LC Real Estate 02 2024

PAWN SHOP

Sports bar and pub to be named after a longtime neighborhood pawn shop.

Page 4

Real Estate

Entertainment, Museums, Libraries, Home & Garden

ART SHOW

Deadline to enter “A Woman’s Place” at the Ebell of Los Angeles is Feb. 8.

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VIEW

LAUGH IT UP

Locals co-host a comedy lineup at historic venue on Wilshire Blvd., Jan. 28.

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Section 2

LARCHMONT CHRONICLE

FEBRUARY 2024

HANCOCK PARK • WINDSOR SQUARE • FREMONT PLACE • GREATER WILSHIRE • MIRACLE MILE • PARK LA BREA • LARCHMONT

2 SECTION TWO

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

History abounds at the Monastery of the Angels — part 2 The Chronicle published an article in December on the Monastery of the Angels and the pumpkin bread and other treats it has provided for decades. Many locals have taken interest in the monastery over the years, and 2024 marks its 100th anniversary.

In this issue, we provide additional historical information about this beloved (once) religious establishment.

Note: the pumpkin bread and other treats are for sale through January, the last we heard. Check the website for up-to-date information at monasteryoftheangels.org.

By Helene Seifer The Monastery of the Angels was founded in the former home of mining geologist Horace Winchell near Exposition Park. Soon it was clear that a cloistered order couldn’t adequately cloister in the middle of the city. In 1934, wealthy patrons purchased the current property, the former mansion and landscaped grounds of copper magnate Joseph Louis Giroux.

Prior to Giroux, the estate belonged to Arthur Letts, the founder of the Broadway and Bullocks department stores.

The nuns were initially concerned that they shouldn’t reside amidst the sins of Hol-

ARCHITECT Wallace Neff surveys work on the monastery.

lywood, but supporters at the time convinced them that the area was mainly filled with stately homes, teetotalers and small spiritual communities.

Prominent Los Angeles families of the time, the Dohenys, Dockweilers, Van de Kamps and Hancocks, financially supported the Dominican nuns of the Sacred Order of Preachers who silently prayed for the betterment of the world from their Hollywood enclave.

After 14 years in the mansion, it was decided that the nuns should have something built specifically for their needs. A fundraiser was held at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1948 with Hollywood luminaries leading the way. Actress

VIEW of nuns against the Hollywood skyline.

SISTERS of the Monastery of the Angels take freshly baked bread from the oven.

THE MONASTERY’S hilltop view takes in the Downtown skyline.

Maureen O’Sullivan chaired the event. Sponsors included Irene Dunne, costumer Edith Head and gossip columnist Louella Parsons.

A Spanish Colonial Revival-style facility was designed by architect Wallace Neff, who had remodeled the Mary Pickford and Douglas

Fairbanks-owned Pickfair.

Considered the father of the California style, some of Neff’s other homes have been owned

by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, Diane Keaton, Bob Newhart, Wallis Annenberg and Fredric March, among others.

The arched inner courtyard

of the monastery compound exemplifies Neff’s style. In contrast, the 7-1/2-foot-by10-foot cell-like bedrooms show the nuns’ spartan wants.

Although the sisters were separated from the world, they wanted to feed the souls of Angelenos, and so Neff de(Please turn to Page 3)

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

SECTION TWO

Citrus Square’s time has come! Community seeks recognition As regular readers of my column can attest, I have covered the history and the travails of Citrus Square many times. For neighborhood preservationists, it is “the one that got away,” despite being a stunning and concentrated example of planned development, significant architecture and shaded allées of mature foliage. Its tightly packed duplexes, jewel box bungalows and cottages are the gateway to our broader residential oasis in the middle of the city.

So it is my fortunate duty to announce that Citrus Square also is soon be a bona fide National Register Historic District!

But why now? “The best time would have been 20 years ago,” said preservationist James Dastoli, referencing the big push of 2005-2011 that saw the creation of five nearby City of Los Angeles Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs). “People are always ambivalent about potential restrictions until there are consequences.”

The demolition of homes and construction of larger, modern “McMansions,” plus the recent proposal to up-zone portions of Third Street in the recent Housing Element, plus recent illegal construction and changes of use, suddenly made some sort of historic designation all the more urgent.

One of the hurdles in beginning the organization and outreach required for the effort was the lack of homeowner or neighborhood associations found in oth-

Monastery

(Continued from Page 2) signed a two-sided chapel: one for the nuns, reached only from inside the compound; the other side accessed from the parking lot for visitors in search of peace and spiritual solace. People use the chapel regularly, even now. Neff also provided a grate through which those in need could communicate with the nuns.

After the nuns moved into their newly built home in 1949, the original Letts / Giroux mansion was used as a Catholic retreat for women until it was razed in 1973.

The house is gone, but its hilltop view over the monastery’s tower to the Downtown skyline still impresses. Over the years, the sisters’ monastic life was supported by fundraising events organized by the local Catholic community. Bing Crosby regularly performed at the events, as did Don Ameche. Among other regular supporters were Conrad Hilton, Bob and Dolores Hope and Fred MacMurray. Richard Rodgers and

On Preservation by

Brian Curran

er parts of Greater Wilshire.

In Citrus Square (Highland to La Brea; and Third to Beverly), it has been local neighborhood council representatives who have helped in the organizing effort. “Citrus Square can be somewhat of a black hole of engagement,” commented Jeffry Carpenter, Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council (GWNC) Area 2 representative for Citrus Square. Carpenter and Jesseca Harvey, GWNC Area 8 representative for the Melrose Neighborhood (Highland and Wilcox to La Brea; and Beverly to Willoughby), have joined Dastoli and neighbors Patricia Carroll and Patty Lombard, who have assisted in sponsoring previous historic designations.

Feb. 13 webinar The team plans to hold an online webinar on Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. with guest Ken Bernstein of the Los Angeles City Planning Department’s Office of Historic Resources. Bernstein will explain to interested home and property owners, residents and renters, what the National Register process is, what a designation would mean and how this type of historic district differs from an HPOZ. The proposed district lies between Rosewood Avenue to Oscar Hammerstein left them the piano on which “Oklahoma” was composed.

The 65 sisters who lived at the monastery when it was at its peak had varied interests.

There was a sister who grafted roses, one who was an expert seamstress and a nun who swam laps every day in the indoor pool.

Tours were, and are, given of the monastery. In the late 1990s, a young woman on a tour was so taken with the monastery that she became Sister Mary Austin.

While nuns no longer reside at the monastery, baking goes on, and the pumpkin bread and some other goodies will remain available — apparently through the end of January. The Dominican friars are working with real estate agent Dominic Dutra to find a way to maintain the Monastery of the Angels as a sacred Dominican space. However, no decision has yet been made as to what will ultimately happen to the property.

