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STAR W E E K L Y
Cast of “Lovesport”
PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID Desert Hot Springs, CA
Mayor Richard Balocco, Roger Federer, Jean-Laurent Bonnafe, Stan Wawrenka and Tommy Haas see page 2. Photo by Pat Krause
PERMIT NO 00005
March 22, 2017 Vol. 10 No. 23
“Lovesport”
New Comedy from Desert Ensemble Theatre in Palm Springs By Jack Lyons Theatre and Film Critic Tony Padilla, awardwinning playwright/director, and Founding Producing Artistic Director of Desert Ensemble Theatre, for years preferred the shorter, one-act format
to tell his stories. When he finally did branch out into two act plays I think he found his groove. Padilla has covered a broad spectrum of genres and subject matter over the last ten years, winning accolades and awards along the way for himself and for the actors who perform in his productions. His compelling 2016
drama “Endangered Species”, explored how human beings react differently to incidents and situations outside their comfort zones, and once again won awards for the production. It is one that still remains with me as an example of Padilla’s insight into the human condition. In his latest comedy play “Lovesport”, now performing
Story and Photos by Pat Krause Opening night on March 18th at the 12th Annual Fashion Week was exciting as always. Frank Jones from Palm Springs Life Magazine explained they made the runway longer to accommodate all the 800 plus customers for viewing. The new runway is 100 feet long. The models have less than 3 minutes to make a clothing change. The evening started with a Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony where Mayor Jan Harnik cut the ribbon with Jaishri and Raju Mehta, presenting sponsors from El Paseo Jewelers, and Rancho Mirage
council woman Kathleen Kelly as part of the event. Hundreds of people enjoyed the cocktail hour with music by DJ Alf Alpha, who played up-tempo music to get the crowd in the mood for the night. The guests come dressed up for this stylish event. Women wore long skirts, gowns and very chic outfits. Even the men got into the theme of fashion with hats, fitted designer shirts, leather and colorful jackets. This stylish crowd comes from all over the U.S. for this Fashion Week that gets larger each year and is known as a premier event. Opening night saw three
designers of various tastes showing their creations. Christopher Bates presented his men’s casual and business attire. The women were all smiles as these handsome models dressed very stylized men’s clothing. The men were talking among themselves about their likes of each design. The second designer was Adam Lippes, and his designs had the women clapping and the men oohing. This was all unique and wearable clothing. The third designer of the night was Mikael D. showing his collection of dresses that
Fashion Week El Paseo
Continues on Page 2
on the Pearl McManus Theatre stage at the Palm Springs Woman’s Club, Padilla takes a look at gay marriage from the point of view of one couple who took the marriage plunge and one couple that didn’t. Everyone under forty in America, no matter your orientation, it seems, can relate to this issue. Guess
what? To tie the legal knot or to leave one’s status to the interpretive whims of today’s society, for example, to shackup or not, is now a non-issue in many social circles. The story centers around the twenty-five-year married couple Josh (Jerome Elliott) Continues on Page 19
Models show Mikael D Designs. Photo by Pat Krause