Calling All Angelenos…

to Fashion’s Night Out Los Angeles!

FNO is an event that started last year as a partnership between Vogue and CFDA to benefit the NYC Aids Fund, encouraging shoppers to spend for a good cause. Stores stayed open until late night with a slew of celebrations and special promotions. Needless to say, it was a hit. And if you’re like me, you were super jealous that only New Yorkers got to have all the fun last year. Well, now Angelenos can join in on the FNO festivities! 200+ retailers from all over the city will offer a night of fashion, music, art, food and spectacle.

Here’s what you need to know.

1. FNO LA is on September 10 with most activities happening between 6-10pm. That’s only 2 weeks from now! Mark your calendars.

2. There are fashion scenes for any and every style. Check out shops on Melrose, Rodeo Drive, Robertson, West 3rd,  Abbott Kinney, Los Feliz Village, and even pop-ups downtown. The Beverly Center, Westfield Topanga, and Westfield Century City are participating too if you prefer shopping centers.

3. The Beverly Center will be the central hub for the night. The opening ceremony with Mayor Villaraigosa is at 5pm. Runway shows happen at 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30. Click image for a complete schedule. Also there’s free self-parking from 4pm-6pm with free Dash buses running to Melrose, Robertson, and 3rd St.

4. This is the official FNO LA shirt designed by Marc Blaskovits, a graphic design student at FIDM. He was inspired by the downtown skyline and the city’s signature palm trees because “a street lined with palm trees symbolizes the road to the American dream.” It looks cheesy in writing, but it’s quite sweet when Marc says that with his vaguely European accent. You can purchase the shirts at FIDM now for $15 or at the event. 100% of proceeds go to fashion scholarships.

The designer and his model.

I think it looks much better on than laid flat for promo pics.

5. Don’t call it an after-party. The “post-retail fashion celebration” for FNO LA is exclusively for FNO attendees. If you spend $25 or more at any participating retailer, you get access to two SBE clubs–Industry and XIV. There will be a showcase of LA designers at Industry and special drinks+models at XIV. So hit up either or both after 10pm. It’s sure to be fun.

There are hundreds of events going on throughout the night, but I’m especially excited about these two.

Ferris Wheel on Rodeo.

FNO cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery on West 3rd.

So don’t miss out on the first ever FNO Los Angeles. It’s going to be a-ma-zing.
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Wicked: a Must-Read and a Must-See

I actually think Wicked is a must-read then a must-see, but it’s a close call. Both the novel and the Broadway musical are brilliant remixes of the classic Wizard of Oz. And although the story inspired the show, the result is two entirely different experiences.

Let’s start with the book, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. (Click on the image to buy it on Amazon.)

It’s a politically charged retelling of the fairytale that started long before Dorothy arrived on the scene. The Wizard is the seemingly benign dictator of Oz. The Good Witch of the North is his popular puppet. The Wicked Witch of the West is a lone revolutionary. And Dorothy is just a pawn in the Wizard’s scheme. Oppression, the fight for equal rights, government propaganda, secret police, and underground rebel meetings are just some of the story’s complex elements.

But don’t be scared off. There’s a healthy dose of sentimentality, which, combined with excellent character development, endears each personality to the reader. Predictably, Maguire focuses on the Wicked Witch of the West, humanizing her as the oft-misunderstood Elphaba Thropp. From the beginning to the end, she’s an intriguing combination of charm and prickliness. The reader sways between sympathy and frustration toward Elphaba, even as she becomes the villainized Witch.

It’s a rewarding read, especially if you know the Wonderful Wizard of Oz fairytale or the 1939 MGM classic film. Then you can better appreciate the clever bits.

The musical presents a much lighter version of Maguire’s story. Some characters are lost as are many of the heavier, more adult twists. But the Broadway adaptation does not stray too much and manages to retain that wonderful Wicked essence.

The soundtrack, written by Stephen Schwartz, is lovely, singsongy, and touching but also moves the plot and the characters along. Perfect for musical theatre. And some songs are laugh-out-loud funny. ‘Popular’ and ‘Loathing’ were big hits with the crowd at the Pantages in Los Angeles when I watched it. Listen here.

And one quick word about the sets: breathtaking. Who designed these intricate, moving visual delights? They deserve awards galore.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing this musical, you can still catch it in New York, San Francisco, London, Osaka, Oberhausen, Sydney, and a slew of smaller cities (like the tour’s current stop: Durham, North Carolina). Go on!

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Macaron Madness

It is 77 degrees in Los Angeles today, sunny with a gentle breeze. It seemed like the perfect day to indulge my latest craving–macarons. I love these little French sandwich cookies because they are simultaneously crispy, spongy, and fluffy. Macarons must be eaten delicately, and each bite must be savored because they disappear all too soon.

So I moseyed on over to Little Next Door on 3rd to sample some of their flavors. I chose Chocolate, Lavender, Blood Orange, and Hazelnut.

I found Chocolate surprisingly mild, not too chocolatey or sweet. The flavor was just okay, but the outer crust was perfectly chewy and crumbly. Lavender was extremely plant-y in taste, which I liked. But then again, it’s my favorite scent and flavor for teas, ice cream, and just about everything else. Blood Orange was by far the best. Everything about this macaron worked. The beautiful red shells and orange filling, the balance of fruity and sweet flavor, and the melt-in-your-mouth texture. YUM. Hazelnut was my least favorite. I found it way too sweet, and the orange color threw me off…like my eyes and my taste buds couldn’t reconcile which was the correct sensation. Overall, I liked these macarons but would skip Chocolate and Hazelnut next time.

