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Tuesday, March 11, 2014
8:00pm

An Evening with Chelsea Handler
in conversation with Gwyneth Paltrow
discussing her new collection of essays, Uganda Be Kidding Me

The Alex Theatre
216 North Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA 91203

PURCHASE TICKETS
$25 General Admission – SOLD OUT
$50 Reserved Seats* + Chelsea Handler’s book, Uganda Be Kidding Me- SOLD OUT
$75 Premium Seats** + Chelsea Handler’s book – SOLD OUT

A book signing follows the event.

* At check in, you will get a ticket that gives you access to a reserved block of seats
** At check in, you will get a ticket that gives you access to the premium reserved block of seats
All tickets include Alex Theatre restoration facility fee of $2.00

Chelsea Handler — superstar comedian, bestselling author and host of E!’s late night talk show, “Chelsea Lately” — joins us at the Alex Theatre for a conversation on the occasion of the release of her upcoming book, Uganda Be Kidding Me.

Uganda Be Kidding Me to be released on March 4 is a hilarious and absurd collection of travel essays. Chelsea delivers some of her favorite stories while also giving travelers her (not to be believed) guide to etiquette, hot spots, and answers to some of the most asked travel questions. Wherever Chelsea Handler travels, one thing is certain: she always ends up in the land of the ridiculous. She sneaks her sharp wit through airport security and delivers her most absurd and hilarious stories.

On safari in Africa, it’s anyone’s guess as to what’s more dangerous: the wildlife or Chelsea. But whether she’s fumbling the seduction of a guide by not knowing where tigers live (Asia, duh) or wearing a bathrobe into the bush because her clothes stopped fitting seven margaritas ago, she’s always game for the next misadventure.

The situation gets down and dirty as she defiles a kayak in the Bahamas, and outright sweaty as she escapes from a German hospital on crutches. When things get truly scary, like finding herself stuck next to a passenger with bad breath, she knows she can rely on her family to make matters even worse. Thank goodness she has the devoted Chunk by her side-except for the time she loses him in Telluride.

Handler’s bestsellers include: My Horizontal Life: A Collection Of One Night Stands; Are You There, Vodka?  It’s Me, Chelsea; and Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang.  

Monday, February 10, 2014
8:00pm (Reception 6:30-7:30pm)

An Evening  with P. J. O’Rourke
in conversation with Annabelle Gurwitch

THE BABY BOOM: How It Got That Way
And It Wasn’t My Fault , And I’ll Never Do It Again

William Turner Gallery
Bergamot Station Arts Center
2525 Michigan Avenue,
Santa Monica, CA 90404

PURCHASE TICKETS
$20 General Admission
$40 Includes O’Rourke’s book + Reserved seat
$95 Includes pre-reception + O’Rourke’s book, + Reserved Seat

P. J. O’Rourke, one of America’s premier political satirists, is the best-selling author of fifteen books.  He has written for such diverse publications as Automobile, The Weekly Standard, House and Garden, Foreign Policy, The New York Times Book Review, Forbes FYI , Rolling Stone and The Atlantic Monthly. 

His best-selling books include Don’t Vote, Parliament of Whores, Give War a Chance, Eat the Rich, The CEO of the Sofa, Peace Kills and On the Wealth of Nation. Both Time and The Wall Street Journal have called him “the funniest writer in America.”  He frequently appears on television, and is a regular panelist on National Public Radio’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.

In the early 1970’s, P.J. joined The National Lampoon where he became the editor-in-chief and created, with Doug Kenney, the now classic 1964 High School Yearbook Parody.  In the 1980’s, he decided the real world was funnier than anything National Lampoon’s writers could invent, so he became a roving reporter covering crises and conflicts around the world.

Annabelle Gurwitch is an actress and author of  the upcoming book of essays, I See you Made an Effort. Her earlier book, You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up, is a self-hurt marital memoir co-written with her husband, Jeff Kahn, now a theatrical play in its third national tour; and Fired! Tales of the Caned, Canceled, Downsized & Dismissed. Her Fired! documentary premiered as a Showtime Comedy Special and played film festivals around the world. Gurwitch gained a loyal comedic following during her numerous years co-hosting the cult favorite, Dinner & a Movie; her acting credits include Dexter, Boston Legal, Seinfeld, Melvin Goes to Dinner, The Shaggy Dog and Not Necessarily The News on HBO. Most recently, she starred in the adaptation of Grace Paley’s A Coney Island Christmas by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies at The Geffen Playhouse. She has served as a regular commentator on NPR and a humorist for TheNation.com. Her writing has appeared in More, Marie Claire, Men’s Health, Los Angeles Times and elsewhere. Gurwitch is a passionate environmentalist, a reluctant atheist, and lives with her husband and son in Los Angeles.

Thursday, January 23, 2014
8:00pm (Reception 6:30-7:30p)

Tickets available at the door, 7pm

An Evening with Gloria Gaynor
on the 35th anniversary of her song, I Will Survive

in conversation with Sam Rubin

WE WILL SURVIVE: True Stories of Encouragement, Inspiration and the Power of Song

Ann and Jerry Moss Theater
Herb Alpert Educational Village
New Roads School
3131 Olympic Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 9o404

PURCHASE TICKETS 

$20 General Admission
$30 Reserved Seats
$40 Includes Gaynor’s book + Reserved seat
$95 Includes Pre-event reception + Gaynor’s book + Reserved Seats

Grammy Award-winning singer Gloria Gaynor took the music world by storm in the 1970s, striking platinum with her disco hit “I Will Survive” — the only song to earn a Grammy for Best Disco Recording and was one of only 25 songs inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012. Gaynor has appeared on countless television and radio shows, received numerous national and international music and humanitarian awards, and continues to perform around the world.

