When sisters Nancy Proano and Martha Willis heard that state legislators might close Will Rogers State Historic Park because of financial woes, they wanted to help keep the park open. The sisters were among approximately 300 volunteers who spruced up the park on Friday and Saturday as part of the ‘Will Rogers Never Met a State Park He Didn’t Like’ event hosted by the newly formed Will Rogers Ranch Foundation. The foundation organized the event to give citizens a chance to show their love of state parks, said Will Rogers’ great-granddaughter Jennifer Rogers Etcheverry. ‘We want to make people feel like this is their park,’ Etcheverry said. ‘Next time they come to Will Rogers, they can point out what they did.’ On Friday, Proano and Willis, who live in Culver City and Lake Balboa respectively, slathered their paint rollers with primer and brushed the interior walls of the park’s main barn. ‘I love this park,’ said Proano, whose hair was flecked with white paint. ‘It reminds me of my dad who has since passed away. We used to hike, have picnics and watch polo’ It would be a shame if they closed it.’ California State Parks has proposed closing 48 of the 278 state parks and reducing lifeguard staffing at 16 beaches in response to Governor Arnold Schwarzengger’s request that the department reduce its general fund budget by 10 percent. The state faces a $14.5-billion budget deficit. Salaries are the largest part of State Parks’ budget and the closures would allow the department to eliminate 136 positions, said Roy Stearns, communication deputy director for California State Parks. This means the department could reduce its general fund budget by $13.3 million. However, State Parks would lose $3.7 million in revenue generated by day-use fees at the 48 parks. State legislators will decide later this spring or summer about whether the parks will be closed. If they decide to close Will Rogers, the property would revert to the Rogers family. Betty Rogers, Will’s wife, deeded the 186-acre property to the state in 1944 with that stipulation. ‘The family doesn’t want it given back,’ Etcheverry said. ‘The family wants to keep it open as a memorial to my great-grandfather.’ To provide additional funding for the park, Etcheverry formed the Will Rogers Ranch Foundation with Trudi Sandmeier, whose grandfather was Will Rogers’ personal assistant, and Todd Vradenberg, a member of the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, which supports children and infants with pulmonary disease. Etcheverry is hopeful the foundation and state can partner to keep the park open. ‘We are working with California State Parks, and they are fully supportive of us,’ she said. ‘I am optimistic.’ The foundation is interviewing candidates for its board and will begin organizing fundraisers soon. Residents can become members for a fee ranging from $35 to $1,000, which also benefits the foundation’s efforts. Etcheverry hopes to raise enough money to restore the historic barn and all the rooms of the ranch house as well as open and operate a gift shop. On Friday, youth from the park’s Westside Riding School giggled and chatted as they cleaned the horses’ stalls inside Jim’s Barn (named after Will Rogers’ son). ‘I ride here, and I heard they might close it down,’ said Sophie Offer, a seventh-grader at Crossroads School. ‘I was really inspired to actually do something rather than just ride horses here. I wanted to help and make a difference.’ The 12-year-old has taken lessons from Westside Riding School instructor Dorte Lindegaard at the park for the past two years. Talia Lawrence, a 16-year-old at Wildwood School, also felt inspired to lend a hand. ‘I came here a lot as a kid for picnics and to ride horses. It’s a beautiful place with a lot of history and is one of the main reasons I decided to help preserve the parks,’ she said. Lawrence, a Mar Vista resident, started a campaign ‘Students Against the Closure of California Parks’ and created a Web site, www.saccap.synthasite.com, where she is selling buttons to benefit state parks. ‘These parks are indispensable to not only the people but also the wildlife,’ Lawrence said. On Saturday, Academy Award-winning actress Diane Keaton helped paint Jim’s Barn to show her support. Volunteers also restored the hitching rail that Will Rogers once used to tie his horse in front of his house in the early 1930s. They celebrated the completion of that project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Councilman Bill Rosendahl. He and Councilman Ed Reyes wrote a resolution against closing state parks and reducing lifeguard staffing that the Los Angeles City Council approved on April 2. Volunteers received free lunch, T-shirts and bandanas from the Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation for their efforts. ‘I’m impressed with the number of volunteers, but I’m more impressed with what they got done,’ said Randy Young, a Pacific Palisades resident and historian who helped organize the event.
