Arts Briefs: Author of new Clifton’s Cafeteria book to appear in La Cañada; ‘Nosferatu’ screening
Clifton’s Cafeteria reopened on October 1st and has had a line of people down the block waiting to get in since it reopened. The historic restaurant had been closed down but reopened with many of the original touches it had for decades.
War of Words
One of the great American literary rivalries is explored in the Falcon Theatre’s stage comedy “Scott and Hem,” recreating a relationship of admiration and irritation between novelists F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. The production at the Burbank theater was written by Mark St. Germain and opens this weekend.
The story unfolds at a 1937 reunion at Fitzgerald’s home in Hollywood, where he’d just moved to work in the movie industry. At the time, Hemingway’s fame as a preeminent author of books and short stories was ascendant, and it was the same year he would travel to the Spanish Civil War as a journalist — an event that would influence his later work. Fitzgerald’s literary reputation was on the wane and wouldn’t recover until after his death in 1940.
Actor Adam J. Harrington plays Fitzgerald, and Ty Mayberry plays Hemmingway, in a play directed by Dimitri Toscas at the 130-seat Falcon. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m. Tickets are $36.50 to $44. More info: (818) 955-8101, FalconTheatre.com.
Book Talk
For the Live Talks Los Angeles series of onstage interviews with authors, the Alex Theatre in Glendale is host to some of its biggest events. In recent weeks alone, there have been full houses for actress Mindy Kaling and director Terry Gilliam. Next up are the creators behind the hit podcast “Welcome to Night Vale” on Saturday, Oct. 31.
Co-authors of the series Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink have published a novel based on “Night Vale,” which takes place in an unknown spot in the American desert, where aliens and the supernatural mingle as comfortably as they once did on TV’s “The Twilight Zone.”
Conducting the onstage interview will be actress Felicia Day, a regular presence on the CW show “Supernatural.” As at other Live Talks events, tickets range from $20 general admission to $36 to $45 (including a signed book). More info: livetalksla.org.
Scary Monsters
On Halloween night, a screening of the silent-film vampire classic “Nosferatu,” with an accompanying live pipe organ performance by Dr. Timothy Howard of his modern original score, will open the 2015-16 “Friends of Music” series at the Pasadena Presbyterian Church.
The historic 1921 silent movie was directed by German Expressionist F. W Murnau, who was hugely influential on the likes of Tim Burton and other subsequent filmmakers. It was loosely (and unofficially) based on Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula.”
Howard will be performing his score live on the church’s giant Aeolian -Skinner pipe organ. Like all “Friends of Music” performances, admission is free. A dessert reception follows the 7:30 p.m. screening. The Pasadena Presbyterian Church is at 585 E. Colorado Blvd. More info: (626) 793-2191, ppcmusic.org.
Food for Thought
The recently reopened Clifton’s Cafeteria in downtown Los Angeles is both an acclaimed eating space and a crossroads of some important regional history. Founder Clifford Clifton was active in local politics and in helping the poor during the Depression era. He opened the restaurant in 1931 with a policy of “Pay as you wish.”
The revamped eatery has left that policy behind, but its rich history remains, and is the subject of a new book, “Clifton’s and Clifford Clinton: A Cafeteria and a Crusader,” written by his grandson, Edmond J. Clinton III of La Cañada Flintridge. The younger Clinton worked at the cafeteria as a teenager and recounts his grandfather’s attempts to clean up the City of Angels, earning a number of powerful enemies. One of them bombed his home.
Clinton is making several author appearances connected to the book’s release by Angel City Press, but the one closest to home is noon Saturday, Nov. 28, at Flintridge Bookstore, 1010 Foothill Blvd, in La Cañada Flintridge. More info: angelcitypress.com.
Celtic Sounds
A blend of Celtic, folk and traditional chamber music is the specialty of a young string quartet called the Fretless, which is set to perform Sunday, Oct. 25 at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena. The award-wining band came together after meeting on the Canadian fiddling and step-dancing circuit. All graduated with honors from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Tickets are $20 for the 7 p.m. performance. More info: (626) 798-6236, coffeegallery.com.
Marquee staff