Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, November 5, 2016

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Mountain Views-News Saturday, November 5, 2016 

On the Marquee: 

Notes from the Sierra MadrePlayhouse

Jeff’s Book Pics By Jeff Brown


Brown Girl Dreaming by 
Jacqueline Woodson 

Jacqueline Woodson’s National Book 
Award and Newbery Honor winner, now 
available in paperback with 7 all-new 
poems.Raised in South Carolina and New 
York, Woodson always felt halfway home 
in each place. In vivid poems, she shares 
what it was like to grow up as an African 
American in the 1960s and 1970s, living 
with the remnants of Jim Crow and her 
growing awareness of the Civil Rights 
movement. Touching and powerful, each 
poem is both accessible and emotionally 
charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s 
soul as she searches for her place in the 
world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also 
reflects the joy of finding her voice through 
writing stories, despite the fact that she 
struggled with reading as a child. Her love 
of stories inspired her and stayed with her, 
creating the first sparks of the gifted writer 
she was to become.

Another Brooklyn: A Novel by 
Jacqueline Woodson 

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling 
and National Book Award winning author 
of Brown Girl Dreaming delivers her first 
adult novel in twenty years.Running into 
a long-ago friend sets memory from the 
1970s in motion for August, transporting 
her to a time and a place where friendship 
was everything until it wasn’t. For August 
and her girls, sharing confidences as they 
ambled through neighborhood streets, 
Brooklyn was a place where they believed 
that they were beautiful, talented, brilliant, 
a part of a future that belonged to them.
But beneath the hopeful veneer, there was 
another Brooklyn, a dangerous place where 
grown men reached for innocent girls in 
dark hallways, where ghosts haunted the 
night, where mothers disappeared. A world 
where madness was just a sunset away 
and fathers found hope in religion.Like 
Louise Meriwether’s Daddy Was a Number 
Runner and Dorothy Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina, 
Jacqueline Woodson’s Another Brooklyn heartbreakingly 
illuminates the formative time when childhood gives way 
to adulthood the promise and peril of growing up and 
exquisitely renders a powerful, indelible, and fleeting 
friendship that united four young lives.

Common Ground: Encounters 
with Nature at the Edges of Life by 
Rob Cowen

All too often, we think of nature as 
something distinct from ourselves, 
something to go and see, a place that’s 
separate from the ordinary modern world 
in which we live and work. But if we take 
the time to look, we soon find that’s not 
how nature works. Even in our parceled-
out, paved-over urban environs, nature is 
all around us; it is in us. It is us.That’s what 
Rob Cowen discovered after moving to a 
new home in northern England. After ten 
years in London he was suddenly adrift, 
searching for a sense of connection. He 
found himself drawn to a square-mile 
patch of waste ground at the edge of town. 
Scrappy, weed-filled, this heart-shaped 
tangle of land was the very definition of 
overlooked, a thoroughly in-between 
place that capitalism no longer had any 
use for, leaving nature to take its course. 
Wandering its meadows, woods, hedges, 
and fields, Cowen found it was also a 
magical, mysterious place, haunted and 
haunting, abandoned but wildly alive 
and he fell in fascinated love.Common 
Ground is a true account of that place 
and Cowen’s transformative journey 
through its layers and lives, but it’s much 
more too. As the land’s stories intertwine 
with events in his own life,and he learns 
he is to become a father for the first time 
the divisions between human and nature 
begin to blur and shift. The place turns 
out to be a mirror, revealing what we are, 
what we’re not and how those two things 
are ultimately inseparable.This is a book 
about discovering a new world, a forgotten 
world on the fringes of our daily lives, and 
the richness that comes from uncovering 
the stories and lives, animal and human, 
contained within. It is an unforgettable 
piece of nature writing, part of a brilliant 
tradition that stretches from Gilbert White to Robert 
Macfarlane and Helen Macdonald.“I am dreaming of the 
edge-land again,” Cowen writes. Read Common Ground, 
and you, too, will be dreaming of the spaces in between, 
and what including us thrives there.