Paseo Miramar Retaining Wall Erected
After a mudslide in January 2005 that wiped out one lane on Paseo Miramar, neighbors requested the road be fixed, and city officials responded. Last Thursday, about 25 community members and city officials celebrated the construction of a new retaining wall, which will prevent future landslides from obscuring the road. ‘Community members had been complaining, so as soon as we got in office, we started working on it,’ said Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who won the election for the 11th District in May 2005. Wielding gigantic scissors, Rosendahl grinned as he cut a red ribbon last Thursday to unveil the new 110-foot wall to the public. The wall cost about $400,000 and was paid for out of the city’s general-fund budget. Construction work began in December and lasted through February. The Miramar Homeowners Association approached the city about the issue because the canyon road, located off Sunset Boulevard, is tight and curvy with limited visibility, said Bob Ramsdell, co-chair of the Miramar Homeowners Association. Drivers would round a bend and discover the road had suddenly changed from two lanes to one and there was an oncoming car. ‘It was a safety issue,’ said Audrey Ann Boyle, co-chair of the association. ‘It’s a narrow street, and we wanted to have it so cars could go by in a safe manner.’ There’s a favorite hiking spot on the top of Paseo Miramar that connects to Topanga State Park, so on weekends there was a significant increase in traffic, Ramsdell added. The new concrete retaining wall, with steel reinforcement bars, is 10 inches thick, 30-45 feet below the surface and 12 feet above ground at its tallest point, said Gary Lee Moore, city engineer. During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Rosendahl teasingly tapped the wall to make sure it was secure, and Moore assured him it would prevent slides. ‘This type of retaining-wall system is commonly used in the industry,’ Moore told the Palisadian-Post. ‘We have designed similar walls in other parts of the city. One example is the retaining wall behind the Chinatown Library on the corner of Ord Street and Castelar Street.’ About 17 employees from the city’s Bureau of Engineering managed the project and approximately 32 workers from Calex Engineering Company constructed the wall, Moore said. Rosendahl said he is pleased that the wall was constructed this year because the city is facing a $400-million to $500-million budget deficit in fiscal year 2008-09. Rosendahl thinks if another year had passed, the project might not have happened. Ramsdell said he is grateful for Rosendahl and his staff’s efforts. ‘They had a lot of people making phone calls four years ago, when there were rains and slides throughout the city,’ he said. ‘They recognized that this was a danger and responded to us.’
Meet the ‘Mayberrys’
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Few residents have roots as deep in Pacific Palisades as Rich and Deann Wilken. Rich Wilken is often called the Andy Griffith of Pacific Palisades, an apt moniker for a guy hugely invested in maintaining the town’s ‘Mayberry By the Sea’ character. When it comes to community boosterism and involvement, only his wife, Deann, comes close as a rival. The couple, married for 33 years, are lifelong Palisadians. Their family history overflows with real-life versions of Floyd’s Barbershop. Many relatives marked an early stake in the Palisades with family-owned businesses. Rich’s father, famous for his elaborately designed wedding cakes’and even more so for being William Randolph Hearst’s personal pastry chef–ran John’s Pastry Shop in the 1950s. His mother later operated the Patio Coffee Shop. Deann’s grandparents owned the Lindomar Lodge, a hub for celebrities of the day and a favorite spot of a young U.S. senator named John Kennedy. Another grandparent of Deann’s owned Blanche’s Beauty Salon, while her father ran a popular pet shop known as Mr. Poo’s in the Wilson Building (now Gelson’s parking lot). The relaxed, down-to-earth couple seem to take all these heady bygone days’and everything else’in stride. During an interview in their home, a cozy one-story on Edgar Street where they raised two children, daughter Heather, now 29, and son Matthew, 27, they spoke candidly about the current scene in their beloved hometown. ‘Because of the tremendous price of homes and the sacrifice being made, some of the new people, certainly not all, come in with a sense of entitlement,’ Rich says. ‘You see it while waiting in line and especially at school, a certain ‘me’ generation attitude. After a while, I hope they’ll mellow out, ‘ he adds. ‘You can’t give them a rule book about how to behave in the Palisades, although we’d like to.’ If he could issue a rule book, what would it say? ‘Be a normal person, we don’t care who you are, stand in line, have fun, and say hello,’ he replies without hesitation. Their first grandchild, Kendall, their daughter (Heather’s 3-year-old) is a fifth generation Palisadian. They’re eager to keep the Palisades the same family-friendly place for her that they grew up in. ‘Despite inevitable changes, I think the town still has that homey feeling,’ says Rich. ‘We still have the Fourth of July celebration and all that other corny stuff we love to do.’ Rich, an architect, is no small part of the town’s Independence Day celebration. Many locals know him as the freewheeling commentator stationed outside Starbuck’s along the parade route. For 25 years, he has also coordinated the town’s big fireworks display. His history with the parade dates back to when he was 14 and rode with his junior baseball team. By parade time, his coach hadn’t arrived to drive the team station wagon, so Rich got behind the wheel and drove the entire parade route himself, waving to disbelieving friends and neighbors. ‘I didn’t kill anyone, but I did get into trouble,’ he says. Rich, the youngest of three boys, grew up on Albright, a block from Temescal Canyon. ‘There were 21 kids within one year of each other in age,’ he recalls. ‘As a group, we were either playing baseball, skateboarding, or packing a sandwich for a day in the canyon spent throwing dirt clods, hiking, playing army or looking for snakes. The only rule was to be home for dinner.’ Meanwhile, Deann’s family lived on Castellammare, just a stone’s throw from the ocean, and from the family-owned Lindomar Hotel, located at the corner of Sunset Blvd. at Castellammare Dr. (where Spectrum Gym is now situated). She remembers hanging out at the beach with her friends and spending the entire day in the water. ‘I couldn’t understand why people wouldn’t go swimming until I was 16 or 17 and didn’t want to get my hair wet,’ she says with a laugh. In the days before bands of paparazzi began lurking on every corner, the Lindomar hotel played host to any number of celebrities’Montgomery Clift, Howard Hughes, Raymond Burr, Edgar Bergen and Leif Erickson were among them. John Kennedy sought refuge from his rowdy ‘Rat Pack’ friends at the hotel during visits to California. His signature on the guest register is a treasured family keepsake. Rich’s family can boast equal brushes with fame. His father, John, who emigrated from Germany in 1927, spent eight years in San Simeon as the personal pastry chef for William Randolph Hearst. He later became head pastry chef at Ocean House, the former mansion of Hearst’s longtime girlfriend, Marion Davies, in Santa Monica. Hearst and Davies loved throwing lavish theme parties and John Wilken grew famous for the cakes he created to complement these events. One such confection was an elaborate replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia for Hearst’s 75th birthday. The huge cake, fully illuminated with every architectural detail carefully carried out, was wheeled out at the stroke of midnight amid an early American-themed costume ball at Davies’ Santa Monica beach house. John Wilken died when Rich was only 15, but he remembers a few of his father’s stories about stars and shenanigans at Hearst Castle. One such episode involved Charlie Chaplin, who loved to mimic the monkeys Hearst kept as part of his menagerie. One the animals got fed up with this and threw fecal matter at the star. Rich and Deann met at the Lutheran Church as teenagers. Both attended local schools (he attended Palisades Elementary, she went to Marquez) and graduated from Palisades High (Rich was part of the high school’s first graduating class in 1964). They remember the community as possessing a more distinct blend of upper, middle and working class people than it does today. ‘I didn’t realize there were really wealthy people here until I got to Revere and attended birthday parties featuring private movie screenings at people’s homes,’ Deann says. ”Oh,’ I thought, ‘this is different.’ Even so, they were just our friends.’ Deann’s lifelong affiliation with Marquez Elementary includes directing the STAR educational enrichment programs there for close to 20 years. This follows years of volunteer activity, during which she received every pin in the PTA arsenal. She also oversees STAR programs in Topanga, Brentwood and Santa Monica Canyon and participated in the quest by Palisades schools to achieve charter status. In addition to his role as ‘Mr. Fireworks,’ Rich has been enthusiastically engaged in virtually every volunteer arm of the community. He served as a charter member of the Palisades Design Review Board and twice as president of PAPA. He’s headed the Palisades Lutheran Church congregation and plays a big role with both the Optimists and the Boy Scouts. Wedged into his busy volunteer schedule is work as a practicing architect based in a home office. Mort’s Deli, the Lutheran Church sanctuary and the remodel of St. Matthew’s Parish Center are among his many projects. Keeping true to California roots, he also founded Wilken Surfboards, a company well known for custom designing boards. Soon the family will travel to Hawaii where son Matt will be married on April 20. Though both Rich and Deann have traveled throughout the world, they’ve never considered living anywhere but here. Deann is already anticipating that sweet moment of return. ‘It’s nice to come through that tunnel in Santa Monica and see the ocean and say ‘Okay, I’m home.”
The Village Pantry Grand Opening: Menu Passes From Fareberow to Riordan
Menu Passes from Farberow to Riordan By MICHAEL AUSHENKER Staff Writer ‘Some of you are probably wondering why a news anchor would be doing this?’ said a beaming KTTV News anchor Carlos Amezcua as he led a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Village Pantry and Oak Room restaurants. ‘Well, they promised me free food!’ So commenced the late afternoon fanfare last Friday as former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan hosted a block party to celebrate the grand opening of his two eateries on Swarthmore Avenue, just north of Sunset. Riordan, whose pair of restaurants have enjoyed a soft roll-out since mid-January, joined with family members, friends and residents as they enjoyed a free menu sampling at the Pantry and a no-host bar in the Oak Room. Special guests included Christine Devine, Amezcua’s co-anchor on ‘News at 10’; William Morris Agency CEO Jim Wyatt; and L.A. City Councilman (District 11) Bill Rosendahl. ‘This is the greatest place in Southern California,’ Riordan told the Palisadian-Post, when asked why he pursued the restaurant space on Swarthmore. ‘And Palisadians are the greatest people.’ Riordan, a Brentwood resident, enjoyed riding his bike to the Palisades and having breakfast at the former Mort’s Deli, which he acquired and began remodeling last spring when owner Bobbie Farberow decided to retire. She and her late husband, Mort, were active business owners and citizens in Pacific Palisades for more than 30 years. Bobbie, who recently sold her house and moved into a condominium on Sunset in the Palisades, was on hand Friday as Riordan called on the partygoers to embrace the community involvement inspired by the Farberows. He also directed them to the plaque on a wall in front of the Village Pantry that reads: ‘Mort’s Palisades Deli operated at this location from 1974 to 2007. Mort and Bobbie Farberow’s generosity and community spirit were an inspiration to all.’ Riordan told the Post that he hopes the Village Pantry will live up to the expectations of locals, who have fond memories of their beloved Mort’s. ‘We wanted a modern version of Mort’s,’ said Riordan, who also owns Gladstone’s on PCH at Sunset and The Original Pantry in downtown Los Angeles, He added that he felt ‘very lucky’ to have such ‘strong managers and a great chef’ in place on Swarthmore. ‘I think pairing the two restaurants provides great contrast,’ said executive chef Doug Silberberg, a Palisades Highlands resident and the former chef of Michael’s in Santa Monica. The Pantry specializes in breakfast and light lunch and dinner fare, while the Oak Room (now open 7 days a week, 5 to 9 p.m.) is a bistro. Amezcua, who until last year led KTLA’s ‘Morning Show’ for more than 15 years, told the Post that his long friendship with Riordan goes back to his KTLA days, when Riordan was a frequent guest. ‘He drags me from restaurant to restaurant to do the ribbon-cutting. I’m his trained monkey,’ Amezcua said, laughing. Riordan’s daughter, Patricia Torrey, who has lived in the Palisades with her husband Dana since 1994, credits her friend, Linda Davis, for coming up with the name The Village Pantry. Torrey said that she wants this Pantry to become ‘a place where people are happy to come to. We want to be a part of the community the way Mort and Bobbie were.’ Inside the Pantry, while greeting a stream of her former customers, Bobbie told the Post, ‘I’m very proud of Dick Riordan, Trish and everybody. I think they did a fantastic job.’ She added about her retirement, ‘Not working seven days a week is not a bad thing, I hate to say.’
