So, the Long Beach Post celebrated its 12th anniversary last week and the powers-that-be deemed the best way to celebrate the occasion was with pizza and beer because fried bologna and Yoo-hoo were apparently too “bougie.” Oh yeah, it was a class event all around, one that allowed me the opportunity to get to know my Post colleagues better since, up until now, all I’ve been able to ascertain in my short time here is that they talk a lot about beer and nobody likes Grobaty.
I was looking to connect with them on some deeper, more essential level and indeed, I did, discovering that they really like to drink a lot of beer and that was pretty much it. (Grobaty didn’t show up which was just as well because, you know, the intense dislike and all.)
It was during the cotillion that my dear friend and personal taxidermist Asia Morris sidled up and began yelling about this column, the one she stole, the one she uses to criticize my stature and right to live, the one that, this week, features great Americans, blasphemous rumors, wonderful causes, Lint Ladies and kicking nuns.
“We’ve got to change it up, it’s getting old,” screeched Asia in the general direction of my left shoulder, swaying slightly, perhaps to the music that was not playing, though it’s worth noting, the following day at work, she complained about the office lights being too, ahem, “bright.”
Asia went on to explain that she had exhausted horrible things to say about me in print and that she desired we identify someone else in the office for her to heap vitriol upon because that is how Asia gets her kicks.
“I’m thinking Steph,” she said. Steph being Stephanie Rivera, an exemplary human being, well-known for her professionalism, humanity and hilarious “Grobaty licking an ice cream cone on a hot day” impression. I’m sure Steph has no idea that Asia is lurking as I was unaware of her nefarious designs on this column.
You see, Asia is very good at two things: hiding her true intentions and wishing me and defenseless plants, dead. That and not liking Grobaty… Grobaty.
THURSDAY
The 6th annual Gravely Celebration Experience not only honors a true American pioneer—Samuel L. Gravely Jr. was the first African-American to command a warship (USS Theodore E. Chandler) and major warship (USS Jouett) as well as the first to achieve the rank of vice admiral and command a numbered fleet (U.S. 3rd)—but also those who embody the qualities of Gravely and the Pacific Battleship Center, the non-profit arm of Battleship IOWA Museum.
This year’s honorees include prosecuting attorney, and presiding judge in the “Madea” movies, Judge Mablean Ephriam, Fulbright Scholar and founder of the Watts Counseling and Learning Center Bill Coggins and electrical engineer, scientist and co-founder of a tech incubator, vice admiral Walter Davis (Ret.).
The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Battleship IOWA Museum and should be a rather stunning sight considering it will occur right around sunset. If you have time before or after the event to check out other areas of the IOWA, it’s an amazing vessel.
The Battleship IOWA Museum is located at 250 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro, 90731. The event is free but you’re required to reserve a spot since space is limited. You can reserve tickets by clicking here.
FRIDAY
Is it just us, or are there an awful lot of theater productions lately that explore the flimsy nature of belief, truth and how gullible people can be about things until, too quickly, it all turns to hell. Yet another example is CSULB’s California Repertory Company’s production of “Cabaret.”
You know, it’s funny about “Cabaret”, perhaps because it was most famously produced as a movie starring Liza(!) it’s gotten a reputation as the ultimate kind of jazz-handsy theater. Anyone who buys into this clearly has never seen “Cabaret” which just as easily could be titled ‘Nazis!” because there’s a ton of them in it.
Of course, no one takes them seriously because of the stupid things they say and the ridiculous way they wear their hair and everyone is too concerned with having a good time to notice right up until the moment the ridiculous clowns take over a world that, as Cal Rep’ Artistic Director Jeff Janisheski puts, is “built on distraction and bent on destruction.”
A 5, 6, 7, 8 …
If you’ve never seen a Cal Rep production, you really should. It’s the performance arm of Cal State Long Beach’s theater department and consistently produced high-quality shows which is not the easiest thing for me to admit seeing as when I went to school there one of the members of Cal Rep tried to pick up my girlfriend after one of those high-quality shows. Which reminds me, I really need to send them a card for their anniversary.
