Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words

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  • I'm Too Fat For This Show: Kate Huffman rocks the Fringe Festival

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Jun 19, 2017

    In what is by far the most entertaining one person show I have ever seen anywhere anytime Kate Huffman is knocking it out of the park with her one woman show I'm Too Fat For This Show wrapping up Sunday, June 25th at 4:00 p.m. She tells her story of her long time battle with her OCD eating disorder which, among other unpleasant things forces her to live entirely "by the numbers." Don't understand? Go see the show and you will. It took Kate over two years to develop this show to get it ready to...

  • Kate Huffman Says Life is Better with a Laugh

    Ron Irwin|Jun 4, 2017

    After well over two years in development and one totally discarded script award winning actress and writer Kate Huffman is ready to launch her hilarious and poignant one person but 18 character show "I'm Too Fat For This Show" in the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival. The show is very personal and yet relates to a great many people as it looks at obsessive compulsive disorder and eating disorder with the perfect balance of truth, wit and humor. Kate is of the opinion that our society places far...

  • Amazing Set, Acting Excellent, But Confusing Message

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|May 18, 2017

    Imagine a family living on a beautiful farm by a lovely pond in Northern or perhaps Central California. There is a large family home and another smaller home occupied by an immigrant woman and her son who help take care of the property. The father is in charge but he is a bit of a hippie. So when the fabled drought hit him he simply didn't bother to read the letters from the bank. The vineyards had shriveled and the income had fallen sharply and he figured that if the lender had something...

  • What's a Nice Robot Girl Like You, Shooting In A Place Like This?

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|May 15, 2017

    Robot inspires. This is an amazing tale of true passion, deep love and a rare ability to overcome some typically devastating adversity and emerge a real winner. This my friends is inspiration at its very best so if you would like more happiness and success in your life please read on. Ever notice that the images you see on the cover of Glamour Magazine or any similar publication dedicated to beauty and fashion look nothing like those images in your selfie collection? There are reasons for this...

  • Deborah Cox is Nothing Short of Hypnotic in a Great Show That's Better Than Hamilton.

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|May 8, 2017

    Experience love, magic, beauty, fear, humor, jealousy, triumph, mystery and nearly every imaginable human emotion along with one of the best vocal performances on earth in the explosive masterpiece of theatre they call "The Bodyguard" currently at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. From its unprecedented way over the top forever unforgettable beginning to its soft and somewhat melancholy yet spectacularly beautiful conclusion "The Bodyguard" is a show that grabs the audience fully and never let's...

  • Rocky Collins is Making It as an Actor on the Hollywood Stage

    Ron Irwin|May 5, 2017

    I have spent my entire life to some extent in and around the entertainment industry. My dad was a band leader and drummer. When I was only 5 years old I was a model and apparently some level of actor because I once even performed a small role at the prestigious Goodman Theatre in Chicago. In my early teens I spent a couple of weeks with the amazing songstress Jane Morgan at her summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. But before that I even did a mini magic show before a live audience and got...

  • Poisoned Milk: A powerful performance with the Right Nuance at WeHo's Lounge Theatre

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Apr 29, 2017
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    This tightly written tragic/comedy/drama earned a coveted Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama for its creator David Lindsay-Abaire in 2007. Ten years later it has arrived on a Los Angeles Stage at the warm and cozy Lounge Theatre starring Toni Christopher, Jordana Oberman, Darcy Shean. Michael Yurchak and introducing Rocky Collins. The story begins with a rather convoluted and often hilarious conversation between two sisters during which one sister admits to her sibling that she recently punched...

  • Fiery Kimchi is the Reason Okinawans Live a Full Century

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Apr 21, 2017

    A while ago I reported on the glorious fact that the good people of Okinawa on average live beyond 100 years. To the best of known statistics that makes the Okinawans the longest living group of people on earth. Their long life is no real mystery however but can be explained by their diet and eating habits that reduce over consumption and focus heavily on vegetables and sea food. In fact as you examine the life expectancies around our world those who live longest also have the healthiest food...

