Southern California Attractions and Santa Monica Events Calendar

9th Annual LA Opera Series at the Santa Monica Public Library

• Date(s): 09/17/2009 - 05/20/2010
• Recurring monthly on the 3rd Thursday
• Times: Check website for event dates and times
• Location: Main Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd
• Contact: Santa Monica Public Library
• Phone: (310) 458-8600
• Admission: Free

This year’s series is getting an early start, September 17, so mark your calendars now!  Come enjoy presentations about five upcoming operas and a behind the scenes peek before heading out to see them:  Sept 17 is Wagner’s Siegfried; Oct 15 is Handel’s Tamerlano; Nov 19 is Rossini’s Barber of Seville; Jan 21 is Behind the Scenes in Opera; Feb 18 is Introduction to the Ring Cycle & Götterdämmerung; and the grand finale on May 20 is a Specialty Ring Talk.  This six-part series takes place on Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. at the Main Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd.

This program series is free and all ages are welcome.  Space is limited and on a first arrival basis.  This is a collaborative event of: The Living Room …a place for adults and LA Opera’s Community Programs.  For more information, visit www.smpl.org or contact the Santa Monica Public Library at (310) 458-8600.  The Santa Monica Public Library is wheelchair accessible. For disability-related accommodation requests, please contact Library Administration at (310) 458-8606 or email reference@smgov.net at least one week prior to the event. 

Cirque du Soleil KOOZA

• Date(s): 10/16/2009 - 12/20/2009
• Recurring weekly on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
• Times: Monday-No Show, Tuesday-Thursday 8pm, Friday-Saturday 4pm and 8pm, Sunday 1pm and 5pm
• Location: Tent will be located at the 1550 lot, north of the Pier
• Phone: (800) 450-1480
• Admission: Adults: $60-$135; Children (ages 2-12): $42-$94.50; Students and Seniors: $54-$112.50

Cirque du Soleil returns to the Santa Monica Pier for its 25th anniversary with its performance of KOOZA. KOOZA is a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil: It combines two circus traditions – acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The show highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendor and fragility, presented in a colorful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humor.

ICE at Santa Monica

• Date(s): 10/27/2009 - 01/31/2010
• Recurring daily
• Times: 10am-10pm weekdays, 10am-midnight on Fridays and Saturdays (including Halloween, Christmas Day and New Years Day)
• Location: Third Street Promenade at Arizona and 5th Street
• Admission: $10 and includes rental skates

Bring back childhood memories — or create new ones — as you slice through the ice in a festive atmosphere filled with holiday cheer and balmy ocean breezes. Located at 5th Street and Arizona Avenue, less than two blocks from the Third Street Promenade, the rink is open daily. The $10 admission includes skate rental. The rink is periodically cleared for short periods to groom the ice. If raining, the rink will remain open in light rain or drizzle conditions, closing only for heavy downpours.

A Santa Monica Pier Centennial Exhibition Featuring Photographic Vision of Jeffrey F. Giglioli

• Date(s): 11/16/2009 - 01/17/2010
• Recurring weekly on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
• Times: Monday & Thurs 11am - 5pm and Fri thru Sunday 11am thru 7pm
• Location: Carousel, Santa Monica Pier
• Contact: Anne Railsback
• Phone: (310) 458-8901
• Admission: Free

In continuation of Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corp.'s year-long celebration of the Centennial of the Santa Monica Pier, Jeffrey F. Giglioli will share his photographic vision of the Pier with an exhibition opening Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 in the historic Carousel and continuing through Sunday, January 17, 2010. Giglioli, a Los Angeles native and Viet Nam War Veteran, has been a still photographer for most of his life. His black and white photographs capture his passion for the Santa Monica pier and the beauty found above and below the wooden planks of this iconic structure. Many of the photographs include Pier businesses of days-gone-by including Sinbad's, Al's Kitchen, and Cocky Moon, just to name a few.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica - Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive

• Date(s): 11/16/2009 - 11/24/2009
• Recurring daily
• Times: Donation drop off times are Mon. - Fri. 9am-7pm and Sat. 10am-3pm
• Location: Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica, 1238 Lincoln Blvd.
• Contact: Kristin Andre
• Phone: (310) 394-2582

