Beverly Hills’ The Wallis Names Manuel Prieto Director of Education, an innovative leader and tireless champion of equitable arts education.
Manuel “Manny” Prieto, an innovative leader and tireless champion of equitable arts education, has been named Director of Education of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, announced Executive Director and CEO Rachel Fine.
Manny Prieto oversees for The Wallis
Prieto, a resident of Los Angeles who assumes the post on September 1, 2022, will oversee the strategic planning and operations of The Wallis’ highly regarded GRoW @ The Wallis education and outreach programs, which serve a broad and diverse sector of the community.
He will collaborate with Fine and the organization’s artistic staff and Board of Directors to ensure the education department programs and initiatives align with the mission, vision, and core values of The Wallis.
Manny Prieto’s passion for music and art
A committed and enthusiastic advocate for the arts, Prieto most recently served as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Music and Art School (LAMusArt), a non-profit arts education institution in East Los Angeles with a 77-year history of making arts education a tangible reality for thousands of underserved youth in the community.
In that role, he has worked to recontextualize and combat the often outdated standards of fine and performing arts so that a new, diverse, and more modern cohort of students can experience the enrichment that creativity offers.
Prieto succeeds Mark Slavkin, The Wallis’ first Director of Education, who led the department for and retired after seven years, building a successful and admired program emulated by other institutions.
“Manny Prieto is a dedicated arts education pioneer and advocate,” says Fine.
“A visionary and community-focused trailblazer,
he is dedicated to ensuring arts education and outreach programs remain indispensable in our complicated and evolving world.
On behalf of The Wallis’ Board of Directors and staff, we welcome Manny enthusiastically to our senior management team. Under his strategic guidance, The Wallis will continue to prioritize its education department to serve the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles communities with forward-thinking educational programs that reflect the rich cultural diversity and needs of our great cities.”
“I am tremendously excited to join The Wallis as Director of Education,” says Prieto. “The Wallis is unwavering in its commitment to providing opportunities for audiences of all abilities, ages, and interests so they never stop learning and engaging in the performing arts – a guiding tenet of my life’s work thus far. The arts are where we create community, heal our divides, discover and embrace our visions, voices, and power to be creative agents of change, and foster a safe space to thrive. In my new capacity with The Wallis, I look forward to applying my expertise and belief in the power of the arts to facilitate an environment that encourages the community to think like artists and experience collective success as creative people.”
About Manny Prieto
During Prieto’s eight-year tenure with LAMusArt, he helped make the arts — and their benefits –a day-to-day experience for young students in East Los Angeles. He effectively strengthened the organization’s infrastructure by broadening board involvement, expanding program offerings and scholarship opportunities, upgrading working conditions and renovating work spaces, adopting a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy, doubling the organization’s budget to over $1 million, creating an organization-wide curriculum framework, and implementing community building among staff and faculty. Prieto is proud of the organization’s mission and is also proud to reinvest in the East LA community as a means to bring forth its vibrant creative potential. When Prieto took the position of Executive Director, at a mere 25 years old, he had a vision for LAMusArt as a hub for accessible and safe collaboration, expression, and instruction so that students could see viable examples of what the arts can bring to their lives. His vision didn’t come without risks – he expanded free programming, pushed students toward challenging repertoire, and invited audience members to explore art forms unfamiliar to them. During his tenure, the community experienced considerable growth and transformation.
Prior to joining LAMusArt, Prieto worked in the education department at Center Theatre Group (CTG) coordinating accessibility programs at the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre and implemented bilingual curriculum for their education department initiative “The Shop: Theatre In Your Everyday Life.” He has worked as an educator at CTG and P.S. Arts, among other Los Angeles institutions, leading discourse on pedagogical strategy, artistic curricula, and theatrical design. As a designer, Prieto has worked on productions for E! Network, CTG, Pasadena Playhouse, Cornerstone Theatre, El Teatro Campesino, 24th Street Theater, and LATC.
Prieto earned a B.F.A. from the University of Southern California in Theater Design and a M.A. in Nonprofit Management from Antioch University. He was co-chair of the Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders Council, a member of the steering committee of the Latinx Theatre Alliance-LA and a former LACDAC internship program participant and peer mentor. He brings his background and perspective as a student of design and an arts educator to his role as a leader and works for the communities he himself recognizes from childhood – communities with abundant artistic potential and very few resources. He has remained an authentic and steadfast captain through many evolutions and challenges in the arts landscape, never losing sight of a greater sense of purpose.
