Even though I don’t work regular 9-5 five-days-a-week hours, I actually work really hard just about every day. Therefore, I do enjoy three-day holiday weekends. They’ve just always felt special to me.

This says it all.

But, as I try to remind everybody each year, Memorial Day is special unto itself because it’s a holiday with the purpose of honoring the members of the armed forces who have lost their lives in service to our country. That deserves at least a modicum of seriousness on the actual day, which is this Monday, of course.

Since “memorial” is actually its title, I also spare a thought for my own loved ones who have gone before, especially my little mother.

And I’m also using today to make my SoCal readers aware of a couple of worthwhile charity events that I think will be fun.

The first one is a special one-night-only, open to the public, event that is taking place on June 4th, after the holiday, as one of the local celebrations of this country’s 250th Anniversary. It looks to be super-fun and educational, and it’s affordable and at one of the easiest theatres in town, (NoHo’s El Portal.) On top of all that, we get to dress up a bit. But much more important than anything is the charity it will benefit—the Mendez National Institute of Transplantation Foundation, which raises awareness for kidney disease and organ donation, and advances research, education, and awareness around those situations.

It’s a fabulous fundraising event which goes like this: First up is a cocktail and food reception in the big lobby, which is always adorned with interesting art pieces. Then we go into the theatre to see a forty-minute show, The Fighting Quaker. It tells the story of Timothy Matlack, the man who hand-inscribed the final official copy of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, (when penmanship was important!) What an appropriate presentation to see exactly one month before this nation’s big birthday!

An example of a few of this company’s gifts. Photo courtesy of Susan von Seggern.

As if all that would not be enough, everyone leaves with a gift bag. And VIP tickets also include a gifting suite after the show!!! Now everyone can have the fun of participating in the type of gifting event that I’ve been writing about for years! (I actually attended one of this producer’s gifting suites way back in the day, when I was doing my TV show! So I’m really looking forward to being at another one of hers again during this very special evening.)

I hope to see you all there!

For more info and tickets to The Fighting Quaker, click here: www.mnitf.org/the-fighting-quaker-play.

The second one actually comes first on the calendar, on May 30th, and fits in with this weekend’s theme of “memorial” because it celebrates the late Jesse Colin Young of The Youngbloods singing group, whose big hit was Get Together, a song which has been much-played ever since. The event is the Get Together Now concert at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown LA.

The best part, of course, is that 100% of the proceeds will benefit charities that serve local Los Angeles communities, supporting vulnerable individuals and families in need. (I’m sorry that I don’t know exactly which charities they are.) For more info on this one, click here: www.rockcellarproductions.com/get-together-now.

Now getting back to this weekend, and especially Monday, I wish you all a happy, safe, and especially reflective Memorial Day.

The packed assemblage on Opening Night of the classic musical, Brigadoon, at the Pasadena Playhouse, was the absolutely most appreciative audience ever! It was wonderful to be a tiny part of it. And it was great to see that the crowd wasn’t made-up of only people who one might expect to enjoy a show from 1947—we were very diverse in terms of age and career. I personally knew guests who were over forty years apart in age, including actors, singers, lawyers, teachers, accountants, etc. It was the most fun pre-show mingling.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

It did surprise me a bit that there were sooooo many people who appeared to be fans of the old school Lerner and Lowe musical. I’ve referenced Brigadoon in at least a handful of previous columns, (as I sometimes do in life,) and I felt like I was the only person who had ever even heard of the show before! And, actually, even though I had seen just about every classic musical by the time I was eight, (mostly in summer productions, and thanks to my very cultured New York parents,) I had seen only the Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse film version of this one.

Karen Salkin and Nina Herzog enjoying the photo op on the Pasadena Playhouse patio. Photo by Julia Manis.

But I guess the Pasadena Playhouse crowd is a classy one because absolutely everyone was into it, as well they should be. I usually feel alone in my love of old musicals; it often seems to me that the Hamilton and Hell’s Kitchen crowds have sort-of shunned that era of Broadway shows. They are dated, but classics still. So everything about Opening Night made me happy, (including getting to finally try Pie ’N Burger food, courtesy of their truck, with lovely personnel, on-site at the afterparty!)

For those of you who know nothing about Brigadoon, (and prefer that I do all the research for you,) the title is the name of a mysterious village in Scotland. And the kicker is that…it appears for just one day every hundred years! (I know.) The logistics of that situation have hurt my brain my entire life, wondering how the inhabitants get food, meds, etc. But I’ve got to let it go because it’s a fictional tale. And, actually, the residents go to sleep after one long day, and when they wake-up, it’s just another day to them. They’re not allowed to interact with the outside world, (think of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village a bit,) so they have no concept of a century having passed. (They know that it did because of some deal that an elder had made back in the day—my friend Nina and I missed the explanation because the person behind us was heavily coughing on us through that entire monologue, and we didn’t have masks! So our minds were elsewhere right then.) And then two guys from New York happen upon Brigadoon on that one day, and one falls in love with a woman from this village. And most of the action plays out in just that one day!

Betsy Morgan and Max von Essen. Photo by Jeff Lorch, as is the one at the top of this review.

The fantasy scenario is secondary to the lovely music, though. Brigadoon features songs with which many people may be familiar, even without realizing from whence they came, especially Heather on the Hill and Almost Like Being in Love. I can’t believe how many lyrics I still know. So how many times did my parents play that album when I was growing up?

Caring more about dance than any other art, I have to first laud the two fabulous individual dances in the show. The director, Katie Spelman, also did all the excellent choreography. Broadway’s original choreographer, the late great Agnes DeMille, (who received a big credit in the program,) would be proud of her.

I was so happy to see Kylie Victoria Edwards’ very balletic “love” number in the first act, (in the middle of the song Come To Me, Bend To Me.) It’s beautiful. And then Jessica Lee Keller’s uber-powerful “grief dance” in Act II is a stunner. Nina was so taken with the latter that I’m sharing her feelings about it: “One of the most impactful moments was a dance performed by a character described as being so consumed by grief over the death of her family that she had stopped speaking.Through extraordinary, innovative contemporary ballet—while releasing the most guttural, heartbreaking wail—she expressed what words could not. Tears streamed down my face. Grief is so close to the surface, and to see it danced through music was truly spectacular.” Yeah, what she said. I think most of the audience felt the same way.

