! www.marielhemingway.com Contact: Palisades-Malibu YMCA, (310) 454-5591.

‘Corso: The Last Beat,’ a documentary about the last surviving Beat Generation poet Gregory Corso by Palisadian filmmaker Gustave Reininger, has won the Taormina Film Festival’s Audience Jury Award. The film had been accepted as part of the official ‘Beyond the Mediterranean’ competition section of the 55th Annual Taormina Film Festival in Sicily, which took place from June 13 through 20. ‘Beyond the Mediterranean’ showcased 24 films. ‘Corso was the only American selection,’ said Reininger, phoning from a Rome airport. ‘They did not see it as a documentary. It was seen as a drama.’ Reininger had been invited to travel with the film all over Sicily by American film critic Deborah Young, the festival’s director. Reininger was very pleased with ‘Corso”s reception: ‘The audience had a lot of young people, students from all over Sicily and Southern Italy.’ ‘I was actually in the shower when I got the news,’ Reininger said. No sooner did he jump out, than there were reporters outside his door. Reininger said that the prize was awarded to ‘Corso’ in the Teatro Antico, the 2,500-year-old Greco-Roman ampitheater. Reininger was happy to premiere ‘Corso’ at the Sicilian festival.   ’Out of loyalty to Gregory, I thought I’d debut the film in Italy,’ said the filmmaker of the late Italian-American subject of his film. ‘I just had a really great time going out and getting people to see the film,’ Reininger said. ‘I didn’t get much sleep. But it was just really marvelous.’ Oddly enough, Reininger almost felt at home in the Italian burg.   ’Taormina looks just like Pacific Palisades,’ Reininger said. ‘It’s like standing at the end of Via de la Paz.’ The Palisadian-Post was the first media outlet to profile Reininger’s documentary (”Last Beat’ Standing,’ January 29). Thanks to the online version of the article, Reininger was invited to attend Taormina.

Carousel Carver Keeps History Alive and Smiles On Children’s Faces

Thirty years ago, award-winning sculptor and artist Kenneth Means took his creativity in a new direction, reviving the lost art of carving carousel animals. He recently brought two of his animals”Prince Valiant’s horse, Arvack, and Mr. Toad”to the Palisades. At grandson Paul Lohmann’s school, Seven Arrows, and at the Methodist preschool where Paul’s younger brother, Kenneth, is a student, Means explained to his classroom audience how the animals are made. ‘Do you make pigs?’ one preschooler asked. ‘I haven’t made one yet, but I will before it’s all done,’ Means said, telling the three- and four-year-olds that the first thing he does is get an idea, such as the one inspired by the book ‘The Wind in the Willows.’ After he decides on a character, Means starts with the drawing. It might take several revisions before he is satisfied. Then he makes a life-size scale drawing”a pattern”upon which the carving will be based. Using basswood, which is softer than hard wood and does not chip, Means uses a saw to cut out different pieces of wood. The number used for each animal is surprising. For example, Means showed the children a chicken that he was working on, which consisted of four pieces for the head, five in the neck, six for each leg, 20 in the body and 14 in the tail. Once the pieces are cut, he glues them together and then sands them. Afterward, Means starts carving with a wood chisel that he hits with a sculptor’s mallet. He uses chisels of different sizes to achieve various effects. Once the carving is done, the animals are painted with three coats of primer. Means used six different types of green on Mr. Toad. The animals are then sealed with two additional coats of paint and finally finished with three coats of marine varnish. The animals are hollow, which minimizes weight and allows for some expansion and contraction of the wood so that it does not develop cracks.’ ‘The wood has to be able to breathe when the weather changes,’ said Means, who also restores antique carousel figures. When working on an antique, he looks inside it to see if the craftsman has left anything, but usually there’s nothing there. Means now leaves something inside each animal he carves. For example, the Canadian-born artisan placed a newspaper story about the Queen Mother’s death in one horse. In another, he left a college announcement by his daughter, Julia Means. In a third horse, he left newspaper clippings from when his older daughter, Tsianina Lohmann, was named ESPN’s Miss Fitness America. ‘When someone restores my work, they’ll find out a little about the person who made the horse,’ Means explained. He sometimes leaves a piece of poetry he’s written himself inside the animal. Mean has made a giraffe, lion, horse, toad, dog and dragon. His wife, Betty, has made a rabbit. He plans to someday have enough animals to fill an entire carousel in Coquille, Oregon, where the Meanses live. ‘I’ve watched and studied kids on carousels,’ Means said. ‘The animals on the outside are big and intimidating, so three of the animals that will go on my carousel on the outside are smaller.’ Back in the early 1960s, Means worked as a Hollywood scenic artist. He taught painting and drawing at Pasadena City College and bronze casting and mold-making at Otis Institute before moving to Oregon in 1985. He was recently commissioned to build the bronze figures for a water fountain, including herring that will jump through a waterfall. The art of carousel figures appeals to him because, in museums, no one is allowed to touch the art. But with these beautifully carved and painted creations, children are encouraged to climb on them. ‘It’s something that can be used and touched,’ Means said. He points out that the right side of the animal, the ‘romance side,’ is always more jeweled and elaborate because that is the side that faces out. Means started wood carving almost 40 years ago. About three decades ago, he made his first horses”rocking horses for his daughters. Later, ‘Someone gave me a carousel horse to repair,’ he said. ‘But there was no one alive to show me to repair it.’ The self-taught Means found that there was a market for carousel animals. Out of every three figures he carves and sells, Means will keep one for his carousel. ‘My animals go to private collectors,’ said Means, who recently sold one to actor William Shatner. So far, he has kept 38 animals and hopes to have 52 before assembling them on a carousel platform. By some estimation, there were more than 4,000 carousels before the Great Depression. Only 150 exist today. The history of carousels dates back to the 12th century, when Italian and Spanish crusaders watched Arabian and Turkish horsemen participate in a combat preparation exercise on horseback called ‘garosello’ and ‘carosella,’ involving clay balls of scented water thrown between galloping horsemen in a ring. The French adapted the game to include a man riding his horse or chariot full tilt, while trying to spear a small ring hanging from a tree limb or pole. About 300 years ago in France, the carousel evolved into a device that consisted of carved horses, suspended by chains, from arms radiating from a center pole. They were used to train nobles in the art of ring-spearing. The military training device evolved into an amusement diversion that was usually small and light because it was moved by man or mule power. Once steam power became available, the machines became more elaborate. Early carousels did not have the animals anchored to the revolving platform, and, as the ride went around, the animal would fly out because of centrifugal force. American immigrants, led by Gustav Dentzel, crafted beautifully carved animals that now sell for between several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. The carousel’s golden period lasted only about 25 years. In 1927, the Dentzel Carousel Company, then the largest in the world, was auctioned off, and the tradition of lavish carousels came to an end. Means, who drives a school bus during the academic year, offers a once-a-year workshop in July to people who would like to learn to carve carousel figures. ‘I have some people who have waited several years to get in to a class,’ he said. Normally, his class has 14 students, who have come from all over the United States. When students enroll, they tell him what they’d like to carve and he makes the parts of the animal. For the next four weeks, students put in almost 80 hours a week carving and painting Visit www.kenmeanscarousel.com