After eating four of these sweet confections by my lonesome, I was high on sugar and started wandering down delicious macaron memory lane. These are my all-time favorites.

Chantilly in Lomita, California.

Photocredit: patisseriechantilly.com/cookies

Simple, quality macarons. I really loved the Matcha, which was just delicate enough without being watered down. I remember the Chocolate being good, too. It’s a cute Japanese bakery aside from the macarons as well.

Paulette in San Francisco.

Photo Credit: http://curiousmango.typepad.com/curious-mango/2009/07/paulette-macarons.html, July 30, 2009 via curiousmango.typepad.com

As you can see from the photos, this is a super cute shop that offers a decadent macaron experience. I wanted to squeal when I walked in and saw the impressive array, but the stern Paulette made that impossible. Not that she said anything. She didn’t need to. It was all in the disdainful way she looked at me when I spilled a crumb on the shop floor in my excitement to eat my Earl Grey Tea macaron. I was glad to wrap up our 12-pack to go! No flavor stood out in a bad way, but Caramel and Passion Fruit were especially to-die-for.

Okay now back to the real world where the perfect spring day in LA awaits. I hope that wherever you are and in whatever sort of weather, yummy macarons will bring you a taste of springtime, too!

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Hands-On Art: Lucky Dragons

When’s the last time you were invited to touch in an art museum? To make noisy music? To do rather than observe?
Thanks to the artist collective Lucky Dragons for one of the most enjoyable art memories I’ve made in a while. (If you want to know more, read the bio on their website.) I wish I had more photos to share, but I was too busy having fun to stop and snap too many shots.

Set up in the hangar space next to the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, the Live Sprawl party had various stations where guests could interact with different projects. Adults and children alike seemed to have a blast rubbing rocks, tooting out tunes on recorders, and banging together carob sticks. Sound bizarre? Let me show you.

One of the corners had this motion sensor with a light next to a pile of CDs with rock-like speakers all around. In order to create the psychedelic sounds and reflections on the wall, we had to plop down on the Astroturf and put our ears close to the rocks. There were also bongo drums nearby, encouraging lounging and lingering.

By the wall, under a sign that said Please Take One, was a spread of plastic recorders for visitors to take away. Some avoided eye contact as they nabbed more than one. Others milled around the station and tried to collectively remember how to play the recorder from elementary school memories. An eight-year-old girl taught me how to play “Three Blind Mice.” The instruments made appearances throughout the whole night, most amusingly during an outdoor jam session. All of it perfectly embodied the statement stuck onto the mouthpieces: Harmony is a Process.

And in the center of the room was a huge screen projecting spasm-inducing, moving images on either side. Underneath the projections was another station with carob sticks taped to cables plugged into a soundboard. They were basically amplified noisemakers, and some guests got really into creating ambient noises that filled the whole hangar.

But this was by far my favorite. This big rock was a motion-activated speaker that made pleasant electronic sounds. Stacking rocks on top of it didn’t affect the sound, but people can never resist, can they? Plus look how neat it looks. (This was the rock to rub with one ear pressed right up against it.)

And I was reminded once again why I love MOCA. Approachable art, what a dream.

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Mary Poppins the Musical

Sometimes Disney on Broadway seems too easy. Take a sing-a-long classic and put it on stage. People walk into the musical wanting to love it, generally knowing what to expect.

Photo credit: CircusTheater Welcomes MARY POPPINS For Open Ended Run, December 31, 2009 via Broadway.world.com

With Mary Poppins, my fierce love of the movie took away some of my enjoyment of the musical. The musical still works well enough, but these are some changes that irked me.

– Winifred Banks isn’t a suffragette. Boo! That was probably the most amusing part of her character.

– “Stay Awake” didn’t make the cut, and I wish I’d known because I kept waiting to hear it. Disappointing.

– There are too many touchy-feely moments. I could do without the new song “Being Mrs. Banks”.

Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun, and I dare somebody to say otherwise. The following were the choicest musical gems.

Act 1:  Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Photo credit: Mary Poppins Extended Through 2/7/2010 At Ahmanson, August 28, 2009 via Broadwayworld.com

The costumes were great in this number. And the song is, of course, a beloved classic. But what was most remarkable was the dance. Each letter had a corresponding pose, and the entire ensemble helped spell out the word in song. The silly gestures were repeated in quick succession to create an impressive and delightful energy that lifted the audience’s mood.

Act 2: Step in Time

Photo credit: MARY POPPINS St. Louis Tix on Sale 4/26, Show Stars Ashley Brown, Gavin Lee, April 21, 2009 via Broadwayworld.com

This number was wonderful even before anybody started singing or dancing. In the first few seconds, I was taken aback by the gorgeous set. I frantically took multiple mental pictures before I lost that first image of the rooftops with chimney sweeps silhouetted against a deep blue sky. And it only got better as everybody trooped around the stage with taps on their shoes. Bert even got a solo that was more like stomp than tap. Ooh, this was just pure fun that translated perfectly from movie to musical. Bravo.

The show is leaving Los Angeles soon (February 7) so check it out if you’re in the area. Here are other locations where you can catch the musical. Don’t dillydally!

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