Haley Parry, 17, sings "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service during the 18th annual Santa Monica Festival at Clover Park on Saturday, May 9, 2009.

Lizard Fish performs at Venice beach during the 2009 Venice Beach Summer Fest on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009.

"The Good Woman of Szechwan" - Bertolt Brecht's parable about atruism, morality and capitalism - will be presented Dec. 4-13 at Santa Monica College.

    Brecht's play follows a young prostitute in Szechwan, China who struggles to lead a life that is "good." She opens a business, but her moderate success places her in jeopardy from her greedy fellow citizens, so she "invents" a male cousin who becomes a cold and stern protector of her interests.

    The play, originally called "The Good Person of Szechwan," explores contemporary morality and altruism in social and economic terms, particularly in the context of capitalism.

    The Theatre Arts Department production is in the SMC Theatre Arts Main Stage on the main campus, 1900 Pico Blvd. Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. An additional 2 p.m. matinee is added for Saturday, Dec. 12. A preview is scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3.   

    Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for students and senior citizens, and $10 for SMC students and employees with I.D. Tickets for the preview are $8. A $1-per-ticket service charge is added.

    Call (310) 434-4319 or go to www.smc.edu/eventsinfo. Parking is free on Friday evenings and weekends.
 

Nathan Ota's piece is entitled "Robo Baby."

This piece, by Marian Winsryg, is included in the upcoming Art Faculty Show at SMC

Marc Trujillo's painting is "7868 Van Nuys Boulevard."

The Santa Monica College Faculty Art Show, featuring a wide range of works in various media, will be at the college's Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery Nov. 10-Dec. 5.

    The opening reception is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 in the gallery, located in the SMC Performing Arts Center on Santa Monica Boulevard at 11th Street.

    Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. For information, call (310) 434-3434 or go to http://www.smcbarrettgallery.com.

For a mere $5 (Yes that’s FIVE DOLLARS – Cash only) you can wade into the huge market pumpkin patch and walk away with as many pumpkins as you can carry down a 25-foot runway. Balance them on your head, in your arms or dangle them from your teeth (at your own risk). Who has more fun – onlookers or participants – it’s hard to tell, but everyone is sure to have a wonderful time at the patch, which features the most beautiful, round, bright orange, California grown pumpkins you can find. Costumes welcome!!! Wednesday,  October 28  at the Downtown Farmers Market on Arizona Ave. and Second St.

In this image, two dancers are seen as four, in different positions. On the left is Monica Thibadeaux and on the right is Sierra French. Both dancers will appear in the Synapse Dance program Nov. 6 & 7.

Photo by Charles Mark-Walker

   The innovative and widely praised Synapse Dance Theater, the contemporary dance ensemble at Santa Monica College, will present a program of new work at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6 and 7 at the Broad Stage at the SMC Performing Arts Center on Santa Monica Boulevard at 11th Street.

    The concert repertory includes modern dance, jazz and film pieces inspired by nature, war and human relationships. There are dances that vent anger, express loneliness, offer praise, explode with urban energy, and capture zany interludes inherent in theater and life in Los Angeles.

    Styles include modern dance, hip hop, dance on camera, jazz dance, punk ballet, praise dance and an on-site dance event transposed to the stage.

    The program will feature works by Synapse Artistic Director Linda Gold, as well as guest and faculty artists Meri Bender, Ron Brown, Jeff Crum, Youn Hee Choi, Sean Greene, Anglea Jordan, Jae Lee, Rachel Lopez and Jackie Lopez. Also creating new repertory are Synapse choreographers Tatiana Almerud, Nicole Berger, Jennifer Montgomery, Kristina Sabato, Mari-Liis Tischler, Jenny Wirdenius, and Ji Hae Yoon.

    Synapse has earned a reputation for artistic excellence and innovation since it was founded 35 years ago. The student troupe has performed throughout the nation, including the Electric Lodge in Venice; the Cast Theater in Hollywood; the Getty Center in Los Angeles; and American College Dance festivals in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, California and New Jersey.

    Tickets are $15 general admission and $12 for SMC students and senior citizens.  Tickets sell our quickly, and advance purchase is strongly recommended. Parking is free. For tickets, go to www.smc.edu/eventsinfo or call (310) 434-3000.

Picture credit: OSA Images

Costume credit: Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt © 2007 Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil is proud to return to Santa Monica with its critically acclaimed big top production KOOZA. Proudly presented by iShares, KOOZA will premiere on October 16, for a limited engagement under the trademark blue-and-yellow Grand Chapiteau (big top) at the Santa Monica Pier. Tickets are now available online at www.cirquedusoleil.com/kooza or by phone at 1 800 450-1480.