The Monastery of the Angels & Gift Shop is at 1977 Carmen Ave., 323-470-5884.

Visit monasterygoodies.com.

the north and Third Street to the south, with its western and eastern boundaries Sycamore Avenue and Citrus Avenue — an area that encompasses more than 600 buildings.

The webinar is a vital piece of the outreach component

of the effort to designate Citrus Square. But the team will also be required to provide the State Office of Historic Preservation with a list of individual property owner contacts, which the State Office will use to send letters asking for any objections

3

to the designation. This is a challenging task because many properties are owned by trusts and limited liability companies.

The overall process to designate a National Register Historic District is less strin(Please turn to Page 4)

4 SECTION TWO

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

Former pawn shop planned to be revived as a pub, sports bar

By Suzan Filipek New owners of the former home of Brothers Collateral, the longtime pawn shop at Melrose Avenue and Cahuenga Boulevard, seeks to give the building new life as a sports-themed restaurant and pub.

The project, at 5901 Melrose Ave., called the Pawn Shop after its previous incarnation, is the vision of building permit applicant Diego Torres-Palma of Ventana Ventures. He applied for a conditional use beverage permit to allow onsite sale and consumption of a full line of alcoholic beverages and a 7,808-square-foot restaurant with 473 seats and

BROTHERS COLLATERAL was a familiar site in the neighborhood for 40 years.

live entertainment from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.

According to a spokesperson

for the developer, initial plans for actual operating hours are from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Valet

NewGround to honor Rabbi Cutter Jan. 28

By Suzan Filipek NewGround: a Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change will gather at the Skirball Center on Sun., Jan 28, for a brunch honoring Rabbi William Cutter.

He will be honored with the Suzy and Wally Marks Jr. Trailblazer Forum at 11 a.m. at the Skirball, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

Sponsors include Lois Sprague, Windsor Square, of the Guibord Center. Cutter, who now lives in the Melrose Neighborhood area, was a longtime resident of Windsor Square and served on the board of directors of the Windsor Square Association.

NewGround was founded to create a national model for healthy relations, productive engagement and social change between American Muslims and Jews. NewGround believes

RABBI WILLIAM CUTTER

that conflict is natural and inevitable. Yet it is not intractable no matter the history.

Being stuck is a choice.

In the week after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on the nearby Israeli kibbutzim and the start of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, NewGround convened 25 Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders to address one another’s fear and pain.

NewGround’s high school

program and professional fellowship both are training more facilitators as its expertise is called on by schools, civic organizations, nonprofits and private companies across the country.

NewGround’s ability to meet this moment is a testament to the foundation laid by many involved with NewGround, including Rabbi Cutter, who acted as a key mentor when NewGround established itself as an independent organization in 2006.

For tickets and more information visit tinyurl. com/5yp687xy.

parking on-site provides 25 to 30 spaces, and the developer is seeking additional off-site parking nearby.

The remodeling design by architecture firm Omgivning will maintain the size of the existing building and restore its architectural details, according to city documents.

“There are no hearings scheduled yet for this case, as this case is currently on hold, pending submission of missing / updated materials,” a spokesperson from the Planning Dept. told us in early January. “The case has not been deemed complete,

and we cannot proceed with processing until we receive the information we requested from the applicant.”

The Larchmont Village Neighborhood Association unanimously opposed the development as currently proposed at its semi-annual meeting Dec. 12.

“No one would be against a restaurant of proper scale operating with neighborhood-conforming hours of operation,” Larchmont Village resident Sam Uretsky wrote us in an email.

Uretsky, who is cofounder of Lucerne Arden United, said that concerns about the project include operating hours of 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week, lack of a parking plan, excessive capacity and safety aspects (with only one exit).

The two-story canary yellow Brothers Collateral was run by Rudy Gintel, of Hancock Park, and Ernest Gintel for more than 40 years before they closed up shop in 2020.

(Their mom, Shirley, was the bookkeeper until a few years earlier.)

Built in 1934, the building began life as a Cut Rate Drugs store.

On Preservation (Continued from Page 3)

gent than the HPOZ approval process, however. An HPOZ requires majority buy-in from property owners, and there needs to be drafted a comprehensive preservation plan and an implementing ordinance.

By contrast, objections to a National Register Historic District designation are dealt with by the California State Historic Resources Commission. Dastoli says that some of the strongest supporters of this and other efforts with which he has been engaged are renter residents, particularly those in rent-stabilized units. These supporters are also strongly encouraged to join the Zoom webinar and to write or call into the subsequent commission hearing.

If all goes well, and if James Dastoli’s track record is any guide, nomination will sail through its designation process with flying colors, and Citrus Square will take its rightful place alongside its neighboring HPOZs and historic districts.

Tune in to the Zoom on Feb. 13 and show your support.

To learn more and to participate in the webinar, go to: nationalregisterla.wordpress. com.

Citrus Square’s time has come!

SOLD: This home at 211 S. Citrus Ave. in Citrus Square sold for $2,580,000 in December.

Real Estate Sales* Single-family homes

846 S. Longwood Ave. 126 N. Rossmore Ave. 985 Third Ave. 101 S. Alta Vista Blvd.

527 N. Cherokee Ave. 836 Muirfield Rd. 180 S. Gardner St. 600 N. Citrus Ave. 157 S. Citrus Ave. 211 S. Citrus Ave. 654 Lillian Way 147 N. Fuller Ave. 7416 Rosewood Ave. 937 S. Curson Ave. 749 S. Citrus Ave. 411 S. Orange Dr. 564 N. Lucerne Blvd.

655 S. Sycamore Ave.

Condominiums

651 Wilcox Ave., #3C 750 S. Spaulding Ave., #321 620 S. Gramercy Pl., #304 532 N. Rossmore Ave., #402 *Sale prices for December.

$4,973,000 $3,900,000 $3,844,000 $3,810,000 $3,550,000 $3,200,000 $3,155,000 $2,895,000 $2,600,000 $2,580,000 $2,180,000 $1,955,000 $1,725,000 $1,700,000 $1,500,000 $1,432,500 $1,275,000 $1,070,000 $1,060,000 $959,000 $599,000 $484,000

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

209 NEW APARTMENTS shown in rendering looking southeast from Eighth Street and Fairfax Avenue.

SECTION TWO

5

RENDERING of new development and adjacent Tom Bergin’s Irish pub looking east from Fairfax Avenue.

Renderings courtesy of Reed Architectural Group

Multi-family project at 800 S. Fairfax moves forward; appeal denied

By Suzan Filipek Los Angeles Planning Commissioners denied an appeal of a multi-family residential development to be built next door to longtime neighborhood pub Tom Bergin’s on Fairfax Avenue in Miracle Mile.

The Commission’s decision Dec. 14 was the final planning department action for the mixed-use project at 800 S. Fairfax Ave. The approved project features an eight-story, 190,000-square-foot building with 209 apartments.

