![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_5892-e1508100735902.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the big one at the top of this page.<\/p><\/div>\n
To commemorate the occasion, they threw a lovely outdoor brunch and stage presentation on the grounds of the school last Sunday.\u00a0 Even though (many moons ago) I taught at several schools in Los Angeles, (including a nursery school in Beverly Hills and an elementary school in Palms, and I even proctored SATS at Uni High,) and I pass Fairfax High all the time, I had never set foot on its premises until that day!\u00a0 And in all my years of being a theatre critic, I never even knew they have a lovely theatre there, on the Fairfax side.\u00a0 (I guess I\u2019m strictly a Melrose Avenue girl.)<\/p>\n
<\/a>Photo by Michael Lamont.<\/p><\/div>\n
The week-end before that fete, my friend Thomas and I paid a visit to the Greenway Court Theatre for the opening night of the play\u00a0The House on Mango Street<\/em>, which is based on the\u00a01984 coming-of-age novel by Mexican-American writer Sandra Cisneros. \u00a0While interesting, the play isn\u2019t exactly my cup of tea, but I\u2019m glad I saw it for several reasons.\u00a0 One is that, as a cultured person, I\u2019m grateful to have been made aware of this famous story.\u00a0 I have a feeling this book is taught in many high school classrooms.\u00a0 The way it\u2019s told in the play reminded me a bit of\u00a0Like Water For Chocolate<\/em>, which, surprisingly to me, was published four years after\u00a0The House on Mango Street<\/em>!\u00a0\u00a0 Latina stories are very important today, especially in Los Angeles, so Angelenos should try to see this production while they have the chance.\u00a0 (All the details on the show are at the bottom of this article.)<\/p>\n The marquee in front of the theatre. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Secondly, I appreciated discovering this darling, very comfortable theatre that I can\u2019t wait to visit again.\u00a0 The entrance, which looks like a tropical front porch, made me feel like I was in the Bette Davis film,\u00a0The Letter<\/em>, especially on a late summer\u2019s eve.\u00a0 That was a lovely atmosphere.<\/p>\n And the easy, plentiful, adjacent free<\/em> parking tied a bow on the entire experience.<\/p>\n Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n So, after that<\/em> evening, I was especially happy to be included in GAA\u2019s daytime<\/em> anniversary presentation the next week-end.\u00a0 To make it even more fun, I brought along a Fairfax High alumnus, so that she could give me secret insights into the venue as the morning went along.\u00a0 I felt like the BWOC (Big Woman On Campus) walking onto the premises with both my pal who went there\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0an escort from the event!<\/p>\n The rotunda. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n First up was a delicious catered brunch which was served in the school\u2019s rotunda area, with tables outside, as well.\u00a0 It was a beautiful Fall day, so we opted to dine outdoors.\u00a0 There were four different food stations\u2014hot breakfast items on one, breads and fruits on another, beverages on a third, and the most popular one\u2014custom-made omelets.\u00a0 There was nothing else anyone could have desired, and it was all delicious.\u00a0 I even ate some grits!!!<\/p>\n The breads and fruit offerings. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n To entertain us right off the bat, that part of the day had a \u201cdress for the past\u201d theme for the \u201ccast\u201d of workers.\u00a0 There were flapper and barber shop singers performing high above the buffet, serenading the crowd the whole time.\u00a0 Really fun.\u00a0 My favorite was a little woman dressed as a lunchroom lady, complete with hair net, who was stationed at the entrance to the food line.\u00a0 She inspected each guest\u2019s fingernails (with a flashlight, no less,) to make sure they were clean enough for eating purposes, as I guess they did way back in the day.\u00a0 I<\/em> was thrilled, because my<\/em> nails are always<\/em> camera-ready, (as I\u2019m sure you all know by now,) but the poor guy in front of me had lots of dirt under his, and the little woman pointed it out!!!\u00a0 I really loved that!<\/p>\n One very smart thing they did was to have \u201940s-attired peeps go around with big signs on tall sticks to let us all know how much time we had left for that portion of the day, so that we could wrap-up our convos and chowing-down.<\/p>\n Barry Primus is seated, wearing light blue, in the middle of this pic of the packed audience. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Speaking of conversations, I had a very interesting one with actor Barry Primus, from\u00a0Cagney and Lacey<\/em>.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen that show, so I didn\u2019t even realize that he\u2019s famous, but as I passed him, I recognized his face from\u2026seeing him in a play when I was a little girl!!!\u00a0 He played Lucky in\u00a0Waiting For Godot<\/em>\u00a0at the Trinity Square Rep branch at the University of Rhode Island, where I used to spend summers with my educator parents.\u00a0 His excellent portrayal scared me so much that I\u2019ve never been able to see that play even as a grown-up!\u00a0 I told him all about it, and he was amazed at how much I remembered from that time.\u00a0 We had a lovely conversation, which brought us all the way to the stage presentation portion of this event.<\/p>\n Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n When we all moved over to that area, I enjoyed that there were so many different kinds of audience seats to watch the proceedings from.\u00a0 I never saw anything like it, especially al fresco.\u00a0 There were some regular chairs, but there were also specialty chairs, couches (complete with area rugs,) and dining room tables, even though no one could eat on them that day.\u00a0 There were even some statues and other appointments to make it look homier.<\/p>\n Seamus Dever on the far right, with the kids from Fairfax High. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n The Master of Ceremonies was Seamus Dever from\u00a0Castle<\/em>, who interacted with students, and even sang with them!\u00a0 He has a lovely voice.\u00a0 Who knew???\u00a0 (Castle<\/em>\u00a0is one of the few cutesy<\/em> TV shows who never made their cast \u201cput on a show.\u201d\u00a0 That means that no one else in that cast had singing or dancing talent.)<\/p>\n (L-R) Greenway co-Founders Pierson Blaetz and Whitney Weston, Councilmember Paul Koretz, and West Area Representative Daniel Tamm. Photo by Earl Gibson.<\/p><\/div>\n There was much more to the festivities, which actually went on all day, but I was triple-booked (what else is new?,) so I couldn\u2019t stay for all of them.\u00a0 I wanted to spend some time perusing the silent auction items, but I was happy to learn that it was very successful even without my bids.<\/p>\n If you, too, want to support Greenway Arts Alliance, I suggest that you go see the play or shop at the\u00a0Melrose Trading Post.\u00a0 Better yet, make a day of it and do them both<\/em>!<\/p>\n The House on Mango Street<\/em>\u00a0running through October 28, 2017<\/strong> GREENWAY ARTS ALLIANCE\u2019S ANNIVERSARY BRUNCH\/THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET I was happy to participate\u00a0in Greenway Arts Alliance\u2019s twentieth anniversary celebration\u2026 for two recent week-ends in a row!\u00a0 GAA is the company that runs the\u00a0Greenway Court Theatre\u00a0at Fairfax High, and the\u00a0Greenway Institute for the Arts (which is an arts education program at the school,)\u00a0and the famous<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n Greenway Court Theatre, 544 North Fairfax Avenue\u00a0 323-673-0544\u00a0\u00a0www.greenwaycourttheatre.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"