FIVE FOR THREE: THE OVATIONS!


By Artistic Director, Christian Lebano

The Ovation Award nominations were announced 
yesterday and SMP is the proud recipient of FIVE 
nominations for THREE different shows! As a 
reminder, the Ovation Awards are Los Angeles theater’s 
Tony Awards. They are given by the Los Angeles Stage 
Alliance and are based on the peer evaluations of 
productions by 300 working theater professionals.

Here are the shows and individuals that were honored:

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – Best 
Musical (Intimate)

Stanton Kane Morales – Best Featured Actor in a 
Musical (Spelling Bee)

Cristina Gerla – Best Featured Actress in a Musical 
(Spelling Bee)

Candice Cain – Best Costume Design (Intimate) (The 
Glass Menagerie)

John Vertrees & Erin Walley – Best Set Design 
(Intimate) (Deathtrap)

Let me put this in perspective – last year we received 
our FIRST EVER nominations when we got two acting 
nominations for Cori Cable Kidder for Always…Patsy 
Cline and John Prosky for A Walk in the Woods. 
This year we got our first ever production nomination 
and our first two design nominations! We got more 
nominations than some of the most established small 
theaters in Los Angeles – theaters that I use as my 
guide stars. We are now clearly being recognized for 
the quality of our work. It is also remarkable that we 
were noticed for THREE different shows. Many of the 
theaters who got nominations yesterday got them for 
a single show. The Intimate designation above means 
that the Ovations do not judge the work of the Intimate 
theaters, who have much more limited resources, against 
the larger theaters such as the Taper or the Geffen. BUT 
all actors are in one pool which means that Stanton and 
Cristina’s performances were rated one of the six best 
featured from all musicals in Los Angeles.

 I couldn’t be prouder of the work we are doing. The 
irony of all of this is that we lost money on Spelling Bee 
because it was not very well attended. I wonder if we 
have gotten over the perception that we are a community 
theater or the idea that we can’t be any good if we are 
local and not downtown. Awards and recognition are 
wonderful but support from our local communities is 
even more important. It’s why we work so hard to bring 
you quality theatrical experiences that you don’t have to 
drive downtown for. I hope these nominations will help 
us get new audiences to give us a try. Loyal readers who 
are friends of SMP – please bring a friend who doesn’t 
know our work to see one of our shows so we can work 
our magic on them!

* * *

 Little House Christmas is selling well already. I hope 
you will all plan on making us part of your holidays 
this year. AND An Evening with Groucho starring 
Frank Ferrante – our December 4 Gala Fundraiser is 
on sale now. Tickets are tax-deductible after the first 
$30. Come have a remarkable time AND support the 
Playhouse.

 And speaking of support, we are now reaching out 
to our supporters and donors to make commitments of 
support for the next year. You each should be receiving 
your solicitation letters soon and when you do, I hope 
you will consider making a generous gift to SMP. I’ve 
spoken of some of our dreams and plans, to make them 
a reality we will need the help of our friends, old and 
new, in our Marquee Giving Circle. Please help us keep 
SMP as a vital and treasured part of this community. 
And, I hope to see you at our Groucho Gala! – it’s going 
to be a fantastic evening.

As always we do it for you – our SMP family. Your 
support and loyalty mean so much to us. For tickets 
please call Mary in the box office at 626.355.4318. Hope 
to see you soon!


LOCAL CULTURE MEETS CRAFT IN PASADENA

All Things By Jeff Brown

Jackalope Arts announces the return of 
their Indie Artisan Market, Jackalope, 
on November 12th and 13th, 2016, at 
Pasadena’s vibrant Central Park.