The Irish pub’s parking lot and two adjoining apartment buildings with 40

rent-controlled units will be demolished under the design by Reed Architectural Group design.

A new courtyard will separate the pub — which dates back to the 1930s and is a city Historic-Cultural Monument — from the new construction. The apartment building’s garage will include parking spaces for customers of Bergin’s.

The Commission denied the appeal by tenants of the existing buildings, filed in the name of the Fairfax Gardens Tenants Association.

A city staff report found that the project had met its legal obligations and recom-

mended denial of the appeal.

Christopher Clifford, executive of the Las Vegas-based developer Colliers International, sought approvals using Transit Oriented Communities housing incentives to reduce open space and setback requirements. In exchange, 28 of the apartments will be slated for extremely low-income affordable units.

The new development will consist of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments above 2,653 square feet of ground-floor retail space and parking for 239 vehicles.

The Los Angeles City Council adopted the findings of an environmental study

conducted for the project on Dec. 9. The council adopted the project’s Sustainable Communities Environmental

Assessment in May 2023.

The developer did not return the Chronicle’s calls seeking further comment.

TOM BERGIN’S currently is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 4 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 p.m.

6 SECTION TWO

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

Lobster shack in former gas station; cocktail-forward menu gland girl at heart and find lobster rolls irresistible. I love the ones at Connie and Ted’s, $36 for each of two kinds: warm with butter or cold with mayo. I’m partial to the mini lobster rolls at Son of a Gun, (lobster stuffed in a two-bite bun, with a potato chip crown, $13, or $39 for the regular size). Royal Lobster’s rolls are plainer rivals to those. They taste fresh and are boiled to tender perfection. The cut lobster pieces are piled into toasted brioche buns that are swept with butter. They are served with small sides of potato chips, homemade cole slaw and a dab of aioli to smear on the buttery buns, which definitely jazzes them up.

We visited Royal Lobster on a chilly, drizzly afternoon and, therefore, the outside tables were undesirable. Instead, we sat in the converted car repair

On the Menu by

Helene Seifer garage with one small space heater struggling to overcome the damp. Owner Justin Sok, who brought his concept from Hawaii and personally served us, admitted he hadn’t realized how cold it could get in Los Angeles! He also revealed that he had perfected a lobster bisque recipe that might be added to the limited menu in the future.

Royal Lobster, 4450 Beverly Blvd., 808-900-2983.

The Short Stories Hotel and its original Peruvian-tinged restaurant from chef Ricardo Zarate opened in May 2022 after a major renovation of

the tired Farmer’s Daughter Motel. This past summer, the hotel’s Short Stories Restaurant closed, replaced temporarily by Netflix Bites, a pop-up serving dishes by a handful of famous chefs who have appeared on the Netflix series “Iron Chef,” such as Curtis Stone and Andrew Zimmern. Then, as 2023 ground to a close, the hotel revamped its dining by introducing The Bar at Short Stories Hotel, a cocktail-forward restaurant with an eclectic menu.

Although the food and beverage service has changed, the bar itself is still in a terra-cotta-painted freestanding room with bar seating and wooden tables off a beautiful, treelined black-and-white tiled dining courtyard with patio tables. More casual couch groupings have been added for an outdoor lounge vibe.

Given its new thrust, we expected great drinks and decent bar bites, but everything was elevated. Speciality cocktails are $16 and feature such ingredients as banana, lychee, yuzu, pine and white rice. My husband enjoyed the “Rocking Horse Winner,” a spicy take on a sour with tequila, prickly pear, mango nigori (cloudy sake), aperol, tortilla salt and habanero. My “Slow Days, Fast Company” riffed on a Negroni and featured mezcal mixed with apricot, amaro and white vermouth. Smoky with balanced sweet and bitter notes, it is a great sipping drink.

The menu is large enough for practically anyone to find things to nibble with a drink or build into a full meal, ranging from shishito peppers with miso and wasabi, $7, to $27 salmon with butter beans

and asparagus. We started with fried calamari, $12, and $10 bisque of the day, which was tomato. The large bowl of bisque was thick with intense tomato flavor and drizzled with fragrant basil oil, accompanied by a hardy slice of grilled garlicky, parmesan-dusted bread. Tomato soup is often disappointing, but this one was remarkable. Large calamari rings and tentacle pieces were fried in a well-seasoned, crunchy breading and served with a flavorful piquillo pepper marinara dipping sauce. Excellent!

Next we tried three items: their burger, their roast chicken and their fettuccine, $19 each. The fettuccine was served in a wild mushroom, truffle and cashew crema sauce. We didn’t miss the dairy, but the pasta sauce could have used a bit more of the cooking water mixed in to loosen it up and maybe a squeeze of lemon to brighten the flavor. The burger was fully stacked, with a thick, tasty patty, fried onion pieces, white cheddar, tomato jam, arugula and romesco sauce on a soft bun. It was terrific with harmonious flavors and textures. Also very good was the baked chicken with cipollini onions in a concentrated lemon sauce that packed a powerful zing.

As with our lobster adventure, it was too cold to sit outside, even with heaters.

I enjoyed the lovely patio during the restaurant’s first iteration and look forward to a warm night to sit under the trees and enjoy this new version.

The Bar at Short Stories Hotel, 115 S. Fairfax Ave., 323-937-3930.

Art from around the globe, and Los Angeles, at Frieze Frieze Los Angeles returns to the Santa Monica Airport with a lineup of local and international art galleries from Thurs., Feb. 29, through Sun., March 3.

More than 95 exhibitors from 21 countries will converge in this fifth edition of the art show. This year features new public spaces and a bespoke struc-

Pub and Restaurant

RESTAURANT & COCKTAILS

742 N. Highland 323.468.3800

www.thecatandfiddle.com

ture designed by Kulapat Yantrasast’s architectural studio, WHY. (Opening night, Thurs., Feb. 29, is by invitation only.)

In celebration of Frieze Week, LACMA, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and other museums will host a series of related events.

Visit frieze.com for more information.

Lunch & Dinner Every Day of the Year

Restaurant Hours: Mon.-Thurs. noon to midnight Fri.-Sat.-Sun. noon to 1:00 a.m.

Bar open till 1:00 a.m. Mon.-Thurs. ~ 1:30 a.m. Fri. & Sat. 3357 Wilshire Blvd. • 213-385-7275 • thehmsbounty.com

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Cat & Fiddle

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Housed in a repurposed art deco gas station on Beverly Boulevard just east of Western Avenue, Royal Lobster, a famed lobster shack from Honolulu, has settled into Koreatown with only two options: a lobster roll or a green salad with lobster pieces and cherry tomatoes in a sweet balsamic vinaigrette and sprinkled with parmesan.

The two dishes are listed “at market price,” each $29.99 as of this writing. Extra lobster meat is available for $12.

