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Madame Butterfly. Never miss the chance to experience this opera, which debuted in Italy, 1904, and at the NY Metropolitan Opera, 1907. One of composer Giacomo Puccini's masterpieces, it will be presented in concert with the 98 piece Pacific Symphony Orchestra, with conductor Carl St. Clair in his 30th season with the famed group. Be there. Be delighted. Having seen previous opera concert productions of "Aida" and "La Boheme" at this venue, it can be said this is a superior opera experience. A distilled operatic presentation where the genius of the composer and librettists, in this case, Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, who also wrote Puccini's "Tosca" and "La Boheme", shine.  One realizes elaborate scenery and costumes, though enjoyable, are not necessary. Not when Puccini's melting arias, sung by young, handsome actors, are served up. These three operas are the most popular with performances worldwide. Madame Butterfly is a love story. At least on the part of the young Japanese girl who marries an American naval officer, Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, in Nagasaki, Japan. It should be remembered Japan had been closed to the West until U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry's four ships sailed into Tokyo Bay, July 8, 1853, seeking to re-open trade between Japan and the West. It didn't take long after that event for ...

by Angela Rocco DeCarlo On recent visit "home" we went immediately to again visit The Art Institute of Chicago to see the John Singer Sargent and Chicago's Gilded Age exhibit...and so should you. It is a world-class museum with the latest technology to make all welcome - including TacTiles and Touch Gallery for the visually impaired.  There was a John Singer Sargent exhibit in 1986, which I attended, and it was fabulous. The printed press kit was so beautiful I've kept it. So I was pleased to again be able to view Sargent's beautiful luminous paintings.  Additionally, visitors enjoy the Impressionist Gallery, which features well-recognized master paintings such as Renoir's "Two Sisters" (On the Terrace),  Seurat's "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" and other great images. I like this gallery better than the major Impressionist museums in Paris.  The 68 Thorne Miniature Rooms enable glimpses into European interiors from the late 13th century to the 1930s. It is charming and should be seen with or without children. The Art Institute offers massive amounts of art from antiquity to modern genres. It is one of my  favorite places - at once enlightening as well as soothing.  The Sargent exhibit ends September 30th so there's still time to see it. Chicago Art Institute 111 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, Ill 60603 phone 312-443-3600 Admission: Adults $25; Seniors$19; Child - age 13 & ...

The “Traveling Diva” invited me to attend the 90th Anniversary of TAIX, a french country cuisine restaurant in the Silverlake, Echo Park area at 1911 W. Sunset Blvd. Pleasantly surprised , I went and enjoyed a wide variety of tasteful temptations of hors d’oeuvres from beef burgundy, shrimp ceviche, truffled macaroni and cheese, mushroom caps with garlic escargot de Bourgogne, succulent frog legs that melted in your mouth, petit toasted crab and cheese finger sandwiches following a number of other treats for dessert. My favorite dessert was the Mousse au Chocolate Noir. TAIX spoiled our palettes with a taste of France and wine. All that was missing was the Eiffel Tower! They have one of the most extensive wine collections in the Los Angeles area and are one of the few restaurants, nationally, that can say they are a fourth generation cuisine! Raymond Taix gave a heartfelt speech celebrating the ancestry of his family’s french food. In 1912 Marius Taix Sr. started his legacy of treating everyone with his culinary delights in the downtown Los Angeles French quarter. His affordable prices back then and still today make this a must for everyone’s needs for lunch , dinner, wine tasting, dessert and coffee ...

by Angela Rocco DeCarlo 3D Theatricals Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts Aug. 27 Weekend     Monty Python's Flying Circus BBC TV show ran from 1969-1974 racking up 45 episodes which morphed into film and Broadway renditions.   Either you "get" Monty Python or you don't.  No convincing way to explain the great enjoyment of such nuttiness. There is an opportunity to revisit the genius of Eric Idle, book & Lyric, music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts next weekend with the wonderful 3D Theatricals presentation.   As a fan of the original TV show I've kept up with the films as well as the stage shows. Like watching "Star Trek" viewers must engage in a certain amount of suspended belief.   Spamalot is set in the first millennium. But it's mocking comedy is drawn from modern cultural references. The French are lampooned, Jews are picked on for theatrical support and of course, the Brits are endlessly held up as a dim, though sincere, bunch.   The current show gives a flicker homage to various shows - "Phantom of the Opera," "West Side Story," and "Fiddler on the Roof." I last saw the show ten years ago in Las Vegas with John O'Hurley (Seinfeld's Mr. Peterman) commanding the King Arthur part. He should be seen more.   The Cerritos ...

Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center Anaheim, CA By Angela Rocco DeCarlo "Downton Abbey," one of the most successful television shows, is set in a fictional Edwardian English castle, awash with nobles, paid-servants and enormous upheavals due to war, jealousy and financial ruin. The Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, Anaheim, CA, is presenting an exhibition of the lovely wardrobe of the show. Seeing the clothing up close is delightful. In every detail the show's six seasons evoked the volcanic disruptions brought on by World War I and its political, societal and financial changes. The Roaring Twenties and the Jazz Age took woman from their corseted floor-length dresses to loose shifts exposing naked shoulders and legs - shocking. "In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, now God knows, anything goes." From Noel Coward's song, "Anything Goes." The Downton Abbey era is illuminated through the skillful Julian Fellows' scripts and an array of outstanding good-looking actors who enchanted television viewers. The gorgeous period clothing charmed all. "Dressing Downton - Changing Fashion for Changing Times" featuring nearly 40 of the original garments designed and fitted to the individual actors, can be seen at Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, Anaheim, California, until May 11. It then ...

