We’ve got a countdown of events and Labor Day bucket list items on the agenda for you. What better way to spend that last weekend where you’re allowed to wear white?
Calling all aspiring thespians and theater enthusiasts: it’s the opening weekend of Psycho Beach Party, playing at the Long Beach Playhouse. In Psycho Beach Party, playwright Charles Busch tosses together a far out mishmash of Gidget, Joan Crawford, beach parties, surfers, Hitchcock and slasher movies. Delighting audiences since 1987, the show has played off-Broadway, at international festivals and in community theaters. Special events this weekend include a Two for One Preview on Friday, September 4 (tickets are $12) and the Opening Night Champagne Reception with the cast on Saturday, September 5 for $27. Regular performances are 8:00PM Friday and Saturday and 2:00PM Sunday. The box office is open Wednesday through Saturday from 3:00PM to 8:00PM and Sundays from 1:00PM to 2:00PM on scheduled matinees. Adults are $24.00, seniors $21.00, and Students $14.00. Click here to purchase tickets.
Glitz. Glamour. Nostalgia. Starting Friday and lasting through September 7, guests will have the opportunity to experience the luxury and glamour attributed to the peak of the Art Deco movement at 11th Annual Art Deco Festival at the The Queen Mary, a time when a profound social faith in technological progress married engineering and artistic design, in stark contrast to the earlier Art Nouveau school and its emphasis on organic forms. Highlights include the Deco Pajama Derby, where guests can slink into their best vintage loungewear and dance the night away to Jim Ziegler & The Swingsations, sip a martini at the vintage-inspired bar or enter the Best Vintage Loungewear contest to win cash 
prizes. Festivalgoers can explore the tastes of the age at the popular Prohibition Mixology Tastings or the all-new Chef’s Tastings of the Times, a cooking demonstration and sampling of 1930s comfort foods, set to the soundtrack of the Gatsby Daze Garden Party. Day passes start at $29 and an all-inclusive Art Deco Grand Passport is $399. Art Deco aficionados can stay onboard for the weekend’s duration with a variety of packages. For the complete schedule of activities, pricing, tickets and more information, visit the Queen Mary’s website here and the Facebook event page here.
On the artsy end of the spectrum, Tradigital Vistas at the Expo Art Center will feature a cross section of artist Sheriann Ki Su Burnam’s work, including early images made 
using the software she wrote herself and more recent work that combines digital printmaking with natural materials. Tradigital Vistas’ opening will take place at 6:30PM during the First Fridays Art Walk in Bixby Knolls, while in the South Gallery of the Expo Arts Center, Katie Phillips, cofounder of Squeeze Art Collective, Heather Proctor, muralist and painter and artists Alex Diffin and Esmeralda Villalobos will each display work in a group exhibition. This event will include three Toaster Music 30-minute performance sets at the top of each hour, starting at 7:00PM and will feature the lithe performers of Maha and Company Dancers. For the most updated information regarding the event, click here.
In the midst of this holiday weekend’s festivities lies a film festival dedicated to remembering a nation’s genocide and resilience. The Cambodia Town Film Festival was created in 2013 to draw attention to the diversity of the Cambodian experience as expressed through film. This year’s CTFF marks 40 years since the Khmer Rouge regime’s brutal takeover of Cambodia, which maintained its hold on the country for nearly four years between 1975 and 1979. Up to two million people died of overwork, starvation, disease and execution. The festival is set to
showcase works by both established and emerging filmmakers in various cinematic genres, including documentaries, re-released classics, short films and animated features. Click here to see the complete lineup of films, and for more information, click here.
To cap off the weekend, get ready to experience reggae in full force, mahn. The 2015 Shoreline Jam kicks off at The Queen Mary Saturday and Sunday, with headliners Common Kings, Matisyahu and The Green. Food, lawn games and vendors are the cherries on top of this two-day reggae sundae, set to take place from 2:00PM to 11:00PM both days. One-day general admission passes are $45 if purchased online and $55 at the door. VIP passes are $95 online and $105 at the door. Two-day passes are $85 for general admission if purchased online and VIP passes are $180 online ($100 at the door for general admission and VIP $200 door). VIP passes include access to the VIP entrance, exclusive VIP lounge, private cash bar with two drink tickets. Kids four years and under are free. Parking is $20 per car. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
Above left and right: file photos.