Flown in daily from Maine (the lobster capital of the world), the chopped meaty crustaceans are served simply, without being drowned in butter or mayonnaise or mixed with celery. Drinks are limited to sodas, Perrier and a very good lemonade.

The crunchy green lobster salad is refreshing, light and delicious, but I’m a New En-

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

SECTION TWO

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Film aboard crowded space station is terrific; ‘Mean Girls,’ not I.S.S. (8/10): 88 Minutes.

R. The tension never lets up in the International Space Station between a six-person crew of three Russians and three Americans when war breaks out on Earth between the two countries, and each is privately instructed to take control of the I.S.S. The special effects are amazing as the performers float through the I.S.S. throughout the film. Here’s how it was done per director Gabriela Cowperthwaite (with a script by Nick Shafir): We put the actors in harnesses and used tethers to float them. Early on, we tried a system of seesaws that was much more comfortable for the cast, but when I saw the tests, it didn’t appear real enough. The harnesses and tethers looked great, though.

Unfortunately, they were extremely uncomfortable to wear. It was hard on their bodies, they would sometimes go numb in their legs, and every time someone had to go to the bathroom, it took about 45 minutes to get them out of the harness and back into it again.

And of course, it took us a year or more to digitally remove every tether from every single frame of every scene in post.

Looking back on it now, I see why people don’t do zero-gravity in movies very often!

This is a throwback to the days when a movie presents a possible scenario, telling the story with no wasted motion in a crisp 88 minutes without superheroes or car crashes.

What violence occurs is necessary to the plot and believable.

It also exhibits the claustrophobia of being confined in such a small space. And the shots of Earth — in what seems to be total conflagration — that appear outside their windows exacerbate the feeling of being trapped. Their habitat is totally realistic, not some futuristic scenario like the spaceships in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) and the more

LA Opera’s maestro to discuss ‘Dwarf,’ Feb. 12 at HMLA

Windsor Square resident and international opera conductor James Conlon (Music Director at Los Angeles Opera since 2006) will discuss Austrian composer Alexander Zemlinsky and his opera “The Dwarf” on Mon., Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Holocaust Museum LA, 100 The Grove Dr. The work was inspired by the Spanish painter Diego Velazquez and author Oscar Wilde. The event will feature a performance by the Colburn School quartet. To RSVP, visit holocaustmuseumla.org.

recent “Passengers” (2016), a movie I really liked, that created very comfortable abodes for space travel. Rather, this shows the space station to be crowded with tight spaces in which to maneuver.

This is, simply, a terrific movie with a good script, fine acting and a believable concept.

The Engineer (5/10): 92 minutes. R. In the ’90s Yahya Ayyash (Adam Haloon) was a “mastermind bombmaker” who was blowing up innocent Israelis. This purports to tell the tale of what is claimed to be “the biggest manhunt in the history of Israel” to find him and send him to his reward. Maybe it’s based on facts, but there are too many serendipitous occurrences for it to establish credibility and, try as they might have, very little tension. Another Hollywood opportunity lost.

Mean Girls (2/10): 107 minutes. R. With a few excep-

At the Movies with

Tony Medley tions, there have been very few remakes that were better, or even as good, as the original.

All of the “A Star is Born” films have been exceptionally good, telling the same story. “High Society” (1956) was better than its excellent predecessor, “The Philadelphia Story” (1940). Like “High Society,” the “Mean Girls” remake is a musical, based on the 2004 original movie and the musical adaptation that played on Broadway 2018-20.

However, unlike “Society,” the music is not by a supreme talent like Cole Porter, and it shows. It is emblematic of what has happened to music in

recent generations. As I have said before, lacking are melody and memorable lyrics. And what is music without them?

This is exactly the same story as 2004, although apparently intended to be updated to reflect the eidos of 2024. Unlike the original, Tina Fey wrote this one by herself. Either she has lost it, or she misses co-writer Rosalind Wiseman, because this script is unfunny and fatuous. The movie is so off-the-wall, it is an insult to the original. These raucous students make the students Glenn Ford had to face in “Blackboard Jungle” (1955) seem like gentlemen.

Even though it is apparently intended as a satire, there is a fine line between satire and ridiculous nonsense. The original did not cross that line. This one goes way over it. It is filled with woke casting and represents an extremely low moral tone. I would give this a zero,

but my assistant, who also detested the film, prevailed upon me that it should be worth a 2. I agreed because the color is excellent, and Reneé Rapp gives a good performance as the arrogant trendsetter.

American Star (1/10): 110 minutes. R. Yet another film about an assassin with a heart.

This is the slowest, most boring one ever filmed. It was as though they had a bunch of feet of film and filled it with nonsense until the violent ending. The first 95 minutes consist of basically nothing but Ian McShane hanging out, talking with people to no avail.

Then the violence, then “The End.” Shakespeare might call it “Little ado about nothing.”

Recommended reading: “The Paris Agent” by Kelly Rimmer, a brilliant, harrowing novel based on facts about the women in Britain’s Special Operations Executive, who were spies in France during WWII.

8 SECTION TWO

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

Fatal attraction, magic and a king speak of (unreciprocated) love

As this is the Valentine’s column, “the time,” as Carson McCullers wrote in her 1951 Southern Gothic novella “The Ballad of the Sad Cafe,” “has come to speak about love.”

McCullers describes love as “a joint experience between two people… the lover and the beloved.” But it is not always an equal affair between the two, and the tension of unrequited, or unreciprocated, love leads to trouble, which energizes comedy (doors slamming and lovers diving under beds in farce) and propels tragedy (spurned Medea murders her sons to revenge her ex).

Ever since Ibsen, that tension has been internalized on stage (Nora slams the dollhouse door and gets on with her life), or it has been indulged, if not revelled in (think Sondheim musical).

It’s no wonder that Edward Albee, the author of the most internalized love / hate relationship in American drama (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”) was drawn to McCullers’ book and adapted it for the stage in 1963.

Two plays now running “speak about” this love dissonance in very different ways.

The first is Steve Yockey’s

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Theater Review by

Louis Fantasia surreal Mercury at the Road Theatre in NoHo through Sun., Feb. 18 (roadtheatre.org; 818-761-8838). The second is Matthew Leavitt’s touching Sukkot at the Skylight Theatre in Los Feliz through Sun., Feb. 4 (the6thact.ludus.com).

“Mercury” starts out realistically enough: Pamela and Heather are having a neighborly spat, which we learn revolves around their secretive lesbian affair. Don’t tell the husbands! In shades of Fatal Attraction’s boil-thebunny, the spurned Pamela kills Heather’s dog, cuts it up and buries it in the garden.

