The Valley Line: Nearly 200 LCF Chamber supporters get a sneak peak of ‘The Last Jedi’
’Tis the week before Christmas and Santa will be here very soon — things are getting exciting.
Of course my shopping isn’t quite done yet. I’m still deciding which squeaky toy to get my dog Lola. Hopefully I’ll find one I can tolerate while she plays with it. She does love her toys!
The community has been all abuzz with parties, dinners and choral concerts.
One of the loudest buzzes happened on the night of Dec. 14, when the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce held its exciting Red Carpet Premiere fundraising party. The event was attended by nearly 200 people who turned out to see the long-awaited “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
Local Star Wars fans got a sneak peek before the film opened to the public the next day.
Guests gathered in a tent in front of the UA La Cañada 8 theater on Verdugo Boulevard to dine on Los Gringos Restaurant’s catering version of “Chasen’s Chili” with all the special goodies to embellish this famous dish.
For those who didn’t want the vegetarian or beef chili dish recipe, which was a favorite of film stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, there were large baked potatoes that also could be dressed up with their own tasty additions.
It was definitely a “family force night” with lots of younglings in tow, many of them wearing Star War shirts. One very eager little guy even brought his Star Wars blanket to wrap up in.
It was quite an event, the best-attended Red Carpet Premiere night ever for the Chamber, according to Pat Anderson, president and chief executive of the organization.
Everything rolled out without a hitch as expertly coordinated by Anderson and her assistants, Starr Frazier and June Beemer.
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In case you want an extra dose of Christmas spirit I have just the perfect solution for you: The Pasadena Playhouse is presenting a recreation of the 1947 radio play of “Miracle on 34th Street” through Saturday, Dec. 23.
Danny Feldman, Playhouse artistic director, said, “What is much less known, is that this story was very popular as a radio play, when all of America used their ears and their imaginations to completely realize a story. And now in 2017, 70 years later, the eyes of our audience get to watch what went into producing the performance live, which its original listeners never got to see.”
This is truly a fun and nostalgic production. I especially liked watching the foley artist, Jeff Gardner, make all the noises that radio listeners would hear, including footsteps, the rustling of paper, a door opening and closing, a car honking and bells ringing. An old-fashioned eggbeater was one of the tools he employed.
The original radio show was sponsored by the Lux Radio Theater and was broadcast on Dec. 22, 1947. The original cast included Natalie Wood, who went on later to star in the Academy Award-nominated movie version that many of us still love today at Christmas time.
I was just 9 years old when this radio play went over the airwaves. One of the commercials talked about how you could make pretend snow by using Lux laundry soap flakes and frothing it with an eggbeater.
My mother, who had such a sense of adventure and fun, helped my two sisters and I do exactly that. We whipped up bowls of Lux Laundry soap into “snow” to spread in the bushes around our sunny California house. We three sisters were thrilled! Of course the “snow” didn’t last long, but it sure was magical.
At the end of this Pasadena Playhouse production, “Lux-like” snow drifted down over the audience.
The play runs Thursday at 8 p.m.; Friday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. This production would especially be an interesting look at Christmases past, for kids and adults alike.
JANE NAPIER NEELY covers the La Cañada Flintridge social scene. Email her at jnvalleysun@aol.com with news of your special event.