Author: JohnValbyNation

The Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa announced Saturday that its new president will be Casey Reitz, executive director of New York’s Second Stage Theater and part of the Tony-winning producing team for the 2017 best musical “Dear Evan Hansen.” Reitz, who succeeds Terrence Dwyer, will begin in December. Reitz led all administrative,…

Here is a list of classical music performances in L.A. for Oct. 20-27: American Youth Symphony Season opener includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral,” plus Joan Tower’s “Sequoia” and Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with violinist Gallia Kastner. Royce Hall, UCLA, 10745 Dickson Court, Westwood. Sun., 7 p.m. Free. (310) 470-2332. AYSymphony.org Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar…

Here is a list of dance performances in L.A. for Oct. 20-27: La Bayadère Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra performs the classic romantic tragedy about a temple dancer in India. Segerstrom Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Sun., 1 p.m. $39 and up. (714) 556-2787. scfta.org L.A. Dances Two-month festival,…

1/12 Singer Gwen Stefani sold her contemporary-style compound in the Beverly Hills Post Office area to stand-up comic Sebastian Maniscalco for $21.65 million. The 11,845-square-foot spread, which was once owned by Jennifer Lopez, features a black-and-white striped kitchen.   (James Moss) 2/12 The renovated contemporary-style home is in a guard-gated enclave north of Beverly Hills…

Before the financial crisis, the term “high-yield savings account” would have been considered an oxymoron. Today, such products are thriving. Click Here: Italy Football Shop After the Federal Reserve dropped its benchmark lending rate to near-zero in late 2008, big U.S. banks paid virtually nothing to anyone who parked money with them. That presented an…

Dear Liz: My daughter has two children, ages 2 and 4. Recently the children’s father took his own life. He was 27. The job he worked as long as I knew him paid him in cash, so he didn’t pay into Social Security. Does this mean the children cannot receive survivor benefits from Social Security?…

It’s been 32 years since the popularity of wine coolers peaked. Zima’s day in the sun was a quarter of a century ago. The website that popularized “icing” — a drinking game that involved getting down on one knee and chugging a bottle of Smirnoff Ice — doesn’t even exist anymore. Now the question is…

Skirts and jackets made of aluminum-can pull tabs and cork were among the animal-friendly pieces of apparel on display at the second Vegan Fashion Week held Oct. 10-15 in downtown Los Angeles. (The first one took place in March, also in DTLA.) Emmanuelle Rienda, the event organizer, acknowledged that “vegan” might not conjure images of…

CHICAGO —  Chicago parents leaned on family, friends and community groups as 25,000 teachers in the nation’s third-largest school district went on strike this week, canceling classes for more than 300,000 students. For some families, the Chicago Teachers Union walkout meant a day off and a bit of inconvenience for parents juggling work schedules. For the…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —  Nestor made landfall Saturday as a post-tropical cyclone after the former tropical storm spawned a tornado that damaged homes and a school in central Florida but spared an area of the Panhandle devastated one year ago by Hurricane Michael. The storm made landfall on St. Vincent Island, a nature preserve just off Florida’s…