August 16, 2007

You'll find me on Sunday afternoon feeling the love flow across the lawn in front of City Hall while Nate Birkey's Quintet seduces us all into a state of absolute relaxation.  And after all the other stuff that's happening this weekend in Santa Monica, we'll definitely need a few hours to chill out before going to work on Monday. 

First off, Patti Smith is playing the Pier tonight.  Yeah.  That  Patti Smith.  And if that doesn't rock your boat, head on over to City Garage to watch Heiner Muller's adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.  Follow that with a viewing of one of the six Hitchock films playing at the Aero this weekend and you'll definitely appreciate the cool jazz and warm sunshine at Jazz on the Lawn. 

“If you’re in the mood for music and love” you’re sure to be found stretched out on the lush lawn in front of City Hall enjoying the dulcimer notes of Birkey’s quintet as they float across the refreshing breezes from the bay.  With his signature open white shirt and coat silhouetted against the western sky, Birkey will hypnotize the crowd which is building strongly every week as more and more locals discover this exciting new music series.  

Free parking is available after 4:00 pm at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium at 1855 Main Street and on the streets surrounding City Hall.  And you can support the Virginia Avenue Park Teen Center by buying water, soft drinks and other treats from our local teens.  

An Evening with Patti Smith
Twilight Dance Series
7:30 pm
Tonight!
Santa Monica Pier

Legendary poet, artist, writer and musician, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and  humanitarian activist Patti Smith is performing on the Santa Monica Pier.  For free.  What more is there to say?  I’ll be there.  Will you?

Quartet by Heiner Muller
City Garage 
Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00 pm
Sundays at 5:30
Plays through Sunday, September 23
1340 1/2 4th Street, in the alley
310/ 319-9939

Brace yourself for this dark, playful and erotically-charged reworking of Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Germany's most important dramatist since Bertolt Brecht.  The Marquise and her longtime lover, Valmont, exhausted from the monotony of pleasure-seeking, can find sustenance only in their ability to inflict pain on each other.  
Recommended for mature audiences only.

Murder, He Wrote 

Alfred Hitchcock Double Features
Friday – Sunday  
Click here for schedule 
The Aero Theatre
1328 Montana Avenue at 14th Street in Santa Monica
323.466.3456

The fun starts on Friday night at 7:30 when American Cinematheque presents the first of three double features of Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpieces.  The Rope (Jimmy Stewart is a gay thrill killer) opens the series on Friday night along with Lifeboat (Tallulah Bankhead uses her TIffany diamond bracelet as a fishing lure!). Saturday night’s bill includes The Man Who Knew Too Much (Doris Day sings Que Sera, Sera to rescue her baby boy!) and Dial M for Murder (Ray Milland plots to kill Grace Kelly).  Sunday wraps it all up with Suspicion (is Cary Grant really trying to kill Joan Fontaine?) and Saboteur (featuring Robert Cummings’ hair-raising escape atop the Statue of Liberty). 

And if you make it through all six of these films, you should probably take Monday off for a long visit with your therapist – otherwise you might have Hitchcockian nightmares for years!

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