 This year’s market will feature a 
unique, curated shopping experience 
with 200+ trendsetting makers 
and designers of local goods. From 
housewares and home goods to art and 
fashion - Jackalope offers something 
for everyone on the holiday shopping 
list. Attendees can pre-plan their 
shopping on the Jackalope website and 
view all participating artisans at www.
jackalopeartfair.com/pasadenavendors

 There will also be a full schedule of 
art focused workshops for attendees to 
take a dip into the DIY crafting world. 

 Artisans will be hosting creative 
workshops, allowing attendees to get 
a better idea of the craftsmanship that 
goes into the one of a kind handmade 
goods and products found at the fair.

 Workshops range from free to $21 
and include all supplies to take home 
DIY creations. There will be activities 
for all ages available throughout the 
weekend. 

Saturday: 

Dream Catchers with Indica Design

Art Class with Eye Heart Art

Pom Pom Wreaths with Makers Mess

Decorate Your Own Jackalope Shirt with Sparky Firepants

Beading Techniques with Mika Chante

Create Your Own Bath Bombs with Banter and Bliss

Instructional Food Course with Mary Lee Kitchen

Sunday:

Art Class with Pinot’s Palette

Dream Catchers with Indica Design

Dream Gardens with FunArt LA

Photo Editing with Michael Cook Photography

Potted Plants with Makers Mess

Stained Glass Candle Holders with Color Me Mine

Watercolor Mandalas with Rachel Penton

 Pre-registration and more information on all workshops is available online at www.jackalopeartfair.com/
pasadenaworkshops. The workshop area will be centrally located within the event .

November 12th & 13th

Fair Hours: 10am - 5pm

Central Park, Pasadena


1. Tesla unveiled a beautiful rendition of its 
solar roofs Friday evening. They’re practically 
indistinguishable from an ordinary roof, but the 
shingles absorb sunlight to generate electricity for 
your home and car. The shingles are part of an all-
in-one energy solution for home owners. Tesla is 
in the process of buying SolarCity, which makes 
and installs solar panels, as it broadens its offerings 
and becomes a sustainable energy company.
While experts see the concept as exciting, they 
have questions about the costs, performance and 
reliability of solar roofs.Of course, if you already 
have a suitable roof this won’t benefit you. But if 
your roof is aging and you’re interested in solar 
panels, it is a perk.”You’re potentially putting solar 
panels over a roof system that’s seen its better 
days,” said Dean Jagusch, the president of the Mid 
Atlantic Roofing Contractors Association. “By 
installing a completely integrated roof product 
that not only weather proofs the building but 
produces electricity, it’s a very smart way to go.”

2.It may sound like science fiction, but wastewater 
treatment plants across the United States may one 
day turn ordinary sewage into biocrude oil, thanks 
to new research. The technology, hydrothermal 
liquefaction, mimics the geological conditions 
Earth uses to create crude oil, using high pressure 
and temperature to achieve in minutes something 
that takes Mother Nature millions of years.
Wastewater treatment plants across the U.S. treat 
approximately 34 billion gallons of sewage every 
day. That amount could produce the equivalent of 
up to approximately 30 million barrels of oil per 
year. PNNL estimates that a single person could 
generate two to three gallons of biocrude per year.


PASADENA SHOWCASE HOUSE FOR THE ARTS 31ST 
ANNUAL INSTRUMENTAL COMPETITON AWARDS 
$28,500 IN PRIZE MONIES TO ASPIRING MUSICIANS

PASADENA, CA–– In a brilliant display of talent, 11 
young musicians, ages 18 to 22, won a total of $28,500 in 
the 31st annual Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts 
(PSHA) annual Instrumental Competition. The event 
was held October 20 at the Pasadena Conservatory of 
Music and chaired by longtime Pasadena resident Vikki 
Sung. To date, PSHA has awarded more than $550,000 
to promising music students since the competition 
began in 1985.

 “It is our great privilege to support and encourage these 
tremendously talented students with their music education,” 
stated PSHA President Dr. Lynn Mehl. “You can feel their 
passion and dedication to music in their performances.” 

