Jeff Charbonneau, "Traction", 2008, Chromogenic Print, at Robert Berman Gallery

The Puppets Take Santa Monica! 

Daring New Works by Latino Artists

Ten Artists + Ten Curators= One Great Show!

Fashion & Art Collide at Track 16

Moose Invades Local Home!

Corey Cerovsek Makes New West Symphony Debut

Santa Monica Symphony Hosts Annual Dinner

Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop

Santa Monica's most historic theatre brings one of the most historic theatrical forms to life this weekend with the first Santa Monica Puppetry Festival. Featured performers include Mally Lewis (with Lamb Chop!), Phil Huber, Tony Urbano, Steve Meltzer, and many more masters of the marionette! Tonight (Thursday), you can see Magic Moments: Remembering Paul Winchell.

On Friday, it's puppets for grownups only with a performance of Puppets on the Edge.  You might be looking at this with a distrustful eye thinking "Puppets for grownup?"  Well, let me tell you, puppets can say the most raucous, hysterical, disarming things you could possibly imagine especially if they're being manipulated by Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry (the folks that brought you Jim Henson, Uncensored) and hosted by Dan Horn. Leave the kids at home for that one but be sure to bring them to Saturday's early performance of Jack Rabbit and the Beanstalk followed at 2:00 with Puppetolio, The First 10 Years.

The festival moves to the Aero Theatre on Saturday night for A Celebration of Puppetry with Mally Lewis and Lamb Chop and a special guest appearance by Leslie Caron, who appeared alongside the Walter and O'Rourke puppets in MGM's classic, Lilli.  This is going to be such a magnificent evening.  As one of Lamb Chop's most devoted fans and a person who has wept buckets while watching Leslie Caron in Lilli, Gigi, and an American In Paris, I wouldn't miss this evening for all the coffee in Brazil!

It all comes to a close on Sunday when the Miles presents the Huber Marionettes in Suspended Animation at 2 and 7:30.  Also on Sunday, the Aero will screen Caron's film, Lilli. This is truly an event with something for every age from toddlers through soccer moms and football dads to grandparents and those oh so cool sophisticates. Be sure to check out the calendar for the right show for you and the family!

4th Annual Latino New Works Festival
8:30 pm Friday & Saturday
3:30 pm Sunday
Highways Performance Space
1651 18th Street
310/ 315.1459

For the past four years, Highways has presented the only west side festival dedicated to performance and visual art created exclusively by Latino artists. This year's festival has been selected as L.A. Weekly's Pick of the Week  and features performances by Beto Araiza, Racquel Gutierrez, Monica Palacios, and Jose Reynoso on Friday.  Then on Saturday you'll see a high-octance fusion of Brazilian "Capoeira," modern dance, ballet and other brazilian rhythms by Gustavo Caldas and Emeka + L'Esprit d'Afrique. 

The festival closes on Sunday with a presentation of Chicana playwright (and Palette reader) Lindsey Haley's new play while all weekend long Santa Monica's own Daniel Alonzo will be exhibiting his work in the Highways Gallery. Some of you might already know Daniel as the artist who painted Whale of a Mural on Ocean Park Boulevard.  The 4th Annual Latino New Works Festival is funded by a grant from the Santa Monica Arts Commission and the City's Cultural Affairs Division.  In other words, "We're the Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division and we approve this message!"

Surface Sounding
Ten Curators - Ten Artists
Opening Reception: Friday, 6-9pm
October 10 – November 22, 2008
See Line Gallery
1812 Berkeley Street
310 829 1727

Put ten curators together, let them each select one artist, mix the entire exhibition up with a mélange of sculpture, video, collage and painting and if do it all just right you'll end up with a truly fascinating show like the one opening this weekend at the See Line Gallery.  Curators include Lisa Milandri (Santa Monica Museum of Art), Peter Frank, Emma Gray, Courtney J. Martin, Brian Bress and six other noteworthy art experts while the artists involved are Michael Dee, Bill Kleiman, Amanda Church, Jeff Ono and six more whose work will intrigue and captivate.

A Live Art/Fashion Show
Lun*na Menoh: Couture Salvage
8:00 pm
One Night Only!
Saturday, October 11
Track 16 Gallery
2525 Michigan Avenue
310/264.4678

Track 16 Gallery and Eenie Meenie Records welcome the talented and creative Lun*na Menoh for a one-night-only fashion-performance-happening. In Couture Salvage everyday waste items become haute couture - a vacuum cleaner becomes a jacket; a speaker becomes a skirt, a golf bag becomes a necklace and a sofa becomes a coat. No scrap of fabric, no piece of furniture, and no mechanical part is wasted! This peculiar though spectacular fashion show will be accompanied by Jean Paul Yamamoto's captivating original music. Every one of the artworks/fashion statements created by Lun*na Menoh will be for sale after the performance. Don't forget - Halloween is just around the corner and even if you plan to stay home that night, you could be a major hit at this year's holiday parties!

One of the most important lessons that I have learned in life is that a lot can happen when a  moose pops in for a visit --  Blackberry jam is just the beginning!  Trust me, if your boss is coming over for dinner and a moose shows up at your door, you really need to slam the door on that old moose's face!  Based on Laura Numeroff's circular story, this play is terrific entertainment for anyone over the age of three.  Presented by the Morgan Wixson’s award winning Y.E.S. Children’s Theatre Company.  Reserve your tickets on-line. 

Corey Cerovsek

Violinist Corey Cerovsek
New West Symphony
4:00 pm
Sunday, October 12
Barnum Hall
Santa Monica High School
601 Pico Boulevard
1-866-776-8400

The New West Symphony opens its Masterpiece Series Season with an all Beethoven afternoon concert conducted by Boris Brott with an appearance by special guest star violinist Corey Cerovsek - once an amazing child prodigy and now an even more amazing adult performer! Get there early and join the lively pre-concert discussion led by music raconteur Charles McDermott and members of the orchestra, beginning at 3:00 pm on Sunday afternoon.

Katia Popov

Join other supporters of the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra for an evening of dining and entertainment at their annual fundraising event. This fun filled evening, complete with dinner and cocktails, a silent auction and a very special performance featuring Katia Popov, a principal violinist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Long Beach Symphony and a frequent performer with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who will be accompanied by music director Allen Robert Gross on piano.