KOOZA is a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil that 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.

“KOOZA is about human connection and the world of duality, good and bad”, says the show’s writer and director David Shiner. “The tone is fun and funny, light and open. The show doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it’s very much about ideas, too".

The show starts with The Trickster bursting onto the scene like a jack-in-a-box right in front of The Innocent, and that is just the first of many surprises to follow. The Innocent’s journey brings him into contact with a panoply of comic characters such as the King, the Trickster, the Heimloss, the Pickpocket, the Obnoxious Tourist and his Bad Dog.

SMC music professor Yulia Kozlova will give a free lecture and piano recital Nov. 10.

The Santa Monica College Music Department will present an eclectic mix of concerts in November, all of which (except the Musical Theatre Workshop) will be held at The Broad Stage or Edye Second Space at the SMC Performing Arts Center, located on Santa Monica Boulevard at 11th Street.

The lineup is:   

    * Sunday, Nov. 1 at 4 p.m.: SMC Wind Ensemble, under the baton of Kevin McKeown. The Broad Stage. (Tickets are $10.)   
    * Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 11:15 a.m.: Lecture & Piano Recital by Yulia Kozlova. Kozlova, an SMC music professor, will explore visual and aural palettes, showing how artistic styles cross paths and make statements about the time they were created. Edye Second Space. (Free)
    * Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m.: SMC Applied Music Program Benefit Concert, under the direction of Nora Chiang. The acclaimed Applied Music Program gives outstanding students in both vocals and instruments high-level instruction and performance opportunities. The Broad Stage. (Tickets are $10.)
    * Sunday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m.: SMC Jazz Band, conducted by Keith Fiddmont. The Broad Stage. (Tickets are $10)
    * Friday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m.: SMC Chamber Choir, under the direction of Nike St. Clair. Edye Second Space. (Tickets are $10)

    For tickets and information, call (310) 434-3000 or (310) 434-4323 or go to www.smc.edu/eventsinfo.

The SMC Quad has won a statewide facilities design award.

Santa Monica College facilities continue to rack up design awards - the latest are statewide honors for the Quad and the Performing Arts Center, both of which opened a year ago.

    The Quad has won the Award of Excellence in the Specialized Facility category of the Community College Facility Coalition's 2009 Professional Design Awards. The Performing Arts Center won the Award of Honor in the Campus Completion category, which is given for a facility a college did not previously have but should have to be considered a complete community college campus.

    "It's an honor that these outstanding projects have been recognized statewide by our peers throughout the community college system," said Greg Brown, SMC director of facilities planning.

    This is the second time the Quad - a four-acre heavily landscaped area that has transformed the look and feel of the campus - has won special recognition. Earlier this year, the $9 million facility won the 2009 Los Angeles Business Council's Los Angeles Architectural Award in the Landscape Architecture category.

    The Quad features a handsome promenade of pavers lined by palm trees and flanked by two large water fountains. Grass areas, trees, large planters and seating areas fill out the Quad. It was designed by tBP Architects and Meléndrez landscape architects.

    This is the third award for the Performing Arts Center, which encompasses The Broad Stage and Edye Second Space. In 2007, the facility won two awards even before it opened - the California Construction Magazine McGraw Hill Construction Award for Best Higher Education and Los Angeles Business Council's Los Angeles Architectural Award for Outstanding Architecture. Designed by Renzo Zecchetto Architects of Santa Monica, the $42 million state-of-the-art center has blossomed in one year into a major regional center for the arts. The 499-seat Broad Stage, in particular, has won wide praise for its design and outstanding acoustics.

From left to right - Christopher Brisson, John Glass and Rafael Siu in "Picasso at the Lapin Agile."

Photo by Judy Louff

The Santa Monica College Theatre Arts Department is pleased to present "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," comedian Steve Martin's absurdist comedy about a meeting of Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein in 1904 in a Paris bar.

    The play will be presented Oct. 23-25 in the Theatre Arts Studio Stage, located on the main campus at 1900 Pico Blvd. Show times are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m.

    "Picasso" follows the two giants of their fields when both are on the verge of amazing ideas - Einstein will publish his special theory of relativity in 1905 and Picasso will paint Les Demoiselles d'Avignon in 1907. In the Lapin Agile, they muse and debate about the value of genius and talent while interacting with a host of other characters.

    Tickets are $10, and a $1-per-ticket service charge is added.

    Call (310) 434-4319 or go to www.smc.edu/eventsinfo. Parking is free on Friday evenings and weekends.