Kylie Victoria Edwards and Daniel Yearwood. Photo by Jeff Lorch.

As to the music, it was lovely to hear all these aforementioned songs, which I’ve been enjoying since I was a little kid, sung so beautifully. And major props to the wonderful musicians, whose full sound was a joy. At the curtain call, the orchestra was revealed to be on the back of the stage, and they received thunderous applause. It was also interesting that at times, musicians playing flute, violin, cello, and some form of drum, were front and center, worked into the happy scenes.

The twenty-two person multi-talented cast did justice to the group numbers. The voice of Max von Essen, the male lead, got to me the most. Since I don’t read my theatre programs before the performances, I had not realized that I saw Max in Falsettos seven years ago, so I honestly did not expect that gorgeous singing voice to come out of him.

But as far as speaking voices go, you will find none better than that of Happy Anderson, the very funny male sidekick. I’ve never heard stage dialogue so clearly before!

Happy Anderson in the center. Photo by Jeff Lorch.

That brings me to something for which I must give kudos to just about the entire cast—they did convincing Scottish accents, with all but the barmaid being understandable. That’s quite the accomplishment for whoever the dialect coach is. (I couldn’t find a program credit for that helper.)

A nice surprise was six-time Emmy winner for Cagney and Lacey, Tyne Daly, as the grown-up who seems to be in charge of the village. (In the original show, the character is the male schoolmaster; I’m not sure exactly what her job is in this rendition.) The experience of seeing Tyne up there came full circle for me—the only other time I had seen her on stage was when I was a tiny child watching her in a summer stock production! (Yes, I do have one of those memories. It serves me well, but it can get lonely at times.)

The Pasadena Playhouse has the perfect size stage for this show, and Jason Sherwood did a superb job with the sets. And I appreciated the very subtle flicker of the over-the-proscenium lanterns from time to time.

Tyne Daly. Photo by Jeff Lorch.

Early on, before I even knew that this was a new adaptation of Brigadoon, I made a note that “the dialogue must have been heavily rewritten.” As entertaining as the new script is, I think I would have preferred to hear the original dialogue. Since the nutty story stayed intact in this production, I would have liked to know exactly what people considered to be amusing repartee back in the dark ages of the 1940s!

As much as I always roll my eyes at the hard-to-believe love story in Brigadoon, I actually know that it is possible because…I fell in love with Mr. X at first sight, without even meeting him! (That came the next night. And, much to his relief, I have never sung about my feelings.) I also fell in love with Los Angeles at that same time, and, even as a teenager, knew it would all seem like a dream when I went home in a couple of weeks. (I even told my mother back then that it would feel like Brigadoon!) So I did give up my entire New York life, (family, friends, boyfriend, college,) to stay here to stalk get to know Mr. X, with no knowledge of how to take care of my sheltered self. But, of course, it didn’t all happen in one day. (And, although being together for about a hundred years now, when asked how he fell in love with me, Mr. X claims he’ll “let [me] know when it happens.” Can you see why I love the guy?)

Photo by Jeff Lorch.

You know I appreciate when an entertainment makes me think of something heavier, such as this world-applicable observation that Brigadoon’s timeline reminded me of. So I’m sharing how I came to the conclusion that time is different for each person. The briefest description is this: My friend Alicia was always late. I do mean always. On a busy day, we stopped at her house between events to heat-up chicken fingers for her kids, and quickly change outfits. The whole thing felt like it was taking no more than a half hour. But, as we left the house again, I looked at my watch, and it was…four hours later!!! I could not fathom how that happened. Another time, my friend Mitch took me to dinner before a Clippers game. I had never been to that restaurant before, so I had to study the menu, ask questions, (have ya met me?,) decide together what we wanted, have my slow self eat it all, get the specially-spiced nuts at the end of the meal, (which I ate, and savored, one at a time.) Then he paid the bill and I went to the ladies room, the whole while feeling terrible that we were going to miss the National Anthem and the start of the game because that entire shebang felt like it was taking two or three fabulous hours. But, from walking in to exiting, it turned-out to have been only…forty-five minutes! No lie.

So there’s my proof of the time and space continuum, which is why that hundred-years Brigadoon story doesn’t bother me as much as most irrational tales do. It doesn’t matter to the villagers what year it is—it just seems like the next day to them. How do they even have a calendar? The older people there must have been born before time was even calculated! (All that math is sooo confusing, even to my perfect-math-score-on-the-SATs self!)

Now that I’ve made your heads spin as much as mine, just go see this beautiful musical while the Pasadena Playhouse is offering the incredible opportunity. Just like Brigadoon itself, the chance may not present itself for another hundred years!

Brigadoon running through June 14, 2026
Pasadena Playhouse 39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena
626-356-7529 www.pasadenaplayhouse.org

There’s a new entry into the “Fun Event” category in Los Angeles, and my friend Marc and I were among the very first to experience it last week. The   Nobody Wants This tour of locations sites was like nothing either of us had ever done before, and trust me—between the two of us, we thought we had done everything in LA by now.

The bus tour guide. Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one above, of a featured house on the show.

A company out of New York, On Location Tours, takes people on bus tours around major cities, showing them sites from popular movies and TV shows, such as Gossip Girl and Sex In the City in NYC.

And since the Netflix series, Nobody Wants This, (starring the adorbs Adam Brody as a rabbi and Kristen Bell as his non-Jewish love interest,) is perennially in that service’s Top 10, On Location Tours decided to begin their Los Angeles tours with that series’ featured locations. Good call.

