05-25-15

The Convention Center of the Future : 6 Reviewing ‘The Who’s Tommy’ at East West Players : 14

MAY 25, 2015 I VOL. 44 I #21

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TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS ing relationship with IHG, who share in our vision and support for the revitalization of Downtown L.A.” The hotel at 899 Francisco St. is being designed by architecture firm Gensler, with interior design from Hirsch Bedner Associates.

Hotel Indigo Coming to Metropolis Project in South Park

$250 Million Soccer Stadium Proposed for Exposition Park

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onstruction at the Metropolis mega-project just north of L.A. Live is steaming ahead, with the first phase, composed of a 38-story condominium tower and an 18-story hotel, on track to be finished by the end of 2016. Developer Greenland USA last week announced that Hotel Indigo, the boutique arm of the InterContinental Hotels Group brand, will operate the 350-room hotel in the overall $1 billion project. While specific details have not been disclosed, a Greenland press release said the hotel will aim to reflect “the culture, character and history” of Downtown Los Angeles, with references to the pre-Hollywood nightlife scene and Jazz Age speakeasies, among other aspects of the past. “Hotel Indigo is a well-respected and sought-after boutique brand that embodies the unique experience we intend to provide to those who visit Downtown Los Angeles,” Greenland USA CEO I-Fei Chang said in a prepared statement. “We have a long-stand-

owntown is not getting a football stadium anytime soon, but there may be a fútbol stadium on the way. Last week, the owners of the Major League Soccer expansion franchise the Los Angeles Football Club announced plans to build a $250 million, 22,000-seat facility on the current site of the Sports Arena in Exposition Park. The Gensler-designed stadium would include roughly 100,000 square feet of space for restaurants, offices and a soccer museum. “We are committed to making our home in South Los Angeles and to be part of the phenomenal development happening along the Figueroa Corridor that extends to Downtown Los Angeles,” Henry Nguyen, head of the LAFC ownership group, said in a prepared statement. The LAFC team has until the end of July to meet with the Coliseum Commission and the City Council to achieve a “series of benchmarks,” according to a press release.

No money from the city’s general fund would

May 25, 2015

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be used for the stadium, although the club will seek “funding opportunities” on city and state levels. The ownership group includes Earvin “Magic” Johnson, self-help author Tony Robbins, former Dodger player Nomar Garciaparra and soccer star Mia Hamm.

Carol Schatz & Mayors

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May 25, 2015

EDITORIALS

Outrage Should Be Not Just About a Skid Row Shooting, But That Skid Row Still Exists

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n the past few months, many people have expressed outrage over the shooting of a homeless man in Skid Row by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department. There have been repeated calls, by advocates for the homeless and others, for the department to make public the March 1 video from cameras worn by the cops to show what led to the death of 43-year-old Charly Leundeu Keunang. The police have said Keunang tried to grab an officer’s gun.

We understand the outrage on all sides, including the call to make the video public. However, in one regard, the outrage is too limited.

Where, we ask, is the outrage over the fact that Skid Row exists, that people continue to live in filth on city sidewalks?

Where is the outrage that so many addicted and mentally ill have been essentially sequestered in one impoverished portion of Downtown Los Angeles, where they are preyed upon by drug dealers and are victimized by other criminals? Where is the outrage over the fact that the city long nurtured a policy to contain the homeless in a single, compact neighborhood (by locating the majority of shelters and other services there)? Where is the outrage that, for decades, people in the rest of Los Angeles County were able to pretend the matter was someone else’s problem to solve?

The killing of Keunang was tragic, but a deeper, more pervasive tragedy is that Skid Row exists and that it has become accepted as a part of life in modern Los Angeles.

This issue comes up again not only because of the death of Keunang, but because of the recently released homeless count conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. It showed a 12% increase in homelessness in both the

Urban Scrawl by Doug Davis

city and the county in just two years. Predictably, local leaders have released statements about the need for change, but we are not seeing the outrage that will turn things around.

The worsening homeless crisis is frightening for two rea-

The killing of Charly Leundeu Keunang was tragic, but a deeper, more pervasive tragedy is that Skid Row exists and that it has become accepted as a part of life in modern Los Angeles. sons. First, the increase in the number of people living in shelters, their cars, or on the streets in tents or makeshift encampments is being attributed to causes such as the high rents in Los Angeles. By all indications, housing is only going to get more expensive, and there is a severe shortage of af-

fordable residences.

The second frightening element concerns what has been noted in the past in Los Angeles Downtown News and beyond — there is not just a spike in homelessness, but an increase in the number of individuals on the streets who suffer from severe mental illness, to the point that some of them pose a danger to themselves and others.

This demands outrage, broad-based and countywide, from citizens as well as elected officials.

Although it was widely overlooked in the media coverage of the LAHSA report, we also find it shocking that almost one in four homeless individuals in the city lives in the district that includes Skid Row. As Los Angeles Downtown News reported last week, the count found that the 14th District, which covers most of Downtown, has 6,292 homeless people, up from 5,500 two years ago. The citywide homeless population was put at 25,686 (for the entire county, the figure was 44,359, an increase from 39,461 in 2013).

People have been paying more attention to homelessness in the past year or so, as encampments have sprouted beyond the traditional hubs of Downtown and, to a lesser but alarming extent, Venice. One new bit of outrage was expressed last month, when City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana issued a report that said the city spends about $100 million on homelessness each year, but without a coordinated system for addressing the problem.

In response, a group of councilmembers formed a committee to confront the issue. Forming a committee is what politicians always do when faced with public wrath. We will remain less than excited until we see tangible results from their efforts to fix a problem they have known about for decades.

Then came the LAHSA count. Taken with Santana’s report, it’s like getting hit with a double-barreled shotgun. We don’t use gun imagery lightly, but when so much public money is being spent and the problem is worsening, it merits such an allusion.

It’s good that high-ranking city officials are talking about the issue. Still, to be truly credible the approach must be powered by the kind of outrage that prompts action. This is going to require money and a fight for resources. It is going to take time, and politicians likely won’t get the headlines that are generated when they give speeches at the opening of a fancy project. However, this is both a moral issue and an economic one — housing people, treating their physical and mental illnesses and stabilizing their lives ultimately costs less than an endless stream of emergency room visits or jail time. Many can even be reintegrated into mainstream society.

As the process moves forward, people should remember that this isn’t just an increasing number of homeless individuals, but a reflection of a decreasing quality of life for thousands of people. We’re talking about the kind of spiral that leads to someone living on the streets where he or she could wind up in a deadly confrontation with police, or where the individual could harm him or herself, or someone else.

We don’t know what personal issues and troubles Keunang faced in his life and we don’t know if those played a part in precipitating what happened with the officers, but we do know that living on the dirty streets in an area with few support systems is likely to have made his situation worse.

Skid Row misery begets more and deeper misery, and many people stuck there are at their worst. In any case, what remains outrageous is that Keunang was just one of thousands of people mired on the streets of Skid Row. Until the situation changes and people in large numbers can be gotten into treatment that includes housing, Los Angeles runs the risk of more such deadly encounters.

May 25, 2015

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Winners, Losers and Oddities From the Wage Hike Battle A Rookie Labor Leader Scores, the Business Community Gets Rolled and a Mayor-Council Smackdown

By Jon Regardie n Tuesday, May 19, the Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 to raise the minimum wage in the city to $15 an hour by 2020 (small businesses get an extra year).

I’d say the thumbs-up counts as news, except that no one was surprised.

