Join LAVA for our revived free monthly Sunday Salon series. We return to South Broadway, to the mezzanine of Les Noces du Figaro, which was recently opened by the family behind Figaro Bistro in Los Feliz. This handsome space was formerly Schaber’s Cafeteria (Charles F. Plummer, 1928), and the mezzanine features wonderful views of the Los Angeles Theatre.

On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA welcomes interested individuals to gather in downtown Los Angeles (noon-2pm), for a structured Salon featuring formal presentations and opportunities to meet and connect with one another.If you’re interested in joining LAVA as a creative contributor or an attendee, we recommend Salon attendance as an introduction to this growing community. We also recommend the eclairs.

Read about the original Sunday Salon at Clifton’s Cafeteria here.

The Salon will be broken into two distinct presentations each lasting about 45 minutes. You are encouraged to arrive early if you wish to order food and beverages from the counter downstairs, and bring your meal upstairs. 

Presentation One

Backstage at the Follies: A talk by Pepper Aarvold

Pepper Aarvold says: “I grew up backstage of a burlesque theater from the tender age of four through my teens. I’ll tell you what it was like being the grand daughter of burlesque veterans Lillian Hunt and Leon DeVoe. Gramps was a straight man and Granny went from chorus line choreographer to a successful agent for strippers having ‘discovered’ Tempest Storm among others who were ‘graduates’ of her famous school for strippers which was conducted in the rehearsal hall at the Follies. From the orchestra pit to the wings where I often caught strippers’ costumes as they were ‘shed,’ I’ll provide a perspective most little girls never have the good fortune to experience.

And if asked, I can teach you a few classic moves…”

 

Presentation Two

Finding Ann Dvorak

When Christina Rice checked out a VHS copy of Three on a Match from her local library in 1995, she just expected to enjoy Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart in a snappy 1932 pre-Code film. Instead, she was blindsided by the raw performance of the little-known Ann Dvorak. This encounter would ultimately shape the course of Rice’s adult life, culminating in the publication of the biography Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel from University Press of Kentucky (2013).

Join author and librarian Christina Rice as she discusses her 15-year quest to uncover the life and career of Ann Dvorak, an actress who was positioned to be one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, but instead countered the powerful studio system -– and suffered the consequences.

The Salon will be followed by a free tour of South Broadway–The Flaneur & The City: Broadway on My Mind walking tour #5.