  • 'Supper' this is one meal you will never forget. With "Red Helen" at the Theatre of Note in Hollywood

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Apr 13, 2017

    Four brothers of an extremely wealthy and privileged family gather in Japan for the marriage of the one brother least likely to marry, that is the one clearly least likely to marry a woman. They have gathered in celebration but almost instantly rancor emerges primarily from the oldest brother who is also clearly a bit of a bully and in a humorous way very much a curmudgeon. He is joined by a younger brother who seems to be essentially the foil of the family and eventually be another brother who...

  • At a British Prep School, A Small Group of Divergent Young People Transformed Rock Forever

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Apr 3, 2017

    The setting is a pleasant British prep school where a small group of divergent young men and women gather to exchange words, dreams and ideas. At first the banter is light, a bit sassy and often funny. Much of the initial conversation centers on the relative merits of moving on to Oxford or Cambridge. There is a new girl on campus that instantly captures the attention of most of the guys. After all she is young, pretty, female and new. There is the obligatory nerd and the grade obsessed girl. Th...

  • When An American soldier in Paris meets a mysterious beautiful young Parisian dancer

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Apr 1, 2017

    It is the Tony Award winning stage version of the 1951 multiple Oscar winning film classic "An American in Paris" and it is nothing short of spectacular. Few moments in history could equal or exceed the overwhelming drama of that time and the end World War Two. More than four bloody years of global horror and anguish had finally come to an end, France had been taken back from the Nazis and the City of Lights, Paris was returning to a spirit of joy, love and happiness absent far too long. In...

  • 'The Snow Geese' a family story in review, written by Sharr White and Directed by David Melville

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Mar 25, 2017

    The story is set in November of 1917. Elizabeth Gaesling [played by Melissa Chalsma] is the recently widowed family matriarch. Her and other family members gather at their hunting lodge for some partying and hunting but there is a lot of stress tearing away at the family fun. Elizabeth is clearly still suffering the loss of her husband, while Duncan Gaesling has joined the military and is preparing to enter the raging bloody World War One and his younger brother Arnold has discovered very...

  • 'Disinherit the Wind' Where science and spirituality meet at the Complex [Ruby Theatre], 6476 Santa Monica

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Mar 11, 2017

    The show begins in a University lecture hall where Professor Bertram Cates is presenting an abundance of details about the biological and physical structure of the human body. Compelling are these details of DNA and cell formation and other fascinating facts about physical life and they are made even more impressive as actual scientific video is projected on a very large screen as the good professor explains to the assembled class also known as theatre audience in this instance exactly what it...

  • 'Finding Neverland' the joys of eternal youth at the Pantages Theater

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Feb 26, 2017

    We all know about Neverland right? It is that happy mystical place where we can all be children forever. Some might call it Congress while others will take a happier road and revel in the pure joy of imagination and the distinct possibility that there is a place where truly anything can happen. So when playwright J. M. Barrie [Billy Harrigan Tighe] gets a severe case of writer's block he goes off in pursuit of inspiration and happens upon Neverland. His adventure is sparked as he comes upon...

  • Weight Loss: Beware of the CREEP

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff|Feb 26, 2017

    You know who I mean. You have been working so hard to lose weight and regain good health and you have been doing a great job. You have lost twenty, thirty maybe fifty or even more pounds and you look great. Even better is that you now feel awesome; better than you have felt in years. But then along comes that evil creep. He shows up many times in many ways but everyone has seen this creep. You have been doing such a good job you deserve a little treat so you allow yourself one graham cracker in...

  • 'The Princess and the Frog' great fun – ribbit.

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Feb 16, 2017

    Let's get straight to the point here; this is a must see show for children ages 1 day to I'd say around 95 years or so. But, yeah the younger crowd will appreciate it the most. The show opens with a magical fairy Hyacinth. She is a very pleasant and loving fairy and not all that happy when the Prince arrives on scene unwilling to help deliver food to the needy. Oops! Seems that gets the Prince transformed into a frog but there are ways to return to full Prince status. That action invokes a...

  • 'War Stories' is a play about love. At the Workout Studio in North Hollywood

    Ron Irwin|Feb 12, 2017

    Currently at the intimate yet charming theatre known as Actors Workout Studio this intriguing slice of theatrical life they call “War Stories” is in fact a complex and sometimes weird tale of evolving relationships and ultimately true love. Only four actors are involved and each begins with a monologue that sets up the general premise of the show. Each character is unique and the interplay between the two men and two women becomes the core of the story and it is a story that absolutely eve...

  • Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution Sets a High Standard of Excellence

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Feb 3, 2017

    The Group Rep has a long and glorious history of presenting shows in the highest of theatrical quality proving time and again the truth which is it is the quality of the performance and not the size of the venue that matters most. The Group Rep consistently delivers but with its current offering of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution it has set an even higher standard of excellence. The story set in post-World War Two England begins in the Chambers of a notable Barrister Sir Wilfrid...

  • The Telomeres Will Eventually Kill Us All, But We Have a Lot to Say About When.

    Ron Irwin, Observer Contributor|Jan 5, 2017

    It's the Telomeres Are you starting to feel old? Are your friends hinting that you are starting to look old? Well then maybe you are indeed getting older but what exactly does that mean? How does aging happen and what, if anything can we do to slow that process down? The answer may well be found in our telomeres. Basically each strand of our DNA is capped at both ends by protective tips scientists call "telomeres." They help protect vital information within our DNA But every time a cell divides...

  • It all started with Thanksgiving, a day that shall forever live in gluttony.

    Ron Irwin|Jan 3, 2017

    It all started with Thanksgiving, a day that shall forever live in gluttony. Then it was a string of Christmas parties, at work perhaps, or with some friends or neighbors but we partied on right up until Christmas day when we indulged even more. So as we see the beginning of a New Year most of us will make solemn declarations we call our "New Year's Resolutions" which we will typically violate very soon in the New Year. These are always great and important promises yet it is almost a sure bet...

  • The King and Anna: Does Mutual Respect Inevitably Lead to Love?

    Ron Irwin|Dec 23, 2016

    The roots run very deep for the "The King and I" starting with the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the 1860's. Those compelling memoirs were molded into the novel "Anna and the King of Siam" written by Margaret Landon in 1944. By 1951 the Rogers and Hammerstein Tony Award winning Broadway hit "The King and I" was launched. Since then the story has been told many times on Broadway, London's West End and on national U.S. tour. Only last year "The Kin...

  • Cyanide in Fruit? Eat Poison Live Long

    Ron Irwin|Dec 12, 2016

    Eat Poison Live Long? Yes I know that sounds ridiculous but pay close attention because there is something important to learn about our food you just might not be aware of. Generally speaking when we consider the wholesomeness of the food we eat we consider things such as freshness and freedom from harsh even dangerous chemicals. More and more people are opting for "organic" foods for their claim of less contamination and indeed they do often even taste better. But totally ignored in this food...

  • Irving Berlin's "White Christmas: The Musical" Brings Holiday Joy at the Pantages Through Dec. 4

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Dec 7, 2016

    Well here we are at that magically time of year when Thanksgiving is a warm memory and Christmas is straight ahead. And here in Southern California that means that most of the trees still have leaves, flowers are still very much in bloom and generally we only need a sweater or light jacket to venture outdoors. Yet we can still relate to those magical words: I'm dreaming of a White Christmas, just like the ones I used to know Where the tree tops glisten and children listen To hear sleigh bells...

  • Red Wine is Fine, But Resveratrol Can Be Found in Other Fruits and Nuts Without the Alcohol

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Dec 5, 2016

    Over the last several years there has been an abundance of evidence that drinking a little bit of red wine can actually have several possible health benefits. So let's all break out that cork screw and grab our glasses and let's drink up. Well let's take a closer look first. A team of researchers from several Spanish universities reported in "BMC Medicine" that drinking wine may reduce the risk of depression. Their research was fairly extensive involving 2683 men and 2822 women ages 55 to 80....

  • Where You Live, Determines How Long You Live: Why Geography is Longevity

    Ron Irwin, Observer Staff Writer|Dec 3, 2016

    It is a fact. Where you live can affect how long you live. This is not so much about things such as weather conditions, or proximity to water and possible flooding, or temperature extremes or even the possibility of earthquakes. The biggest factor is the dietary habits established deep with a particular culture. Let's take a look. The four states in the United States with the worst life expectancy are Louisiana at 75.7 years, Alabama at 75.42 years, West Virginia at 75.40 and Mississippi at...

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