Hello Dear Readers! As soon as Independence Day is over my mind turns to fall and Halloween. Okay, okay, I know there’s still a good bit of summer left so we’ll talk about some summery things, but I just can’t help throwing in a Halloween mention too. Here are the subjects for today’s Pressing Matters:
Casting In Virginia • Free Movie Mondays • The Silly Old Bear’s Music • Captain America Premiere • LACMA & Watt’s Tower’s • SketchCrawl • La Luna • Mickey’s Halloween Party
This one’s a bit specific, but I thought I’d throw it in anyway as it could be a fun summer experience for kiddies aged 10-18. If you’re the parent of an aspiring performer in that age range and you live in or near Richmond, Virginia, the Disney Channel is looking for new talent:
Disney Channel and Disney XD has announced an open casting call in Richmond, Virginia, to give promising, new actors and actresses an opportunity of a lifetime to audition for casting representatives. "We are always on the lookout for young talent and the opportunity to help make their dreams come true," said Judy Taylor, senior vice president, casting and talent relations, Disney Channels Worldwide. "This official open casting call offers the chance for participants to showcase their comedic acting ability and/or singing and dancing experience to our representatives for consideration in upcoming series and movies produced for Disney Channel and Disney XD."
The open casting call auditions will be held on July 9, 2011 from 9 AM to 3 PM at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on 403 North Third Street in Richmond, Virginia. An application and a monologue will be provided upon arrival. There is no fee to audition and minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. For more information, visit this link.
Once upon a time summer meant piling in the family car and heading to the drive-in. Alas most drive-ins have gone the way of Yesterland. But here in Orange County, the Segerstrom Center has an alternative, and best of all, it’s free:
Grab your sunblock and flip-flops as our 5th summer of Movie Mondays starts with everyone’s favorite beach party movie, Beach Blanket Bingo! When the local kids, led by Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, cross paths with a Malibu biker gang, even life in sunny So Cal can sometimes be no day at the beach!
Guests are encouraged to bring beach chairs or other easily portable seating items. Set-up begins at 5:30 p.m. with the movie starting at dusk (approximately 8 PM). In a continuing partnership with the Newport Beach Film Festival, a selection of the best short animated films from this year’s festival will be shown prior to the main feature. You may bring your own snacks and picnic suppers but barbecues and similar food preparation are not permitted. Don’t want to cook? Patina Catering will have assorted snacks and beverages available for purchase.
Free Movie Mondays takes place each Monday July 11th through August 8th, 2011 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in the Arts Plaza outside Segerstrom Hall - 600 Town Center Dr. in Costa Mesa. Future screenings include Harold and Maude (July 18th), Victor/Victoria (July 25th), Chicago (August 1st), and The King and I (August 8th). For more information call 714-556-2121 or visit this link.
Have you seen the trailer for the new film, Winnie The Pooh? It looks good, doesn’t it? I’ve loved the silly old bear since I was a wee kiddy and can’t wait to see him on the big screen again. You can gear up with the film’s soundtrack a few days before Winnie The Pooh opens in theatres nation-wide:
Actress and singer Zooey Deschanel joins Winnie the Pooh and all of his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, performing five songs for the film, including her own take on the classic "Winnie the Pooh" theme song, "A Very Important Thing to Do," "Everything is Honey" and the original end-credit song "So Long," which was written by Deschanel and performed with She & Him bandmate M. Ward. Filmmakers were drawn to Deschanel's signature style. "She was the perfect choice to do the 'Winnie the Pooh' song—a classic theme from the Sherman Brothers," says director Don Hall. "Her music actually embodies the underlying spirit of the movie. We're taking something that has vintage roots in the sixties, but spinning it in our own way and updating it. If you listen to Zooey's music with She & Him—that's their sound to a tee."
The album also features an original score composed by Henry Jackman. The Walt Disney Records soundtrack arrives in stores and online retailers on July 12th 2011. Winnie The Pooh opens in theatres on July 15th, 2011. For more information on Walt Disney Records' releases, visit this link, Facebook, or follow at Twitter.
If stargazing is more your thing, get ready for another big Hollywood movie premiere, Captain America: the First Avenger:
"Captain America: The First Avenger" will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America. As Captain America, Rogers joins forces with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) to wage war on the evil HYDRA organization, led by the villainous Red Skull (Hugo Weaving.)
Red carpet arrivals are scheduled to begin at 5:45 PM. Expected to walk the carpet are; Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), Sebastian Stan (James "Bucky" Barnes), Dominic Cooper (Howard Stark), Joe Johnston (Director), Toby Jones (Arnim Zola), Neal McDonough (Dum Dum Dugan), Kenneth Choi (Jim Morita), Bruno Ricci (Jacques Dernier), and Stan Lee (Executive Producer).
It all takes place on Tuesday July 19th, 2011 at 7 PM at the El Capitan Theatre at 6838 Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood, CA 90028.
For 34 years, Simon Rodia labored to build his towers on the plot of land he purchased in LA. Constructed of structural steel and mortar, and decorated with a random mosaic of broken glass, seashells, generic pottery and tiles, the Watts Towers are an amazing thing to see. If you’ve never had the pleasure, why not add this to your summer itinerary? The Los Angeles County Museum of Arts makes it easy with their tour of Rodia’s masterpiece:
Get an insider’s look at Watts Towers, one of the city’s most recognizable artworks, hand-built by Italian immigrant Simon Rodia from 1921 to 1954. As part of the partnership between LACMA and the city of Los Angeles, you can take a round-trip guided tour from LACMA to this iconic monument, and back. Meet on the BP Grand Entrance, then depart LACMA on a private mini-coach, accompanied by a Watts Towers educator. Upon arrival, enjoy a tour of the site and adjacent Watts Towers Art Center. Choose from two tour options—with or without a stop for lunch at nearby Watts Coffeehouse, one of L.A.’s best spots for authentic Southern food.