Really, since Sept. 1, 2014, the day Mayor Eric Garcetti proposed boosting private-sector pay in the city to $13.25 an hour

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THE REGARDIE REPORT by 2017, it has been a question not of if a wage hike would pass, but rather of when, how high it would go and what ancillary elements would be included. This was a forgone conclusion, just like knowing the NBA would rig the recent draft lottery so the Lakers get a top two pick next month.

Still, there were some interesting elements along the way, and the results have provided a few winners and losers, as well as some sniping and sneakiness. Here’s a scorecard.

Winner: Low-Wage Workers: About a year ago you didn’t need to be Nostradamus to know that a wage hike would eventually pass in Los Angeles. A pay boost for hotel workers had already been approved and moves were taking place in cities such as San Francisco and Seattle. Business leaders including Eli Broad and Rick Caruso had stepped forward to opine that L.A. needs to help move people out of poverty.

Still, the approval of a 66.6% spike to $15 an hour — the current state minimum wage is $9 an hour — in such a short time period was shocking. It was only nine-and-half months, or about as long as it takes to cook a baby, from the Garcetti announce-

ment to the council vote.

Now everyone from garment workers to big box-store employees to ice cream scoopers will be, if not rolling in green, then making at least enough to almost afford a meal at an Arts District restaurant.

Loser: Business Groups: While some wage hike details such as what happens to tipped employees still have to be ironed out, one thing is clear: The Los Angeles business community got rolled in this process.

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the Central City Association and the Valley Industry & Commerce Association usually have serious heft at City Hall, and they probably remain forces to be reckoned with on many issues. Yet on the minimum wage hike they got nowhere, with the elected crowd a) deciding that this was a moral issue, b) getting a hefty push in the back from organized labor and c) seeing momentum in laws passed in other cities.

This ended up as the most one-sided beatdown since 1995, when a fresh-out-of-prison Mike Tyson dispatched a schlub named Peter McNeely in 89 seconds. McNeely was defenseless against Tyson’s steamroller approach. It was the same thing for the business bigwigs.

McNeely, by the way, earned $540,000 for the fight, or slightly less than a council member makes in three years, and what someone earning $15 an hour would get for working 40 hours a week every week (no vacations) for 17 1/2 years.

Winner: Rusty Hicks: Last year, Maria Elena Durazo, the uberpowerful boss of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, stepped down. She was replaced by Rusty Hicks, a mili-

photo by Gary Leonard

Mayor Eric Garcetti ignited the effort to boost the minimum wage in Los Angeles, with a September 2014 announcement that he wanted people in the city to earn $13.25 an hour by 2017. The City Council notched the figure even higher, and workers will make $15 an hour by 2020.

tary veteran who served in Afghanistan, and who since 2006 has been the County Fed’s political director.

Talk about a baptism by fire. Things were lined up pretty well for Hicks, but he still played a strong game, building effective alliances, rallying support, arguing persuasively at public forums and — this is important — not screwing up. In these kinds of campaigns anything can go wrong.

Hicks avoided mistakes and showed a firm, confident hand.

Continued on page 20

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Three Designs Revealed For Convention Center Overhaul Architectural Teams Unveil Competing Approaches to $500 Million Renovation

By Eddie Kim lthough Farmers Field, and the accompanying Anschutz Entertainment Group plan to upgrade the Los Angeles Convention Center, is dead, the city is still looking for ways to expand and modernize the facility so it can compete with other regional venues for lucrative trade shows. The city last year began working on a proposal, known as Plan B, in case the AEG project did not come to fruition.

In October, the city picked three architectural teams, composed of two firms each, to brainstorm how to add space to the Convention Center while also turning the existing property into a state-ofthe-art destination. The three teams’ designs had to come in with a budget of $350 million (the ultimate budget, with all ancillary fees, is expected to be up to $500 million).

On Wednesday, May 20, the teams of Populous and HMC, Gensler and Lehrer, and AC Martin and LMN released their designs. City officials are now looking at the proposals to determine schedules, how much new space each design would create and more precise cost estimates. The city is aiming to pick a finalist by July, said Bud Ovrom, executive director of the Los Angeles Convention Center, although there is no required deadline for the selection.

“This is still a city project so at the end of the day we could pick team A but ask for a feature from team B’s design and another from team C, to an extent,” Ovrom said at a May 20 meeting.

Below are details and designs from each firm. Plans and models are also available for public viewing at the Convention Center, in Room 403A, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through June 4. eddie@downtownnews.com Continued on page 8

A

May 25, 2015

Future Vision: The design from Populous and HMC has a bold and futuristic appeal, with a colorful plaza leading to a redesigned West Hall and an open-air “outdoor ballroom” up a grand staircase. A separate ballroom on the top level would have a grid of skylights, akin to that of the upcoming Broad museum on Bunker Hill, and terraces offering views of Downtown Los Angeles.

The 100,000-square-foot ballroom could also be broken into nearly 30 different meeting spaces.

The most significant component of the design would be the creation of meeting spaces over and along Pico Boulevard. The expansion would connect the South Hall to the West Hall while creating an airy avenue for cars and pedestrians below.

The plan also envisions new landscaping in the Figueroa Street-adjacent Gilbert Lindsay Plaza and a large “green wall” along the 110 Freeway to reduce air pollution and, according to the firms, “lower urban heat island impacts.”

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convention center, 6

A West Hall Focus: The AC Martin/LMN design would not create an expansion over Pico, but simply keep the existing concourse hall and focus much of the $500 million budget on the older West Hall. It would be expanded with indoor/outdoor elements, and the hall’s facade would gain pod-like articulations that serve as both private meeting spaces and public gathering areas. An esplanade would run along the hall, connecting Pico Boulevard with Chick Hearn Court.

The jewel of the AC Martin/LMN plan is a ballroom on top of the West Hall. It would create a long indoor-outdoor space with operable glass walls and large terraces on both ends of the room. It would offer commanding views of Downtown and the rest of the city to the west.

Crisp and Sleek: The Gensler/Lehrer design also focuses on the connection between the South Hall and the West Hall, creating meeting space that bridges over Pico Boulevard. Unlike the courtyard-like design of Populous/HMC’s Pico structure, this building would have large “light tunnels” that penetrate down through the exhibition space and illuminate Pico. A ballroom and plaza would sit at the top of the Pico expansion.

A renovated concourse with a new promenade and outdoor decks would serve as a central gathering area and improve access from Figueroa Street and Gilbert Lindsay Plaza.

Overall, Gensler/Lehrer has taken the opposite aesthetic approach of Populous/HMC, sticking with a utilitarian design that favors crisp angles, sleek metalwork and lots of glass. photos by Eddie Kim

photos by Eddie Kim

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May 25, 2015

A Buzz Over Office Space Office Giant Brookfield Taps Architecture Firms to Create Modern Offices. Expect Open Space and Even a Yoga Room

By Heidi Kulicke ne of the biggest trends in the working world these days is “creative office space.”

The term applies to the shirking of the cubicle farm in exchange for spaces with shared work areas, decor reminiscent of a hip residential loft and, sometimes, a paperless approach. In Downtown Los Angeles, it is most often seen in places like the Arts District or transformed older structures such as the PacMutual building.

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en Downtown skyscrapers, thinks the approach should apply to Bunker Hill and Financial District office towers, too. The company last week unveiled DesignHive, a series of showcase suites that seek to reveal how even no-frills, white-collar law, banking and investment firms could think differently in the modern age.

“These spaces not only appeal to the creative and tech industries, they appeal to our traditional service firm clients as well,” said Bert Dezzutti, the executive vice president for Brookfield’s Western U.S. properties.

