Community News

Speech Writer Q&A

Craig Smith, speech writer for President Ford and President H. W. Bush, will be the guest on the next edition of Straight Talk. He joins host Art Levine to discuss the political scene at the federal, state and local level. This show will air Saturday, March 16 and Sunday March 17 at 9 a.m. on LBTV Channel 3. It is also viewable on demand at straighttalktv.com.

Community Purim Carnival

A great afternoon of family fun, social action and delicious food and drinks is planned for the Community Purim Carnival at the Alpert Jewish Community Center on Sunday, March 17 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The public is welcome and invited to the annual carnival, which takes place outdoors at the Center’s beautiful campus at Grand Avenue and Willow Street in Long Beach. The lively carnival features more than 20 attractions.

There is no entrance gate fee. Unlimited rides and games are $20 with a donation of two cans of food or $25 without. All food donations go to the Cal State Long Beach Hillel Food Pantry. The Alpert Jewish Community Center is located at 3801 E. Willow St., Long Beach 90815. Parking (including handicap parking) is plentiful and free. For more information, call (562) 426-7601, Ext. 1035

Lincoln Club

Pete Peterson, former Republican candidate for Secretary of State, and current Dean of Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy, will be the March Lincoln Club guest speaker. Pete is a leading national speaker and writer on issues related to civic participation, and the use of technology to make government more responsive and transparent.

Please join us at noon on Thursday, March 21, at 6201 Appian Way, Long Beach. Cost is $35; please RSVP to Paul Carter at pc@lawbbc.com or by calling (562) 435-1426.

Meet Mr. Brahms

The community is invited on March 30, when Long Beach Camerata Singers and Rancho Los Alamitos present “Meet Mr. Brahms,” an interactive music-learning event focused on the vocal arts for children aged 3 to 8 years. Children will have fun while learning about melody, tempo, harmony, and conducting in this year’s Kinder Konzert.

Guests are asked to arrive no later than 10:15 a.m. as the program will start promptly at 10:30 am and will conclude by 12:30 p.m. An adult must accompany children. Tickets are held at the door and are transferable, but we are unable to issue refunds. Please call (562) 431-3541 for reservations.

This event will be held at Rancho Los Alamitos which is located at 6400 East Bixby Hill Road in Long Beach, California within the gated community of Bixby Hill and is accessed through the residential security gate at Anaheim Road and Palo Verde Avenue. Parking for the event will be at the rancho.

New Works Festival

On Friday, March 29, 2019, the Long Beach Playhouse kicks off its 29th annual New Works Festival in its Studio Theatre. Founded in 1990, it is a national competition for unproduced plays submitted by novice and veteran playwrights.

For this season’s competition, 130 plays were received and 13 made it to the finals.

This season’s winners are Shruti Gupta Can Totally Deal by J. Stephen Brantley and The Dying Declaration of Madge Oberholtzer by Raegan Payne. Both are plays that examine cultural issues in America.

The two staged readings will take place on March 29 and 30, with one script performed each night. Performances are: March 29, Stephen J. Brantley’s Shruti Gupta Can Totally Deal and March 30, Raegan Payne’s The Dying Declaration of Madge Oberholtzer. Following the presentations, a facilitated discussion is held with the audience cast and playwrights.

Tickets for the shows are $10 and can be purchased online at www.lbplayhouse.org or in person at the box office during normal business hours and before the show.

The Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA, 90804, right across from the Recreation Park golf course. For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.lbplayhouse.org or call (562) 494-1014.

Cameo Fashion Show

CAMEO Professional Auxiliary of Assistance League of Long Beach will host a professional Fashion Show and luncheon from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 30, at the Westin Long Beach. As the primary fundraiser for CAMEO’s mentoring and enrichment program, the over 550 generous individuals who attend will help deliver services and scholarships to the Long Beach Unified School District high school and Long Beach City College students who participate in the program.

Tickets are $130 and $215 each, depending on the package selected, and are available for sale now until March 20, or until the event sells out, at www.allb.org/CAMEOfashionshow or from the Assistance League of Long Beach office at 6220 E. Spring Street, Long Beach, CA 90815.

Skills 4 Care Workshop

On Saturday, March 30, Skills 4 Care will be hosting a family caregiving workshop to enable attendees to care for their loved ones with hands-on skills training.

“Greater demand is placed on families to help care for their family members,” said Tyla Clark, executive compliance coordinator with Cambrian Homecare. The workshop is offered to address the safety skills and resource knowledge needed to give the best care at home.

Skills 4 Care is a non-profit entity of Cambrian Homecare, which is sponsoring the workshop.

Speakers and topics include:

• Michael Tehrani, M.D.: “Avoiding Hospitalization -- You and Your Loved One
• Jenna Mattingly, M.S.: “Managing Behavior Symptoms of Dementia”
• Jennifer Sawday, Esq.: “Importance of a Trust and Other Legal Documents”
• Wayne Slavitt: “Home Medical Equipment 101”
• Joan Pimentel, R.N.: “Proper Transfer Techniques to Avoid Injuries”

The workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 5199 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Suite 100B, Long Beach. The $39 admission includes a free lunch, free resources and free parking. Additional guests will be $15 each. To reserve your seat, call (562) 498-1800, Ext. 217.

Based in Long Beach, Cambrian Homecare has been providing home care services in Southern California since 1996.

Primetime Players

Long Beach’s Primetime Players is presenting its 2019 Spring Show, “Puttin’ On the Ritz Follies” at the El Dorado Park Senior Center, 2800 N. Studebaker Rd. on April 2, at 12:30 p.m. and April 3, 12:30 p.m. at the Alpert Jewish Community Center, 3801 E. Willow St. Performances are free.

In the Penal Colony

Long Beach Opera (LBO) premieres Philip Glass’ In the Penal Colony in collaboration with California Repertory Company (CalRep) May 2, 3 and 4, at 7:30 p.m. at the CSULB Studio Theater, 1250 N. Bellflower Blvd. It is performed in English.

This SoCal Premiere weaves together Philip Glass’ adaptation of Franz Kafka’s short story with interviews by ‘Rising Scholars’, a group of formerly incarcerated students. By adding these authentic accounts, Director Jeff Janisheski will bring this story to the here and now with references to the U.S. prison system.

When discussing his inspirations, he said, “the more I read about the U.S. prison system the more disturbing it is.” Philip Glass on the opera: “What fascinates me in this story is the moral inversion that takes place…I think of my pocket operas as neutron bombs – small, but packing a terrific punch.” Artistic and General Director Andreas Mitisek said, “We always look for stories that make us explore the world around us, known and unknown.”

In the Penal Colony: An explorer visits an island where blind conformity has no rational connection between crime and punishment. Witness the internal conflict of the innocent bystander: to act or to do nothing.

Tickets for In the Penal Colony range from $49 to $150, and can be purchased either by calling the LBO Box Office at (562) 470-7464 Ext. 1 or by going online to LongBeachOpera.org/tickets.