Heather gets her own revenge by purchasing a magic book from an olde curiosity shoppe and gives it to Pam, who disintegrates when she opens the book! Meanwhile, couple Nick and Brian have moved into Nick’s mom’s apartment to be closer to her in her terminal illness, but their neighbor, Olive, doesn’t like the fact that Brian is cheating on Nick with other men, so she also visits said shoppe, where the ditzy manager sells her the same magic book, which she gives to Brian, who also disintegrates!

With me? Pam and Brian

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Dance seems to be in the air and on the boards this month: Matthew Bourne’s ballet version of “Romeo and Juliet,” with a score by Sergei Prokofiev, is at the Ahmanson, Jan. 28 through Feb. 25. 213-972-4400; Odyssey Theatre Ensemble celebrates the art of contemporary dance with its seventh annual festival through Feb. 18. Local and international solo and group performances, including several world premieres, are featured.

OdysseyTheatre.com or 310-477-2055 ext. 2. arrive in a “Saw”-inspired hell on — where else? — Mercury, where there is room for only one of them, so Pam suffers the same fate as the dog and Brian gets sent back to Nick via the guts of a dead bear. (Don’t ask!)

It’s all good fun, including the blood-soaked revenge, which has an Elizabethan quality to it. The acting and directing are tight (artistically and physically on a cramped but impressive turntable set). However, I kept looking for a point to it all, but couldn’t find one. Perhaps less blood and more heart would have been in order.

Matthew Leavitt’s “Sukkot,” on the other hand, has perhaps too much heart. The three adult children of a Jewish-Catholic family have come home for their late (Jewish) mother’s memorial. Catholic Dad (the magnificent and magisterial Andy Robinson) has decided that he will divest his yearlong

grief and unify his family by celebrating the seven-day Jewish feast of Sukkot, where God commanded the wandering Israelites to find time to rejoice, even in their exile and misery.

His religion-free offspring then humor him and, in the course of their reunion, the requisite family secrets are revealed, recriminations made and reconciliations achieved.

The laughter (it is a very funny script) covers echoes of “King Lear,” Ibsen’s “Ghosts” and a lot of Neil Simon for most of the play, but the revelations border on the trite, weakening an otherwise well-made play.

Joel Zwick directs with aplomb, and the four-person cast is pretty much pitch-perfect in negotiating the play’s shifting tones and family dynamics.

But it is Robinson who, every inch the king in his own castle, makes the show worth seeing.

Happy Valentine’s… I hope!

Magic Strings puppet show revival through April 7

By Nona Sue Friedman “Magic Strings,” the newest production of Bob Baker Marionette Theater (BBMT), is not just puppets but a multimedia, multi-screen, immersive extravaganza featuring archival footage of theater founder Bob Baker and the history of puppetry in the U.S. Audience members will see interviews of Baker over the years as well as demonstrations of his puppetry magic.

This show was first performed at BBMT in 1970 and originally was inspired by Baker’s first professional puppet gig in the 1930s.

Many of the puppets and sets in the performance have been meticulously restored, as they have not been used in decades.

“Magic Strings” plays Fri-

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Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

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10 SECTION TWO

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

‘A Woman’s Place’ art show at Ebell; deadline to enter is Feb. 8

By Suzan Filipek The Ebell of Los Angeles invites artists to submit their artwork for its juried exhibition, “A Woman’s Place,” in celebration of National Women’s History Month. All accepted artworks will be included in a show at The Ebell from Thurs., March 21, through Tues., April 30. One winning artist will be selected to receive a one-year membership to The Ebell of Los Angeles.

An opening reception will take place on March 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. at 743 S. Lucerne Blvd. Thereafter, viewing will be available by appointment only, or during other public Ebell events.

Three professionals from the Los Angeles arts scene will serve as jurors: Shana

Nys Dambrot, arts editor for L.A. Weekly; Taylor Bythewood-Porter, independent curator and former assistant curator at the California African American Museum (CAAM); and Amy Scott, executive vice president of research and interpretation and Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross Curator of Visual Arts at The Autry Museum.

“The Ebell of Los Angeles was one of the first locations in Los Angeles to exhibit artwork by women. Our focus on art and women’s stories stems from deep within the fabric of our organization,” said

Laurie Schecter, president of the board of directors of The Ebell.

“This year’s art exhibit will focus on the journeys, hopes and dreams of women throughout the ages and will be judged by an exceptional group of professional women who have, and continue to make, invaluable contributions to visual art in Los Angeles.”

The planning committee selected “A Woman’s Place” to inspire artists to share their own stories, reflections, hopes and dreams for women and the place they take in society.

The exhibit will be one part of an array of activities celebrating National Women’s History Month at The Ebell throughout the month of March.

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Miracle Mile residents to meet in-person Jan 27

By Suzan Filipek Los Angeles Police Dept.

Capt. Sonia Monico will be among guests at the 2024 annual meeting of the Miracle Mile Residential Association (MMRA). Monico is the commanding officer of the LAPD’s Wilshire Division.

The MMRA meeting is on Sat., Jan. 27, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Korean Cultural Center, 5505 Wilshire Blvd.

“It will be our first in-person get-together since 2019.

We might be live streaming, or at least providing a video post-meeting for those who prefer to view from home, but

we hope everybody will show up in person!” Kari Garcia, MMRA’s vice president and neighborhood watch chair, told us. “Our focus will be on community development and engagement. We look forward to our speakers responding to questions from our neighbors (use the link on our webpage to submit questions in advance) and issues specific to our neighborhood.”

Councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky, of CD5, and Heather Hutt, of CD10, are also on the agenda.

Neighborhood updates will be discussed at the meeting.

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By Suzan Filipek Laugh it up and enjoy the art deco surroundings at the local monthly comedy show by Whippet Comedy at the Deco Building on Wilshire Boulevard on Sun., Jan. 28, at 7:30 p.m.

The 90-minute comedy lineup is at 5209 Wilshire Blvd.

Doors open at 7 p.m The comedians, with late night show and other credits, include Aparna Nancherla, Chris Grace, Lizzy Cooperman, Brian Gallivan and Kari Assad. Diana Hong and Mary Huth of Hancock Park are hosts. Tickets are $12 on eventbrite.com.

The Deco Building is one of the city’s last remaining blackand-gold, terra-cotta tile, art deco buildings, according to the Los Angeles Conservancy. Built in the 1920s by prominent architecture firm Morgan, Walls and Clements, the two-story

building features zigzag moderne ornamentation. It was originally a neighborhood branch bank and has been rehabilitated into office space and special event use.

Curated Indonesian imports will be for sale by HEXI at the building.

Want more comedy? A second installment with a different lineup is set for Sun., Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m., also in the Deco Building.

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Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

SECTION TWO

11

Golden Bridge and acclaimed conductor return to Los Angeles

By Casey Russell The Golden Bridge, an annual concert aimed at connecting the Golden Age of English Renaissance music with the Golden Age of California’s choral music, will take place Sat., Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. in Beverly Hills.