by Greg Morabito  A lot of New York restaurants are hard to get into, but only a handful of places in the city require background checks, referrals, or special membership cards to enter. Here's a guide to 10 private New York bars and restaurants, with information about where to go and who to talk to if you want a table. 10) Tiro a Segno: This private Italian-American social club, which occupies three brownstones on MacDougal Street, has something you won't find at any other restaurant in New York City: an active, wood-paneled shooting range in the basement. Upstairs, there's a bar and several dining rooms serving a wide array of traditional Italian American food. Tiro A Segno (which means "shoot the target") is strictly members-only, although they sometimes bend the rules if you want to buy-out one of the banquet rooms for a large event. But if you want to become a member for life, you must be nominated by a current member, and it certainly helps if someone in your family is Italian. For more on the club's 124 year legacy, check out their official site. (Photo) 9) Brooklyn Edible Social Club: About twice a month, this culinary collectiveholds small dinner parties ...

Verdi's masterpiece - one of them anyway - AIDA, has it's final Orange County, CA, performance Tuesday, 8 p.m., Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Costa Mesa, CA. It is not to be missed.        Aida, the 1871 spectacle usually performed with "a cast of thousands," including animals, which debuted at the Cairo Opera House, is distilled to its essential elements, which are quite enough to enthrall an audience.  Local critics were lavish in praise of the South African soprano, Kelebogile Besong, making her North American debut, in the role of Aida at Segerstrom Concert Hall.                    This is one of the great operas everyone should see at least once.  It is awash with military and political intrigue, a love triangle and enough gorgeous Verdi music to thrill.         Besong as Aida, slave to the Egyptian princess Amneris, played by local diva, Milena Kitic, is besotted with the Egyptian military hero, Radames, the man Amneris wants for herself. Aida, herself a princess, unknown to her captors, is distraught when the victorious General Radames brings back defeated enemies, which include Aida's father, the king.          The ingenious staging in an oversized downstage sandbox, with the fabulous 88 - piece Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Carl St. Clair conducting, on stage behind the actors, works rather well. The chorus and dancers ...

By Mark DeCarlo The holidays are a great time to travel to Italy. The crowds are small, the prices are low, but so are the temperatures. If you're not looking for a sun-splashed beach week on the Amalfi Coast, this may be the perfect time to finally take your romantic trip to Italia. Londra Palace Outdoor Trattoria in mid-summer swing Regardless of when you go, no trip to the cradle of modern civilization would be complete without visiting Venice, the most incomprehensively amazing city on the planet. Actually, it's not a city. Venezia is 118 small islands linked by bridges and traversed by gondolas. It's also a great place to walk -- virtually every rambling alley leads to a crooked corner that reveals a new treasure: food, drinks, art, architecture, vistas -- romantic does not begin to describe this improbable world apart. The Republic of Venice has been on the map since the Middle Ages, by virtue of its location, and has stayed relevant because... it's freakin' VENICE! No other city in Europe, or elsewhere, features its same amalgam of water, stone, wine and cuisine. For holiday or honeymoon, the romance and sublime feel of this city is beyond description. We researched and studied everything we ...

By Angela Rocco DeCarlo Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall Segerstrom Center for the Arts Costa Mesa, CA February 23, 25, 28 – 8 p.m. Aida, the spectacular Giuseppe Verdi opera of 1871, alight with a dramatic love triangle, political and military intrigue, and the glorious aria “Celeste Aida” in Act 1, and the “Triumphal March” of Act II, comes to Orange County, California, February 23, 25 and 28. This is the opera everyone should experience at least once. Verdi was the most successful and widely performed composer in opera history. No opera season in the world is complete without including at least two of his major pieces. The Pacific Symphony, with Carl St. Clair conducting, at Renee and Henry Segerstom Concert Hall, Costa Mesa, CA, presents Verdi's dynamic masterpiece in a full-orchestra of  88 musicians, “semi-staged” concert presentation, featuring stellar performers, including local diva, Milena Kitic, who was the ferocious gypsy beauty of Bizet's Carmen, in thePacific Symphony production of a few years ago. She performs Amneris, the Egyptian princess in love with military hero, Radames. Making her North American debut, South African mezzo, Kelebogile Besong, sings the role of Aida, captured Nubian princess, slave to Amneris. Unknown to others, Aida and Radames share a deep love ...

About the only thing missing from Odysseo, the mesmerizing equine show from Cavalia, the Cirque du Soleil-style horse show, is Pegasus, the winged horse. Stabled in the huge white tent - looks like a marvel of engineering, at the 405 and 133 in Irvine, CA, we, together with our younger grandchildren were entranced by the grace and charm of humans and their mighty steeds in this exciting show. We had seen Cavalia when it was in the same location in 2007  with our older grandchildren. I wanted to see it again and it was well worth a second look. There is a certain magic in watching a 2,000 pound animal dance gracefully. The brilliance of Odysseo's designers in having a beautifully formed horse shown on a hill in the distance, illuminated in black silhouette, was stunning. Everyone has seen horses execute nimble movements, but this depiction of control, training and charm was unique due to the staging. The audience was so enchanted it's doubtful few noticed stage front becoming a shallow pond. A wonderful effect as riders then took their mounts to gently splash in the little stream. The show begins slowly enough, to give the audience a chance to review the numerous animals in a pastoral scene, before set exercises begin. I found the white horse close drill fascinating as they ...