Dino A. De Laurentiis Tribute in Our Midst
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
‘The Sun Never Sets on Love.’ Such is the feeling one gets watching the sunset while visiting that magical spot on the Via de las Olas bluffs, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, with the Santa Monica Pier to the south and Malibu, framed by the Santa Monica Mountains, to the north. Now if that phrase sounds familiar, it may be because the romantic sentiment is inscribed on the plaque of an elegant pastel bench facing the Pacific, which is dedicated to Dino A. De Laurentiis. Located in the small park near where Mount Holyoke meets Via de las Olas, the bench was installed in honor of the late grandson of legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis (‘Army of Darkness,’ ‘Orca,’ the 1976 ‘King Kong’ remake). ‘It was placed one year after Dino’s death on November 3, 2004,’ Martha De Laurentiis, wife of the Italian-born producer, told the Palisadian-Post. Dino, who was 31 when he passed away from melanoma, lived in the Palisades with his wife, Talley, on Mount Holyoke. ‘He had a really tough battle,’ Martha De Laurentiis said. ‘They used to watch the sunset. That was his favorite spot, his as well as the family’s.’ Dino De Laurentiis’ granddaughter, Palisadian Giada De Laurentiis”who hosts ‘Everyday Italian’ on the Food Network and is a regular contributor to NBC’s ‘Today’ show”also visits the look-out with her husband Todd. The simple plaque, which bears the younger Dino’s name and dates, and the motto, also includes the Italian phrase ‘Tanti Baci’ (‘lots of kisses’). ‘His friends and family all pitched in to pay for it so it wasn’t one person,’ said Martha, adding, ‘Talley planted rosemary and lavender and does upkeep on the area. Those were Dino’s favorite plants.’ De Laurentiis and her producer husband live in Beverly Hills, but they remain closely connected to the Bluffs’ sweet spot. “It’s a place we go to remember him,’ Martha said of the De Laurentiis family. ‘The bench puts a smile on the place. It’s a very special place, and we hope people enjoy it and take care of it.’ Tanti baci, Dino A.
Laughing All the Way to “West Bank, UK”
Middle East politics may not seem like fodder for musical comedy. And yet, ‘West Bank, UK,’ a winning theater production presented by the Malibu Stage Company, delivers in both categories. ‘West Bank’ plays at the Company’s venue, 22837 Pacific Coast Hwy., through Sunday evening. Written and directed by Stage Company artistic director Oren Safdie, with music and lyrics by Ronnie Cohen, ‘West Bank’ offers what is essentially a racy riff on Neil Simon’s classic roommate comedy ‘The Odd Couple,’ pairing a crazy Israeli with a slovenly, put-upon Palestinian. Lively and physical, ‘West Bank’ benefits from its core four actor/singers, whose entertaining performances skewer the regional conflict’s inherent absurdities (racial hatred, suicide bombers, 72 virgins, etc.) on a tasty shish kebab spear of acerbic broad humor. Jeremy Cohen (as the Jewish Assaf) and Mike Mosallam (Aziz, a Palestinian) create the show’s strong central performances. Janine Molinari and Anthony Patellis each do multiple duties interpreting several characters apiece. Patellis’ palette of colorful characters provides much comic relief, while the Broadway-ready Molinari demonstrates an electric stage presence. Molinari, as the boys’ American landlord and, especially, as the kooky frum woman Bathsheva, belts out her numbers forcibly with precision comic timing. ‘Can’t a girl be naughty and love God?’ sings Bathsheva during one of the show’s tamer lyrical moments. Also notable: the live musical talent incorporated into the show. Last week’s enthusiastic audience enjoyed the robust opening instrumental by ‘West Bank”s three on-stage performers”Chriz Michens-Zaborowski (percussion), Scott Baldyga (the show’s musical arranger and pianist) and Varoujan Nalbandian (violin)” as well as Yukihide Takiyama (bass/guitar), who welcomes arriving audiences with frenetic oud-playing from the theatre’s rear and also joins in with the trio on the show tunes. Acidic wit and pungent black comedy mix with a raunchy sexual humor to give ‘West Bank’ its edge. Those with at least a passing knowledge of Middle East politics, as well as the Jewish and Palestinian cultures, will be best equipped to get ‘West Bank”s snarky humor and exaggerated characterizations. In a sense, ‘West Bank”s comic sensibility seems very Israeli, very blunt and matter-of-fact. Given the chronic violence plaguing Israel, a dark sense of humor seems vital for survival. Here, such a comic sensibility operates to disarm and unnerve viewers regarding the difficult, sensitive subject matter that ‘West Bank’ comments on. One elderly viewer remarked, on her way out, that she enjoyed the play, although it was ‘a little weird in places.’ Fair enough. Peace in the Middle East may remain a present-day political impossibility; however, in the meantime, here’s the randy, raunchy, off-kilter solution. Malibu Stage Company next mounts ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane,’ a 1998 Tony winner depicting the dysfunctional relationship between a spinster and her domineering mother, on May 16. Catch the last weekend of ‘West Bank, U.K.,’ which plays through April 13, this Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m. Call (310) 456-3445. PHOTO CREDIT: Kitty Kang
“Noises Off” and On Stage
Our insatiable appetite for the real story behind the play or the movie–the shenanigans, the jealousy and the love affairs–is more than happily satisfied in Michael Frayn’s deliciously funny ‘Noises Off,’ now on stage through May 11 at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd. With spot-on direction by Sherman Wayne, the Theatre Palisades cast has landed a winner, having triumphed over the notorious challenges that farce presents. The great English actress Edith Evans once summed it up with. ‘In a farce, you don’t have a play to help you.’ Success depends on the stuff of farce, namely its extreme physical and comic appeal, and unerring timing. That Theatre Palisades took on this challenge is remarkable, but we’re glad the company did. In a nutshell, the conceit concerns staging a play, so not only is the ‘business’ among the actors funny, but the play-within-the play itself is unbearably bad, and thus hilarious. It’s difficult for good actors to play ‘bad,’ but this troupe pulls it off, squeezing out the most from Frayn’s smart, situational bon mots, which blessedly don’t rely on knowledge of the latest headlines or celebrity scandal. We start right off in Act I with a rehearsal of ‘Nothing On,’ the aforementioned faux play, which we soon learn is scheduled to open the next night. The set, wonderfully conceived by Wayne, with help from the Theatre Palisades production staff, recreates the living room of the Brents’ English country home. A silent partner in this whole game, the set, equipped with the multiple doors, is a must in the structure of farcical antics. Housekeeper Mrs. Clackett (Martha Hunter) as caretaker is the fulcrum for the humorous antics that ensue. Hopelessly scatterbrained, she is constrained by the director (Craig Christiansen), whose hopeless reminders of a missed cue become the stuff of pratfall and general mayhem. He has already let her off the hook for the text: ‘Don’t worry about the words, love,’ he assures her. The house is for lease and thus empty, which opens up the possibilities for opportunists, surreptitious trysters and idle burglars. By the end of Act I, we audience members are grateful for intermission, having laughed ourselves to near-exhaustion. Act II finds us repeating the rehearsal, but this time from behind the stage so we get to see exactly what goes on behind the scenes. Everything under the sun. There is the two-timing director, the ing’nue with the wandering contact lens, the drunken burglar’the usual slice-of-life comedy. By Act III, when we see opening night, the hilarity has reached full bloom. The actors, by this time sick of the play and one another, slug through, ‘on we bloody stagger, on we blindly stumble.’ The acting is uniformly exceptional, as it must be in ensemble work. Martha Hunter seems to thrive in over-the-top characters, much to the audience’s delight. Craig Christiansen, who plays the ‘director,’ lends necessary straight-man solidity, which, of course, is funny. Costumer Joyce Gale Smith must have had a ball dressing her wacky players in everything from country club sport to ‘Sheik of Araby’ sheets! ‘Noises Off’ continues Friday, Saturday and Sunday through May 11. For tickets, call (310) 454-1970.