Established in 2014 by internationally acclaimed conductor Suzi Digby, the concert brings professional singers — many from Los Angeles’ Master Chorale — together to perform new works commissioned by Digby as well as works by Renaissance composers.

When we spoke with Digby, she said, “I created The Golden Bridge because I wanted to leave a legacy for my time here.” Her goal was to create a choral bridge that would link choral music across time and space, she told us.

Digby has always been interested in music. “From the age of 3, I was singing,” she said. The resident of England, who was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2007, discovered very early that she wanted to be a catalyst for changing people’s lives through music.

She conducts full-time in London, and in 2011, she joined the USC faculty, where she is

GOLDEN BRIDGE singers at All Saints Beverly Hills in 2017.

a visiting instructor with the Thornton School of Music.

Each year, she and her husband, Lord John Eatwell, who teaches economics at USC (he was president of Queens’ College Cambridge for two decades), come to Los Angeles for six to seven weeks to teach, with her activities including the preparation of each year’s Golden Bridge concert.

This 10th annual concert will feature three world premieres by composers from our state. A revival of a piece that was commissioned and performed in a past year will also be included.

“I chose the revival because it’s a wonderful piece and because it has a beautiful cello part,” said Digby. When asked how she knows what works the au-

diences will most respond to, she told us, “When I feel something is happening, usually the audience is, too. You know you’re in that special place.”

There will be two featured instrumentalists this year. One is cellist Benett Tsai, who is, in Digby’s words, a rising superstar from the Colburn School.

“He is absolutely outstanding — the dazzling new California talent,” she said. The leading lute player in California, Jason Yoshida, also will perform.

Traditional music by Taverner, Byrd, Weelkes, Purcell, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Reena Esmail and Morten Lauridsen will be included in the program.

Dana Gioia, 2015’s Poet Laureate of California, will be the concert’s master of ceremonies.

Digby told us that, because the choral tradition is so strong and established in the United Kingdom, she generally needs three times the amount of rehearsal hours for productions when she works with people in the U.S. But, she went on to say, the sight-reading skills in Los Angeles are extremely good. She attributes that to the fact that many professional singers here do session work for film and television.

Before rehearsals even begin, sheet music and sound files are provided to singers. The goal is to be able to “spend the rehearsal shaping the music, building confidence and bringing the music to life in a way that will really impact the audience,” said the conductor, who is now the foremost commissioner of new choral music in the world. The Golden Bridge alone has commissioned 40 works in the past 12 years.

Because she regularly commissions work for her various organizations, Digby told us that fundraising is a big part of her life. “I have an amazing team of people who help me,” she said. Digby said that, very often, an individual will want to commission a work because his or her name then will be included on the score.

A contemporary composer commissioned to provide music for The Golden Bridge is asked to choose a piece of English Renaissance music and reflect it in his or her own work, so that it is embedded in the new music, Digby told us.

SUZI DIGBY conducts.

Photo by Andreas Grieger

We asked the conductor if Lord Eatwell comes to The Golden Bridge concerts. “Oh yes!” she said. “He’s key! He comes to all the shows. Who would carry my music stand if he didn’t come?”

For tickets to the concert, which will take place at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, 504 N. Camden Dr., Beverly Hills, visit goldenbridge2024. eventbrite.com. For more on Suzi Digby, visit suzidigby.com.

12 SECTION TWO

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

Living room gatherings end and begin the years 2023 and 2024

LANDAY HOME in Windsor Square was still decked out for post-Christmas gathering.

SUZ AND PETER LANDAY welcomed holiday revelers at the end of December.

Around the Town with

Sondi Toll Sepenuk on Irving, to kick off 2024 entertaining on Jan. 10, Amy Forbes and Andy Murr opened their house in a reception they co-sponsored with other Irving neighbors from a block north, Dena Bloom and Robert Klyman, to introduce their neighbors to their longtime friend (and Larchmont Village neighborhood

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••• In the middle of last month, neighbors and family members (at least 200 in total) filled up all the space at Tom Bergin’s on Jan. 13. They were there to celebrate the 50th birthday of Brendan Malloy. The lifetime Larchmont local, well-known for his coaching and leadership of Saint Brendan Basketball Association (SBBA), his co-ownership of the popular Goleta-based M Special Brewing Company (featured at

the Larchmont Family Fair) and his commercial, film and television producing and directing talents with brother Emmett Malloy, let loose with friends who noshed on

OPEN SPACE behind the bar is a refuge for guest of honor Brendan Malloy, whose friends celebrating his 50th birthday filled up the rest of Tom Bergin’s.

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WINDSOR SQUARE neighbors gathered to hear House of Representatives candidate Nick Melvoin in early January.

INSURED

By Casey Russell After just a year on the Boulevard, the apparel and homegoods store Midland, at 138 N. Larchmont Blvd., has closed. According to a post

on Midland’s Instagram site, owners closed the Larchmont location due to “high rent and low shopping.” Fans of the store can still visit Midland’s flagship shop in Culver City. Topo Designs, an outdoor clothing and accessories store, is slated to take over Midland’s spot in the Larchmont Mercantile Building.

Also, as has been widely reported, Sweet Lady Jane, the high-end bakery that had been gearing up to open a new location at 203 N. Larchmont Blvd. will, as of now, be closing all of its stores.

Representatives of Larchmont Jewelers, the upscale jewelry store which was the subject of an extensive Chronicle article last June, tell us that the store is now expected to open (at 119 N. Larchmont Blvd.) in mid-March.

mac n’ cheese, pretzel balls and cupcakes and danced late to a loud and lively DJ (while draining the open bar). Too bad age 50 comes only once every five decades!

••• A week later, the venerable Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society (WSHPHS) held its Afternoon Tea in Hollywood on Jan. 21. The venue was the historic Woman’s Club of Hollywood, founded in 1905.

The property is the site of the former Hollywood School for Girls (1908-1932), which Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, and many other Hollywood stars attended.

At the WSHPHS high tea, members and guests heard from Patrick Quinn, author of “Bar Keeps,” a tour of cocktail culture in the Golden State, from roadside diners and chic hotels to tiki bars and exotic dancer nightclubs.

Up next for members of the WSHPHS is a behind-thescenes walking tour of CBS Television City on Sat., Feb. 10 from 10 a.m. to noon.

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VOLUNTEER GREETERS (from left) Judy Zeller, Diane Sherwood, Damona Hoffman and Marlene Zweig welcome attendees to the Historical Society Afternoon Tea.

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The traditional worlds of neighborliness are coming back in focus, post-COVID-19, as neighbors once again are gathering in the living rooms of the community — two of which are on Irving Boulevard in Windsor Square. A last celebration of the holiday season took place at the home of Suz and Peter Landay on Dec. 28.

