Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

The Week Ahead – Events for April 1-7, 2023

CLAY LA 2023 has arrived! The annual ceramic pop-up and fundraiser is back at Craft Contemporary this Sat-Sun, April 1-2.

 

Good morning, afternoon, or evening to you, party people – I hope this greeting finds you well and in good spirits, as I bring you yet another rendition of “The Week Ahead.” You’ll find many of the usual suspects below, including the LA Phil, Ebell, and Craft Contemporary, but that isn’t to say there’s nothing fresh on the menu. The Phil is presenting a very intriguing art-music mashup performance, the LA Zoo will be kicking off its month-long Earth Day celebrations, Paramount+ will be transforming the iconic Mel’s Diner into the Frosty Palace (Grease fans will know what I’m talking about), and First Fridays continue on at the Natural History Museum with a brand new season and a brand new theme. See you there!

 

Arts, Culture, Pink Ladies, and The Earth

 

What a handsome couple the LA Phil and Walt Disney Concert Hall make, and what sweet love and music resounds! Come experience it for yourself this week with a lovely selection of concerts, concertos, art, and music lessons. First up is the LA Phil New Music Group with Brad Lubman (that dude to the left) happening on Saturday, April 1 at 8 p.m. Don’t miss this music-art mashup between composer Steve Reich and artist Gerhard Richter, as Richter provides a computer-generated film of his painting 946-3, resulting in “a stream of images interpreted by music and a musical composition visualized by film images.” Un-K, that sounds cool and looks even cooler whilst I try to visualize. Tickets range from $34-$43. Next up is pure educational fun with Music 101: Music and Places with KUSC’s Alan Chapman, taking place mid-week on Wednesday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. Enhance your listening and appreciation of classical music through Music 101 with KUSC’s Alan Chapman. “Vibrant visuals and a multitude of musical examples will transport you on this whirlwind tour.” Bonus: Tickets are only $5 each! And lastly, but definitely not leastly, “One of the most admired pianists of his generation” (NY Times), Inon Barnatan, returns for an evening of Sibelius and Brahms, with Barnatan performing Brahms’ epic First Piano Concerto, in a program that also includes Sibelius’s Symphony No. 3, led by Finnish conductor and composer Osmo Vänskä, and the world premiere of Donghoon Shin’s Upon His Ghostly Solitude. Performances will take place on Friday and Saturday, April 7-8 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $20-$190.

CLAY LA is back, baby boo, so come join everyone’s favorite craft museum, the Craft Contemporary, for its very popular annual event and fundraiser. Browse a ceramic lovers marketplace with pieces made by dozens of emerging and established ceramic makers from the greater Los Angeles area. Meet, shop, and make your own creations, with a diversely curated group of unique artists this Saturday and Sunday, April 1-2, with an opportunity to get first dibs with the purchase of an Early Access Ticket. At the cost of just $40 ($35 for CC members), you’ll get to lay your eyes upon the goods before anyone else, participate in a special clay workshop, and receive comped drinks and refreshments. And here’s the skinny on the sched: preview party is on Saturday from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., and 12-5 p.m. with regular ticket, and Sunday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Air-Dry Clay Activity will take place on both days from 1-3:30 p.m. Entry fee for Saturday is $9 at the door (includes museum admission and access to air-dry clay activity), and Sunday is pay-what-you-can day. See you there!

LACMA is the art and community gift that keeps on giving, offering all you fine folks more free craft workshops this weekend, with its Earth Day iterations happening on Saturday, April 1 in South LA. Get yourself and the kiddos out of the house for two workshops designed to inspire, and enjoy an afternoon of creating. The first of the two, Communities Create LA! The Junkyard: Celebrating Earth Day will play with different materials, images, and colors, transforming ordinary recycled objects into beautiful works of art. This free workshop takes place in person at Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park from 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. Then, just several blocks away at the AC Bilbrew Library, there’ll be another chance for you to get your craft on with the second of the two, where you’ll learn how to use textures, shapes, and colors to create your own Earth Day–inspired sensory board. This one’s from 1-2 p.m., so you’ll have time to catch both workshops if you can, and there’s no need to register for either, just show up and have fun!

