Altruism meets Art

I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of really interesting people doing a lot of really great things since I moved to LA. Last summer, in my month of wandering with Whitney, we found not only a great new restaurant and amazing bar, but also my favorite LA bartender and altruistic actor, John Fortson. John's 2005 production of Loveswell was long over by the time we met him, but a new one was in the works and has finally arrived.

Loveswell is a one-man show about love and relationships told through the eyes of the most prevalent of Los Angeles archetypes - the surfer. In addition to being entertaining and, according to reviews, quite illuminating of the mysterious male perspective, the opening night performance this Friday, May 1st, is also a fundraiser for Heal the Bay, an organization devoted to "making Southern California coastal water and watersheds...healthy and clean." When a disappointing and disturbing beach closure due to post-rain contamination kept John from giving his nephew a surf lesson, he was inspired to combine his theatrical talents with his environmental altruism. This special gala night is hosted by actress Alexandra Leighton and pro surfer and “ecowarrior” James Pribram and includes treats from Terroni after the show.

Tickets for the fundraiser and more information about the show can be found on line (click here). If you can't come to the opening night, the show runs Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through June 7th. John will be accepting donations for Heal the Bay throughout the entire run. And we will most certainly be missing him at Terroni until then.

One more quick reminder about the LAPD performance on Saturday night (seeing as you'll all be at Loveswell on Friday). Studios open at 6 and the show,"CPR: a Public Training in Life Saving Skills", starts at 8:30. We're hoping to 'drive' our survival station down Olympic from OPCC before the Saturday show. A big thank you to my new friend Cooper Bates who has volunteered to photograph the event for us. Hope to see you all next weekend.

More information at:

http://lapovertydept.org/

http://www.18thstreet.org/