They gathered a big group of friends who enjoyed the many decorated rooms of the Landay residence across the street from the mayor’s Getty House.

Suz told the Chronicle that she loves decorating for Christmas and that she still had eight or so boxes of decorations that she had not used this year.

That was hard to believe given the gorgeous finery in every corner of the house! The Landays once again saluted good friend Alyce Morris Winston, who founded the Jeffrey Foundation years ago. Instead of bringing hostess gifts, attendees were encouraged to bring donations of any size to help the nonprofit facility that Winston started 51 years ago for children with special needs and their families.

••• Four blocks up the street

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

SECTION TWO

13

Mile Chamber and Wilshire Rotary confer honors

RETIRED SGT. AJ KIRBY (right) is awarded Trailblazer award from the Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce. With him are Wilshire Rotary president Janice Prior and Chamber representative Chris Devlin.

By Nona Sue Friedman It was a two-for-one luncheon on Jan. 10 — with the Wilshire Rotary Club honoring first responders and the Greater Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce presenting its annual Trailblazer Award.

The Trailblazer Award is given to a person who unselfishly serves the Greater Miracle Mile community.

Retired Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Sgt. AJ Kirby was this year’s recipient. He was honored for his 18 years of service and leadership at the Wilshire Community Police Station. Kirby held

numerous positions during his tenure at Wilshire, most recently being in charge of community relations. Kirby told the Larchmont Chronicle that he was honored to get the award especially since “I’m off the books and gone.”

His former boss, Capt. Sonia Monico, said of Wilshire Division, “Captains come and go, but Kirby has stayed.” She went on to comment that Kirby is “the guy who gets it done, cares for the community and the people he works with and never says ‘no.’” Jane Gilman, co-founder of the Chronicle in 1963, also spoke on Kirby’s

behalf, saying, “I would call him ‘Mr. Everywhere’ because he helped out in so many different areas of the community.”

Now that Kirby is retired after 34 years of service to LAPD, he is golfing, biking and traveling a bit. He likes that he “can take his time” when visiting his family “and doesn’t have to worry about getting back to work.”

Rotary honors Within the same luncheon program, Wilshire Rotary honored two first responders for their service to the com(Please turn to Page 15)

SENIOR LEAD OFFICER Ian O’Brien stands next to his commanding officer Capt.

Sonia Monico after receiving his Public Service Award from Wilshire Rotary. Margie Christofferson is at rear with flowers.

Photos by Nona Sue Friedman

Ninety years of helping Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

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ed commitment to the Las Madrinas Diagnostic Innovation Endowment. Mrs. Garland then recognized ball chair Emily Williamson Hancock and debutante chair Hilary O’Rourke Wynperle for their dedicated efforts in making the evening “a smashing success.”

Member husband John Ledlie Rouse announced each debutante as she descended from the stage to the ballroom dance floor. The Wayne Foster Orchestra accompa-

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nied the presentation of each debutante and then played the traditional waltz that transitioned the party from presentation to celebration.

Las Madrinas was established in 1933 as the first Affiliate Group of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and has been supporting pediatric care and research for nine decades. Since 1939, Las Madrinas has honored families who have demonstrated a commitment to the civic, cultural and philanthropic life of

Southern California by presenting their daughters at the Las Madrinas Ball. Donations made in honor of the young women, together with the annual support of Las Madrinas members and friends, have enabled Las Madrinas to complete 10 major projects at the hospital since 1988.

Among those endeavors are 11 research endowments totaling more than $32.5 million, a capital project on the cardiovascular floor, and the current $5 million pledge for the Las Madrinas Diagnostic Innovation Endowment.

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By Suzan Filipek Las Madrinas honored 29 young women and their families for their service to the Southern California community and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) during the Las Madrinas Ball at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Dec. 21. Guests from across Los Angeles and around the country gathered with the young women, their families and the members of Las Madrinas in celebration. Everyone was seated for the white tie dinner dance in the hotel’s International Ballroom, and attendees reported that the ball was a joyous and festive evening as has been the case with the annual holiday event for 86 years.

Kathryne Halverson Garland, president of Las Madrinas, formally welcomed the families and guests and thanked everyone for joining in support of research programs at CHLA. She spoke of Las Madrinas’ impact on Children’s Hospital Los Angles for the past 90 years, specifically highlighting the organization’s complet-

14 SECTION TWO

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

Captain, multiple senior lead officers retiring at Wilshire LAPD Monico. Her replacement was not announced by press time.

Once in retirement, she plans on spending time with her daughter, son-in-law and soon-to-be-born grandchild in Tuscany, Italy.

Also retiring from Wilshire is Senior Lead Officer (SLO) Dave Cordova, who served portions of Larchmont Village, Windsor Square and

Hancock Park for many years.

He has been on medical leave for the last few months and is officially leaving the force on Jan. 31. SLO Hebel Rodriguez is covering the area until a replacement is found.

Another SLO, Anna Schube, also is retiring on Feb. 29.

She is in charge of the Miracle Mile area. SLOs Timothy Estevez and Ian O’Brien will

cover her area until a fulltime replacement is found.

Also filling in for her is reserve officer Perry Jones, who previously served the area and is well known in the community. He can be reached at robert6668@lapd.online.

According to Sarno, there also are some crucial senior

Dressler star in the 1928 film “The Patsy,” screening at the Lumiere Cinema at the Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills, on Sun. Jan 28 at 5 p.m.

Live original music will ac-

by King Vidor and presented by Retroformat Silent Films. Lara Gabrielle, author of “Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies” will sign copies of her book at the event. For tickets visit lumierecinemala.com.

WILSHIRE DIVISION Senior Lead Officer (SLO) Dave Cordova is retiring on Wed., Jan. 31. His interim replacement is SLO Hebel Rodriguez at 213-793-0715, 35738@lapd.online.

THEFT: A visitor to the John C. Fremont Library at 6121 Melrose Ave. stole a laptop computer from a library patron. While the victim was using the restroom, the suspect took the victim’s laptop computer and fled on Jan. 6 at 12:30 p.m.

BURGLARY THEFT FROM VEHICLE: A tablet computer, cell phone accessories and credit cards were stolen from a grey BMW on the 400 block of South Sycamore Avenue. The suspect entered the vehicle through the sunroof between Dec. 31 at 9:15 p.m. and Jan. 1 at 11:15 a.m.

BURGLARIES: Suspects smashed the window of the rear door of a granny flat on the 100 block of North Arden Boulevard, entered the residence and stole money and jewelry on Jan. 3 between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Two male burglars entered a home on the 400 block of South Highland Avenue through a side window. They snatched jewelry and then left the home through a front window on Jan. 6 at 6:50 p.m.