DesignHive, which opened Tuesday, May 19, features six suites, each 3,500-4,500 square feet, designed by the architecture firms Gensler, SAA, Interior Architects, Rottet Studio, Unispace and Wolcott. Three are in Brookfield’s Wells Fargo Tower and three are in the Gas Company Tower.

The suites are all markedly different, though each employs open areas to foster collaboration. Brookfield gave the six firms a budget and a type of tenant. The rest was left up to the designers. Here’s a look with what they came up with: n Gensler designed “the law firm of the future,” said Ray Irmer, an associate with the firm. The space has a concierge-style reception desk, meeting rooms and both open and private workstations to spark collaboration, Irmer said.

Gensler spoke with its legal clients to determine their needs in office design, he added.

photos by Zach Lipp Photography

Brookfield Office Properties’ DesignHive features six interpretations of the modern office space. A suite designed by the architecture firm Wolcott features a loft with oversized pillows, pod structures similar to a teepee and a yoga room.

n Charged with creating a space for a boutique trading and investment firm, SAA employed a purple and gold color scheme, which company CEO Nelson Algaze said reflects themes of wealth and power. The suite includes Italianate wall coverings and a chandelier over a bar. There is also a framed painting of the goddess Fortuna.

“This space reflects wealth creation and opportunity in a dream-like atmosphere,” said Algaze.

n Interior Architects was told to design a space for tenants in the technology/consulting sector. It features a workspace with lightweight furniture that can easily be moved around to encourage collaboration. The minimalist design includes little distraction and practically no walls. Instead, the space is open and communal. n When asked to create an office for a fashion media tenant, Rottet Studio took inspiration from a huge Frank Stella mural on a building

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Downtown News 11

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The suite from Unispace has projections of workplace configurations and a mural of the earth’s atmosphere and clouds.

There is also a break area with a Nintendo Wii.

visible through the windows. Rottet installed a custom wall art covering to complement the mural. When it came to furniture, designers took a modern approach, using Ikea furniture or tables set atop a Styrofoam base. n The firm Unispace took its mission to create space for a cloud-based computing company literally — the room features hanging ceiling raindrop sculptures and a mural of the earth’s atmosphere and clouds. The suite is an artistic metaphor on the cloud and its transformation of the modern workplace,

said designer Ben Heyd.

The space includes a break area with a Nintendo Wii and a glass phone booth to make private calls. A laser floor projection showcases several furniture workspace configurations. n The final firm, Wolcott, also was charged with creating space for a law firm, though one targeting the younger generation. “Our goal was to give them something in the office they can’t get at home or at Starbucks,” said A.J. Wilder, president of Wolcott.

The space offers informal hangout areas, in-

Rottet Studios took inspiration from a Frank Stella mural and pushed collaboration in an open space.

cluding a loft with oversized pillows and two pod structures similar to a teepee. The suite also has plants, eco-friendly meeting rooms and even a yoga room.

Dezzutti said the goal is to find a tenant for each space. Although he acknowledged that creative, non-traditional businesses are often drawn to historic buildings in up-and-coming areas, he cited San Francisco and Seattle as cities where creatives are moving into the urban core.

“We’ve seen the shift in other cities and

we believe Los Angeles is next,” Dezzutti said.

“We’re changing the environment and creating a place where people want to work.”

While pushing the future, Dezzutti isn’t ready to chuck the past. He noted that the cubicle isn’t dead just yet, and the need for a permanent, small space for certain workers remains.

The goal in modern office design, he said, is to figure out when that is needed, and how to make it function in an increasingly collaborative environment. heidi@downtownnews.com

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May 25, 2015

The Dance of Their Lives High Schools Find That Downtown Is a Perfect Place for Prom

By Donna Evans owntown is no stranger to special events. It has hosted NBA All-Star Games, the 2000 Democratic National Convention and numerous red-carpet film premieres. Its sidewalks have teemed with angry protestors and victory parades.

Crowds also come to a handful of Downtown locations each spring, and while they are nearly as celebratory as any championship parade, the glitzy happenings are overlooked by all but the attendees and their parents.

Now, once again, it’s prom season.

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, the Omni Los Angeles Hotel and Union Station will host approximately 30 formal high school dances between them this spring, drawing kids from all over the region (proms also take place at some other Downtown venues). With casino tables, photo booths, light shows and food trucks, today’s end-of-the-year dance has graduated from an event held in a crepe paper-decorated gymnasium.

There may be prom committees at individual schools, but when it comes to events in fancy Downtown Los Angeles locations, many bring in professionals.

“We work with the kids all year long, help them with fundraising and marketing strategies,” said Brady Westbrook, owner of the Inland Empire’s Props Productions, which books approximately half of its 25 proms a year in Downtown. “We love going all out. We feel like their event is our event.”

Westbrook said the teens are drawn to Downtown’s historic buildings, which offer an air of elegance to their fancy evening. Westbrook charges $65-$85 per person and wrangles entertainment. He has seen proms with henna tattoo booths, caricature artists, balloon sculptors, video games and food trucks.

On a recent Saturday evening, Westbrook’s handiwork was evident at Union Station. The historic rail depot was filled with thumping music and a laser light show. The prom for 400 students from Chino High School utilized the soaring ticket concourse and the Art Deco Fred Harvey Room (a former restaurant, now used as an events space, which is slated to become, again, a restaurant). Between the two rooms, white lounge sofas lined either side of a red carpet while card tables and a roulette wheel awaited the students.

Rather than riding in limousines or party buses, most of the students arrived on a Metrolink

D

AROUND TOWN, 2 annual Dwell on Design returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center. The 10th installment of the event, which runs Friday-Sunday, May 29-31, is organized by Dwell magazine and showcases the best of modern design.

Approximately 30,000 people are expected to attend, where they will peruse more than 400 booths with upwards of 2,000 products.

Approximately 250 speakers from the design world can be seen on three stages over the course of the weekend. Other highlights include five full-scale prefabricated homes, international and cultural pavilions, and a student design gallery. Prices range from $30-

train from Montclair. For some of the teens, it was a new way to travel.

“I rode the train at Knott’s Berry Farm once,” said 19-year-old tuxedo-clad Kevin Heatherton.

He and his 17-year-old date, Carissa Ramirez, enjoyed watching the changing scenery during the 30-mile trek, as well as hearing their classmates chatter excitedly about the biggest dance of the school year.

Chino senior Ismael Marin, and his girlfriend of 18 months, Monserrat Renteria, walked arm-in-arm down the main concourse, marveling at the beauty of the building. However, it wasn’t only architecture that got the couple, and the rest of the students, excited: Food was being served from an In-NOut Burger truck.

Sporting a bowtie and suspenders with his black button-down and charcoal pants, Marin, 17, focused on his burger and fries while 18-year-old Renteria considered the significance of the event.

“We’re making memories. This is our senior year,” she said, fiddling with the rose on her wrist corsage. “All of this, the location, the food, the dancing, is making it a memorable night.”

The school was paying $6,000 for the Fred Harvey Room, $7,500 for the ticket concourse, and roughly $1,000 for the arcade between the two. There were additional fees for the event planner and the food.

Hotel Stay Other Downtown venues that host proms include the Biltmore, which does about 10 of them per year. The Financial District hotel has actually been hosting proms since it opened more than 90 years ago, said Sari Rose, the hotel’s catering sales manager.