About the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts:
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a dynamic cultural hub and community resource where local, national and international artists share their artistry with ever-expanding audiences. The campus, located in the heart of Beverly Hills, CA, is committed to robust and distinctive presentations and education programs curated with both creativity and social impact in mind. Distinguished by its eclectic programming that mirrors the diverse landscape of Los Angeles and its location in the entertainment capital of the world, The Wallis has produced and presented more than 350 theater, dance, music, film, cabaret, conversation, and family entertainment programs since its doors opened in October 2013. Hailed as “au courant” (LaLa Magazine), The Wallis was lauded by Culture Vulture, which proclaims, “If you love expecting the unexpected in the performing arts, you have to love The Wallis.” Its programming has been nominated for 79 Ovation Awards and nine L.A. Drama Critic’s Circle Awards. The campus itself, a breathtaking 70,000-square-foot facility, celebrating the classic and the modern, has garnered six architectural awards. Designed by acclaimed architect Zoltan E. Pali (SPF:architects), the restored building features the original 1933 Beverly Hills Post Office (on the National Register of Historic Places), which serves as the theater’s dramatic yet welcoming lobby, and includes the contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater; the 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater; an inviting open-air plaza for family, community and other performances; and GRoW @ The Wallis: A Space for Arts Education, where learning opportunities for all ages and backgrounds abound. Together, these elements embrace the city’s history and its future, creating a performing arts destination for L.A.-area visitors and residents alike. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is led by Chairman of the Board Michael Nemeroff and Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer Rachel Fine.
For more information about The Wallis, please visit: TheWallis.org.
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Be sure to check out the ‘Formless Form’ exhibit at the new Mash Gallery location.
812N La Cienega Blvd;
Los Angeles
CA 90069
To learn more about Mash Gallery-
go to
@mash_gallery
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From A Wine Lover’s Bucket List: Eve Bushman spends a Week in Chateauneuf du Pape
From A Wine Lover’s Bucket List: Eve Bushman spends a week touring and tasting in Chateauneuf du Pape
What’s on your Bucket List?
While a normal person wants to check off going to Mars, driving a racecar or meeting a president, wine writers have lists that almost always include visiting wineries in far off places. Having Shiraz in Australia, Tempranillo in Spain, Chianti Classico in Italy and Malbec in Argentina are on our lists, but top of the list for me has always been France. I had two days in Bordeaux years ago and a week in the Garda DOC in Italy that just wet my whistle for more, so when a small group of wine writers was being put together, to visit Chateauneuf du Pape for arguably the best Rhone wines in the world, I poised my pencil over my list and made a huge mark – YES, please, take me!
Quick travel tips: Bottles are priced much less at the source, even with shipping costs; we saved in buying a case to have sent home. If you can’t get winery appointments, or don’t have the time, we found several tasting rooms in town – as well as several places for meals. None of us in our party spoke fluent French, and though it would have helped, we were fine communicating in English. You can drive your own car, on the right side of the street, but there are many roundabouts, toll roads and narrow roadways.
Eddie Bushman at Pegau
Domaine Pegau
Our first day in France began with a sunrise at our friend’s Villa in Monoblet. From there we traveled 90 minutes for a tour and tasting at Chateau (wines labeled from the Cote du Rhone area) and Domaine (Chateauneuf du Pape area in Rhone) from Pegau. We have a few Domaine Pegau wines in our cellar and really looked forward to visiting the real deal.
From our host we learned that there are five towns in Chateauneuf du Pape that produced 95% red and 5% white wine grapes. They use 13 grape varieties and any given bottle only has to use one grape. Pegau – properly pronounced as “Pay-Go” – uses all 13, including blending white with red grapes. For their Cote du Rhone property Pegau makes 44% red wine and one Rose wine.
We learned that they are an old school winery, as far as winemaking techniques. When finished wine is ordered only then is a bottling truck ordered and labels created. (There are different laws for different labeling around the world, so that is the reason they have to wait to print the labels.)
Only old oak is used for aging and some barrels are 90 years old. Stainless steel tanks are only used for their white wines; some high-end whites also spend time in wood barrels and concrete eggs. They do not de-stem any of the wines, which for me meant that the terroir would show earthiness and tannins.
Now, onto the tasting!