Truth be told, (as always,) up until the day before the inaugural tour, I had never seen that series. I sort-of wanted to, (because Mr. X and I are big fans of Adam, and I heard that his equally adorable wife, Leighton Meester, is also on the show occasionally,) but between my covering other events just about every day/night, coupled with my insane sports-watching, there’s no time for much else. (Just ask the neglected Mr. X!)

But knowing I would be taking this tour, Mr. X and I made the supreme effort to stay up almost overnight to watch the first five, (of twenty,) episodes of the show the night before. And…we loved it!!! It has such clever writing and excellent performances. We hope to get back to it sometime this summer, if I can finally get a few free minutes.

The Audrey Irmas Pavilion. Photo by Karen Salkin.

So here’s how the press junket for the inaugural Nobody Wants This tour worked. We all met-up in Koreatown at a place I had never heard of, the Audrey Irmas Pavilion. I still don’t know the purpose of that building, but it features really unique architecture, which I always appreciate. We boarded a big charter bus with the most pleasant driver ever, which was a bonus. Our tour guide was my fellow Brooklynite named Rachel, who told us her boyfriend lives in France, so perhaps that’s why she has all that time to watch and study the entire series. (I can’t believe that I forgot to compare our hometown notes during a break!)

We drove by many locations that are featured in the TV series, such as homes, stores, and outside areas, like one where the couple first kissed. We stopped in front of most of them for a few minutes while Rachel explained the scene(s) to the assemblage. Since I’ve watched only five episodes, and Marc has seen only one, most of the places didn’t mean much to us on the level of the show, but we loved learning of new aspects of LA. And of the couple of houses that are on sale because everyone in LA wants to know more about those possibilities!

Harold Henry Park. Photo by Karen Salkin.

The interesting thing for me was, even though some people refer to me as “Miss LA,” because I love this city soooo much, and they think that I know absolutely everything about it, (which I definitely do not,) and it’s always suggested that I do a “Karen tour” of the town, I got to learn a lot of new things about that Koreatown-Hollywood area. There was even a little park in a section called Windsor Village! Who knew?! (Well, I have a feeling my Korean pals do.)

Actually, the revelation of the tour for me was that tiny Harold Henry Park right in the middle of Koreatown! I’ve lived in LA since I was a teenager, and had never even heard of it before!

Another thing that especially interested me is the very famous art installation outside of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA.) Since it’s right near my Screen Actors Guild headquarters, I’ve, of course, passed by it at least a hundred times in my life. But I never knew that it has a title—Urban Light—nor that it’s made up of two hundred and two formerly-working street lamps! And that they operate on solar power, and that in 2018, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation paid to have them switched to LED, (like I don’t already love that boy enough!) I don’t know how those tidbits relate to Nobody Wants This, but I love gaining knowledge like that, especially about my beloved adopted city.

That was the first of three stops the tour made where the participants could get off the bus, so we got to see the lamps up-close and personal, which was a lovely perk. I, of course again, have no time to visit museums, so I loved being an LA tourist at that location for a bit.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Speaking of being a tourist, I think visitors to LA will really enjoy this activity. Even jaded Angelenos who are Nobody Wants This fans, (which must be a big number since it’s one of the top rated shows,) should be on board for this tour. If even I learned something new about LA on this one, I’m sure that everyone will!

Marc made a big suggestion for you potential tour guests, with which I totally concur. We strongly recommend that you bring a snack so you don’t make the one rude mistake that we did. (And you know how much I detest rudeness; I’ve been up at night this week, making myself sick that I was not good to those few people, even by accident.) Since I’d tell on others, I have to also tattle on our behavior: When the rest of the guests went into a resale store to shop, (which is a scheduled stop,) Marc and I went a few edifices down to get sandwiches instead—he was starving and I desperately needed water. Even though we ordered right away, and there were no other customers there, the kind girls making the sammies took longer than we expected, which, in turn, caused us to hold up the bus for about five extra minutes, which you know I hated doing. So I say that everyone should bring a snack. And a big bottle of water! You’ll be glad you did. (And so will the rest of the guests!)

For all the pertinent info on this tour, click here: onlocationtours.com/locations/nobody-wants-this-series-filming-sites-tour.

I’ve never been big on cooking. Perhaps that’s why I became a restaurant critic early on in my career.

But the pandemic changed all that, and I started spending hours a day making meals for Mr. X and me. And they were all delish, if I do say so myself.

But the simplest dish, which anyone in the world can make—pasta and any basic sauce, even from a jar or can—always posed a problem for us because…we both hate filling the pot, heating the water, putting in the right amount of salt, stirring the pasta, and draining it. I’m not kidding. Just the thought of doing it makes us panic.

The label pic of Cheeseburger Macaroni, which is incorrect because their own recipe calls for the macaroni to be put into the sauce to cook, not to put the cooked sauce on top of the pasta!!!

So when I came upon this easy-looking recipe, which features elbow macaroni that you cook right in the already-in-use frying pan, I tried it right away. And it’s been our favorite ever since! It’s soooo uncomplicated!

I discovered the original version of this recipe in a strange place for my cookbook-and-online-recipe-loving self—it was on the label of an inexpensive sauce can in a discount store! I modified it to be more healthful, of course, but you can change it around to your taste with the suggestions I offer. However, I can’t imagine it being any better than it is this way. Yu-um!!!

And trust me, even the gathering of all the ingredients outside of the meat, which is basically all done in just a single measuring cup, is the easiest ever!!!

I’m listing the ingredients I use, followed by less healthful ones, in case you like those better. But I heavily suggest you use the ones that I do. (FYI: We make two at a time because we’re still craving it the next day. If you have a couple of full-size frying pans, we suggest you do it that way, as well, especially if you’re serving three or four people with the one meal.)

CHEESEBURGER MACARONI RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

These are the amounts for one frying pan full, which is enough for two people; no other food, not even bread nor a salad, is necessary with it.

Some of the ingredients. Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one of the finished dish at the top of the page.

1 lb. ground turkey (I use 93% lean. You can use ground beef, if you prefer.)

1 cup chopped onions (Color doesn’t matter—they all taste the same in this dish. I use whichever is the least costly that week!)