Many prom attendees later find themselves back at the hotel for professional functions, weddings and baby showers, Rose said. “Not a month goes by that we aren’t told by an adult guest or client that they attended a high school prom here at the Biltmore and will never forget the experience,” she said.

Multiple hotel ballrooms are available, and guests can pick a three-course plated or buffet dinner and an unlimited soft drink bar. Clients can tap outside planners for different types of entertainment.

Over at the Omni, catering sales manager Linda Brown said the hotel averages six to 10 proms a year. Entertainment and decor range from simple and elegant to elaborately themed, including gilded birdcages and Eiffel Tower

$395. Information and tickets are at dwellondesign.com.

Last Chance to Vote for the Best of Downtown

A

nyone who has a favorite Downtown restaurant, bar, store or business, and who wants said establishment to be recognized by the world, has only a few more days to speak up. That is because voting for Los Angeles Downtown News’ annual Best Of Downtown readers’ poll closes on Sunday, May 31. There are more than 130 categories available at votebestof.com, with options including Best Performing Arts Venue, Best Nail Salon and Best

photos by Gary Leonard

About 400 students from Chino High School attended a recent Saturday night prom in Union Station. The students celebrated in the old Fred Harvey restaurant and the historic ticket concourse. Shown are (clockwise from upper left) Alexandra Garcia, Ismael Marin and Monserrat Renteria, and Kevin Heatherton and Carissa Ramirez.

props, she said. Packages run $74-$84 per person and include three-course dinners with unlimited soft drinks, security, banquet staff, tables and chairs, a dance floor and linens.

While the Omni hosts all manner of special events throughout the year, there is something special about putting on a prom, Brown said.

“I enjoy working with the prom committees,” she said. “They are organized, poised, collaborative, and you can see the teens developing

Bookstore. Voting is free, and anyone who participates can be entered into a drawing to win prizes including an iPad Mini, gift cards and a package built around a two-night stay at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel. The Best of Downtown winners will be published on July 27.

Talk About the Future of Seventh Street

T

he Seventh Street corridor is becoming increasingly important for business and leisure, with the shopping complex The Bloc nearing completion and the Wilshire Grand tower rising. The new projects have spurred the city to look at improving Seventh be-

into future leaders through the prom planning process.”

Back at Union Station on Saturday night, some couples hung out in the ticket concourse with their Double Doubles while others spun the roulette wheel or donned a Mexican sombrero and oversized sunglasses for the photo booth. Through it all the music was loud, the neon lasers flashed, and it was clear that 400 kids were participating in an event they’d remember forever.

tween Figueroa and Olive streets, and initial proposals include elements such as wider sidewalks, protected bike lanes, transit platforms and diagonal crosswalks. A public meeting on the project, funded with $9.175 million from the developer of the Wilshire Grand replacement, takes place Wednesday, May 27, from 5-7 p.m. at 700 S. Flower St., Suite 2600 (in the offices of the Ratkovich Company). The discussion will hone in on what new features the renovation should create (the project includes connections to City West on Seventh Street and Wilshire Boulevard). For more information, email City Planner Nicholas Maricich at nicholas.maricich@ lacity.org or call the Wilshire Grand outreach team at (213) 550-1878.

Downtown News 13

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

DT

CALENDAR

tripping on time and technology

Los Angeles writer and director Lars Jan employs 3D laser mapping technology in the show The Institute of Memory (TIMe). The 90-minute work, which documents privacy violations through the eyes of Jan’s late father, has its world premiere this week at REDCAT.

Lars Jan Mines Privacy, a Secretive Father and 3D Scanning for ‘The Institute of Memory’

By Heidi Kulicke n 2015, the term “privacy” is practically a joke. Online activity and phone calls can be monitored. Facebook and other companies mine and sell personal data and spending habits to advertisers. Google knows your exact location.

It is an issue not just for privacy advocates, but also artists.

The idea of where personal space begins and ends in the digital world is the subject of The Institute of Memory (TIMe), a 90-minute multimedia performance by Lars Jan and his company Early Morning Opera.

TIMe is an intersection of theater, film and new media technology. The show from the Los Angeles-based company will have its world premiere at REDCAT on Thursday-Sunday, May 28-31.

Mark Murphy, executive director of REDCAT, the avant-garde performance space in the back of Walt Disney Concert Hall, said Jan has found a new way to approach theater and tell a story. In other words, don’t expect to sit back and watch a conventional narrative with actors talking on stage.

“Lars is exploring some personal and also universal themes and using some interesting new 3D mapping technology to do it,” Murphy said. “That is an experiment worth supporting.”

REDCAT and the CalArts Center for New Performance commissioned the project in partnership with contemporary art institutions in Boston, Portland, Ore. and Poland.

The production features two performers, original music, advanced 3D imagery, an LED-lined set and a collage of text outlining the evolution of privacy and personal memory. It is filtered through the lens of Jan’s estranged, privacy-obsessed father, Henryk Ryniewicz.

“He wouldn’t tell me where he was from, if he had any family,” Jan said of the man who became a father at age 57. “He had dif-

I

ferent birth places on various documents. He was an enigma.”

Jan said he spent “a few hours a month” with his father from the ages of 4 to 14, then lost touch. Years later, when he knocked on his father’s door in Boston, he learned that Ryniewicz had passed away.

Trips to Poland Jan, who lives in Echo Park, got support on the show from the Polish cultural events website Culture.pl, which helped him conduct research into his father’s life.

Jan would come to learn that Ryniewicz had been a Cold War intelligence operative with ties to the CIA as well as a McCarthy-era anti-communist speaker. Before coming to the U.S., he fought for the Polish resistance in World War II. Jan took two research trips to Poland where he dug up records that shed light on his father’s past. He found files on Ryniewicz that existed through government surveillance, as well as military and medical records, photos and letters.

Some were stored at the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw, which offers public access to archives once kept secret by the Nazis, who used Polish informants beginning in 1939 to spy on their own family and friends.

“My father was very much a creature of the 20th century,” Jan said. “He was taught to hold on to his personal information with extreme vigor and keep it private, even from his own son.”

The show is a mix of past and present. Artist Andrew Schneider took a mid 20th-century typewriter and adapted it into a machine that emits light and sound as different keys are punched.

The typewriter is contrasted by emerging technology in the form of laser scanning, said Early Morning Opera video designer Pablo Molina, an Arts District resident who oversaw the interactive design and technology innovation on the project.

Molina and Jan came across laser scanning technology normally utilized by the architecture and engineering industries to scan a room to create a 3D model. They scanned rooms and objects, then manipulated them digitally. The result is an onstage image that has a 3D, almost holographic appearance.

“We’re breaking away from the traditional use of this technology,” Molina said. “We’re showcasing it as the evolution of documentation technology.”

Of course, TIMe has a natural tie to modern issues of record keeping, digital eavesdropping and sharing of material. Jan acknowledges that there are shades of Edward Snowden and the National Security Administration that make these topics more relevant now than ever before.

“The government has access to our private information. Everything is tracked and monitored,” Jan said. “Many people don’t register that as a concern, which is totally different from my dad’s era.”

“The show explores what it means to live in a world where your body or bedroom can be laser scanned, or tracked on your phone or online,” Molina said. “It contrasts the world Lars’ dad lived in to the world we live in now.”

TIMe speaks to a world of ever-changing technology and how the future of remembering changes by the second. It reminds us that life is more than just pixels, tweets or Facebook “likes.” According to Jan, it’s about making and keeping memories worthy of holding onto physically, maybe even a hard-copy photo or handwritten letter.

