Budget Diva

THE GODFATHER LIVE

Categories: Budget Diva, Day Tripping, Diva-Colored Glasses, Do As The Locals Do, Featured
THE GODFATHER LIVE

By Angela Rocco DeCarlo The Costa Mesa opera house audience in Orange County, California, went wild. The Segerstrom Center for the Arts’  performance, October 2,  featuring the Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece film,"The Godfather" with a full symphonic orchestra onstage providing the beautiful music of Nino Rota's Academy Award winning score, conducted by UCLA alum, Justin Freer, was sensational. The word was the symphony's trumpet player, Robert Frear, of Long Beach State music department, was the original musician from the film. His featured solo, The Godfather Waltz,  in that haunting opening scene in Don Corleone's office, as Bonasera is asking for a favor to avenge his daughter, primes the audience for what is to come. As an Opera Pacific docent I've enjoyed many operas in that theater, but I can not recall such a vocally appreciative audience. Of course, The Godfather, is, in a certain sense, an opera. It is something Puccini or Verdi might have fashioned. It has all the elements of a great opera - love, loyalty, betrayal and revenge. Especially loyalty and revenge. And there are certainly enough deaths to satisfy that element of operatic trauma. Poor Michael Corleone is the perfect Aristotelian tragic hero. His flaw of family love and devotion to his father causes him to lose his soul. He abandons his planned life to avenge his father. So sad. In ...

DANCES WITH FILMS ANNOUNCES WORLD PREMIERE OF INDIE ADVENTURE COMEDY “THE BABYMOON”, JUNE 10TH

Categories: Budget Diva, Day Tripping, Do As The Locals Do, Featured
DANCES WITH FILMS ANNOUNCES WORLD PREMIERE OF INDIE ADVENTURE COMEDY “THE BABYMOON”, JUNE 10TH

Directed by Bailey Kobe and Featuring Actors Shaun Sipos, Julie McNiven, Jessica Camacho, Michael Steger, Michael DeLorenzo, Mark DeCarlo, Phillip Garcia, and Kelly Perine “The Babymoon”, a film by Director and Writer Bailey Kobe (“Caterpillar’s Kimono” with Ben Savage), will be featured at Dances With Films Festival for its World Premiere on Friday, June 10th, 2016 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in West Hollywood, CA. An invite-only red carpet event at 1:45 p.m will be followed by the screening at 2:45 p.m and after-party at 4:30. RSVP is required for press line and admittance to the screening. Press is also invited to attend after-party at Loews Hotel immediately after. Please email kate@doubleententefilms.com by June 9th to RSVP. TCL Chinese Theatre is located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA. For more information please visit the Facebook Page or website. www.fb.com/TheBabymoonAdventure or www.TheBabymoon.org. ba·by·moon (bābēˌmo͞on) noun: a relaxing or romantic vacation taken by parents-to-be before their baby is born. In “THE BABYMOON”, a fragile relationship coupled with an unpredicted pregnancy, takes the unsuspecting parents to a place they only dreamt of - only to find themselves in the throes of a poorly-planned political revolution. WHAT:   Film Screening: “The Babymoon” WHO:  Writer/Director Bailey Kobe (“Caterpillar’s Kimono” with Ben ...

Valentine’s Staycations with a flair

Categories: Budget Diva, Day Tripping, Do As The Locals Do, Featured
Valentine’s Staycations with a flair

With Valentine's Day around the corner, what's a Traveling Diva to do?  Restaurants will be packed full with obnoxious couples pawing at each other and for the single gal, Vday only shows the ugly side of commercialism and Disney-ized fantasies which you can read up on, on your own time. It's enough to drive you to hibernate until summer.   Luckily, you have options.  Internet savvy divas can always find that little hole in the wall that offers comfort and space, that off the beaten path experience that's a quick respite from Vday crazyness. One place to try out is WanderWe.com, an LA-based start-up that offers a new way to book close-to-home getaways, a travel site completely focused on the 2-4 day escape and the spontaneous weekend trip. While catering to the short-term, weekend and last-minute traveler, this site uses propriety algorithms combined with original editorial content, provided by locals (my favorite part.) Recommended itineraries are based on user-selected criteria including destination, budget and the type of experience they’d like to have (romantic, family time, bargains etc). Take a listen to this interview with Allison, from Wanderwe.com. https://soundcloud.com/aforkontheroad/sir-kenneth-branagh-musician If you've had an experience you'd like to share, we'd love to listen!  Email us at diva@travelingdiva.com.  Happy Staycation!

Quotes from VIDs
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