Artist Rick Graves’unique photograph, a three-wall-length piece titled, “Hana Highway General Store,” and captured by his custom-built camera system, will be on display at foaSOUTH Gallery, 1006 S. Coast Highway, through Sept. 16. The piece can be viewed for free from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.
“It’s truly an honor to be featured at the Festival of Arts’ foaSOUTH exhibit. I’m beyond thrilled to display these pieces to the public for the first time ever,” Graves said. “My DistaCam captures time and space on a 66-inch roll of film, allowing an entire roll of film to be used to shoot one single frame of action.”
The concept of Graves’ presentation is to create panoramic images that encompass the entire gallery space. “Hana Highway General Store” gives the viewer a sense of dynamic movement and scale through the uniquely engineered slit-scan process.
“Every time Rick Graves creates an image, it is an experiment in photography, and this exhibit is no exception,” said Sharbie Higuchi, Festival of Arts public relations and marketing director. “As a long-time Festival of Arts exhibitor, Rick has sparked interest with many of our attendees and we know his showcase at foaSOUTH will help create one of the most exciting displays the exhibit space has ever seen.”
Writers Share Views of Paradise
Laguna Beach’s Third Street Writers will celebrate the release of their new anthology, “Beach Reads: Paradise” at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 5, at Laguna Beach Books, 1200 S. Coast Highway. Hear the authors read their original stories, poems and essays on the subject of paradise. Light refreshments will be served.
This anthology of 43 essays, short stories, poetry, and photographs explores the human quest for paradise—the perfect piece of pie; a hot summer fling in the holler; the crisp, unexplored pages of a new book; a child on a swing; and the gathering of ball players on a glorious spring day.
Third Street Writers is a nonprofit based in Laguna Beach dedicated to fostering the development of new and veteran writers by providing opportunities to study, produce, and showcase literature. They sponsor writing workshops, public reading events and community outreach to promote the art of writing. “Beach Reads: Paradise” is the third volume in the Beach Reads anthology series.
Temporary Art to be Installed at City Hall
Artist team Hybycozo—Oakland-based artists Yelena Filipchuk and Serge Beaulieu—are slated to install three sculptures outside City Hall on Monday, April 29. Created of steel, the sculptures will be on exhibit for three months. Filipchuk and Beaulieu have been featured artists at the Burning Man Festival.
‘Avenue Q’ Comes to No Square
Avenue Q is coming to No Square Theatre on Friday, May 10, at 7:30 p.m. Follow a starry-eyed college grad named Princeton who has big dreams but can only afford to live on Avenue Q in New York, an intriguing neighborhood full of funny characters. Avenue Q has music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and is based on a book by Jeff Whitty and an original concept by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. The story, complete with puppets and plenty of humor, follows a group of young adults seeking their purpose in big city life.
Joe Lauderdale will direct Avenue Q, with music direction by Roxanna Ward and the skills of puppet master McKay Mangum, who will teach the singers and actors how to maneuver their puppets. The cast includes Eileen Goodwin, Ella Wyatt, Eric Anderson, Gloria Henderson, Jonathan Haidl, Richard Kilgo II, and Sarah Loya.
The show addresses issues like sex, drinking, and surfing the web for porn. Parents are advised to use their own discretion about the appropriateness of Avenue Q for their kids and teens.
Avenue Q plays Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through May 26 at the historic Legion Hall, 384 Legion Street. Tickets, $25 and $35, must be purchased in advance. Drinks and refreshments are also available for purchase. Showtimes and tickets are available at nosquare.org.
Laguna Playhouse Readies for 99th Season
“Construction continues apace to update our Moulton Theatre in time for our centennial anniversary in 2020,” said Ellen Richardson Laguna Playhouse executive director.
The season begins with the music of Abba in‘Mamma Mia,’ July 5-28; followed by the new ‘Yoga Play,’ Sept. 25-Oct. 13; the fall will bring James Goldman’s ‘The Lion in Winter,’ Nov. 6-24; January ushers in a world premiere musical adaptation of ‘To Sir, with Love,’ Jan. 29- Feb. 23; followed by the return of Melanie Griffith in ‘Barefoot in the Park,’ March 11-April 5; Hershey Felder returns in the world premiere of ‘Anna and Sergei’ about famed composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, April 15- May 3; Emmy Award-winner Jayne Atkinson will star as Texas Governor Ann Richards in the Southern California premiere of the acclaimed play ‘Ann’, May 13 –June 7.
In addition, the youth theatre will present ‘I Never Saw Another Butterfly,’ which follows Raja Englanderova and her experience as a young girl living in Terezin during the Holocaust. Of the more than 15,000 children who passed through Terezin, only 141 are known to have survived. But the many drawings, poems, and other works of art that Raja and her friends smuggled out of Terezin have been shared with the world, and through them, these 15,000 children live on. Based on a true story, the play is written by Celest Raspanti and directed by Donna Inglima and will run Oct. 18-27.
Subscriptions to the 2019-2020 season are now available. Season tickets range from $261-$534 and can be purchased online at lagunaplayhouse.com or by calling 949-497-2787. Group discounts are available by calling 949-497-2787 ext. 229.