GRAND THEFT AUTO: A 2015 silver Ford F150 pickup truck was stolen from the street on the 300 block of South Sycamore Avenue between Jan. 2 at 10 p.m. and Jan. 3 at 6:30 a.m.

officers — who do much of the administration and keep the place running smoothly — who are retiring over the next couple of months. Sarno said the station is going through a transition and is being staffed by much younger employees.

But, he commented, “The big blue machine keeps rolling.”

POLICE BEAT Silent film ‘The Patsy’ screens Library patron’s laptop is January 28 with live music stolen, Cordova retires Marion Davies and Marie company the comedy directed

OLYMPIC DIVISION GRAND THEFT AUTO: A 2018 grey Lexus NX300 was parked on the street and stolen from North Manhattan

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By Nona Sue Friedman The Wilshire Community Police Station is seeing some staffing changes with the start of 2024.

Capt. Sonia Monico, the Wilshire Division Commanding Officer, announced to her team that she will retire Thurs., Feb. 29, but she left day-to-day duties on Jan. 18. With regard to Monico’s announcement, Senior Lead Coordinator Wesley Sarno told us, at the Coffee with a Cop on Jan. 10, that “It was news to the division.”

Monico has been with the force for 31 years and at Wilshire for the past two and a half years. “I am so appreciative of the support, officers and community at Wilshire. I’ve enjoyed every minute,” says

Larchmont Chronicle

FEBRUARY 2024

SECTION TWO

15

Show your love with meaningful blooms, but skip the orchids A passage in a 1939 magazine celebrating the Pasadena Tournament of Roses’ Golden Jubilee reads: “A Tournament of Roses parade is a spectacle which is difficult to describe. It is as if all the flowers of California gathered themselves together in Pasadena on New Year’s morning in arrangements of such color and beauty as to beggar description.”

Eighty-five years later, I have to agree. A visit to the parked Rose Parade floats on the first day of January this year was so visually abundant that capturing it in words feels as daunting as trying to sing a sculpture.

Close inspection of the individual floats turned up plenty of floral familiars. A particularly awe-inducing entry from Cal Poly Universities — whose floats over the past 75 years have always been student-built — was an undersea landscape teeming with manta rays, electric eels and a piano keyboard with

A+D Museum inaugural show is on La Brea

The A+D (Architecture + Design) Museum’s inaugural exhibition marking its new home at 170 S. La Brea Ave. opened Jan. 19 and will continue through April 7.

The exhibit, “We Are Here: Imagining Space in the 21st Century,” features works by contemporary artists, designers, architects and data analysts.

Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free.

The museum opened in 2001 in the Bradbury Building in Downtown Los Angeles.

In 2015, it moved to the Arts District. In 2020, it transitioned to a hybrid physical and digital platform and now has a new home in the Greater Wilshire community. Visit aplusd.org.

animated keys that moved in time with music. Present among a throng of floral varieties decorating the float’s simulated ocean floor were spiky bromeliads, their pink blooms contrasting against dark green leaves.

The bromeliad was designated in the 18th century by the father of modern taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus, in honor of Swedish botanist Olaus Bromel. Linnaeus was known for canonizing those he admired — and detested — in his work naming the species that make up the natural world. When Prussian botanist Johann Siegesbeck wrote that Linnaeus’ most famous work, the Systema Naturae, was “lewd’’ for classifying plants using a “sexual system” based on the number and arrangement of stamens and pistils in their flowers, Linnaeus retaliated using a means befitting the offense. Doubling down on his association between the sexual organs of plants and humans, he titled a small, tiny-flowered weed Sigesbeckia orientalis after the botanist.

(Perhaps Linnaeus’ writings would have been well-received by ancient Greek naturalists, whose floral appellation “orchid” derives from the Greek word for “testicle.”)

The plant kingdom’s more resplendent blooms were reserved for Linnaeus’ cronies. Alexander Garden was a Scottish-born naturalist who lived in Charleston, South Carolina, and collected local flora and fauna to send to Linnaeus for classification.

For his services, Linnaeus chose a waxy, fragrant flower to commend him — the gardenia. The brightly colored radial blooms of the zinnia honor another contemporary of Linnaeus, German botanist Johann Gottfried Zinn. The camellia, a winter-blooming floral that appears in shades of red, pink and white, is yet another taxonomical shout-out.

Native to East Asia, the plant

Word Café by

Mara Fisher was named for Georg Joseph Kamel, a Jesuit missionary and naturalist who studied the plants and animals of the Philippines.

Outside of Linnaeus’ realm, flower names come from various reaches. Some monikers are so given for the effect they have on those that encounter them. The pansy, its charming blossoms historically regarded as a symbol of remembrance, descends from the French word pensée, meaning “thought.” The tiny, fuzzy orbs that make up the mimosa receive their title from its cousin of the same genus, the Mimosa pudica, which folds its leaves when touched. The plant’s label originates from the Latin mi-

mus, meaning “mime,” as it appears to mimic conscious life with its kinetic response.

Even though the nasturtium is an edible flora — its blooms have a slightly peppery taste and its unripe seed pods are pickled to make a garnish similar to capers — its name originates in repulsion to the perennial. Appointed because of its similarity to cress, which was thought to have an acrid odor, “nasturtium” combines the Latin words nasus and torquere, translating to “nose-twist.”

Then there are the flora that borrow from fauna. The ranunculus, whose blooms appear as dense globes of concentric petals, is the diminutive form of the Latin rana, or “frog,” so named for its tendency to grow near water. The dandelion’s petals radiate from its center much like a lion’s mane, but it’s the cat’s tooth that’s relevant here — the flower’s designation comes from the French dent de lion.

Drawing from other natural phenomena is the anemone, from the Greek anemos, meaning “wind.” The bowlshaped flower is specified as such because it was thought to open only when the wind blows. Aster (from the Greek word for “star”) and heliotrope (originating from the Greek h­elios, meaning “sun”) nod to celestial bodies, while flowering azalea derives from the Proto-Indo-European stem as-, meaning “to burn or glow.” Rounding out this elemental bouquet are the large, showy blooms of the hydrangea. Under the plant’s conical flowerheads are cupshaped seed pods, which earn the species its label, from the Greek hydor, or “water,” and angeion, meaning “vessel.”

As January’s Rose Parade flowers wilt and give way to February’s tokens of love and affection, take note of the meanings contained in each offering. A ranunculus — very cute. Anemones, lovely.

Orchids? Perhaps not.

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munity, one from LAPD and one from the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).

Jess Gonzales, firefighter with LAFD Station 61 on Third Street west of La Brea Avenue, was recognized for his “values, dedication, personal sacrifices and consistent performance at work,” according to station Capt. Douglas Noonan.

LAPD Senior Lead Officer Ian O’Brien, stationed at Wilshire Division, was selected

by Capt. Monico for “his happy-go-lucky attitude, being a breath of fresh air and having a wealth of knowledge.”

Four decades serving Mid-Wilshire Los Angeles

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