Holiday Entertainment: Route 66 Show; Twilight Zone UnScripted; Fine Art and Dining

Road Trips
Locals have four more weeks to see a remarkable exhibit on the history and culture of Route 66 at the Autry National Center of the American West, which curated the show. The exhibit goes far beyond the surface history of America’s most famous highway, and includes Woody Guthrie’s guitar, excerpts from John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” manuscript, ancient neon signage and the original typewritten scroll of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” an artifact never before seen on the West Coast.

The exhibition “Route 66: The Road and the Romance” tells a story of society and culture through a collection of 250 artifacts at the Autry through Jan. 4. There are paintings by Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock, drawings from Disney’s “Cars” animated film, and famous photographs by Dorothea Lange and others.

Curator Jeffrey Richardson traveled the country to gather items with a balance of social history, pop culture and high art. “Route 66 took on a life of its own,” he told Marquee this year. “It’s not just a simple highway.” More information on the show and the Autry is available at (323) 667-2000 and theautry.org.

Another Holiday Dimension

Many of us have special ways of marking the holiday season, and another nontraditional option arrives at the Pasadena Playhouse this month as “Twilight Zone UnScripted: Holiday Edition.” The live improv comedy show collides seasonal themes with the mind-bending tradition of Rod Serling’s infamous weekly anthology series and continues through Dec. 21.

At each show, performers from the Impro Theatre company take audience suggestions and spontaneously invent comic stories onstage in the ’60s style of “The Twilight Zone.” Four completely improvised episodes are created each night, a feat that would impress even a prolific screenwriter like Serling.

In the original TV series, themes of dread and the unexplained were at its core, but here they are a jumping off point for laughs amid the scares. As Dan O’Connor, Impro Theatre’s artistic director, told Marquee last year of the ongoing improv series: “As a performer it can be a lot of fun, and a lot of the episodes are. But there’s also dark corners of Rod Serling-esque narrative that is terrifying and fun to get into. We’ve done a great job of throwing each other into these situations that are really frightening.”

Tickets are $30 ($20 students). More information at (626) 356-7529 and www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org.

Fine Art, Fine Dining
Works by members of the Glendale Art Assn. and San Fernando Valley Art Club will be collected on the walls of Far Niente Ristorante in Glendale through December. The 40 paintings will appear in rotation on the walls of the eatery, which has been on Brand Boulevard for more than 27 years. Marquee dining critic praised the restaurant earlier this year as “old-school service and time-tested menu items,” unmoved by passing dining trends. For more information on Far Niente, call (818) 242-3835 or visit farnienteglendale.com. Glendale Art Assn. information can be found at glendaleartassociation.com.