The Institute of Memory (TIMe) runs May 28-31 at REDCAT, 631 W. Second St., (213) 237-2800 or redcat.org. heidi@downtownnews.com

! dtowWnNein s/L.Aan eok.U k Li ws wn .Do com ebo Fac Like Downtown News on Facebook & Be Entered to Win Movie Tickets!

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May 25, 2015

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May 25, 2015

See It, Feel It, Touch It East West Players Brings a High-Octane ‘Tommy’ to Little Tokyo

By Jeff Favre ach generation, innovators who push beyond the aural and visual norms redefine what’s considered art.

A prime example is The Who’s Tommy. As the first hit “rock opera,” it set a standard in 1969 for electric guitarand-drum-driven scores.

Likewise, East West Players in its half century has set a standard for Asian American theater companies. Artistic Director Tim Dang celebrated that legacy during the opening night of its Tommy revival by listing current and upcoming TV and Broadway productions featuring East West alumni.

For this big-budget blitz, EWP brought its A game — technically and with its performances — to Pete Townshend’s visionary but wildly uneven work, overcoming the mostly monochromatic music that too frequently overshadows the show’s few wonderful songs. Sharply directed by Snehal Desai, the two-hour, twoact Tommy runs through June 7 at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Little Tokyo.

Tommy, at its core, remains a concept album open to interpretation. The 1975 movie adaptation directed by Ken Russell, and then the 1992 Broadway debut with a book by Townshend and Des McAnuff, forced a clunky plot onto the minimal lyrics.

Tommy’s on-stage success depends on going big, and Desai does exactly that — Dang recently told Los Angeles Downtown News that the show’s $275,000 budget is the largest in EWP’s history. It’s a visual feast, with non-stop projections created by Sean Cawelti combined with a visual overload from lighting designer Karyn Lawrence.

The effects mask much of the musical shortcomings, as does the six-piece band placed backstage. Townshend, in his early 20s when he wrote Tommy (Who members John Entwistle and Keith Moon added a bit of material) relied heavily on simplistic and similar guitar riffs, many of which serve as little more than filler.

E

photo by Gary Leonard

Joseph Morales (upper left) is a powerhouse as the title character in East West Players’ version of The Who’s Tommy. It runs through June 7.

It’s fortunate in this case that the 17-person cast is loaded with more than enough talent to breathe life into those sections, in particular the charismatic powerhouse Joseph Morales as the teenage and adult title character (there are actually three versions of Tommy. In addition to Morales, two toddlers take turns portraying a very young Tommy, and Michayla Brown is a prepubescent Tommy).

Desai’s version of Tommy, unlike the 1992 interpretation, doesn’t open during World War II, but rather in the 1960s, with Vietnam and the youth movement as the backdrop. Tommy’s dad, Mr. Simpson (Marius Beltran), leaves his pregnant wife (Caitlyn Calfas) to fight in the war. He is captured and presumed

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dead. Tommy’s mother begins a new relationship, but when her husband unexpectedly returns, a fight between the two men breaks out. Simpson kills the lover.

The parents then tell their 4-year-old he saw and heard nothing, which turns Tommy into the “deaf, dumb and blind boy” made famous in song. He is also abused by his Uncle Ernie (Parvesh Cheena) and cousin Kevin (Ryan Castellino), and ridiculed by pretty much everyone else.

The twist, known by most everyone whether or not they’ve seen Tommy, is that he finds an escape through pinball, explained with the show’s major hit, “Pinball Wizard.” The song reportedly was written as a mainstream pop-style addition, and it shows, because it’s one of the only numbers that is both catchy and memorable.

Desai has added Asian touches to the story without altering the plot, such as incorporating shadow puppets. There are also hints in some of Jenny Foldenauer’s costumes.

Desai deftly handles the abuse scenes, using animal masks and foreboding shadows to create a creepy atmosphere without miming violence. During most scenes, projected images of Tommy looking into the mirror, combined with a rainbow of flashing lights, provide a trippy, dreamlike state, which helps convey his perspective.

Cheena succeeds in the difficult task of providing some dark humor as the evil Uncle Ernie, and his vamping during “Tommy’s Holiday Camp” is wickedly funny. The anchor, though, is Morales, whose vocal range during Tommy’s second act transformation is captivating.

Desai’s direction is controlled mania, which makes it easier to overlook the compositional shortcomings, because so much is going on at once.

Still, choosing The Who’s Tommy for this golden anniversary is odd, particularly when EWP is the city’s de facto caretaker of the Stephen Sondheim canon, having produced his celebrated musicals a dozen times.

That said, the money, time and effort spent to make this highoctane production a reality is clear and impressive.

The Who’s Tommy runs through June 7 at East West Players, 120 Judge John Aiso St., (213) 625-7000 or eastwestplayers.org.

May 25, 2015

Downtown News 15

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

DT

CALENDAR LISTINGS EVENTS

Dance in Chinatown, the Future of Classical Music and Hello Kitty Says Goodbye

SPONSORED LISTINGS

By Dan Johnson | calendar@downtownnews.com

Sounds of LA 333 S. Grand Ave. or artsbrookfield.com/event/ soundsofla_wfc Arts Brookfield presents the free lunchtime concert series Sounds of LA at the Wells Fargo Center. The shows feature Quetzal Guerrero on May 27, Moonchild on June 3 and Iliana on June 10.

Blue Whale 123 Astronaut E. S. Onizuka St., (213) 620-0908 or bluewhalemusic.com.

May 25: Scrote and Friends.

May 26: Brent Carter Group featuring Bob Reynolds.

May 27: Cathy Segal Garcia.

May 28: Kamasi Washington Group.

May 29-30: Matt Stevens Group.

May 31: Vardan Ovsepian Chamber Ensemble.

Bootleg Bar 2220 Beverly Blvd., (213) 389-3856 or bootlegtheater.org.

May 25, 7 p.m.: With no event description whatsoever, we can only assume that Ladies Rock Camp Showcase 2015 is involved in some spiritual, mental or physiological way with the legacy of Linda Ronstadt.

May 25, 8:30 p.m.: It’s your last chance to see May residents Golden Coast before they continue playing shows in LA. May 27, 8 p.m.: I paused Ozzy Osborne’s classic track “No More Continued on next page

Mae Koo photo by

cussion of imaginary friends reat news Downtown: Today’s dis rapist! Venezuela’s Los doesn’t have to involve your the into L.A. Live’s Conga Room Amigos Invisibles are dropping ly curious, the Latin Grammy on Friday, May 29. Always sonical z, funk and disco since 1995. winners have been fusing acid jaz music textures are in vogue world Now that vintage ’70 beats and themselves at a potent nexus find les again, Los Amigos Invisib danceable as any nu-disco DJ of sound that feels as current and major festival here). At 800 W. set you’ll hear at (insert name of garoom.com. or con Olympic Blvd., (213) 745-0162

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ThREE

ow through June, the Los Angeles Philharmonic is looking to the future with Next On Grand. The showcase of emerging and established classical music and dance artists is a many-splendored thing, and this week’s yield includes composer John Adams (shown here) at the helm of the Phil’s new works-embracing contingent, Green Umbrella, as they take the Walt Disney Concert Hall stage on Tuesday, May 26, at 8 p.m. for a pair of world premieres. Also in the mix is the ubiquitous Gustavo Dudamel, who leads the orchestra in a little Philip Glass on Thursday and Saturday at 8 p.m.

