Nonstop Entertainment the Ticket at NoHo Festival

Despite temperatures near 90 degrees in the east San Fernando Valley, thousands of Angelenos poured into North Hollywood on Saturday for the NoHo International Theatre & Arts Festival.

For the last eight years, the NoHo Arts District has drawn visitors with free theater and other attractions. But this year’s event, linked to the opening of the North Hollywood Metro station, was far more ambitious. Music and other entertainment was going nonstop on five outdoor stages, and more than 140 vendors offered everything from incense to Pennsylvania Dutch funnel cakes.

Ruth Bobeczko flew in from New Zealand to see one of almost 100 free performances that are part of the two-day festival, produced by the Universal City-North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

A flight attendant for United Airlines, she napped for a couple hours at LAX, then headed to El Portal, the recently renovated former movie palace on Lankershim Boulevard, to see “Living in the Bonus Round,” a one-man show starring actor-songwriter Steve Schalchlin.

“The dialogue was hysterical; the music was provocative,” Bobeczko said of Schalchlin’s autobiographical play that deals with his being HIV-positive. “It was an emotional roller coaster.”

El Portal is one of 28 theaters in NoHo, an area that had only two theaters a decade ago.

Peter Greene, publisher of Evening Out, a bimonthly publication that serves local theaters, said of NoHo: “We have the largest concentration of Equity-waiver theaters in the country today, more than Greenwich Village.”

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Schalchlin, 46, said he titled his play “Living in the Bonus Round” because that’s how he sees this period of his life. “The bonus round [of a quiz show] is when time speeds up and the prizes are better.” His play, he said, “is about surviving illness, surviving hardship.”

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences took an active part in this year’s festival, with exhibits on its grounds of sound editing, special effects and other aspects of production. The “Wheel of Fortune”-mobile was on hand, with staffers interviewing prospective contestants for the popular game show starring host Pat Sajak and letter-turner Vanna White.

Members of the United Stuntwomen’s Assn. gave demonstrations throughout the afternoon.

Member Leigh Hennessy, who did Demi Moore’s stunts in the film “G.I. Jane,” dangled from the top of an 80-foot-crane. Later, she and other stunt people deplored the loss of movie and television production to Canada.

“We’re all starving to death,” said Lane Leavitt, a stunt coordinator who rigged Hennessy for her slow descent.

Rosemead social-science teacher D.C. Crum had never been to North Hollywood before the festival.

He and fellow teachers Bonnie Boyd and Ricky Dong took a free ride on the Red Line, ate lunch at a Chilean restaurant on Lankershim and went to an afternoon performance at the Bitter Truth Playhouse on Magnolia Boulevard.

Boyd, who lives in San Gabriel, was especially impressed with the subway.

“We need to get used to using public transportation,” said Boyd, who teaches kindergarten. “But I would suggest they not allow chewing gum [on the trains]. Otherwise, they’re going to be all messed up, and they’re so beautiful now.”

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Los Angeles Police Officers Karima Tahir and Jason Wagner patrolled the plaza of the TV Academy, finding shade when they could. Although Lankershim and surrounding streets were packed, the crowds at the festival seemed intent only on having a good time.

“People have been acting very civilized today,” Wagner said.

NoHo theater operators hope that visitors who get free tickets this weekend will come back as paying customers.

“The festival introduces people to the theater who might never have known about it otherwise,” said Jim Brochu, producer at El Portal, which contains three theater spaces and an art gallery.

Natalie Wazana learned about the festival from a poster at a Van Nuys market.

“It sounded interesting, with music and things for the kids, and arts and crafts, which I love, so we decided to come as a family,” said Wazana, who was with her daughter, Carine, 4, and husband Hezi.

Friends Bonnie Remmer and Marie Walden sat on a wall in a shaded spot on Magnolia Boulevard. Walden, who lives nearby in North Hollywood, had bought a dark-green blouse from a festival vendor and was thrilled with her $25 bargain. Remmer cooled off with a dish of flavored shaved ice.

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They remarked on how much the area had improved in recent years, as the theaters multiplied and new businesses came in.

“It’s a very decent crowd,” Remmer said of the festival-goers.

“It’s lovely,” said Walden, who had decided to come back today. “Can you believe you’re in North Hollywood? This is the way it should be.”