Welcome to the Cabaret
Hands moving in a fluid like motion and gracefully fluttering fingers displaying a flurry of emotions visually telling a story. American Sign Language Cabaret also known as ASL Cabaret is a variety show produced by Mona Jean Cedar and Jo-Ann Dean.
Mona Jean Cedar said, “ASL Cabaret has already exceeded my expectations. We started three years ago in a...
Other Worldly
A half-formed face pieced together from scraps of clay stares at the blanched ceiling—voiceless yet unnerving. Its hollowed eyes gaze upward in a state of perpetual shock while its mouth—prodded and pulled out of alignment—hangs slack-jawed as if it were screaming. Like the many other sketches and sculptures that litter Naomi Nadreau's modest home, the mask is a work...
Laying down a beat
The mass of fans, packed into the Troubadour in West Hollywood, chant “Eve6, Eve6!” with religious fervor. Later, the opening notes of “Inside Out” are played, driving the crowd to scream and shout. As the lead vocalist sings into the mic, the fans echo the lyrics with mounting enthusiasm.
Q: When did you start writing music?
Jon Siebels: I started writing...
Gamer dream team
After hours of work, the birth of a video game comes to reality for 18-year-old Leilani Toone. Face etched in deep concentration and buried in drawings, moving objects appearing on two computer screens, a short-haired blonde head bobs up from a desk smiling at her partner in crime, her dad.
The game started for Toone, a student at Pierce...
Los Angeles design, African culture
Along black hooded sweater is laid across the table. Stuck somewhere between a cardigan and a robe in its style, the soft quilted fabric reflects little light due to its semi-matte finish. This contemporary article of clothing draws inspiration from Los Angeles street fashion and the rich heritage of Zimbabwe. At the helm of its design is Zimbabwe native...
Volunteer Task Force AX
Hair as light as low simmering ember, tied back with a black hairband into an impeccable ponytail, anthropology major and Pierce College student Brenna Perteet increases her pace as she rushes into Starbucks. Cream, sugar, spices and warm baking dough engulf her senses while she cuts ahead of the growing line. She ordered her coffee online the night before....
Life Illustrated
It starts with a blank sheet of paper. Concentrating, while a cascade of ideas release from the lead of a pencil onto the page, is how animation begins.
Animator Scott Claus used to work on one drawing an hour, sometimes for 10 to 12 hours.
Born and raised in Oregon, Claus studied motion pictures and television at the University...
Work hard, play harder
Certain characteristics such as height and hair and eye color are determined by a person’s genetic makeup before birth. It has been argued that personality traits like sarcasm or shyness can be passed from parent to child. For BDSM community member Janice Hartz-Pettit, the apple did not fall far from the tree; genetically speaking or not.
Hartz-Pettit and her mother...
Producer on the run
Juxtaposed against her thin frame and bubbly personality, Racquel Lehrman plays a leading role in theater entertainment. Despite being almost 3,000 miles from New York, she is bringing Broadway to Southern California.
Theater is Lehrman’s greatest passion. Her goal is to help keep the art alive as she runs her own production company in Los Angeles.
She believes in the personable...
Jamming with the Lord
The ambient light glares upon a pearl white drum set arranged on the sound stage encompassed by an array of instruments, while the musicians accumulate to perform a piece. A mocha-skinned man in glasses, tattered jeans and a plain T-shirt strolls over to his drum set looking nonchalant. Devell Riley has played the drums for as long as he...