THEATRE Orson's Shadow is an expansion of Austin Pendleton's drama that first ran a few years back at the Black Dahlia Theater and is now at the Pasadena Playhouse. It's a behind the scenes look at life in the theatre and the intermingling lives of some legendary folk, like Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Vivien Leigh, and drama critic Kenneth Tynan. We're told the set--a theater-within-the-theater--is stunning. 7:00 p.m. // Pasadena Playhouse // 39......

Nowadays, fairy tales have been cleaned up (and often outfitted with boring pop culture referential comedy that mitigates the timelessness of the stories) Cinderella's evil sisters don't cut off parts of their feet to fit into the glass slipper. The little mermaid lives happily ever after instead of sacrificing herself to save the life of her beloved. These stories were made to tap into children's deepest fears, to give weight to the shadows the......

Saturday, October 20th The Ghastly Ones at the Talking Board Art Show COPRO NASON GALLERY 2525 Michigan Ave. T5, Santa Monica, Ca 90404 310.829.2156 Artist Chet Zar has assembled over 30 artists to create their own version of the Ouija Board. The opening reception at the CoproNason gallery will also be a Halloween party, so come in costume! There will also be a live, spooky, surfy musical performance by The Ghastly Ones! Free. 8pm-......

In recent years we've seen a spike in films about the death of Elizabeth Short, aka "The Black Dahlia". From Brian DePalma's glossy The Black Dahlia to Ulli Lommel's no-budget Black Dahlia, interest in the 60 year-old murder continues to wax. The newest entry in the Dahlia niche is Ramzi Abed's Black Dahlia Movie. Kristen Kerr portrays Lisa Small, an actress recently cast in a movie about the Dahlia. As the plot advances, the......

Guest Day Editor Carolyn Kellogg joins LAist with a few posts throughout the day. Read the introductory interview and check out the her litblog. James Ellroy -- the man who brough noir up to date at the end of the 20th century with his books The Black Dahlia, LA Confidential, White Jazz and more -- is back. He left California for parts midwest (why do people do that?) but has finally come to his senses......

Oprah's favorite weight loss doctors, Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz, would be proud of Los Angeles this weekend. In their most recent book, You: On A Diet, they say you should walk thirty minutes every day no matter what. "No excuses. It doesn't matter if you do this in one whole block or broken up into as many as three shorter sessions." Inspired by Franklin Ave's Wilshire Walk, Will Campbell from Metroblogging Los Angeles......

The quirky author of L.A. Confidential, The Black Dahlia, and the film "Cop", was interviewed yesterday in the New York Times to promote his upcoming involvement in a CourtTV series which will analyze the unsolved murder of his mother. Far more interesting, however, is Ellroy's dry wit. Although it is true that the author (who lived in LA for most of his life except for the last few years when he moved to Kansas)......

Sufjan Stevens @ Wiltern Rocket @ Spaceland Sarah Silverman @ Largo Burning Tree @ King King Brooks & Dunn @ Gibson Metal Skool @ Key Club Jim "Kimo" West @ Ghengis Cohen Dirty Little Secret, The Oohlahs, The Thieves @ Viper Room Lavender Diamond, Winter Flowers, Matt Fishbeck @ The Echo Hatebreed, Black Dahlia Murder, Napalm Death, Exodus @ House of Blues Antarcticans, Meeting Places, Light FM, Soon @ Silverlake Lounge......

The week began on 9/11 and we remembered Howard Stern's 2001 broadcast of that day. There were many choices of visual stimuli. Among those were Loose Change, Dateline in Long Beach, Path to 9/11 or Football. While we watched Castaic burn, we felt the need to be a little more green and looked into Griffith Park planning, e-waste, coastal cleaning and Eastside reservoirs. Speaking of e-waste, one of our writers got his computer stolen......

My Plan to Save Network Television [New York Times] In the Land of Beautiful People, an Artist Without a Face [New York Times] Vonage customers in L.A. now have E911 service [BizJournals] New Police Car Video System Foils Car Thieves [NPR, All Things Considered] DePalma's Disjointed 'Black Dahlia' [NPR, All Things Considered] Feds: Fake agent sought Brangelina job [CNN] Photo by Andrew......

Just in time for this weekend's release of The Black Dahlia, the 1947 Project's bloggy brain trust has assembled a Crime Bus tour focused exclusively on this morsel of local lore that will take passengers to dozens of sites that played a part in the real life and death of murder victim Elizabeth Short, as well as locations figuring in her posthumous myth. But there's a tasty bonus. Scoops gelato has created a new......

How LA Observed gets these LA Times internal memos is beyond us, but we love it. Today Kevin Roderick printed an email whose subject line was: "The Times' Innovative Pre-Awareness Promotional Campaign for 'The Black Dahlia'." Now we realize the times they are a-changing but we feel a little creeped out with our local paper getting all giddy about being in bed with a movie studio over a summer movie. Isn't the job of......

LA's favorite modern noir writer, James Ellroy, left our city a while back for the midwest. We're not sure why, since his stories — The Black Dahlia, LA Confidential — are so connected to our city's dark side. Lucky for us he's come back for a visit. James Ellroy will be kicking off the American Cinemathque's 8th annual Noir Festival Friday night. Ellroy will speak and answer quesitons between the two films at opening......

The last place Elizabeth Short was seen alive was meeting someone for a drink at the fancy downtown Biltmore Hotel. Now its Gallery Bar serves a dark drink called The Black Dahlia in her honor. The Black Dahlia is made with citron vodka, Chambourd and a spash of Kaluha, served in a large martini glass and garnished with a curl of orange peel. Despite its dark overtones, it's a sweet drink, almost like a grape......

Los Feliz's Sowden House, designed by (son-of-Frank) Lloyd Wright, is now for sale. It's one of two Lloyd Wright properties up for grabs, Curbed LA says. We've always been fascinated by the Mayan-ish mansion that looms, grandly, at 5121 Franklin Avenue. The house was built in 1926 by architect Lloyd Wright. For a while, it was kind of party central ... and the parties were rumored to be wild, with lots of hot guys,......

Life on the Edge doesn't mind that the LA Harbor has stopped exploring the use of low-profile cranes. The high cranes, they say, are an essential part of the San Pedro landscape. The picture proves their point. Newcomer Los Angeles City Nerd is worried about the Valley's Woodbridge Park, which might be taken over by the city for a sewer project. There will be a rally (pro-park, anti-sewage) on Saturday. Franklin Avenue has news......

It's surprising to realize that Kim Cooper and Nathan Marsak started the 1947 Project blog just last March because we can't imagine our daily routine without it. Kim publishes "Scram, the journal of unpopular culture" and co-edited "Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth" and the new "Lost in the Grooves: Scram's Capricious Guide to the Music You Missed." Nathan, author of "Los Angeles Neon," is working on a book about America's historic mortuaries. Their......

Pershing Square, which has been a city park, under various names, since 1866, has entered the modern era: it's gone wifi. You can thank ExperienceLA — they make it easy to sign up for the free service on their website. Now, we understand that Pershing Square is no longer the verdant city paradise portrayed in this old postcard, and you won't be able to see the happy wifi waves pictured, either. But why not......

It's a busy night for music fans all over town: At Spaceland, Mellowdrone will be playing a free show with Everybody Else, The Tints and Satisfaction. Doors open at 9:00 PM. At The Echo, show up at 8:30 PM for a free show by Lily & the Ladies and friends. (21+) Across town at the Troubadour, Unearth will be performing, along with Black Dahlia Murder, Remembering Never and Sinai Beach. Tickets are $12.00 and......