Talking Animal Festival...saturday night.

In the busy bumper-to-bumper streets of Hollywood, there was only ONE place where one could find theater, music, art, and above all, Alexia Tsotsis. That place was the Stages Theater Company. From the exterior of the building, first impressions lead me to believe that I was about to walk into someone's personal house. However, with a closer inspection, I found that the Stages Theater Company just happened to be in a Residential neighborhood right off of the Sunset strip, and the actual building was hidden behind a bushel of vines. The cover charge was five dollars, which was non profit to reimburse the hard working curators of the show: Joe Napolitano, Alexia Tsotsis, and a few other brilliant individuals. Upon entrance, a bar was set up serving drinks for donations. The play had already started by the time we arrived, so instead of interrupting the show, we walked upstairs into the art gallery. The walls of the second story were jammed packed with art, outstanding art, art that surpassed my every expectation. Hanging a show salon style sometimes can be tricky if the curator doesn't understand that a work of art needs its own breathing room to give the spectator a chance to gaze at and away from the work itself. And, although there were twenty-three artists exhibiting in a space no bigger than 20 square feet, the show had a coherent complimentary vibe. Even the stairway walls became a resting place for the paintings to interact with the viewers. To sum up a night well spent, the show proved once again that with a little money, a lot of love, and some damn fine art, anyone can have a wonderful Saturday night in the city of Lost Angels.