One of the signature holiday events in Los Angeles has been the musical pageant of La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dos Inantzin, presented by the Latino Theater Company at DTLA’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.  This year an archival video of the pageant will be streaming at for ten days starting December 11 thought December 20.  The performance featuring folkloric and religious music stars renowned opera singer Suzanna Guzman as the virgin and features more than 100 actors, singers and indigenous Aztec dancers as well as children and seniors from the community. The pageant tells the story of Juan Diego, a simple peasant to whom the Virgin Mary appeared on four occasions in the mountains near Mexico City in 1531. Initially he was not believed but when he presented the Spanish bishop with an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe engraved on a cloth, his story was embraced by Roman Catholic officials.  Pope John Paul II made Juan Diego a canonized saint in 2002. The pageant coincides with December 12th, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Adapted for the stage by Evelina Fernandez from the mid-16th century text The Nican Mopohua and performed in Spanish with English subtitles, the pageant is the Latino Theater Company’s gift to the city. LTC has over 30 years of commitment to the creation of exciting, thought-provoking theater in Los Angeles.

To stream and details, click here.

Looking for creative one of the kind gifts? Share the art! Do your holiday shopping at the Barnsdall Virtual Art& Craft Fair which will run through Thursday, December 31st. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, these crazy times are touching us all in challenging ways. While The Barnsdall Art Center Student Advisory Committee (BACSAC) made a decision to cancel their annual Barnsdall Art and Craft Fair, they are still dedicated to supporting their teaching and student artists, so the fair traditionally held at the Barnsdall Art Center at Barnsdall Park will, like so many other holiday events be virtual this year. I love to support local artists, and although it’s obviously not going to be as much fun shopping online as it is meeting the artists in person and shopping on the beautiful grounds at Barnsdall Park it will still be a chance to find unique handmade gifts and support the Barnsdall Art Center teaching and student artists.

To visit the fair, go to the BACSAC website where you can view inspiring work by talented local makers and creators, catering to a range of budgets. The fair will showcase diverse work from students and faculty including handcrafted jewelry, ceramics, cards, prints, fiber arts, tableware, paintings, sculpture, drawings and photography. Customers can make purchases directly through each represented artist on the website.

Click here to visit the fair.

Join the Master Chorale and celebrate the season with Holiday Karaoke, a full-length interactive live streamed sing-along led by Grant Gershon, Jenny Wong, and some special guests. In this full-length live streamed event, Grant Gershon and Jenny Wong will lead Holiday Karaoke, which draws on the Master Chorale’s popular holiday programs, such as Festival of Carols and the Messiah Sing-Along, to bring a familiar yet refreshing platform for audiences to participate in a sing-along format from home with Master Chorale musicians. From holiday classics like the “Hallelujah” chorus to traditional folksongs from around the globe the Holiday Karaoke program has a little something for everyone. The concert will lead audiences to sing in harmony and connect in a festive, heartwarming, and celebratory musical time with friends, families, and thousands of others across the global virtual community. “Perhaps the single most important thing we can do is use our voices to unite, connect, heal, and find a sense of joy,” said Gershon. “Making music in a virtual world presents us with new opportunities, so we are proud to continue the Master Chorale’s holiday concert tradition with Holiday Karaoke.”

Participants will be able to learn the music and sing along with The Chorale from the comfort of their home.  To help prepare The Master Chorale will release instructional videos for select songs on Thursday, December 3rd.

The Holiday Karaoke live stream on December 17th.

Born during these challenging, yet galvanizing, Philicia Saunders has created Breathe., an intriguing live-streamed multi-media interactive theater event. Breathe., a form of art activism is a one woman show written and performed by Saunders, fusing live performance, cinema, performance art and artistic swimming. The show is based on Saunders life-changing personal journey towards activism after a chance trip to a Civil Rights monument during a civil rights tour in Alabama and mentorship by a luminary of activism, Sweet Alice Harris, one of Watts’ most beloved community organizers. Breathe. evolved from Saunders graduate school thesis called Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired which was a series of taped interviews that she had with Sweet Alice. The piece is directed by Saunders’ fellow Princeton alum Roger Q. Mason

The virtual premiere of Breathe. streams on YouTube (except for Dec. 13 when it will be Twitch) – LIVE on Friday, Dec. 11 at 5:00 p.m. PST and on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 3:30 p.m. PST. Encore performances with post-performance Talkbacks will take place on Sunday, Dec. 13 at 2:00 p.m. PST (this presentation plays on Twitch and is pay-what-you can; Talkback is with Sweet Alice) and Friday, Dec. 18 at 5:00 p.m. PST. Proceeds are going to Sweet Alice’s nonprofit Parents of Watts and the Community Coalition.

Click here to register.