Salt and pepper to taste (I use pink Himalayan salt, but any old salt is good in this one)

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce (Not pasta sauce—just plain tomato sauce.)

1 cup water (I use filtered, just to be safe. I never risk tap.)

1 cup dry whole wheat elbow macaroni (You can use non-whole wheat, but it’s not as healthful. Also, you can use any type of small pasta, except for orzo, which is too small. I’ve used mini rotini and penne in the past, but elbow mac works the best, by far. You have to adjust cooking time if you use anything else because the rest take longer to cook.)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (If you like a more mild or interesting shredded cheese, go for it.)

METHOD

Chop one cup of onions. (Chopping tips: Put a wet napkin or paper towel on or near your chopping board to help stop burning eyes. If they do start to sting, stick your face into the freezer for about 30 seconds. I mean it! It really helps. Trust me on this one.)

What the meat and onions should look like before the sauce is added. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Heat a big frying pan over medium-high heat for a few seconds. No oil, please; just plain heat.

Put the turkey and onions into the pan pretty quickly, and brown it while breaking the turkey into small pieces. (I find a wooden spoon works well for the task—no pan scratching.)

Once there’s no pink left in the meat, shut the burner, (for safety,) and drain it. (If you’re the type who cleans up as you go along, don’t wash the strainer yet.) (Draining tip: Save the plastic flat container that the meat comes in, and drain the liquid fat into it. When it semi-dries, or turns gelatinous, just throw it in the trash.)

Put the pan back on the burner, and add a pinch or two of salt and pepper. (I can’t tell you exact amounts because you have to use however much you like. But don’t overdo it or you might ruin the whole dish. You can always add seasoning to your individual servings.)

Turn the burner back on to medium-high heat, and add the can of tomato sauce and the cup of water, stir, and bring the mixture to a boil.

The boiling meat sauce before the macaroni is added. The finished Cheeseburger Macaroni is at the top of this page. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Add the dry macaroni, stir, and bring it back to a boil.

Cover the pan, (with the strainer, if you don’t have a lid for the pan,) turn the fire down to medium, and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring several times throughout.

Test the macaroni at 8 minutes. We don’t like al dente pasta, but 8 should be enough. You do you, though.

Turn off the fire and mix the cup of shredded cheese into it.

And enjoy!

By the way—Italian Mr. X always tops his pasta dishes with Parmesan or Romano cheese, but not this one—he says it’s perfect as is! How’s that for an endorsement?!

As much as I love variety in venues, I wish that every show in Los Angeles would be at The Wallis! I adore that theatre so much. My friend Gigi and I went there last week for this iconic dance performance, and we both admired how perfect the seats are. Gigi hadn’t been to the Wallis since it first opened, and she was uber-impressed that it was sold-out…for dance! Not every venue can claim that accomplishment.

At just seventy-five minutes, Dancing With Bob, (referring to the late artist Robert Rauschenberg, to whose centennial this was all a tribute,) is very short. It consists of two old school pieces by the Trisha Brown Dance Company. Gigi and I didn’t understand one minute of either of the numbers; however, I always appreciate these opportunities to see shows like this one that I feel are an important part of a complete dance education. And any entertainment that inspires me to go home and do deep research is fine with me.

Travelogue. Photo by Ben
McKeown, courtesy of the
American Dance Festival, as is the one at the top of this review.

The choreography for both consisted of the old-fashioned Martha Graham type of Modern Dance, as opposed to the Contemporary style to which we’ve all become accustomed. The entire presentation was very different from the kind of dance that we see most often these days. It was like a time warp! And we Angelenos were very lucky to travel back in time to see how things were done back then. (On an interesting side note, Martha was actually the person who discovered young Merce Cunningham, whose choreography and legacy are a main component of Dancing With Bob.)

I have to admit that as girls who have both trained in, and love, ballet and hip-hop, along with Afro-jazz for me, and Bollywood for Gigi, Dancing With Bob turned-out to be not exactly our cups of tea. However, a wise young friend, (really young—Lula was only nine-years-old at the time,) once told me that it’s not a matter of whether we like something we’re seeing or doing; it’s more about if it’s our style. Keeping that declaration in mind, it’s not that Gigi and I didn’t like this show; it’s just that it was not our style.

But I so very much appreciate that we got to witness dance history in person like that! The late Merce Cunningham was the recipient of every honor in the book, so who are any of the rest of us to judge any of his many accomplishments? It’s one of the few times I can actually say that I’m not worthy.

The first routine of Dancing With Bob was the late Trisha Brown’s Set and Reset, from 1983, with music composed specifically for it by avant-garde electronic artist Laurie Anderson. (It featured non-stop ringing bells, so think if I liked it. I’ll leave it at that, even though I really want to say that my ears were ringing as much as the music! But I won’t.)

Set and Reset. Photo by Ben McKeown, courtesy of the American Dance Festival.

I usually hate dark stage lighting, but in this case, it was fine because, somehow, it made the shapes the dancers were creating a bit easier to see. Their constant movements were very fluid and beautiful.

The number featured black-and-white overhead projections, but I never looked at them; I just wanted to concentrate on the dancing. So I don’t have a clue what was going on in them. Because of the screen’s positioning—at the top front center of the stage—I was thinking that perhaps it was acting as a third eye because who knows what people were thinking of back then. I wish I had glanced at the screen a bit now.

Even though also featuring long-ago choreography, (by Merce Cunningham this time,) the second half number, 1977’s Travelogue, was actually very different from the first. It featured costumes and a set, (or semblance thereof,) by that night’s tributee, prolific artist Robert Rauschenberg, whom I later discovered also occasionally choreographed. It’s not fair for someone to have two major talents like that! (Hey buddy—leave some for the rest of us!)

The costumes, which were leotards and matching tights, were each one beautiful bold color. They reminded me of a giant crayon box, so that made me very happy. (I have a room in my house called the Crayon Room. No lie.) Those colors in the promos are the reason I wanted to see Dancing with Bob in the first place!