“Cabaret” opens Friday, Feb. 22 and plays until March 3 at the Studio Theater at CSULB, located at 7th Street and East Campus Drive. For tickets click here.
Yet another example of the timeless, terrifying nature of art, the Long Beach Shakespeare Company opens its season, with “Othello,” a play about how gossip, innuendo and the flat out mangling of the truth feeds into fears that beget violence and, ultimately, destruction.
A 5, 6, 7, 8…
Sound familiar? Of course it does. And how’s about everybody’s friend Iago, perhaps the most insidious villain ever written because he is so un-villian like. Just a regular guy, just going about his regular day, a guy so innocuous that he can get close enough to whisper the poison that brings down governments, offices, families…
Fittingly, Othello begins a season LBSC is calling, simply, “Villains.” Everyone knows that great drama needs a great villain. Grobaty.
Othello opens Feb. 22 and plays until March 16 at the Helen Borgers Theater located at 4250 Atlantic Ave. For tickets, click here.
SATURDAY
Tonight, from 4 to 6 p.m., the Greenly Gallery will host a free art opening celebrating the career of Slater Barron. “Slater @88” examines the long career of the 88-year-old Barron who got the nickname, the “Lint Lady”, because she has utilized multiple media, including laundry lint, to create works that range from the spiritual to humorous to political to sushi.
Her “Prayer Painting” series was inspired by dreams she had while facing cancer. She says the vision “gave me so much confidence in the fact that I was going to be well. When I saw them in my dream, I saw the light in the darkness.” Many of the works are painted on doors replete with writings weaving itself through the surfaces.
The Greenly Gallery is located at 2698 Junipero Ave., Signal Hill. The exhibit will run from tonight to March 30 and can be viewed during regular gallery hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11 a.m. to 2 pm. Special viewings can be arranged by calling 562-533-4020.
SUNDAY
Super Bowl? More like Super Bore. World Series? More like World, um, well, you get the idea; all is rendered second-rate and meaningless in the sports world in comparison to today’s titanic matchup between the Gay Varsity League and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence on the kickball field.
During February, the two groups have been hosting fundraising events at the Silver Fox, which happens to be the VGL’s major sponsor—good on you, Silver Fox. During the events, participants entered a raffle to win a chance to play against the Sisters. So far that has raised more than $2500 for AIDS Food Store and means that at 2 p.m. at Pan American Park, we will finally get the kickball matchup we’ve all been waiting for. My money is on the Sisters; it’s a Catholic thing.
After the game, at 5 p.m., there will be a victory celebration at the Silver Fox, located at 411 Redondo Ave., because everyone’s a winner.
Pan American Park is located at 5157 Centralia Ave.
Speaking of good folks, the South Coast Chorale will be performing in concert tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Gaslamp. The event, called “HOME,” is a tribute to those living, and dying, on the streets. It will be a cabaret-style entertainment and fundraiser and SCC, which announced it will be donating $2,500 to The Center of Long Beach, has pledged to donate a portion of ticket sales to a local community organization.
The Gaslamp is located at 6251 E. Pacific Coast Hwy.
In an impressive bit of cultural compression, the Museum of Latin American Art is presenting Afro-Latinx Festival which seeks to illuminate and celebrate not only the cultural diversity of the Americas but African influences in Latin American life, art, etc. MOLAA, which is really good at finding fun, accessible events that get people who might not think about going to a museum, into a museum, is doing this through a wide range of activities like salsa music, art workshops, great food—Who wants anticuchos?—and live performances including capoeira, what you viewers of “Bob’s Burgers” may know as “sexy dance fighting.”
MOLAA is located at 628 Alamitos Avenue. Admission to the event is free, parking will put you back $10.