“Thoroughly Modern Millie” Shines at PaliHi
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Going to see a high school musical is not where one would expect to see major talent or be wowed by the singing and choreography, but the production of ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ at Palisades Charter High School does both. Go see these cast members now, so that you can tell people that you saw them before they became famous. Based on the 1967 film, ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ opened on Broadway in 2002 and won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The music, by Jeanine Tesori with lyrics by Dick Scanlan, has a book by Richard Morris and Scanlan. Set in 1922, ‘Millie’ commences with Millie Dillmount leaving Salina, Kansas, to come to New York City and become a flapper. She plans to marry her boss for his money, because marrying for love is old-fashioned. After Millie’s purse and a shoe are stolen, she runs into a young man on the street, Jimmy Smith, who advises her to go back to Kansas. Determined to follow her plan, she instead finds a place to stay at a hotel where most of the young women are aspiring actresses. These women are unaware that the unsavory owner of the establishment, Mrs. Meers, kidnaps young orphan girls and sells them to a white slavery ring in Southeast Asia. Meers’ two in-house workers, Ching Ho and Bun Foo, are forced to do her bidding because they are trying to make money to bring their mother to the U.S. from China. On short notice, Millie finds a job and sets her sights on marrying her boss, Mr. Trevor Graydon III, who is unaware of her feminine qualities; he calls her ‘John.’ But Millie falls in love with Smith, whom she thinks is penniless. So she tries to reconcile her head with her heart. The course of love never runs smoothly in musicals, so Millie’s new best friend, Miss Dorothy, and Millie’s boss fall in love. Unfortunately, Mrs. Meers finds out that Dorothy is an orphan, and it seems that the unlucky girl is on her way out of the country. It is hard to signal out just two or three performers in ‘Millie’ because there are so many exceptional performances. Playing Millie is Mia Canter, whose exuberance and lovely voice fills the room. Her love interest, Smith, played by Ryan Steinberg, takes command of the stage. His voice is perfect for the male lead. Lorin Doctor, who plays Smith’s stepmother, Muzzy Van Hosmere, sings two solos, and both are show-stoppers. The warm edges of the songs delivered by Doctor curl up into the corners of the auditorium. Paul Miller, as Graydon III, sings one of the show’s nicest duets with Elizabeth Rich (Miss Dorothy). Both have incredible stage presence. And just when you think the show cannot get any better, the talented Christie Pryor (Mrs. Meers) and her associates, Michael Jones (Ching Ho) and Anthony Iglesias (Bun Foo), throw themselves into their parts with crowd-pleasing gusto. The support cast is top-notch and the student orchestra plays with finesse, rounding out a production of Broadway caliber. An enthusiastic audience gave the cast a standing ovation on opening night. Special nods go to director Monica Iannessa, choreographer Monique Smith, musical director Terry Henderson, and vocal director Josh Elson, for putting on a high-quality show in what is basically a multi-purpose room (Mercer Hall). This production is further evidence that this community needs a state-of-the-art performing center. At intermission, Iannessa apologized to the audience for technical glitches that had nothing to do with the tech crew, but rather with a facility that was never meant to be a theater. Occasionally, microphones would blow out and then come back on and lights would die, and somebody would instantly throw another one on. The performers took it all in stride and didn’t miss a beat. Even with cushioned folding chair seats, it is a crime to have to sit and watch such a good show this way. In addition, the orchestra ‘pit’ is actually to the left side of the stage, and instead of having their space, the band members become part of the audience. With such outstanding student talent at Palisades High, in a town that is home to numerous movie stars and leaders in the film, television and recording industry, it is a disgrace that we lack a large performing arts facility. Such a wonderful show, with its outstanding performances, deserves a better space. The remaining performances of ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ are tonight, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets at the door: $10. Reserved seats are $15.
Oasis in the Palisades: Acupuncture, Massage
Antonia Balfour and Stephanie Kanan have teamed up to create Oasis Palisades, a haven for health and wellness in the Marquez neighborhood, where they offer acupuncture, herbal consultations and a variety of massage treatments. Balfour, who graduated with a master’s degree in Chinese Medicine at Yo San University in Los Angeles, has been expanding her practice in Pacific Palisades for the past seven years and will become the next Chamber of Commerce president in June. She believes that there are many ways to find health, and acupuncture is one pathway. She uses the analogy, ‘We could look at two maps of the Palisades. The first might be a map that shows all the streets and roadways. A second map might show the mountains and trees. Neither is wrong because they’re both of the Palisades, but each shows a different perspective.’ Balfour explains that Eastern and Western medicine are similar to her analogy. ‘There is not a conflict; a person could use both to get optimal health.’ A person with back, neck or foot pain or chronic headaches might be a good acupuncture candidate, says Balfour, who also treats women who are experiencing infertility, going through menopause, having heavy periods or suffering PMS. After graduating from Yo San University, Balfour thought she would open a gynecological practice, but when she came to the Palisades her outlook expanded. ‘It’s a village and I see a spectrum of issues,’ she says. ‘I see as much back pain as I do gynecological issues.’ A patient visiting Oasis Palisades for the first time, whether for acupuncture, herbs or massage, first fills out a questionnaire and then has a long conversation with Balfour or Kanan, who is the director of massage therapy and has also worked in holistic healthcare for more than 20 years. For example, a patient complaining of chronic headaches may be asked seeming unrelated questions about sleep, environment, day-to-day activities, work and diet, and different times that food is eaten. ‘The goal is to bring someone into balance,’ Balfour says. ‘My job is to be a detective and put the pieces of the puzzle together.’ Once she has a patient’s history, Balfour determines whether acupuncture is appropriate and if it is, where needles should be placed. ‘If someone has just injured his back and is in acute spasm, I won’t put the needles where the patient complains of pain. Instead I may place them in the hand, ankles and ear,’ says Balfour, who demonstrates the procedure. The area of pain is palpated and the area where the needles will be placed is cleaned with alcohol. Surprisingly, when the needle is placed in the skin, it is barely perceptible. Balfour points out that the needles are not like a vaccination needle or even as thick as sewing pins, but rather, are hair thin. After they are in the proper location, the needles are stimulated when the practioner touches them; once again the movement is barely perceptible. Balfour says that she has many needle-phobic patients who have no problems with acupuncture. The number of needles placed is dependent on what is being treated. Once they are placed, they stay for about a half hour. ‘Some people go into a relaxed state and some even fall asleep,’ Balfour says. Many skeptics argue that acupuncture is a placebo. ‘I have a skeptical, critical mind, so I respect that,’ says Balfour. Her primary concern is her patient’s health, so ‘as long as it [acupuncture] works,’ that’s what counts. She notes that acupuncture is used on animals with successful results, which would seem to discount the placebo effect. She has also used the treatment on children as young as four months. Herbs are often used in conjunction with acupuncture and are customized for the individual. In addition, Balfour recently launched a line of herbal products made specifically for dogs, Qi Blends Herbs, that include Bladder Blend, Digestive Blend, Feel Young Again Blend and Skin Repair for Hot Spots (www.qiblends.com). Another aspect of treatment at Oasis Palisades is an affordable massage (starting at $48 for one hour). A customer can chose between several types of massage including Swedish, deep tissue, reflexology, aromatherapy and hot stone. ‘Massage provides joints and muscles with a direct benefit,’ Kanan says. ‘It relieves stress and is relaxing; it also helps circulation in older people.’ ‘I feel that most of what makes us sick, at the core, is stress,’ Balfour adds. Although Oasis has one of the lowest prices for massage in the Palisades, Kanan and Balfour insist on using high-quality organic oils that have Vitamin E, which is good for the skin. Kanan started her career as a medical assistant for Dr. Pearl McBroom, the first black female cardiologist in L.A., who also focused on alternative modalities. When McBroom retired, Kanan worked for Dr. Bruce Beddoe, founder of Palisades Holistic Chiropractic Center. Oasis Palisades is located in the alley between Bollinger Drive and Sunset (below Marquez Avenue), in the space formerly occupied by Jordan Appliance. The interior has been tastefully remodeled by Thane Roberts, whose architecture credits include Emporio Armani in Beverly Hills. Treatments are available by appointment only, seven days a week. Call (310) 454-5855, or visit: www.oasispalisades.com.
Spring Flourishes on Palisades Garden Tour
The Pacific Palisades Annual Spring Garden Tour and Plant Market will take place on Sunday, April 13, from 1 to 5 p.m. The self-guided tour highlights six gardens in and around the Paliasdes, featuring a range of styles from classic English country to Southern California landscape with a 180-degree panoramic view. Tickets ($25 prior to April 13, $30 on the day of the tour) are on sale at the Outdoor Room Nursery, 17311 Sunset Blvd.; Yamaguchi Nursery, 1905 Sawtelle, West Los Angeles and Merrihew’s Sunset Gardens, 1526 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica. Also on the day of the tour, tickets will be available at 7951 Sea Breeze and 707 Via de la Paz, and at the Plant Market on the day of the Tour, 12 to 4 p.m. at 1412 Amalfi Dr. All proceeds will help fund community beautification projects. 1422 Capri Drive This garden is one of two on the tour that have maximized landscape areas by eliminating a circular driveway. The motor court has now been somewhat separated from the house, maintaining focus on the garden. The front of the house is shielded from the noise and exposure of the street by redwoods and liquidambar trees, which provide an elegant stately fence. Inside the gate, a fountain offers a quieting mood. The challenge in this garden for landscaper designer Jay Griffith was to incorporate the family’s ‘play’ activities into a cohesive, green plan for the backyard. Fanning out from the house, the back landscape becomes a series of outdoor rooms contained on the property line by a large stand of redwoods and eucalyptus. To the south, and convenient to the seating area, is an outdoor fireplace and ‘kitchen.’ On the other side of a large grass expanse is a swimming pool, surrounded by a picket fence in keeping with the architecture of the house, and beyond the pool, a fire pit and jacuzzi. Other sports activities include a putting green and a half-court basketball court. The landscape is functional and private, softened by subtle color combinations such as variegated privet and camellias, dwarf magnolias, and the ivy geranium that clambers over the volcanic rock formation abutting the pool. 719 Amalfi Drive When landscaper designer Jay Griffith learned that the late Eddie Albert’s Mediterranean-style estate on Amalfi was for sale three years ago, he got the word out to his clients, hoping that one of them would buy the John Byers gem. Failing in this effort and acting as his own self-proclaimed preservationist, Griffiths bought it himself and created a new landscape that matches the Spanish sensibility of the home. The approach from the street is private, but not secret. A low pittosporum hedge leads up to the gate and opens into a courtyard. Running the width of the house, this long horizontal patio is anchored by a quiet pond on one side and large blue agave dramatically centered in a Corten steel planter on the other. Mature jacaranda, sycamore and palms fit the California tradition, providing color, texture and shade. The main show is the backyard, which opens out toward the panoramic view. From the back colonnade, 5,000 square feet of lawn stretches to the edge of the property which overlooks Rustic Canyon. Two rough-hewn pavilions are strategically placed, one north, the other south, and, as seen from the colonnade on the back of the house, help to create a long, continuous S-curve, embracing the view from the Will Rogers Polo fields to the Pacific Ocean. Low impact plantings and a leaf-blower ban contribute to the peaceful landscape–a painterly pastoral. Around the south side of the house, a second courtyard has been created from the car turnaround area where a patterned pavement provides a nice anchor for the blue date palm, and sundry ‘found’ treasures of an inveterate collector. Griffith emphasizes that his design is a landscape as distinct from a garden, which is made up of areas of plants—the herb, flower or water garden, vignettes that have been hand wrought over time. What has been created here is a landscape, ‘A painterly gesture that is all about a sense of place.’ Photo: courtesy Jay Griffith 774 Ranch Lane This garden, created by Whitney Landscape, Design and Installation, benefits from the naturally rich, good draining soil found in Rustic Canyon. The front garden, which was installed to replace a circular driveway, offers a transition from the public space. White birch trees line the street, while flowering purple plum trees give color and vertical structure. Dwarf magnolias and Boston ivy soften the front wall. Whitney says that he likes to match his color palette to the architecture of the house, in this case the brick of the English traditional. With an eye on year-round color, he has planted hydrangea (which grow naturally blue without a chemical boost), cyclamen, begonia and camellias. The back yard opens up to a view of Rustic Canyon and beyond. A large, gracious grass expanse was expanded 10 feet by installing a retaining wall on the canyon side. The perimeter is planted in perennials, supplemented by seasonal annuals. A mature Aleppo pine with an extravagant canopy provides a cooling element, and a transition from the greensward to the entertainment area. A deck extends at one end of the garden furnished with tables and chairs, while the barbecue area, adjacent to the house, is paved in Simmons brick and enlivened by purple wisteria. At the other end of the garden, a weeping cypress is ‘illuminated’ by the pillowy texture of the bright chartreuse yellow leaves of Helichrysum petiolare ‘Limelight’ that spreads at the base of the tree. An essential element of this garden is water furnished by the fountain that flows from a large ceramic pot filled with worn river stones. Whimsical garden decorations include a weathered wagon wheel table, an antique carousel horse and an art deco tin bas-relief. 707 Via de la Paz This garden is the charm of Via de la Paz and is at its best in spring. A honest-to-goodness English garden, blowsy with colorful annuals pouring over the low river rock wall. This year, the assortment includes johnny-jump-ups, hydrangea, anemones, Iceland poppies, ranunculus and sweet peas. Alyssum peeks out from under the wall and in crevices in the wall. The garden is entered through an arch draped with climbing roses. Once inside, a ficus tree gives focus to the front yard. Citrus trees anchor the west side, while a grass patch still allows room for the children to play. The owner-designer, who professes to lose himself in the garden, aims for the interesting, unusual and colorful around the perimeter. His latest enthusiasms are stone fruit trees. The plum, apricot, nectarine and peach all show off their spring blossoms. The back yard opens out toward Temescal Canyon below. Topside, is an intimate, shady ‘room’ defined by nicely proportioned birch trees. Walking the path toward the canyon reveals an area open to full sun, allowing for sunbathing and space for propagation boxes. The owner admits to two successes here, his Santa Rosa plum and blueberries, whose yield is small, but good sized and delicious. 17951 Sea Breeze Drive This garden is different from many in that it was installed before the house was built. The owners supplied landscape designer Rick Mosbaugh with a footprint of the new house five years before construction, so he could provide a mature, ready made landscape, including the existing swimming pool. Stone pines dominate the horizon and can be seen soaring above the house from the street. The front landscape and infinity-pool fountain provide a cooling influence on the hot exposure of this house, which sits well above the street. The fountain is backed by a multicolored ashlar wall and planted with papyrus and willow. A sneak preview of the back garden is visible from the window in the front door. The garden in the back is a study in texture and in shades of green. The hardscape seems to grow right out of the land. The fountain consists of a simple urn centered on roughhewn Yosemite canyon boulders, covered with lichen and mosses, and surrounded with variegated ivy. Note the striking plant combinations in the planters. Each area shows off a masterful combination of plants, often reflecting Mosbaugh’s latest enthusiasm. 361 Surfview Drive This garden is so attentive to the site, climate and owners artistic input, that a modest tract house has been turned into a subtle work of art. The approach, masterminded by landscape architect Heidi Santschi is a study in texture and a cool palette. The irrigation was removed, allowing for a rock garden, olive trees, red fescue and pittosporum. A concrete wall consists of three slabs, each one offset slightly to break up the surface and suggest privacy, but not seclusion. The family has created a pleasant seating area on the other side of the wall. A fountain, constructed of concrete chunks salvaged from the old back yard patio, is flanked on one side by a paloverde tree, whose green bark harmonizes beautifully with the wall of pastel shades of blue and grey. The backyard merges vegetation, color and texture with the natural habitat of the Santa Monica Mountains beyond. Feather grass laps over the low chromium yellow wall that contains the yard. Flowering plum provides an aerial hedge. The patio area, of Del Rio salt and pepper mixed composite, is shaded by a carrot wood tree. The hillside planting, loose and textured, includes Mexican weeping bamboo, cotoneaster, schefflera trees, euphorbias and Michelia, a tropical tree with fragrant blooms. This family achieved their ocean view by building a crows’ nest, where they can escape and enjoy the setting sun. Back down on the ground, the garden continues around the house on the west side, where a ‘food’ corner provides herbs, lettuces and vegetables for the kitchen.