 “The caliber of talent on display at the competition was 
outstanding,” remarked PSHA Instrumental Competition 
Chair Vikki Sung. “It’s very gratifying to recognize and 
support such promising young musicians in their pursuit of 
a classical music education.”

 “It was a tremendous privilege to be able to hear the 11 
young talents at the Pasadena Showcase Competition,” 
said Jin-Shan Dai, who plays violin with the Los Angeles 
Philharmonic and served as the Juding Chair. “Words like 
‘gem in the making’ and ‘diamond in the rough’ are often 
used to describe young musicians, but what we found 
was a treasure trove, filled with the most beautiful jewels. 
The experience was both eye opening and humbling,” he 
concluded.

 The Grand Prize for Exceptional Talent and 
Musicianship, in the amount of $6,000, was awarded to 
Joachim Becerra Thomsen. The 21 year-old earned his 
Masters degree from the Royal Danish Academy of Music 
in Copenhagen and is pursuing his Professional Studies 
Certificate in Flute Performance at The Colburn School. 
Joachim impressed the judges with his performance 
of Nielsen’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra. One 
judge called his performance “virtuosic and expansive.” 
Joachim aspires to be an orchestral musician and perform 
as a soloist. Teaching will also be an element of his career. 
“I want to pass along what I have discovered about music 
to others,” he said.

PSHA Awarded Ten Other Prizes

 Brass Awards: Second Place ($2,500) to Cristina Cutts 
Dougherty (Colburn) and Connor Rowe (Colburn).

 Woodwind Awards: First Place ($4,000) to Eric 
Abramovitz to (USC Thornton School) and Victor Diaz 
(Colburn); Honorable Mention ($500) to Elissa Brown (USC 
Thornton School). 

 String Awards: First Place ($4,000) to Gallia Kastner 
(Colburn); Second Place ($2,500) to Dong Nyouk Sunrise 
Kim (Colburn); Honorable Mention ($500) to James Cooper 
(Colburn) and Nora Doyle (Colburn). 

 Jack Smith Memorial Award for Most Promising Talent: 
Twenty one year-old violinist Annelle Gregory (USC 
Thornton School) received the Jack Smith Memorial Award 
for Most Promising Talent in the amount of $1,500. 

 After the performances, the finalists reflected on the 
significance of music in their lives.

 James Cooper: “My advice to young musicians is to work 
hard, don’t give up and never be satisfied to be the best kid in 
town.” 

 Gallia Kastner: “Mom wanted me to focus on tennis 
like my sisters. But it became clear that wasn’t my strength. 
When I picked up a violin, it was like reuniting with a 
missing limb.”

 Dong Nyouk Sunrise Kim: “I didn’t pick the cello; it 
picked me. My sister played it and I wanted to be like her. 
I was nine and desperately wanted to learn to play ‘Twinkle 
Twinkle Little Star’”.

 Selected from 43 applications, 11 finalists performed 
before a panel of seven dedicated judges, all of whom are 
musicians with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. 
Jin-Shan Dai (Violin) headed the panel, which included 
Burt Hara (Clarinet), Elise Shope Henry (Flute), Thomas 
Hooten (Trumpet), Jonathan Karoly (Cello), Gregory Roosa 
(Horn), and Ben Ullery (Viola).

About Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts 

 Each year, PSHA awards gifts and grants to a diverse 
list of non-profit organizations in support of their efforts 
in the community. This is in addition to their longstanding 
support of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. The 
PSHA Instrumental Competition is one of many music 
education programs funded by the proceeds from the 
annual Pasadena Showcase House of Design, which will 
take place April 23 to May 21, 2017. To purchase tickets, or 
for more information or membership details about PSHA, 
please visit www.pasadenashowcase.org. 

LAUGHTER 
the 
ONLY 
skill 
required ! 
JUNE CHANDLER’SFREEYour first LAUGH is ‘on the house’!
MONDAY or TUESDAY nights 
at Casa del Rey in Sierra MadreCall (626) 355-4572 to reserve
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com