We sampled two Chateau Pegau Vallee du Rhone and two Domaine Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape, a white and red in each category, aged between 2019 and 2021. My personal preference on these leaned more toward the Chateauneuf du Pape wines and of particular note was the 2019 Cuvee Reservee that used all 13 Rhone grapes and 80% of that was Grenache. These wines were priced between 10 and 45 euros – which is pretty close to the same in American dollars.
Instagram: @Domaine_Du_Pegau
Website: https://pegau.com/
Roger Sabon Wine glass
Domaine Roger Sabon
Next up we visited Chateauneuf du Pape’s (CDP’s) Domaine Roger Sabon for a tasting.
Our host explained that this past summer they experienced drier weather producing smaller berries over 18 hectares. Sabon, like Pegau, has both a Domaine for the CDP wine area and a Cotes du Rhone label. Five percent of their appellations are producing white wines. They blend before aging, have four different soil types and also have a distillery. All of their wines are at least 70% Grenache and are aged in large barrels.
For the tasting they offered us new and older wines, including wines from the Lirac appellation – not in Chateauneuf du Pape – with amazing aromatics and flavors.
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My second favorite was the Prestige label, a 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape that was all black fruit, cracked pepper and earth that had a nice sweet spot. That blend was also a GSM.
My ultimate favorite of the day was the final wine we tasted: the 2012 Prestige that had huge aromatics with earth, mint, dark fruit and an extra long finish. It was a real treat to be treated to an older vintage as it showed how well these wines did after a decade of aging.
Instagram: @Roger.Sabon
Website: http://www.domainerogersabon.com/en/
Domaine de la Mordoree
The next day we went to Domaine de la Mordoree for an extensive vineyard tour – with the most amazing rocky and sandy soil that walking on it was difficult. The idea of the roots below, struggling for water that made them strong, left a huge impression on me. I had never seen this kind of large rocky terrain in a vineyard before. And the sandy sections were so pure and soft, it was quite a difference. The vines are between 40 and 60 years old.
Farming in the Domaine was certified organic in 2013 and is now also biodynamic. There are 30 workers brought in for nighttime harvests every year. The father and head of the household had died, and the mother and daughter “continue in a masculine world” according to our guide.
After the tour we had a tasting of their new white, rose and red wines. My first favorite was the 2019 La Dame Rousse – Lirac, also known as “The Red Lady” on their website, which was 50% Grenache and 50% Syrah. Very dark berries, forest floor, tannin, dry and spicy and with a price tag of only 14.50 Euros. My second favorite was their 2020 La Reine de bois Chateauneuf du Pape that was rich, velvety, smooth and balanced. Top notch indeed and 56 Euros.
Instagram: @Domaine_Mordoree
Website: https://www.domaine-mordoree.com/?lang=en
Domaine Andre Brunel and le Clos du Caillou
Our next day in Chateauneuf du Pape was spent at Domaine Andre Brunel and le Clos du Caillou! At Andre Brunel we learned that the namesake had passed away in February and his son Fabrice, Andre’s longtime apprentice, then took over as winemaker. Some of the Grenache vineyards are 135 years old. One other interesting fact is that in a recent blind tasting of a 1959 Andre Brunel vintage the wine was thought to have been a Burgundy instead of a Rhone!
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Onto le Clos du Caillou where some of their wines are grown within the CDP boundaries and some are outside of it in Cotes du Rhone territory. The Cailloux area, mentioned above in a wine from Andre Brunel, is just outside of CDP but has the same soil and terroir. Some of their vineyards have sandy soils and some are pebbly.
Their Grand Reserve wine is their most famous and comes from pure sandy soils, which for the winery means:
“elegance, fine tannins and aging potential.”
le Clos du Caillou bottless and quartz
Their new winery, Domaine de Panisse, began in 2020 and the wines have all sold out. In 2007 they went organic and were certified as so in 2010. They are also biodynamic but are not yet certified for that distinction. Grenache is their number one produced grape, followed by Syrah, Mourvedre and other Rhônes. They only work with used barrels.
We tasted seven wines and the most memorable one for me was the Les Quartz Rouge – Chateauneuf du Pape 2020 for its fresh red fruit, richness and smooth balance. The grapes used – 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah – came from the vineyard that just happened to be just outside of the Chateauneuf du Pape region. Our host said the wine had a 20-year aging potential. The wine was priced at 55 Euros.
