Last weekend seemed to be all about the movies, but this weekend has plenty of variety for you and your family.
First, we’ll start a bit early this week, with an interesting book event tonight, Friday, July 12. At 7 p.m., at the Hollywood Press Club, 6500 W. Sunset Blvd., celebrity journalist Tom O’Neill will discuss his new book, “Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties.” According to the press release for the event, “Fifty years ago this summer, Los Angeles was rocked by one of the most horrific crimes in the city’s history. When the killing spree finally ended, eight people lay dead, including movie star Sharon Tate, celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring and coffee heiress Abigail Folger. And the world had discovered a new face of evil.” Author O’Neill spent 20 years digging into the story, including interviews with everyone from prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi to Manson himself. In the book, he “dissects the link between one of America’s most notorious killers and an effort by federal agents to use hallucinogenic drugs to influence behavior.” The event is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required by sending an e-mail to [email protected], with MANSON in the subject line. Please provide your name and the name of a guest, if you’d like to bring one (limit one guest per person).
Next, moving into the weekend proper and starting at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, the First Congregational Church, 540 S. Commwealth Ave. is offering a Summer Retreat and Voice Workshop for Kids and Teens (in grades 4-12) who are interested in sharpening their music theater and pop singing skills. Commonwealth Community Chorus Director Dr. David Harris and special guest clinician Katie C. will lead the session, which will focus on “singing, practicing audition prep for musical theater, and working on singing for camera.”The cost is $30, lunch included, and scholarships are available. To sign up, go to http://www.fccla.org/ccc
Back in the Larchmont area, the Friends of John C. Fremont Library, 6121 Melrose Ave., will be holding its monthly book sale on both Friday (12-4 p.m.) and Saturday (12-5 p.m.). You’ll always find lots of great deals (most items priced at $1 or less), and all proceeds go to fund the great free programs at the library.
This is also the weekend for the big annual Lotus Festival at Echo Park Lake, both Saturday and Sunday. The free celebration this year focuses on Thailand, and features two days of cultural festivities, including a food court, Thai pavilion, handcrafted artwork, origami workshops, and dragon boat races.
Also on Saturday, starting at 2 p.m., you could enjoy a special benefit screening of Ernst Lubitsch’s 1929 pre-Hayes-code classic, “The Love Parade, on the Paramount Studios lot. It’s sponsored by the Hollywood Heritage organization, and will also feature “a unique “wedding” of two costume pieces – actress Jeanette MacDonald’s wedding dress from the the movie, now owned by private collector Greg Schreiner, and the gown’s original 20-foot train, from the Paramount archives. The event will be hosted by film historian Leonard Maltin, and Paramount costume archivist Randall Thropp and costume collector Greg Schreiner will discuss the celebrated designer Travis Banton and his contributions to the film, as well as to other classic Hollywood movies of the Golden Age. Nicola Lubitsch, daughter of director Ernst Lubitsch, will also attend…and the screening will raise funds to care for Hollywood Heritage’s historic Lasky-DeMille Barn, which houses its museum. Tickets are $50 and include the film, refreshments, the pre-screening discussion, and a souvenir program. Tickets are available at https://www.goldstar.com/events/los-angeles-ca/the-love-parade-screening-at-paramount-studios-hosted-by-leonard-maltin-tickets
A bit later on Saturday, starting at 3 p.m., the Craft Contemporary will host a book launch and signing with scholar and author Andy Campbell, who will celebrate the publication of his most recent work, Queer X Design: 50 Years of Signs, Symbols, Banners, Logos, and Graphic Art of LGBTQ. It’s billed as “the first-ever illustrated work exploring the history of the iconic designs, symbols, and graphic art developed over five decades of LGBTQ+ pride and activism.” The event is free, but space is limited, so please RSVP at [email protected]g if you’d like to attend.
For even more aesthetic fun, you can celebrate all things Tiki at the 15th annual Tiki Night at the Egyptian Theater. This year, commemorate the 60th anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood starting with a Tiki marketplace that opens at 1:30 p.m. with Tiki-themed art, memorabilia, clothing and accessories. The market is open to everyone until 3:30 p.m., and then closes to all but event ticket holders. At 4 p.m., “author Matthew Locey will give a “Hawaii on Film” presentation in the theatre. At 5:00 PM, you can enjoy performances from King Kukulele & The Friki Tikis and the Polynesian Paradise Dancers, tiki cocktails (by Damien Montanile & Associates) and food available for purchase from food trucks Aloha Fridays & Hang Loose Hawaiian Shaved Ice. Then, starting at 7:30 p.m. there’s the big double feature, hosted by King Kukulele. The show starts with 1961’s Gidget Goes Hawaiian (with Sandra Dee, James Darren, Carl Reiner and more), and then moves on to 1966’s Paradise Hawaiian Style (with the one and only Elvis Presley).
Also on Saturday, there are a trio of art events. The first starts at 4 p.m. — a walkthrough and artist talk for the new show Veneer, at the LaunchLA Gallery, 170 S. La Brea. The show features works by Phyng Huynh + Chukes, and the talk will be led by Shelby Gonzalez-Williams, an artist, educator and social change leader. The show “explores the overlapping of identities and the complexities of navigating race and culture” as “Huyn and Chukes forge new spaces through their intersectional approaches to raising questions of identity and belonging.”
The second art event on Saturday is a reception, from 5-8 p.m., at TAG Gallery, 5458 Wilshsire Blvd., for the new show of works by gallery members Linda Sue Price and Suki Kuss.
And the third art opening, from 7 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, is REMEMBERFORGET, an exhibition of new paintings and a video installation by Greg Jenkins. The event is presented by The New Arts Foundation, a nonprofit that produces Outsider Art events to fundraise for mental health, at 4414 W. 2nd St., with support from the Wilshire Center-Koreatown Neighborhood Council. It will benefit NAMI Urban Los Angeles, the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. Tickets are available at https://www.remember-forget.com/buy-tickets.
Moving on to Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., join LAPD Wilshire Division Senior Lead Officers, Bike Patrol, Traffic Division Officers and representatives from Lime for a special Bike with a Cop event. It starts with a workshop on Scooter and Bike Safety Laws and Enforcement, and free helmet giveaways (while supplies last) at the Farmers Market at Fairfax High School, 7850 Melrose Ave…and then there will be a short group bike ride ride down Fairfax Ave. to Gardner St., starting at 11:30 a.m. Bring friends, bikes and helmets!
Next, you can make some art at the Craft Contemporary’s Printing with Bubbles CraftLab family workshop, from 1:30-3:30 p.m. on Sunday. Participants will experiment with dye, soap and bubbles to create unique and bubbly print patterns on paper. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for children and free for Craft Contemporary members at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/printing-with-bubbles-a-craftlab-family-workshop-tickets-64343330634
Right after the craft workshop ends, starting at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, at the KP Projects Gallery, 633 N. La Brea, Metro will be hosting a very different kind of art event – an ice cream social and chat with artist Mark Dean Veca, the artist who has been commissioned to provide art for the future Metro Purple Line station at Wilshire and La Brea. Come and share your thought on the objects, icons or symbols that best represent Miracle Mile.
And finally on Sunday, it’s back into the dark underbelly of LA, with one more fun vintage movie opportunity – a double feature of Chinatown and its sequel, The Two Jakes, at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd. In the first film, Jack Nicholson gives his classic performance as private eye J.J. Gittes, unraveling stolen water rights, incest and murder in 1930s Los Angeles…while the second film picks up a decade later, with Gittes still shadowing unfaithful spouses against the background of corruption in LA’s oil industry.
Have a great weekend!