The opening tableau, which moved slowly onto the stage, was striking. But the seated positions of the dancers in it made me think that they were about to do Fosse-esque movements, which they did not, (because that would be another show entirely,) so I was a little disappointed there.

I read later that Travelogue was meant to be amusing, but GiGi and I didn’t get that at all. When it was over, she kept asking what it all meant, declaring, “It made no sense!” But I’m guessing making sense was not a concern of choreographers back then. Making art was. (And still is.)  However, some members of the audience we saw it with did chuckle from time to time, so at least a few other people found a bit of mirth to it.

But it reminded me of a dance (or acting or improv) class before it begins, when everyone is just doing movements they think will warm them up or maybe secretly impress the other students. Visions of leg warmers were dancing in my head. Perhaps the number was parodying all that.

Travelogue. Photo by Ben
McKeown, courtesy of the
American Dance Festival, as is the one at the top of this review.

One major aspect of that presentation really confused us. Before Travelogue began, I noticed three people dressed in black seated below and in front of the stage, sort-of in an elevated pit area, facing the audience. I thought that perhaps they were the musicians, but I felt they were not, maybe because of their facial expressions. As the number went along, they played and broadcast messages on their cell phones; it was weird, both because those really didn’t seem to go along with the dance moves, but mostly because…there were no cell phones, nor many recorded messages from businesses, in 1977!!! Perhaps when it was danced back then, they used brief recordings from radio and television shows. I admit I’m not an expert on that period of time—the ‘70s feel like the Dark Ages now. But I do know there were no, or very few, cell phones. So, since what we saw was the original choreography, I feel the words of whatever the piece was trying to convey should be the original, as well. (Or maybe they could have just gotten rude audience members who are on their phones to amplify their “very important” mid-performance phone convos. The only problem with that concept is that the Wallis always has the most well-behaved audiences—except for the woman two rows in front of me who had her hair sticking straight up a high messy updo—which means that no one would be on their phones there!) 

The trio who played the phone messages throughout Travelogue. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Lastly, you know that I love when something inspires me to hark back to a happy pivotal moment in my own life, and this show did just that for me. So I’ll end the review with this tale. When I was a teenage dancer, both my college dance professor and the teachers in the Manhattan studio where I was also studying, recommended me to the Merce Cunningham Company, and I was offered an audition for a scholarship for their summer work-study program. I was grateful to receive that amazing opportunity, and actually considered it, but since I really did not love doing modern dance, I turned it down, and instead drove cross-country with a friend to check-out California as my summer adventure. And I wound-up adoring Los Angeles, of course, and chose to stay here. And the rest is history!

So whenever I hear or read Merce’s name, it reminds me that I made a perfect decision at a time in my life when I was never good at choices. I hope that a tiny part of any presentation at the Wallis can do the same for you.

For the rest of The Wallis’ upcoming schedule, including the last-ever LA performance of BodyTraffic in June, click here: thewallis.org.

This is your reminder that Sunday will be Mother’s Day. I know that some people, (mainly those who are either not mothers or don’t have theirs for whatever reason,) feel it’s not an important holiday, but even though I lost my mother over fourteen years ago, it still means something to me.

One of the actual cute cards I sent my mother. (The rest are really Not About Me! I just thgought you’d get a kick out of this one.) Photo by Karen Salkin.

But it does not have to be your own mother you honor that day—there are always sisters, aunties, grandmas, daughters, good friends, nice neighbors, even single fathers who do the work of both parents!

Since my little mo didn’t care much about gifts, (unless they were dolls or cream puffs,) I always did something more fun, for both of us. (I repeated the same thing for her birthday two weeks later, as well.) And that is this: First, I spent at least an hour, usually closer to two, buying tons of greeting cards for her. I always chose seven to ten, and included everything from funny to clever to cute to pretty to heartfelt. And then I’d spend another hour or so deciding their order and writing them out. I’d put the numbers on the envelopes, so she’d see their progression and open them that way, and then sent them off. The mail deliverers on her Brooklyn block always announced them with words like, “Your California daughter did it again!” I think she was more proud for them to notice that than she even was happy to receive them!

One of the lovely miniatures painted by my little mo, May Rose Salkin. Photo by Karen Salkin.

That effort from me to make them fun meant more to her than just opening a package with a Mother’s Day gift, (though gifts happened from time to time, as well, but all year, not just for Mother’s Day.) When she passed away, and I was clearing out her house, I found that my notorious decluttering mother had kept…them all!!! There were barely any cards from my two siblings, (perhaps they hadn’t been kind enough to send any,) but all of mine through the years.

Outside of that annual personal happiness, there are things I adore when it comes to special Mother’s Day touches in regard to public entertainments. For example, the night before the occasion, Saturday Night Live often has the cast come out one at a time with their moms. And some of the sports teams show their mothers, as well, or record messages for them, that are played during their games on Sunday. I love all of that specialness.

I share all of these thoughts to remind everyone to please honor anyone you know who deserves it this Sunday, in whatever way you can.

And to all of you who celebrate, or are celebrated yourselves, I wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day!

I have to be honest and tell you right upfront that this review might be partially affected by the fact that it was soooo freezing in the Odyssey Theatre on the Opening Night of Hymn that it was very hard to pay as much attention to the play as I always do. I’m pretty sure that the production is good, but my brain was half-frozen the entire time. Seriously, I kept eyeing a blanket that’s part of the set decorations, and wondering if I could run fast enough to grab it off the stage without being seen. (Strangely, that part of the set is never even used, although there are several items on it in addition to the blankets!)

Chuma Gault and Jason Delane. Photo by Cooper Bates, as is the one above.

The basic premise of Hymn, (which is revealed pretty early on in the hour and a half, so I’m not ruining anything for you,) is that a pair of fifty-year-old men discover that they’re half-brothers. They share a recently-deceased *father, but with very different upbringings. And the relationship grows from there. With ancestry-tracing kits being so popular these days, (not that these two sibs used any,) Hymn is a tale for everyone. (I always wish I would find a secret sibling, especially a long-lost twin. No joke.) *[Note: My analytical mind wonders if the title Hymn has a dual meaning. “Hymn,” of course, because the brothers meet in a church after the “legitimate” one has given the eulogy for their father, but also the play on words “him” because their entire newfound kinship is based on him—their sire. Just sayin’. Now I wish I was still in college to write a paper on it!]

