|
In This Issue
- Flying Leatherneck Museum Groundbreaking
- Performing Arts Center Breaks Ground at Fullerton College
- Changes for Rose Center Theater
- Fullerton Museum Renovations
- AJ Layague Wins OCPA Prize
- In Memoriam
| |
Flying Leatherneck Museum Breaks
Ground in Irvine’s Great Park
| People take photos before a groundbreaking for the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum at the Great Park. | |
On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps, a groundbreaking for the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum in Irvine’s Great Park was celebrated October 28. The museum, planned as a 131,000 square-foot facility that will be built close to what was once the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station’s Hangar 297, is a private-public partnership between the Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation, the City of Irvine and the Marine Corps. The space, which is expected to open in 2027, will document the stories of aviators, veterans and civilians whose lives intersected with the base from World War II through the Vietnam War.
Read more here.
| Groundbreaking for New Performing Arts Center at Fullerton College | North Orange County Community College District Vice Chancellor of Finance and Facilities Fred Williams, Fullerton College President Cynthia Olivo, NOCCCD Board President Jeffrey P. Brown, Trustee Ryan Bent, Board Vice President Barbara Dunsheath and NOCCCD Chancellor Byron D. Clift Breland pose for a photo in honor of the official groundbreaking. | |
Fullerton College recently held a groundbreaking ceremony in honor of its future Performing Arts Center building. Home to the arts, performance and human expression, this new addition will be the catalyst of success for the fine arts community at the college. The space will feature nearly 78,000 square feet of rehearsal, performance, classroom, laboratory and office space, bringing together the music and theatre arts departments into a state-of-the-art facility.
Read more here.
| Rose Center Theater Announces Major Management Changes | |
In a surprise move, the City of Westminster has decided to transform the city’s Rose Center Theater into a community cultural center. The Friends of the Rose, which has managed the venue for nearly two decades, recently made the announcement on the Rose Theater’s website. In the statement, the Friends of the Rose said it planned to continue bringing arts events to the community, although those plans remain in the early stages.
Read more here.
| |
Fullerton Museum Center Reopens
After Renovations
| The Fullerton Museum Center re-introduces stained glass windows that were covered by a wall from a 1985 renovation. Etchings in the glass pay homage to the history of print and text. | |
After being shuttered for more than three months to complete the initial stages of a multimillion-dollar makeover, the Fullerton Museum Center is reopening. The restoration has blended original aesthetics with modernized enhancements to the 84 year-old building. Restored historical features, which had been hidden behind walls or covered over for years, include original stained-glass windows and bookshelves from when the Spanish Colonial building served as the Fullerton Library.
Read more here.
| |
Orange County Playwrights Alliance has awarded its fourth annual Erica Bennett Playwriting Prize to AJ Layague for her play “Cowgirl Katarungan's Recipe for Adobo.” In 2024, this rhyming verse play was a semi-finalist for the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and a finalist for American Theatre in Higher Education's Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award. “Cowgirl Katarungan's Recipe for Adobo” will be produced at Brea's Curtis Theatre on May 17 in the 2025-26 AMPLIFY series.
Read more about the production here.
| Rudy Cordova, who spent years planning community events within the City of Santa Ana, has died at the age of 53. Born and raised in the city, he is remembered as a visionary, a mentor, and as a man who brought his community together. Cordova provided a platform for local artists with Calacas, his longtime folk-art store which he opened with his then-wife Jackie in the early 2000s. The small shop was filled with local Chicano artwork and handmade crafts from Mexico. | Pacific Symphony has announced that their longtime Principal Tubist Jim Self has died. Self’s legacy lives on through the countless performances, students, and colleagues he inspired, and through the music he gave to the world. He was an admired, versatile and sought-after musician who, in addition to his work with Pacific Symphony and the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, performed on over 1,500 film scores, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind (he was the sound of the mothership), Jurassic Park and Star Wars. | | Curtis Webster, the co-founder of Orange County Playwrights Alliance, passed away unexpectedly on October 22. He was co-director of OCPA during its first year (1995), as seven playwrights from a South Coast Repertory playwriting class started a group that has continued to play a vital role in the Orange County theatre scene. Along the path of his life, Webster practiced law, broadcast and wrote about sports, and became a produced playwright, award-winning screenwriter, and television and film actor. | | We acknowledge with respect our presence on the ancestral lands of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians - Acjachemen Nation and the Tongva People. | | | | |