Just as exciting are programs on Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. featuring the world of rock-inspired, guitar-touting composer Steven Mackey. At 111 S. Grand Ave., (323) 850-2000 or laphil.com.

photo by Christine Alicino

n Sunday, May 31, at 5 p.m., the Japanese American National Museum’s exhibit honoring the life and work of retail sensation Hello Kitty will a close. That means you have less than of es piec week to see the hundreds of art and memorabilia tied to the feline character created by the Japanese company Sanrio more than 40 years ld ago. Hello! Exploring the Supercute Wor hlunc , oks of Hello Kitty includes notebo t bulbs, boxes, motor oil, a surgeon’s mask, ligh the with ed duct tape and much more festoon n eve ion sect mouth-less creature. The artwork an ” oln, includes Scott Scheidly’s “Hello Linc acrylic painting of the 16th president that loses the stovepipe hat in favor of a pink bowler with Hello Kitty logo. At 100 N. Central Ave., (213) 625-0414 or janm.org.

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image courtesy of JANM

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photo copyright 2015 Sesame Street Workshop

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ROCK, POP & JAZZ

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horeographer Heidi Duckler has a habit of turning unconventional spaces into dance venues — she has staged performances in, among other places, City Hall, the LAPD training center in Elysian Park and the top floor of a Downtown high-rise. This week she’s at it again. On Friday and Saturday, May 29-30, the Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre will offer the Chinatown Blues program in an under-construction building on Spring Street. It’s a site-specific program with both visual and aural treats — the show includes the four-person French-Canadian band Claire Gignac et compagnie. Bring comfortable shoes, as the 8:30 p.m. performances start outside the building, then moves to the interior. At 837 N. Spring St. or heididuckler.org/event/Chinatown-blues.

photo by Los Amigos Invisibles

WEDNESDay, May 27 Gong Show Karaoke Bar 107, 107 W. Fourth St. or (213) 625-7382.

10 p.m.: For years, this weekly testament to the talents and psychological preoccupations of Downtown’s vocalist set presided over Wednesdays with a joyous sort of fatalism. Now is your last chance to see the spectacle for yourself before Bar 107 goes the way of Al’s, Craby Joes, Charlie-O’s and whatever other bar you never went to.

James Ellroy at the Last Bookstore Last Bookstore, 453 S. Spring St., (213) 488-0599 or lastbookstorela.com.

7 p.m.: Master of the macabre, crown prince of lurkers, heir to homicide, James Ellroy is as looming a figure as the Los Angeles literary scene has produced in decades. He’ll be on hand to speak and sign copies of his latest photo book LAPD ’53.

ThuRSDay, May 28 Mess Projections MOCA Geffen Contemporary, 152 N. Central Ave., (213) 621-1745 or moca.org.

7 p.m.: Poet Douglas Kearney reads his work aloud as a living corollary to the current William Pope.L: Trinket show.

Tracy K. Smith at Aloud Central Library’s Mark Taper Auditorium, 630 W. Fifth St., (213) 228-7500 or lfla.org.

7:15 p.m.: She’s got a Pulitzer Prize for poetry and a new memoir. Come listen to her speak.

SaTuRDay, May 30 Adrian Uribe Orpheum Theatre, 842 Broadway, (877) 677-4386 or laorpheum.com.

7 p.m.: If you are unfamiliar, think of comic Adrian Uribe as similar to Frank Caliendo.

Jim Jeffries Ace Hotel, 929 S. Broadway, (213) 623-3233 or acehotel. com.

8 p.m.: Jim Jefferies is a testament to the carnal, craven and cavernous possibilities of stand-up comedy in this modern Western world. Beware your tender ears, as he may utilize profanity.

SuNDay, May 31 The University of MMA Club Nokia, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-7000 or clubnokia.com.

5 p.m.: Tonight’s degree program of live ultra-violence is still less respected than an AA degree from DeVry.

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o you truly believe that there ain’t no party like a Big Bird party? Are Bert and Ernie heard more often in your house than Sasha and Digweed? If so, then you probably already have tickets to Sesame Street Live, Let’s Dance.

Yep, the life-sized PBS characters will spring off the small screen and barnstorm the Nokia Theatre for five shows on Saturday-Sunday, May 30-31. The son gs, if they matter, include Elmo leading “Do the Rob ot” and Ernie rocking the house with “Shake Your Hea d One Time.”

Dancing by attendees of all ages is enc ouraged, no matter how foolish you feel. Shows are Saturday at noon, 3:30 and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 and 5:30 p.m. At 777 Chick Hearn Court, (213) 763-6030 or nokiatheatrelalive.com.

Send information and possible Don’t Miss List submissions to calendar@downtownnews.com.

coNt coNt

TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS

16 Downtown News

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$14,988 2012 Toyota Prius ................................... $17,888 White/Gray, Htchbk, Low Miles. TU1283/581043 2014 Chevrolet Captiva Sport LS ........ $19,288 White/Black, Auto. TU1274R/657505 Blue/Black, 4dr, Auto, Low Miles. T152352-1/070045

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by Volkswagen Credit. 1 at this price. Example lease. May not reflect model shown in images. Offer ends 6/1/2015. Call dealer for more details. VIN FM298351. 0% Available on 0-60 month terms. 0% on approved credit. Not all buyers will qualify. 0% APR in lieu of cash discounts. See dealer for more details. Example Lease May Not Reflect Model Shown in Image.

$15,495 2010 BMW 1 Series 135i ..................... $19,732 Blue/Blk, Auto, 2 dr coup, 18/25 mpg. ZV3497/K95940 2012 VW Passat TDI 2.0 Turbo ............

Select Prem. , Blue/Beige, Auto, 30/40 mpg. V150228D-1/079908 $20,995 CARSON NISSAN 2012 VW Beetle 2.0 Turbo ..................

Blk Pearl/Blk, MT, 2 dr hatch, 21/30 mpg. V150413-1/637383

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$13,888 2007 Honda Pilot, EX-L SUV ............... $13,888 Moonroof, Leather, Alum Wheels. CU1782P-2/037442 2013 Kia Soul + Hatchback .................

Carfax 1 Owner, Dune Ext, Excellent Condition! CU1621R/7534754 $14,888 FELIX CHEVROLET 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan SE Van ....

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MSRP ........................................................ $26,670 FELIX DISCOUNT .................................. - $2,475 CONSUMER CASH ................................ -$1,500 GM TRADE ALLOWANCE ................... - $2,000

Plus tax, 36 Month closed end lease on approved credit through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services. $2,499 CAP reduction, $795 acquisition fee. Excludes title, taxes, registration, license fees, insurance, dealer prep and additional options No security deposit required. 25¢ per mile in excess of 30,000 miles. Offer good on all with MSRP $33,925.

$31,589 2012 Mercedes E350 Coupe ................. $32,881 Certified, Prem Pkg 1, Nav Syst, Pano Roof. 8091C/CF157651 2012 Mercedes CLS550 ......................... $52,981 Certified, Prem Pkg 1, Keyless Go. 8092C/CA045005 AUDI OF DOWNTOWN L.A. 2013 Mercedes C250 Coupe .................

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$24,989 2012 Mercedes E350 Coupe .................. $32,881 Certified, Prem Pkg 1, Nav Syst, Pano Roof. 8091C/CF157651 2012 Mercedes CLS550 .......................... $52,981 Certified, Prem Pkg 1, Keyless Go. 8092C/CA045005 PORSCHE OF DOWNTOWN L.A. 2012 Mercedes C250 Coupe .................