We need your help! Mission Real Estate Group and the Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs of Santa Monica would like to cordially invite you to participate in our Annual Thanksgiving Dinner & Canned Food Drive. Each year, the Club of Santa Monica prepares a Thanksgiving feast for Club members and their families – last year they had over 200 people attend the event, most of whom thought there wouldn’t even be a Thanksgiving dinner. At that event, we also like to give our neediest families a basket of Thanksgiving food items with gift cards for turkeys, so they can have their very own Thanksgiving Meal on Thanksgiving Day. Our goal is to provide families in need with a bountiful meal on Thanksgiving Day. In order to make this a reality we need to collect all the things that go into making a Thanksgiving Dinner!

Cause for Creativity: Furoshiki Food Drive & Workshop

• Date(s): 11/16/2009 - 11/20/2009
• Recurring every week day
• Times: Nov. 16 - 21: 11am - 6pm / Nov. 22: 2 pm - 5 pm
• Location: Santa Monica Museum of Art: 2525 Michigan Ave., G1
• Contact: Asuka Hisa
• Phone: (310) 586-6488
• Admission: FREE for SMMoA Members and food drive donors; $10 without donation

Join SMMoA for a food drive and art workshop to benefit the individuals at the Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) - the most comprehensive Westside provider of housing and services to homeless individuals and families. Make an original furoshiki - a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth - with creative techniques demonstrated by artist Jay Lizo. Learn versatile tying and wrapping methods. All of the beautiful furoshiki Thanksgiving packages to be donated to OPCC.

Edgemar Shopping Cart Tree

• Date(s): 11/17/2009
• Recurring daily
• Times: Daily 12pm to 8pm
• Location: Edgemar, 2449 Main Street in the Courtyard
• Contact: Anthony
• Admission: Free

The building of the Edgemar Shopping Cart Tree by artist Anthony Schmitt. Enjoy a Peet's Coffee and see the tree getting decorated, or even a haircut at Piero and still have a view of the event. The tree will be up and complete by this weekend. Join us on the 5th of December for the Candle Light Walk. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The Cache Art Program

• Date(s): 11/17/2009 - 01/17/2010
• Recurring daily
• Location: Cache, 3110 Main St
• Contact: Jannis Swerman & Company
• Phone: (818) 789-7747

Cache Restaurant invites friends and diners to share an exhibition of painting and assemblage by artists Ed Moses and Paulin Paris. Cache's second show, “International Contrasts” is an exhibition of recent work by world renowned Ed Moses and Paulin Paris. The exhibition is next installment of an on-going series of shows and art events in the Cache dining room, designed to honor both prominent and emerging artists.

KCRW Presents Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Performing Love’s Labour’s Lost

• Date(s): 11/19/2009 - 11/29/2009
• Recurring weekly on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
• Location: The Broad Stage, The Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St
• Phone: (310) 434-3200

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, direct from London, will perform Love’s Labour’s Lost. Shakespeare’s celebration of young love is a festive parade of every weapon in the youthful playwright’s comic arsenal—from excruciating cross-purposes to silly impersonations, drunkenness, bustups and pratfalls. It’s also his most joyful banquet of language, groaning with puns, rhymes, bizarre syntax, grotesque coinages and parody.

Make an evening of it: Eat, Drink and Be Carried Away! Dine at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel's Ocean and Vine restaurant before the show and enjoy a special Broad Stage theater menu. Imagine, a glass of wine, an appetizer, an entree and complimentary valet parking for only $28. They'll even shuttle you up to The Broad Stage. Reservations are required. Just call (310) 576-3180.