“I Will Survive – a timeless anthem empowering those reaching for positive change in their lives, a sing-along sound track supporting those in a period of change, often from a dark place to somewhere brighter” – Tina Turner

For millions of music lovers around the world Gloria Gaynor’s name is synonymous with pop music. An undisputed disco sensation, she was enjoying tremendous success in the 1970’s, performing to sold-out audiences across the country and riding the top of the Billboard chart with her hit single, “I Never Can Say Goodbye”.  Little did she know that fate would soon strike in both tragic and triumphant ways. While performing a concert in New York City, Gaynor fell from the stage. She got back up and continued the performance, but the next morning she woke up unable to move. The singer required back surgery and a lengthy, painful recovery, and she nearly lost her recording contract. At the request of the label she went back into the studio (in a back brace) to record a cover version of a Righteous Brothers song called “Substitute”. The hastily selected B-side chosen for the single — a little tune you may have heard of called “I Will Survive”.

Over the last 35-years, “I Will Survive” has transcended from a surprise hit to a pop culture anthem.  From its instantly recognizable opening riff to its final chorus, the song has become an international inspiration for people everywhere struggling to find the courage and strength to survive and thrive against life’s challenges and setbacks. Gloria Gaynor and the song have both become legends, and the legend lives on!

Gaynor’s new book, WE WILL SURVIVE: True Stories of Encouragement, Inspiration and the Power of Song celebrate the 35^th anniversary of the Grammy Award winning tune. Written with Vanity Fair reporter Sue Carswell, the book shares personal stories from fans across the country who have triumphed over incredible adversity, and for whom the song “I Will Survive” has become a mantra for perseverance and success.

Sam Rubin is the entertainment reporter for the KTLA Morning News.  Rubin hosts the Emmy-nominated “Live from the Academy Awards,” syndicated nationally by Tribune Entertainment, “Sneaks,” a series of movie preview shows produced in conjunction with the Los Angeles Times, as well as a show for the Reelz Channel.  He is a recipient of a Golden Mike Award for Best Entertainment Reporter from the Radio & Television News Association and, as part of the KTLA Morning News team, earned an Associated Press Television-Radio Award for Best News Broadcast.

In addition to his activities at KTLA, he also reports for Tribune’s WGN-TV in Chicago. Nationally, Rubin provides reports for “On Air With Ryan Seacrest,” “Show Buzz,” and CNN. On the radio, Rubin reports for Los Angeles’ KNX-AM. Rubin was last at Live Talks Los Angeles interviewing Garry Marshall. See the video.

Friday, January 17, 2014
8:00pm (Reception: 6:30-7:30pm)

An Evening  with Gary Shteyngart
in conversation with Jane Smiley
discussing his memoir, Little Failure

William Turner Gallery
Bergamot Station Arts Center
2525 Michigan Avenue,
Santa Monica, CA 90404

PURCHASE TICKETS
$20 General Admission
$40 Includes Shteyngart’s book + Reserved seat
$95 Includes pre-reception + Shteyngart’s book, + Reserved Seat

Gary Shteyngart was born in Leningrad in 1972 and came to the United States seven years later. His debut novel, The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, won the Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction and the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction. His second novel, Absurdistan, was named one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, as well as a best book of the year by Time, The Washington Post Book World, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, and many other publications. He has been selected as one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, GQ, and Travel + Leisure and his books have been translated into more than twenty languages. He lives in New York City.

After three acclaimed novels, Gary Shteyngart turns to memoir in a candid, witty, deeply poignant account of his life so far. Shteyngart shares his American immigrant experience, moving back and forth through time and memory with self-deprecating humor, moving insights, and literary bravado. The result is a resonant story of family and belonging that feels epic and intimate and distinctly his own.

Born Igor Shteyngart in Leningrad during the twilight of the Soviet Union, the curious, diminutive, asthmatic boy grew up with a persistent sense of yearning—for food, for acceptance, for words—desires that would follow him into adulthood. At five, Igor wrote his first novel, Lenin and His Magical Goose, and his grandmother paid him a slice of cheese for every page.

In the late 1970s, world events changed Igor’s life. Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev made a deal: exchange grain for the safe passage of Soviet Jews to America—a country Igor viewed as the enemy. Along the way, Igor became Gary so that he would suffer one or two fewer beatings from other kids. Coming to the United States from the Soviet Union was equivalent to stumbling off a monochromatic cliff and landing in a pool of pure Technicolor.

Shteyngart’s loving but mismatched parents dreamed that he would become a lawyer or at least a “conscientious toiler” on Wall Street, something their distracted son was simply not cut out to do. Fusing English and Russian, his mother created the term Failurchka—Little Failure—which she applied to her son. With love. Mostly.

As a result, Shteyngart operated on a theory that he would fail at everything he tried. At being a writer, at being a boyfriend, and, most important, at being a worthwhile human being.

Swinging between a Soviet home life and American aspirations, Shteyngart found himself living in two contradictory worlds, all the while wishing that he could find a real home in one. And somebody to love him. And somebody to lend him sixty-nine cents for a McDonald’s hamburger.

Little Failure is a memoir of an immigrant family coming to America, as told by a lifelong misfit who forged from his imagination an essential literary voice and, against all odds, a place in the world.

Jane Smiley was born in Los Angeles, California, moved to the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri as an infant, and lived there through grammar school and high school. After getting her BA at Vassar College in 1971, she traveled in Europe for a year, working on an archeological dig and sightseeing, and then returned to Iowa for graduate school at the University of Iowa.