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$12,888 2014 Ford Fiesta .................................... $12,888 White/Gray, 36 MPG HWY, Auto., 102437 2013 Chevy Malibu ................................ $18,888 Silver/Gray, 34 MPG HWY, Auto, 2.5L. 325774

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Continued from previous page Tears” right before the guitar solo in order to give a track by tonight’s gently noodling band, Knox Hamilton, my full attention.

May 28, 8 p.m.: The synth pop gluttony continues with The Do. May 30, 9 p.m.: Though suffering from a disturbing shortage of vowels, ESKMO’s spacious electronic sensibility has a novel feel to it.

Club Nokia 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-7000 or clubnokia.com.

May 27, 8:30 p.m.: Hip-hop phenoms Migos elevate irrelevant subject matter and bass-heavy beats to an artform that proves once and for all that “trap” is more a metaphor for the rest of their lives than a genre.

May 28, 9 p.m.: Not sick of a cover band randomly inserting profanities into hair rock music as a gimmick? You’ll love the Dan Band!

May 30, 9 p.m.: All these years later and Ciara still has the goodies.

Conga Room 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 745-0162 or congaroom.com.

May 29, 8 p.m.: Los Amigos Invisibles prove a rare rule in music that states that with enough time and energy, you can will a genre to be cool again. Case in point: their disco/ funk fusings are so terribly hip right now.

Escondite 410 Boyd St., (213) 626-1800 or theescondite.com.

May 31, 10 p.m.: We assume RT N the 44s will be on hand tonight.

Exchange LA 618 S. Spring St., (213) 627-8070 or exchangela.com.

May 28: Flux Pavilion.

May 29: Party Favor.

May 30: Nicole Moudaber.

Art d Assi

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$45,898 2014 Boxster .........................................

Blk/Blk, CPO, PDK, Infotainment Pkgs., Only 10k Miles. ES120116 $52,898 2013 Cayenne S Demo ........................... $69,988 Silver/Blk, Nav, XM, Prem, Pkg., PASM, Pk. 5k miles. DLA85183 2011 Cayman S ......................................

Blue/Beige, CPO, 6 Spd, Navi, Bose (BU780672)

S I N C E 19 7 2 Los Angeles Downtown News 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 web: DowntownNews.com • email: realpeople@downtownnews.com facebook: L.A. Downtown News

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Editor & PublishEr: Sue Laris GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie sENior writEr: Eddie Kim stAFF writEr: Heidi Kulicke coNtributiNG Editor: Kathryn Maese coNtributiNG writErs: Jeff Favre, Greg Fischer Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard AccouNtiNG: Ashley Schmidt clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Catherine Holloway, Brenda Stevens sAlEs AssistANt: Claudia Hernandez circulAtioN: Danielle Salmon distributioN MANAGEr: Salvador Ingles distributioN AssistANts: Lorenzo Castillo, Gustavo Bonilla ©2015 Civic Center News, Inc. Los Angeles Downtown News is a trademark of Civic Center News Inc. All rights reserved.

The Los Angeles Downtown News is the must-read newspaper for Downtown Los Angeles and is distributed every Monday throughout the offices and residences of Downtown Los Angeles.

One copy per person.

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S I N C E 19 7 2DT News on your Los Angeles Downtownmobile News device, with more than 6 years 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 of past issues!

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Edito GENE

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May 31: Modern Time Machine.

Seven Grand 515 W. Seventh St., (213) 614-0737 or sevengrand.la.

May 25: Alex Snydman in the house.

May 26: The Makers are also available for birthdays, bar/bat mitzvahs, Viking funerals, Irish wakes, trans-Pacific corporate leadership seminars and the occasional ribbon cutting ceremony.

May 27: Ray Brooks has thought of changing his last name to Ban. May 28: The Fran Bannish Band: more fun than being in a coma!

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thing for more than 25 years.

May 30-31: With five shows, there are ample opportunities to bask in the wonder that is “Sesame Street Live, Let’s Dance.”

Redwood Bar and Grill 316 W. Second St., (213) 652-4444 or theredwoodbar.com.

May 25: Acoustic Punk.

May 26: Success.

May 27: Neutralboy and Darlington.

May 28: Thursday Night Booty.

May 29: Roadside Memorial, Egrets on Ergot and The Hellflowers.

May 30: Electric Children, Moonshine and Bonfire Beach.

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Grammy Museum 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-6800 or grammymuseum. org.

May 28, 8 p.m.: Potential line of questioning for tonight’s conversation with Duff McKagan: Velvet Revolver: Why? May 31, 4 p.m.: Everyone seems to be talking about the wordy Courtney Barnett.

Nokia Theatre 777 Chick Hearn Court, (213) 763-6030 or nokiatheatrelalive.com.

May 29, 8 p.m.: Caifanes has been doing the Latin rock band

Downtown News 17

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

May 31: Consecrate the week with The California Feetwarmers.

Staples Center 1111 S. Figueroa St., (213) 742-7326 or staplescenter.com.

May 28, 8 p.m.: I think we can all agree that Bette Midler is the wind beneath our wings.

The Smell 247 S. Main St. in the alley between Spring and Main or thesmell.org.

May 28: Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Hemlock Ernst, Authority Figure and Abrakadabra.

May 29: Inner Wave, The Bronze Boogie, Taurus Scott and Vinny Virgo.

MORE LISTINGS Hundreds of listings of fun and interesting things to do in Downtown Los Angeles can also be found online at ladowntownnews. com/calendar: Rock, Pop & Jazz; Bars & Clubs; Farmers Markets; Events; Film; Sports; Art Spaces; Theater, Dance and Opera; Classical Music; Museums; and Tours.

2YOUR EVENT INFO

EASY WAYS TO SUBMIT

4 WEB: LADowntownNews.com/calendar 4 EMAIL: Calendar@DowntownNews.com

Email: Send a brief description, street address and public phone number. Submissions must be received 10 days prior to publication date to be considered for print.

TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS

18 Downtown News

May 25, 2015

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To place a classified ad in the Downtown News please call 213-481-1448, or go to DowntownNews.com Deadline classified display and line ads are Thursday at 12pm.

FORfor RENT All submissions are subject to federal and California fair housing laws, which make it illegal to indicate in any advertisement any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income or physical or mental disability. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

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LEGAL naMe Change SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME NO. BS153448 Petitioner (name of each) Stephanie Joanne Miller, 13930 Edgewater Drive, Norwalk, CA, 90650, filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: STEPhANiE JOANNE MiLLER Proposed name: STEPhANiE JOANNE kOLOkOTRONi JONES ThE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. if no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTiCE OF hEARiNG Date: 11/19/2015 Time: N/A Dept.: N/A The address of the court is 111 North hill Street, Los Angeles,

CA, 90012. A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in LA DOWNTOWN NEWS, 1264 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 of general circulation, printed in this county.

Prepared by: Sherri R. Carter, Executive Office/Clerk.

Stanley Mosk Courthouse 111 North hill Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 Date: January 29, 2015 hon. kevin C. Brazille Judge of the Superior Court Pub. 05/18, 05/25, 06/01, and 06/08/2015 legal notiCe

COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES TREASURER AND TAX COLLECTOR NOTICE OF DIVIDED PUBLICATION Made pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code Section 3381 Pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code Sections 3381 through 3385, the Notice of Power to Sell TaxDefaulted Property in and for the County of Los Angeles, State of California, has been divided and distributed to various newspapers of

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JOSEPh kELLy TREASURER AND TAX COLLECTOR COUNTy OF LOS ANGELES STATE OF CALiFORNiA PARCEL NUMBERING SYSTEM EXPLANATION The Assessor’s identification Number, when used to describe property in this list, refers to the Assessor’s map book, the map page, the block on the map, if applicable, and the individual parcel on the map page or in the block. The Assessor’s maps and further expla-

nation of the parcel numbering system are available in the Assessor’s Office, 500 West Temple Street, Room 225, Los Angeles, California 90012.

