“Ballad of Baby Doe” is a classic American love-story told in a 400-year-old Italian art form. It is a story about the boom-and-bust days of the Colorado mines in the Wild West, just before the turn of the century. “The Ballad of Baby Doe” is an opera about the American West. Music director David Aks said, “It’s based on real people in Leadville, Colorado from about 1880 through the turn of the century.” “The Ballad of Baby Doe” is the… Read more

As a teenager in San Francisco, when Maria Elena Altany’s parents would go out for the night, she threw a party like no other kid her age was having. But, she wasn’t blasting Beyonce or Christina Aguilera from the speakers like the other girls her age.  Those pop stars couldn’t riff anything like the iconic singers Altany was obsessedwith, like renowned coloratura soprano Joan Sutherland. “I would just lay on the floor and listen to her sing this music seven… Read more

Sleigh Bells played to a packed house at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa Tuesday, Oct. 19. After three opening acts and nearly four hours after the doors had opened, Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller, otherwise known as the voice and music of Sleigh Bells, finally took the stage. Since the release of their debut album “Treats” in May, Sleigh Bells have earned a lot of positive attention from critics and listeners. Their sound is difficult to describe: a punk… Read more

This year’s Cypress Hill Smokeout Festival brought together a variety of music fans from all walks of life with one common interest in mind: decriminalizing marijuana. The festival featured three stages with a variety of music genres ranging from hip hop and reggae to ska and electro-house music. The main stage, the Smokeout stage, primarily featured hip-hop and reggae artists such as Damian Marley and Nas, as well as headlining band Incubus. The Indonesia stage featured an eclectic array of… Read more

Ongoing What: Hollywood Museum’s “Chamber of Horrors” When: Through Monday, Nov. 1, Wednesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Where: The Hollywood Museum, 1669 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90028 Price: Adults $15, seniors and children $12 For more info: Call (323) 464-7776 Description: For Halloween, the Hollywood Museum has named the 10 most horrifying films and will exhibit memorabilia from each of the movies. The exhibit includes the masks of Jason and Mike Myers from “Friday the… Read more

William Shakespeare’s classic play “Romeo and Juliet” is coming to CSUN with a twist on the familiar tale of family rivalry and young love. The Acting Company is bringing its national tour to campus Oct. 27 at the Plaza del Sol at 8 p.m. The production stays true to the original language but is set in 1912. Elizabeth Stahlmann is reprising her role of the nurse for the second year. “It was a time when people of the post-Victorian, pre-WWI… Read more

People started lining down the alley well over an hour early eager to get a good spot to see Fran Healy at the Hotel Café in Hollywood. Other people waited off to the side, hoping someone wouldn’t make it and a ticket would free up. Listening to people in the line gave the impression that Healy was best friends with half the people there. And that’s kind of what you feel after you see him. Healy’s recently released debut solo… Read more

Louis Armstrong may have passed away almost 40 years ago, but miraculously, he looks to be alive and well at the CSUN campus, energetically blowing his trumpet, with eyes wide, like there’s no tomorrow. At least, that’s what one of the paintings in the “Music Icons of the 20th Century” exhibit suggests, with its lifelike portrayal of the famous trumpeter. The free exhibit, which features 30 stunning paintings by Sidney Randolph Maurer of musical icons from the last 100 years,… Read more

Ongoing What: Spooky Science: Bug Invasion When: Through Sunday, Oct. 31, Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Where: Discovery Science Center, 2500 North Main St., Santa Ana, CA 92705 Price: $12.95 for adults, $9.95 for youth ages 3-17 For more info: Call (714) 542-2823 Description: Experience a bug’s life through their eyes. At the Discovery Science Center, see giant bug animatronics and a world-class bug collection among other activities. What: New Galleries… Read more