Hymn began its life in London five years ago. I love British accents, which these actors—Jason Delane as Benny and Chuma Gault as Gil—do convincingly. But I don’t understand why the action could not have been moved to America for the run here. I’m just about positive that both actors are American, and it could be set anywhere in this country. The characters’ experience is universal. I kept waiting for London to figure into the story, but it never did, so that was a bit distracting. (I’ve since found-out that the play has been performed elsewhere in the States several times, all with the men being American. So now I really wonder why the Odyssey chose to make it unneccesarily British.)

Chuma Gault and Jason Delane. Photo by Cooper Bates.

The show opens with two monologues, and then the action finally gets going when the men meet. In all honesty, I’m not very interested in plays with only two characters, but Jason and Chuma do such a good job that I barely noticed it was a two-hander. And my friend Marc said that when they were talking to unseen characters, (such as a waitress and one’s son,) he totally believed it, so that added some depth.

Both actors are Black, (I can’t say African-American here, in case they are actually British,) so one might assume that the play is about the Black experience. But, I see it as simply a human experience. I feel that Hymn could also be performed by any two people of the same age, preferably around fifty, with no regard to race or gender. However, it’s good the way it is. So just go on the journey with them.

Chuma Gault and Jason Delane in the “Dump and Run Room.” (This just hit me–is there a dramatic reason the actors are always on their one side? I guess I DO have to go back to college to write this paper!) Photo by Cooper Bates.

Hymn is basically a serious play, with several good laughs along the way. My favorite bit of mirth is when the bros are going through boxes containing some of Benny’s nostalgic old items, (such as always-comedic M.C. Hammer pants,) in what I’m assuming is an attic, and Gil labels the area a “dump and run room.” That’s exactly what I’ve turned every room in my house into, so I totally identified. And now I finally have a fun name for what I’ve done to my place! I’ll thank playwright Lolita Chakrabarti for those bon mots every time I go through my own junk treasures.

By the way—Ms. Chakrabarti is the genius who adapted the novel Life of Pi into the gorgeous many-awards-winning play. So on that past success alone, although far from the spectacular production that Life of Pi is, you know that Hymn is a good one.

The entirety of Hymn is performed on one small set, but it manages to demonstrate about a half dozen different locations. Strangely, though, they never use that one area that’s set-up with those aforementioned coveted (by me) blankets, a portable piano, a chair, a stool, and some books. (So I could have borrowed a blanket! Or both.)

The set. Note the folded blankets next to that portable piano and chair on the upper right side. Photo by Karen Salkin.

As short as it is, Hymn would benefit from having about ten minutes cut. There are at least two monologues that could be much briefer or perhaps not there at all. We get the gist of each scene without it getting as wordy as it does. To me, the fun scene in that dump and run room is the only one that should remain totally intact.

But still, the show is a worthwhile one. Just remember to bring a parka!

Hymn running through June 14, 2026

Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. WLA
310-477-2055 www.odysseytheatre.com

This year’s Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, (which has been going on for over two decades!,) kicks off on Tuesday, May 12th, with their always-special Opening Night Gala. As usual, it takes place at the comfortable Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. The dates of the festival are sooo appropriate because May is Jewish American Heritage Month, which honors the contributions of Jewish people to American history and culture, and the LAJFF celebrates both situations.

A previous year’s LAJFF Opening Night Gala. Photo by Karen Salkin.

There are always celebs in attendance on that first night, and I understand that this time there will be a pair that I’m especially interested to see. Firstly, I want to meet the kind music biz exec, Irving Azoff, and thank him and his wife, Shelley, who, along with a consortium of pals he put together, saved not only the eighty-one-year-old Beverly Hills deli, Nate N Al’s, but also the iconic Apple Pan, the likes of which there are no other eateries in all of Los Angeles. Trust me, my fellow foodies and I will be eternally grateful to the Azoffs for doing all that.

The other celebrity, Jon Voight, is one with whom I’m a tad keen to reunite. We’ve met several times, including when we sat next to each other on the celebrity panel of the Chabad Telethon for a few years in a row. He always asked me to help him, which sort-of cracked me up; it was so easy to take the pledges over the phone, and record them on the sheets right in front of us! But I give him credit for showing up every year, especially when he’s not even Jewish!

However, the real star of the evening will be the inspiring Rabbi Marvin Hier, about whom the documentary, The Hollywood Rabbi, will open the festival. Just a smidgeon of what he’s accomplished in his long life is the founding of two super-important human rights institutions—the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance. How’s that for being a kind and productive member of society?!

The Hollywood Rabbi.

On top of those major accomplishments, Rabbi Hier is also a two-time Academy Award-winning documentarian! There’s so much good to this man, and we’re all going to find-out the rest together on opening night when luminaries such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Clinton, Steven Spielberg, Billy Crystal, and Gavin Newsom sing his praises in the film.

The Opening Night Gala also features a pre-screening dessert and wine reception. I can’t tell you exactly what to expect, but the offerings are usually delish. And I always appreciate that, in this crazy world, there will be armed guards on the premises, as there have been for at least the previous two years. Having that knowledge always gives me a modicum of peace.

Since this is a film festival, after all, in the days following the Gala, there will be other interesting Jewish-centric films playing in several other venues over town through May 19th. (For the entire list, just click on the link at the bottom of this preview.)

We Met at Grossinger’s.

In the meantime, there are a couple that caught my eye. The first one is We Met at Grossinger’s. Growing-up in Brooklyn, I feel like I had always heard of the Catskills, which is where Jewish families from New York went to vacation. I believe that many of the smaller resorts and hotels were gone by my childhood, but my family would have never frequented even the still-in-existence-at-the-time bigger, famous ones, such as the Concord or Grossinger’s, (which is depicted in this film,) anyway. Because both my parents were teachers, we had much more travel time than the rest of the people we knew, so we were able to go to more special and charming places than that often-usual destination for families from my borough.