The real property that is the subject of this notice is situated in the County of Los Angeles, State of California, and is described as follows: PROPERTy TAX DEFAULTED iN yEAR 2010 FOR TAXES, ASSESSMENT, AND OThER ChARGES FOR FiSCAL yEAR 2009-2010 2885 $13,224.98 MiLOSEVSki,BARBARA TR BARBARA MiLOSEVSki TRUST AND PAZiEWSkA,iZABELiA SiTUS:5352 LEXiNGTON AVE LOS ANGELES CA 90029-1112 AiN: 5537-007-002 2886 $67,017.58 BOLOURi,EBRAhiM A AND MORTEZAVi,SETAREh J SiTUS:1187 N ARDMORE AVE LOS ANGELES CA 90029-1409 AiN: 5537-014-016 2887 $11,653.56 DERDERiAN,hAGOP AND EMMA SiTUS:743 N EDGEMONT ST LOS ANGELES CA 90029-2505 AiN: 5538-015-020 2888 $42,380.01 CRUZ,LUiS E SiTUS:515 N COMMONWEALTh AVE LOS ANGELES CA 90004-2302 AiN:

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of redemption. Requests must be made to Joseph kelly, Treasurer and Tax Collector, County of Los Angeles, 225 North hill Street, First Floor Lobby, Los Angeles, California 90012. For more information, please visit our website at ttc.lacounty.gov.

The amount to redeem, in dollars and cents, is set forth opposite its parcel number. This amount includes all defaulted taxes, penalties, and fees that have accrued from the date of tax-default to the date of June 30, 2015. i certify, under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing is true and correct. Dated this 30th day of April, 2015.

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general circulation published in the County. A portion of the list appears in each of such newspapers.

NOTICE OF IMPENDING POWER TO SELL TAX-DEFAULTED PROPERTY Made pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code Section 3361 Notice is hereby given that real property taxes and assessments on the parcels described below will have been defaulted five or more years, or, in the case of nonresidential commercial property, property on which a nuisance abatement lien has been recorded, or that can serve the public benefit by providing housing or services directly related to low-income persons when three or more years have elapsed, and a request has been made by a city, county, city and county, or nonprofit organization that property, will become subject to the Tax Collector’s power to sell.

The parcels listed will become subject to the Tax Collector’s power to sell on July 1, 2015, at 12:01 a.m., by operation of law. The Tax Collector will record a power to sell unless the property taxes are paid in full or an installment plan of redemption is initiated, as provided by law prior to 5:00 p.m., on June 30, 2015. The right to initiate an installment plan terminates on June 30, 2015. Thereafter, the only option to prevent the sale of the property at public auction is by paying the taxes in full.

The right of redemption survives the property becoming subject to the power to sell, but it terminates at 5:00 p.m. on the last business day before the scheduled auction of the property by the Tax Collector.

The Treasurer and Tax Collector’s Office will furnish, upon request, information concerning payment in full or initiating an installment plan

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at xci Gr ti A 255 South Grand Avenue an ng sk A dT ow Ne bou Leasing Information er w t O Co 213 229 9777 m Re ur ing n Su ova Apartment Amenities: Community Amenities: m m tio ~ Refrigerator, Stove, ~ 24 Hr. Manned Lobby er Microwave & Dishwasher ~ Concierge 20 n 15 (most units) ~ Pool / Spa / Saunas

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He has positioned himself to be a key player for years to come.

Loser: Public Understanding: Here’s the deal: No one has any idea what the wage hike will bring long term. People may pontificate as to how many businesses will close or how many low-wage earners will get off public assistance once they start earning more money, but it’s all an educated guessing game.

It’s like that quote attributed to screenwriter William Goldman about success in Hollywood: “Nobody knows anything.”

Just consider the three wildly divergent studies unleashed during the process. One commissioned by the County Fed said a $15.25 an hour wage would create 46,400 jobs by 2019. A report sponsored by the Chamber declared that a $13.25 wage would lead to up to 140,000 job losses over five years. A third report, by the city, was somewhere in the middle.

Was this like Golidlocks and the Three Barely Comprehensible Reports, where one is too labor, one is too business and the third is just right? I have no idea, and neither do you. Theoretically all three studies were using the same data, yet the results vary wildly. How can the public trust any of them?

Winner, With a Bit of a Loss: Garcetti: The mayor ignited the process with his surprise Labor Day announcement to boost wages in L.A. to $13.25 an hour. It was a bold move.

However, on Oct. 7, council members Gil Cedillo, Mike Bonin, Nury Martinez and Curren Price essentially said, “I see your wage hike and I’ll raise you $2.” Their authoring of a motion to push pay to $15.25 an hour was the beginning of the council’s hijacking of Garcetti’s move. Sure, the mayor still wins, but during the process he strangely let others step into his spotlight.

Why did this happen? I’m not sure, but it feeds into the perception that Garcetti’s leadership style is too conservative and too quiet. Then again, Garcetti is usually thinking several steps ahead, so this may have been the plan all along. All I know is, Antonio Villaraigosa, bless his tiny heart and gubernatorial aspirations, would have been out stumping for this aggressively and mugging for every TV camera within a 60-mile radius.

Loser: People Who Lose Their Jobs: Even before the council vote, many restaurant owners were frantically trying to figure out how many servers or line cooks they’ll have to fire or how many employee hours they’ll need to slash to make a $15 an hour wage pencil out once rising rents and food costs are taken into account. There will be a similar effect in the apparel industry, among others. Maybe, just maybe, the cumulative whole will ultimately be a gain in employment as the County Fed study predicted, but it won’t be a smooth road. Some individual jobs will be lost.

Winner: City Council: They may have antagonized the business community, but the council’s nearly unanimous approach (the lone holdout was Mitch Englander, a Valley Republican who is running for a County Supervisor seat) led to a clear victory, and ensured that they will all be supported by organized labor in future elections. They also got lots of love in a glowing New York Times editorial the day after the vote, though the paper did not use the phrase “lots of love.”

Loser: City Council: Things took a strange turn late in the game, when an emboldened council decided that not only should the wage rise, but they should include a provision dictating that bosses give their employees 12 days of paid leave a year. The problem wasn’t the issue but the sneaky approach. It smacked of backroom dealing, and was the kind of thing you expect in old Chicago, not modern L.A. To paraphrase Scooby Doo, they would have gotten away with it too, if not for those meddling business community kids, who were apoplectic when they learned of the proposal.

The move got the kibosh, though the council may revisit it.

Odd Moment: Garcetti v. Council: Why did the council back off the paid leave push? Opposition from the mayor seems to be part of it. Garcetti, who may or may not run for governor in 2018, indicated he wouldn’t support the effort. At which point Council President Herb Wesson got snippy, saying in a statement, “I don’t believe the mayor intended to call into question the knowledge and expertise of the elected council members who collectively have over 100 years of legislative experience.”

The thing is, that’s exactly what Garcetti intended to do. He just wasn’t swayed by the council’s, ahem, “knowledge and expertise.”

Garcetti was calling out the council, and hey, maybe he isn’t too conservative and quiet after all. It was a brief moment of City Hall chicken, and the council blinked. regardie@downtownnews.com