Dates and times below:

Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 7:30pm
Friday, Nov. 20, 2009 1:00pm & 7:30pm
Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009 2:00pm & 7:30pm
Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009 1:00pm
Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 7:30pm
Friday, Nov. 27, 2009 1:00pm & 7:30pm
Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009 2:00pm & 7:30pm
Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 2:00pm

American Cinematheque Screenings: Aero Theatre

• Date(s): 01/01/2008
• Recurring daily
• Location: 1328 Montana Avenue at 14th Street
• Phone: (323) 466-3456
• Admission: Tickets $10 or $7 for members

Movie presentations by American Cinematheque, a non-profit, viewer-supported cultural organization, dedicated to the public presentation of the moving picture in all its forms, from classics to the outer frontiers of the art form. Weekly screenings of art, independent and classic films. Also sneak peaks of upcoming movies with celebrity guest appearances and discussions with film-makers. Call for program information: 323-466-3456. Tickets $10 or $7 for members.

Comfort Food Nights

• Date(s): 11/19/2008
• Recurring weekly on Wednesday, Thursday
• Times: Wednesday and Thursday nights
• Location: Cezanne at Le Merigot Beach Hotel and Spa, 1740 Ocean Ave
• Phone: Reservations: 310-395-9700

Come and cozy up with us at Cézanne restaurant this season where Chef Desi Szonntagh has created a new “comfort foods menu” with French specialties. This menu includes a delectable array of recipes to tantalize your palate. Comfort Food Nights are every Wednesday and Thursday with weekly rotating specials. Come hungry and we promise to leave you feeling warm, fuzzy and delightfully full!

Forth Magazine's Open Poetry & Prose Readings

• Date(s): 03/19/2009
• Recurring weekly on Thursday
• Times: 8:00pm-10:00pm
• Location: Novel Cafe, 212 Pier Ave
• Phone: (310) 396-8566
• Admission: Free

Open poetry and prose readings every Thursday, 8-10pm. Come read, listen and enjoy! Everyone welcome, all genres (poetry, fiction, non-fiction, ect.), 1000 word max per reader. Hosted by Forth Magazine.

First Presbyterian Features Works of Laddie John Dill

• Date(s): 07/20/2009
• Recurring daily
• Location: 1220 Second St
• Phone: (310) 451-1303
• Admission: Free

Painter/sculptor Laddie John Dill was born in Long Beach, California in 1943. He graduated from Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles, in 1968 with a BFA degree. Dill was influenced by Rauschenberg, Keith Sonnier, and environmental artists Robert Smithson, Dennis Oppenheim and Robert Irwin, who were exploring alternatives to easel painting.

Featured work is displayed outside on the First Presbyterian gate. 

Meditation For Health & Well-Being with Rebecca Underwood

• Date(s): 07/30/2009
• Recurring weekly on Thursday
• Times: Weekly, Thursday's at 1:00 pm
• Location: Santa Monica Senior Center - 1450 Ocean Ave
• Contact: Jaime Fiallos
• Phone: (310) 458-8644
• Admission: Free, must be at least 50 years of age to attend

In this Guided Meditation, participants engage in a process that is very restful and rejuvenating and that may free old emotions and thoughts lodged in the body and/or mind. In addition, participants learn to use this Meditation in their everyday lives. It is also fun and has immediate and well as long-term benefits. This is a great opportunity to enjoy the community of people who are enjoying life and stepping into true health. Look forward to seeing you there!

Skateboard: Evolution and Art in California

• Date(s): 11/14/2009 - 05/30/2010
• Recurring daily
• Times: Wednesday through Sunday 11:00am to 4:00pm
• Location: California Heritage Museum, 2612 Main St
• Phone: (310) 392-8537
• Admission: General Admission: $3.00, Seniors, Students: $2.00, Members, Children under twelve: Free

The California Heritage Museum is proud to present “SKATEBOARD: Evolution and Art in California.” Guest curated by legendary Z-boy Nathan Pratt in conjunction with museum staff curator Michael Trotter and advisory committee members Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom (Zephyr co-founders), Cris Dawson (1966 Hobie Champ), Z-Boys Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, and 1980’s world champion Christian Hosoi, the exhibition traces the evolution of boards from pre-1950 to the present showcasing the riders, designers, artists, and manufacturers that created the California phenomenon known as the skateboard.

This is the first exhibition of the California skate movement to be shown in “Dog Town”, the Santa Monica/Ocean Park area where modern skateboarding was born and the skate became an art form. The California Heritage Museum is located in the vortex at Main Street and Ocean Park Boulevard.