Earth Day officially lands on April 22, but shouldn’t every day be Earth Day? Well, yes, it should, but at least the LA Zoo is making a month long party out of it with its Wild for the Planet: Earth Day Celebrations starting this Saturday, April 1-30 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Join the celebration of the precious marble we call home and its rich biodiversity, for five weekends of conservation, sustainability, and community, including musical and dance performances, book readings, special feedings and animal enrichment demonstrations, “green inspiration,” honey tastings, a California Condor station, and more. Bonus: environmentally responsible handheld electronics-recycling partner ECO-CELL will be on hand collecting your old devices, benefiting nonprofits like Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE). Check out the easy donation tip sheet here. Community engagement and representation are cornerstones of successful conservation. Together, we can save the planet!

The Ebell of Los Angeles has done it again, folks, with yet another event guaranteed to make your heart sing and your eyes water happening on Tuesday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m. Based on an enchanting story about a love triangle and an elusive woman found in the forest, Impressions of Pelléas is the short version of Debussy’s original five-act opera, Pelléas and Mélisande, reimagined on a chamber scale for two pianists and five singers. Under the direction of world-renowned conductor and music director of the LA Opera, James Conlon, and performed by artists from LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program and the Colburn School, “the story flows seamlessly across 100 minutes of ethereal music.” And be sure not to miss the 6:30 p.m. pre-performance talk with Conlon, who will take “a deep dive” into the French composer Claude Debussy and explore his only opera. Tickets are $10 for Ebell members, $15 for non-mems, and FREE for students with current IDs.

OK, so I missed the boat back in February when the season first opened, but it’s never too late to climb aboard, and if you haven’t already Friday, April 7 will be your chance to experience “Fantasy & Fandoms: The Natural World vs. Fantasy Worlds,” the theme of the First Fridays 2023 season, at the Natural History Museum. Explore the Museum after hours with live music, DJs, topical discussions, signature cocktails, pop-up experiences, special NHM collections displays, and more. Focusing on how nature and science influence the creation of our favorite imagined worlds, this season will include dragons, witchcraft, superheroes, and monsters – oh, my! “First Fridays 2023 is where the fans come out to celebrate the intersection of pop-culture fandom and the work and collections of NHM.” Sounds like a good time to me! Tickets are $20. The fun begins at 5 p.m.

Look at me, I’m Julia Cee, lousy with virg… well, not exactly, but enough about me and Sandra Dee, this  blurb is all about the origin story of Grease’s Pink Ladies, pre-Sandy, and it’s all thanks to streaming service Paramount+. In partnership with POPSUGAR, P+ is bringing its upcoming series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies to life with a very cool pop-up experience at the iconic Mel’s Drive-In on Sunset Blvd. The musical series, which takes place four years before the original Grease, will focus on four fed-up outcasts (aka the Pink Ladies) who dare to have fun on their own terms, sparking a moral panic that will change Rydell High forever. And on Thursday, April 6 and Friday, April 7, Mel’s will be transformed into the beloved franchise’s iconic Frosty Palace, completely immersing guests in ’50s-themed nostalgia. Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, the event has reached capacity, but you can still do a drive-by to check it out and catch the trailer for Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies here. The series premieres on Thursday, April 6.

 

Local Government 

 

Your local NC, and all around community do-gooding group, the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council is back in-person this week, as are all NCs for now, starting on Monday, April 3 with a Resilience Committee meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Coldwell Banker (251 N. Larchmont Blvd.) in Larchmont Village), followed by a Sustainability Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 4 at 7 p.m., taking place at the Memorial Branch Library Community Room (4625 W. Olympic Blvd.) Check the GWNC’s website for agendas and full calendar here

And in conclusion, the Mid City West Neighborhood Council has its first in-person meeting on the books this week for the Homelessness, Refugees, and Renters’ Rights (HRRRTs) Committee, happening on Monday, April 3 from 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the Pan Pacific Park Senior Center Lunch Room, located at 141 S. Gardner St. Check MCW’s calendar for details. 

 

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Julia Christiansen
Julia Christiansen
Julia is a native Angeleno and jack of all trades, having worked in television, visual effects, professional sports, health and wellness, and custom design. She currently resides in El Segundo.

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