Before Alyssa MacMiller became president of the Junior Women’s Club, she admits there were jobs on the board that she would have declined. ‘I wouldn’t have done the Home Tour; it seemed like a big job. At that time, I didn’t see the support this effort receives from the whole group.’ MacMiller assumed the president’s job after serving six months as vice president (the former VP moved out of town in the middle of her term), and discovered just how helpful the 80 or so active Juniors can be’most particularly the 27-member executive board. That’s right, 27 women. Although the board size may appear unwieldy, MacMiller contends the board members are women who want to participate, so why not encourage them? ‘My attitude is if they are committed, the number is irrelevant.’ MacMiller, who comes from a corporate background, marvels at the capabilities of the Junior members: ‘Their backgrounds are so fascinating.’ Women who are drawn to membership, which is an open process, offer a variety of life experiences, perhaps belying the notion that all the Juniors are young homemakers and moms. ‘We have quite a few unmarried members, double income with no children, and 30 or 40 sustainers, who pay reduced dues but do participate in some of our fundraisers, especially the Home Tour,’ MacMiller says. ‘Our main goal is to build community within community,’ she says. ‘Our success is having diversity, which means women who bring different connections and skills to the group.’ Originally from Houston, MacMiller found her way to California by attending UC San Diego, where she majored in psychology and met and married her husband Jim, at the age of 23. Permanence became an obsolete word, as the couple moved from city to city following job opportunities. Alyssa worked in public relations and marketing, while Jim’s focus was finance. In each city’Cincinnati, New York, Chicago’MacMiller affiliated with the Junior League, but when the MacMillers moved to Pacific Palisades with their children in 2005, she decided not to join the L.A. League. She didn’t have to. ‘I looked at the Chamber of Commerce directory and saw the Junior Women’s Club. I thought, what a great way to meet people and learn about the community. Moving around so much has helped me. Getting to know people is the easiest thing for me.’ In the last four years, MacMiller has served as social chairman, overseeing Junior events such as the Will Rogers Family Day and Girls Night Out, and membership co-chair. Because the organization’s philanthropy is focused entirely on Pacific Palisades, MacMiller has learned much about both the business MO and the wide range of nonprofit organizations that serve the town. Admittedly ‘a very organized person,’ MacMiller relies on the subcommittees to keep the organization’s projects moving forward. The group’s main fundraiser is the annual Home Tour, which funnels all proceeds to various nonprofit organizations and schools in the town. In May, the Juniors distributed $77,000 (including proceeds from the annual Poker Night) among 32 groups. Planning for November’s Home Tour is already under way. Typically, three houses are open for tour, accompanied by a boutique, and this year the Juniors are including a ‘green’ house and a child-friendly fun home, with play areas and kid-friendly spaces. MacMiller also aims to give a boost to the businesses in town. ‘We recognize the difficulties facing all business in this economy,’ she says. ‘So we want to highlight one business in our monthly newsletter. This is about the future, which is about today,’ she adds. ‘It won’t be the same community if we don’t support the local economy.’ The Junior Women wish to continue their collaborations with various other groups in the Palisades. They provided logistic support and volunteers under the leadership of Junior Helene Dameris for the Susan Love Walk for cancer research that took place in the Huntington Palisades in May. They also helped the Village Green committee in a recent maintenance day. And they continue to assist Meals on Wheels, delivering hot meals to infirm or elderly people. Each year they fill 90 slots in this effort. The organization also participates in the annual Pacific Palisades Americanism Parade and will drive the new Mini E Earth-friendly’car owned by Junior Suzanne Trepp and her husband, Peter. MacMiller seems to be enjoying her role as Junior president. Her days are full, but her course steady. In addition to serving on the Methodist preschool board, where her daughter, Wesley, is a student, and Palisades Elementary first-grade room mother for her daughter, Kirby, she says that she’s ‘not the type who jumps right up to raise my hand and volunteer for everything. I like to see and digest, and understand where I am and where I can help.’