But as a late teen, my bestie’s fam took me with them to the Raleigh, and it made me realize that…I hadn’t missed a thing. Eating in a big dining room with families of strangers has never been my thing. (I did meet a guy there, though. Of course. Where didn’t I, in my cute teenage years?!) But the venue featured in this documentary is the one depicted in Dirty Dancing, so that should be interesting. Even though I’m far from a fan of that laughable ‘80s movie, I can’t wait to see this doc to see what went on there in real life!

Monument.

The other film that caught my eye is the historical suspense drama, Monument. It features the last work from the late prolific Israeli actor Alon Aboutboul, so his fans will be happy to have this wonderful opportunity to see him on the big screen one more time.

To sum it up, the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival is a major cultural event for Los Angeles, which I feel that everyone will enjoy, no matter your ethnic persuasion.

So I hope to see all you SoCal film fans at the Festival, especially at the Opening Night Gala. Come up to me and say, “L’chaim!”

For the LAJFF schedule, and all the info on the films and special events, just click here: www.lajfilmfest.org/2026-film-selections.

What a great show this is! We Angelenos are so lucky to get to see this incredible presentation. This review may be a tad long because I feel there’s no quick way to really convey its magnificence!

I’ve been a fan of the acrobatic troupe Diavolo since I first saw them on America’s Got Talent nine years ago, so I’m thrilled that I finally got to witness their brilliance in person. Actually, “in person” is downplaying the experience because it’s more like “face-to-face”—this show is more up-close and personal than a Tinder date!!! (I’ve never had one, of course, but I’ve heard stories.)

Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one above.

I’ve been taking my friend Marc to shows for eight years now, and this is the first one about which he said, “It’s a ten out of ten!” He continued exclaiming as we exited, declaring Diavolo’s Escape to be “engaging,” “intriguing,” and “fantastic,” all of which I agree with. And more!

For those of you who aren’t aware of Diavolo, it’s a company of the most amazing daredevils/dancers/acrobats/gymnasts/general athletes. And it’s all helmed, conceived, and choreographed by one man—Founder and Creative Director, Frenchman Jacques Heim, who also choreographed Cirque du Soleil’s Kà in Vegas.) (He started Diavolo thirty-four years ago, which is a tad confounding because he doesn’t look much older than that!)

Photo by Karen Salkin.

I cannot imagine how anyone in the world is able to come up with this amazing artistry! I have heavy-duty and complicated dreams just about every night, but have never come close to seeing anything like any of these movements in them. Diavolo deserves every superlative and accolade in the world. I had written an early note while I was watching the show stating that it was all “very creative,” which turned out to be the understatement of the decade!

As much work as it all is, and years of training it must take, I imagine all the uber-difficult moves must be great fun for the young athletes for them to perform. No wonder there’s zero body fat among the twenty or so of them.

The performers are all excellent, of course, (or they wouldn’t be in this troupe—there’s no room for slouches here,) but I had a possibly strange favorite. (Strange only because it didn’t involve the danger that’s inherent in Diavolo’s repertoire.) It was champion roller-skater, Chance Becker, whose solo opened the second half of the program. He didn’t do any tricks; he just presented beautiful and emotional skating so close that I felt like he and I were doing a pas de deux!

Aaron Franco and Madison Moser. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Chance was followed by Aaron Franco and Madison Moser doing an actual pas de deux of a contemporary dance number, centered around a door, of all things. As much as I adored all of the show, I was pleased to see more dancing in the second half.

One girl, Kate Dougherty, appeared to me to be doing much of the heavy lifting. (By that I mean the climbing and jumping within an inch of her life!) I later discovered that she’s also the company’s Associate Choreographer. So she choreographed herself to take those risks! Just like I choreograph myself to sit on my couch and watch sports every day! Twins.

The entire cast makes the audience feel secure. Marc and I were lucky enough to be sitting in the ichiban seats—front row center–yet we never once felt in danger ourselves, (except maybe from the hard-work-induced sweat.)

And these athletes don’t just tumble around willy-nilly—they work on many creative contraptions. The first one reminded me of monkey bars. One looks like an old-fashioned British locomotive. Another features multiple slides. And the breathtaking finale showcases their signature giant half-moon-shaped structure, which looks sort-of like a pirate ship that these extreme daredevils jump on and off in different ways. While it’s moving!!! What a finale!!! The whole production is never-ending feats of strength and balance and grace and derring-do. Even the toilet paper rolls in the bathroom are stocked artistically!

Photo by Karen Salkin.

The accompanying music is also perfect. And well-chosen, such as using Another Brick in the Wall as they build and take apart a wall. The music is never intrusive; it only adds to the enjoyment of what we’re witnessing.

Even the venue is intriguing. Escape takes place in a very special space that has a “Joe sent me” feel to it. It’s Diavolo’s very own warehouse studio, which they call “L’Espace.” The location is adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, but the area is its own hipster situation.

Jacques greets everyone, first outside the venue and then again inside the “theatre,” and explains a bit about what is to come. (And he keeps advising the audience, “Two more minutes,” until each half begins, even though it’s more like ten or fifteen more minutes. But it’s all good—the audience is buzzing the entire time.)

The show itself is only seventy-ish minutes, but prepare to spend about two and a half hours on the premises. The night I was there, it started pretty late, but it didn’t matter because the audience was entertained with an interactive experience, which happens every night. And then there’s an even bigger one after it ends. On the night I was there, everyone who participated looked to be loving trying-out some of the equipment, so I do regret a bit that I didn’t take advantage of the opportunities. (As I was leaving, the man who sat behind me rushed over to say that he thought I’d be the first one to try it. I have no idea why, but perhaps he saw me in the circus back in the day!) So wear whatever you like, but I suggest you leave the high heels and mini-skirts at home, in case you want to participate.