Tours take place on July 23rd & 24th, August 20th & 21st, and September 10th & 11th, all starting at 11 AM. For pricing and other details, visit this link. Or call: 323-857-6010. For more information on Watt’s Towers and Simon Rodia, visit this link.
Our next subject is one I’ve wanted to join in on for some time, but I never get my act together to play along — SketchCrawl. Basically SketchCrawl is a day when people the world over get out their sketchbooks and spend the day drawing. SketchCrawl is the brainchild of Pixar story artist Enrico Casarosa (and director of the newest Pixar short, La Luna) who explains SketchCrawl this way:
A good friend of mine had a fun bachelor party consisting of visiting ten bars and pubs along the N-Juda Muni tram line: a “PubCrawl”. And crawling we did, in fact we didn’t make it past the seventh pub. Quite the night, but that is where I got the idea for the name SketchCrawl when a few months later I decided to do a whole day of intense drawing around the city. The basic idea: to record nonstop everything I could around me with my pencil and watercolors. A drawn journal filled with details ranging from the all the coffee I drank to the different buses I took.
After a whole day of drawing and walking around the city the name seemed quite fitting: “SketchCrawl” – a drawing marathon. The crawl was more tiring than I imagined but also more fun and exciting than I had thought. Giving yourself this kind of mandate for a full day changes the way you look around you. It makes you stop and see things just a tad longer, just a bit deeper … needless to say I loved it.
For a look at those first 19 sketchbook pages Enrico filled with drawings, visit his SketchCrawl blog.
The next SketchCrawl (which just happens to be the 32nd crawl) is scheduled for July 23rd, 2011. People all over the world will be drawing what they see that day. You can draw too. You can draw by yourself, join in with a group already formed, or form your own. The point is to spend your whole day drawing. At the SketchCrawl forum you’ll find a list of cities and meeting places. One place I noticed lacking though, no SketchCrawlers meeting at Disneyland. I think it’s high time that changed, don’t you?
For information about SketchCrawl, visit this link. SketchCrawlers are discussing meet-up places at this link. And SketchCrawl also has a Facebook page.
Now we’ll move on a bit, but we’ll still keep talking about Enrico Casarosa. If you’re not familiar with his work, think again. You’ve probably seen Up and Ratatouille if you’re reading this. Well then, you know Enrico. He was a storyboard artist for both those films. In his day job, you see, he works for Pixar. On his own time he draws constantly, publishes art books (3 Trees Make A Forest with Pixar artist Ronnie Del Carmen, for example), and pursues his love of Hayao Miyazaki and Ghibli — you’ll find a terrific interview on that here at this link.
As I mentioned above, Enrico has just directed his first Pixar short, La Luna, and that brings us to our next subject — the LA Shorts Fest and the North American premiere of La Luna:
The North American premiere screening of Pixar’s La Luna followed by a special presentation of "The Making of Pixar’s La Luna" by its director Enrico Casarosa. This keynote presentation is loaded with original artwork and insightful looks into Pixar's production process. Enrico will discuss the journey that led him to create this very personal short, and along the way demonstrate the singularly artistic style by which the film was crafted.
The screening takes place on Sunday, July 24th at 12 noon at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 Theater at 8000 Sunset Blvd., in West Hollywood, CA 90046. Tickets go on sale July 14th and can only be purchased at the Laemmle’s Sunset 5 Theater box office. Seating is unreserved and tickets sales stop 15 minutes after the scheduled starting time of the each program. The Pixar Screening & Workshop cost is $25. For more information, visit this link.
We started off today with me talking about Halloween, and that’s where we’ll end it. I know some folks grumbled about last year’s Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland, the prices, the fireworks, etc. Speaking for myself, I loved the Halloween parties and thought every penny I shelled out was money well spent and I’m definitely going again this year, in fact, I wouldn’t miss it. If you are entertaining thoughts of going this year, now’s the time to think about purchasing tickets, as they’re currently on sale:
You are invited to Mickey's Halloween Party! Dress up your little ones, don a costume of your own and Trick-or-Treat at Disneyland Park. Take part in all kinds of family fun:
• Viewing of the Halloween Screams fireworks — exclusively for Party Guests
• Admission to Disneyland Park up to 3 hours prior to the event's start time
• Disney Villains on the grounds
• Special treat stations offering both candy and healthy items
• Dress up and join the Mickey's Costume Party Cavalcade
• Access to nearly all attractions, including all the Halloween-themed attractions such as Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy and Haunted Mansion Holiday
• Access to the Park before it closes to the general public beginning at 3 p.m. for Tuesday 6 p.m. events and 4 p.m. for Friday and Halloween 7 p.m. events
• Complimentary parking for 1 vehicle. Larger vehicles may require an additional fee.
What I really want to know is ... will Disneyland’s party get the Headless Horseman taking a ride just as he does at Walt Disney World’s Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party? Since Disney seems to be hell-bent on that One Disney business, I think it only fair that the Horseman take a ride down Disneyland’s Main Street too.
The Disneyland website currently lists tickets available for all nights and tickets are less expensive when purchased in advance (and even less expensive if you are a Passholder purchasing in advance). The dates for this year’s Mickey’s Halloween Party are:
Friday September 30th, Monday October 3rd, Friday October 7th, Tuesday October 11th, Friday October 14th, Tuesday October 18th, Friday October 21st, Tuesday October 25th, Friday October 28th, and Monday October 31st.
For more information, call: 714-781-4400, or visit this link.
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I’ll leave you and say goodbye until next week when we meet again to discuss more... |
