Photos by Betty Guevara
West Nile Virus Founds Its Way to Long Beach
LONG BEACH — West Nile Virus has been detected in two American Crows in East Long Beach, near El Dorado Park.
The birds were tested by the State Department of Public Health’s West Nile Virus Surveillance System, which monitors the disease in humans, horses, chickens, mosquitoes and dead birds.
This year, West Nile Virus activity has been detected in 20 counties in California, including West Nile Virus positive birds and mosquitoes in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
Church Leads Pro-marriage Equality Rally in Long Beach
Marriage equality was the focus of progressive Christians June 28 in Long Beach.
On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and Proposition 8 cannot be enforced, the United Church of Christ, a mainline protestant denomination of more than 1 million members, will lead a pro-marriage equality rally during its biennial General Synod on the promenade outside of the south doors of the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.
The UCC’s General Synod affirmed full marriage equality for all couples in 2005, and many of the denomination’s leaders have been integral in the fight for equality that has so far been achieved in 12 states and Washington, D.C. The UCC stands with thousands of same-sex couples across the life the church, affirming their freedom to marry the person they love.
More Homeless People in Shelters
LONG BEACH — More homeless people, especially veterans, are off the street and in shelters in Long Beach, according to a biennial survey conducted by the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, from 2007 to 2013.
The number of homeless people in emergency shelters and transitional housing increased 25 percent, from 1,319 to 1,654.
The number of homeless people without shelter decreased 13 percent, from 2,150 to 1,879.
More News from the Hollywood Fringe Festival
The Hollywood Fringe Festival continues through June 30 and there are still plenty of plays left to satisfy most appetites.
We dropped in on three, and while not all of the plays were great, everything was fun and interesting.
Best by far wasLost Moon Radio Presents Roger Wodehouse’s Androgymnasium,a long title for a delicious look at what might have been the BBC equivalent ofSesame Street, if that show had a drug-crazed androgynous rock star as it’s host. Imagine David Bowie doing Mr. Rogers, with a low-rent Stones playing in the background.
Ryan Harrison is delicious (and surprisingly sincere) as Roger Wodehouse, who is both an international rock star and a fashion icon (as he tells you several times). This show is billed as the only surviving copy of the TV series, which ran four episodes (and a little more) and then was canceled, with all the tapes, save this beta-max copy found at an oriental swap meet, burned. Roger’s band included the befuddled but loveable Terence, Roger’s oldest mate (Will Maier) and the comedy is partMonty Python, partSaturday Night Live and all original. The sold-out house loved it. One performance remains June 29 at 6:30 p.m.
The Real Housekeepers of Studio Cityis a world-premier musical being given its first showing at the Fringe. It features not only a real housewife (who wants to star in the show of that name), but a host of housekeepers. After all, you can’t be on reality TV if you do your own housework. The songs, with music by Joe Greene (no, not Giuseppe Verdi) and book and lyrics by Heidi Powers and Tom Moore, needs a bit of work, but it has its heart in the right place: squarely in the middle of the satire bulls-eye, and stars Lani Shipman as Ashley, who was deserted by her husband after five years in suburbia. Ryan O’Connor is Scot, her gay best friend. Together they bring a little believability to a show that is part fantasy, part reality. Its last performance was June 28 at 7 p.m.
Neko, Barbara Ishida’s new play about a cat, a grandmother and two grand-daughters dealing with that grandmother, that vicious cat and the early death of their mother, got an earnest performance despite technical difficulties (their projection system wasn’t working Thursday evening). The performers were interesting, the play slightly less so, but with the projection system intact it might have been better. One performance, June 30 at 10 p.m., remains.
Only two days remain for this year’s Fringe, but more than 60 plays are scheduled, so you can still go and see some interesting theater for little money, served up with a lot of love.
Tickets are all around $12.
Details:(323) 455-4585;www.hollywoodfringe.org
Venue: Fourth Annual Hollywood Fringe Festival
Location: 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles
Burning Garcetti’s Ear
Town Hall Meeting Gets Positive Reviews, Many Wonder If He’s Listening
By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
Despite the brightly lit marquee on the Warner Grand Theatre that read, “Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti, Getting L.A. Back to Basics,” local resident Donald Galaz of Project Street Legal believed that few outside those that got the email would have known anything was going on in the almost 90-year-old building.
“You would think that they didn’t want anybody to really know about this event,” Galaz said.
The Last Stop of Garcetti’s Listening Tour
The mayor-elect attempts to lower expectations while show that he’s listening
By James Preston Allen, Publisher
On the evening of June 20 Los Angeles Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti held the last of seven town hall meetings to garner support and input from his city-wide constituents. Although the house of the Warner Grand Theater was never more than a quarter filled with citizens from many parts of both the 15th District and the city at large there were many notables in attendance and many neighborhood council representatives–they seemed to at least be engaged in the premise of the meeting. This was Garcetti’s nod towards a more progressive, populist and open municipal government, that is all too often criticized for “not listening.”
Forever Gifted and Black
Grand Performances Pays Tribute to Nina Simone on July 5th
By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
I really didn’t expect Jonathan Ruddnick to come back with an equally important show this year after he put on the phenomenonal “Go With Gil” tribute to the iconic Gil Scott Heron. But he’s doing it in tribute to the legendary Nina Simone in partnership with the incredible Dexter Story. Nina would have been 90 years old this year. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of her death.
Like last year, Jonathan will be using this tribute to show off Los Angeles musical talent pool. But to do it, he enlisted the help of Dexter, who has managed a lot of artists from coast to coast, served as marketing director and for record labels ranging from Bad Boy Records to a producer at Sony Music. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist artist in his own right who has released a CD recently called Seasons. It seems that this year, Jonathan bought on a real heavy hitter with vision to pull off the Nina Simone Tribute.
Fear of a Black (& Brown & Yellow) Electorate
By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
“Throwing out pre-clearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Shelby County v. Holder, dissent.
“I believe that when politicians feel the heat, they see the light.” – Congressman Keith Elison (D-MN), on the possibility of getting a new Voting Rights Act law passed by this Congress.
“Make no mistake, the 2014 election started today.” – MSNBC’s Chris Hayes
On June 25, the Supreme Court struck the biggest blow against civil rights since Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, striking down a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act as unconstitutional.
Fringe Festival
By John Farrell, Curtain Call Writer
If you love theater, there is no better place to be through the end of the week than Hollywood.
That’s where the annual Hollywood Fringe Festival is taking place, and there is something for every taste, from serious plays to one-man (or -woman) shows, from magic to musicals, and from Shakespearean parodies to small theatrical productions that are experimental and that you’ll want to see when they find a bigger home.
They are cheap, too. You can see several plays on June 28, 29 and 30, and still have change left for a cocktail at Fringe Central. Fringe Central is one of more than 20 venues in Hollywood — or nearby —that are presenting these productions. This is the fourth annual Hollywood Fringe Festival, modeled after the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which has spawned copycats in New York, San Francisco, Minnesota and cities worldwide.