The apparatus that reminds me of monkey bars. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Diavolo’s Escape is appropriate and fun for all ages; there’s absolutely nothing offensive or scary about it. (Oh—except for worrying that the athletes might get hurt.) It’s an equally wonderful family, friend, or date night.

And now I have a couple of words of caution for you. First is that I’ve been told that on hot days, it can get stifling in there. However, very thoughtfully, the company provides little cordless fans for the guests to borrow during the performance, and bottles of water are always complimentary there! What a perk! But I advise you to dress in layers. I wore a thin tank top as my bottom layer, but my always-hot self was totally comfortable with a thin turtleneck and sweater on top of it! (It was a sixty-degree night, though.)

The other is a soft warning for my fellow back pain sufferers: Since the action takes place on the same floor as the three rows of audience seats, and I was sitting in that fabulous first row, my own back felt all the performers’ landings. I spoke with several other audience members at intermission and afterwards, and they either didn’t notice the vibrations or weren’t bothered by them, so if you don’t have a broken back, as I do, you’ll be fine. But if you are in a similar situation to mine, maybe bring a little cushion. Or instead of fans and water, ask them to give you a couple of Tylenol and a back brace!

Here’s one last very important note: Even more than the extreme enjoyment of beholding all this greatness is knowing that your ticket purchase helps support the Diavolo Veterans Program, which is explained thusly: “The mission of the Veterans Program is to utilize Diavolo’s unique style of movement as a tool to help restore veterans’ physical, mental, and emotional strengths through workshops and public performances in communities all around the country.”

Now for all reasons, go see Diavolo’s Escape! Perhaps even more than once, as I plan to!

Diavolo’s Escape running through June 14, 2026
E’space Diavolo
616 Moulton Avenue, near DTLA
www.diavolo.org/escape

So my new bestie, the intelligent Gigi, and I went to the new Ruskin Theatre in Santa Monica the other night to see this one-week-old play, and we could not have had a more yin-and-yang theatre experience.

Photo of Santa Monica Airport by Gitanjalie Misra.

We loved the venue, and that entire location, but felt quite the opposite about the play, Blue Kiss.

So let’s do the positives first. If you don’t know, the Ruskin Group Theatre is smack dab in the middle of the…Santa Monica Airport!!! That’s why I love it so much. I’ve always found that place fascinating, so I was thrilled to introduce it to Gigi, who concurred. She had never been there before!

The good news continues with the theatre being so accessible. All the parking is free and only a few steps from the entrance. The lobby personnel could not have been more pleasant and accommodating. We learned there are actually two new theatres in that same upgraded space; Blue Kiss is playing in the smaller sixty-seat one. (The old one right next door to the premises is now closed.)

The theatre was packed on Saturday night, which made us feel that we were in the right place.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

And the best news of the night is that the entire south side of the airport, which includes the Ruskin, the Museum of Flying, and the restaurant, (which was totally happening that night,) is staying put when the other side, with the hangars and planes, gets torn down in early 2029 to become a park! Finding-out the total plan really cheered me up because I had thought that the entire charming area would be gone.

So we went into the play with the happiest of attitudes. But we came out feeling, as Gigi so aptly put it, “heavy.” Not only is the story a bummer, nothing about the production is very good. The audience we saw Blue Kiss with just slunk out of there the second it was over, which signifies the opposite of an uplifting or enriching theatre experience. (At the previous handful of plays I recently reviewed, everyone had such a good time that they all hung around for a long time after, happily chatting away. And two of the plays were dramas about murder! But they were so good that they garnered those positive feelings among the audience.)

Suffice my description to say that Blue Kiss has just two actors, (playing an SAT tutor and his new female student,) there are sooo many holes in the script, and it takes forever to get to what the supposed intrigue is.

Carolina Rodriguez and Casey Morris. Photo by Amelia Mulkey, as is the one at the top of this review.

Mercifully, it’s only eighty minutes long. But it feels much longer. I kept checking the time. We both said that it seemed about three times longer. Gigi said it “dragged,” which is kinder than how I would have put it, so I’ll leave it at that.

There is a surprise (or two) along the way, but it takes forever to get to them. The slow pace is maddening. We both kept wondering what the narrative is supposed to be about.

The two actors do something so annoying—they say a line and then it feels like they silently tell each other, “your turn,” as opposed to having a natural conversation. And the writing makes no sense in several places, such as having the guy go to the off-stage kitchen to make tea, when there is absolutely no reason for his absence in the main room. And then, after he’s been out there for a few minutes and comes back on stage, he tells the girl that he has to go start the water. So what was he doing to make the tea for those two minutes in the kitchen if he wasn’t heating up the water??? How else do you make tea, no matter what method you use to heat it up?

And I could not for the life of me figure-out why the girl needs dirty hair for her character. From the second she entered, I kept thinking that would have something to do with the mystery I felt had to be coming, (like that she’s a homeless person, and not even a student,) but it’s never explained.

The set. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Another head-scratcher is that when the student, whom the tutor had never met, rings his bell, he quickly hides a picture of him with his brother. Why would he do that?! I assumed that the photo was of his girlfriend, and maybe the girl at the door was really an online date or escort whom he didn’t want to know about his relationship. (Those scenarios might have been more interesting, actually.)

And what is up with the title? I feel like they’re trying to do what Glass Menagerie did with the term “blue roses” for “pleurosis,” (which is an incorrect term for “pleurisy.”) As Blue Kiss plodded on (and on,) I began to wonder what the title means. And then we find-out that once, long ago, the tutor’s kid brother had thought that the name “Lucas” was “blue kiss,” but that child-specific error doesn’t really mean anything to the story.

But there is some good news coming down the road for the Ruskin’s new Arts Center. It will host outdoor music events this summer. And, in that unique location, they should be special!

Blue Kiss running through May 17, 2026
Ruskin Group Theatre, Audre Stage
2800 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica
(310) 397-3244 www.ruskingrouptheatre.com