Instagram: @Domaine_AndreBrunel @ClosDuCaillou
Websites: https://domaine-andre-brunel.fr/
https://www.closducaillou.com/
La Barroche winery
Domaine la Barroche and Château Mont Redon PLUS The Terroir and Castles
Next up we visited Domaine la Barroche where the sandy soil with quartz stones took over the vineyards. The same 12 people do the harvest every year; and the group also sorts the grapes in buckets by hand for the 2,000 cases of wine they produce a year. During the de-stemming process they discard any too-dry berries. Then, later, the winemaking process is “like slow cooking at low temperatures” according to our host.
We tasted wines from their Liberty (stones), Julien Barrot (signature) and Fiancée labels. Every wine I tasted I noted as distinguished: the 2020, 2019 and 2016 Julien Barrot Chateauneuf du Pape, 2020 Liberty blend and the 2020 Fiancée Chateauneuf du Pape.
Chateau Mont- Redon
Before our tasting at Mont-Redon I took a few moments to look over their colorful brochure and large maps.
I read,
“The secret of our skill is hidden in the poor soils in which the vines grow.
Originally the Alps, Chateauneuf du Pape, round puddings stones are what make our wines special.
Our Lirac and Cotes du Rhone are at their best on the plains, also stony, neighboring those of Chateauneuf du Pape.”
Château Mont Redon will be celebrating their 100-year anniversary next year, with the same family at the helm since 1923!
We tasted a 2021 Roussanne Viognier Reserve Cotes du Rhone, 2020 Oratoire St. Domaine Martin Rhone Valley, 2020 Lirac GSM, 2018 Reserve Gigondas and a 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape. Learned that they don’t export their wines until they are at least five years old – as the U.S. consumer is not known for aging their wines – and we should be buying the 2019s now.
Terroir tour Day Courtesy A 2 Pas des Vignes Hebergements and Spa
Next up was a fabulous tour of the different rocks – including beautiful quartz – and different soils all throughout the Cote Du Rhone and Chateauneuf du Pape with Nicolas of “A 2 Pas des Vignes Hebergements and Spa”! (He and his wife Emilie own four homes to rent, and a spa on the premises.) Castles – all minutes away – include the Pope’s Palace, Chateau de Vaudieu, Chateau La Nerthe and Hostellerie du Château that also has a lovely restaurant. I highly recommend a stay at 2 Pas as the pricing is more than reasonable as well as being in the center of Chateauneuf du Pape. Nicolas offered us the tour, though he is not a tour guide, but I also suggest a tour so that you can get more of a sense of the terroir and history.
Nicolas from A 2 Pas des Vignes Hebergements and Spa
Instagram: @DomaineLaBarroche @ChateauMontRedon
Websites: https://www.domainelabarroche.com/
https://www.chateaumontredon.com/
Instagram: @a2pasdesvignes
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/a2pasdesvignes
Domaine du Grand Tinel bottle shot
Domaine du Grand Tinel, Domaine Saint Prefert Et Domaine Isabel Ferrando and Vieux Telegraphe
My final installment from my time in Chateauneuf du Pape is a visit and tour at Domaine du Grand Tinel that’s been making wine for 7 generations! (My husband Eddie covered me for another day – see his coverage from Domaine Saint Prefert Et Domaine Isabel Ferrando and Vieux Telegraphe below.)
Lucien Jeune, born in 1904, is known for two things, first he passed a law forbidding UFOs from landing in the vineyards – making the area more appealing to inquisitive tourists – and he was also mayor for 25 years. Grand Tinel began in 1972, combining estates owned by Lucien Jeune and Georges Establet, when their children married in 1968.
Domaine du Grand Tinel wine glass
To this day harvest is all done by hand, the have two wineries from two different terroirs: Domaine du Grand Tinel and Domaine de Saint Paul. They don’t make all of the white Rhone varieties, and they focus on the three major reds: Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. Some of their vines are over 100 years old. They only use new oak barrels for the whites and used for the reds. Wine is sold through Negotiants, mostly to the private sector of French buyers. Bottling and labeling is done in house.
These were my favorites from the tasting: The 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, the 2020 Cuvee Cotes du Rhone (Roussanne based), Domaine Saint Paul 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape (Grenache and Syrah based, 70 year old vines), 2018 L’insolite (100% Syrah) and 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Heres (100% Grenache).
Eddie and friends (I was back at the Villa with a cold) visited Domaine Saint Prefert Et Domaine Isabel Ferrando and Vieux Telegraphe…these are his memories of the day:
Eddie’s Telegraph
My day began at Domaine Saint Prefert and with an introduction and discussion with owner Isabel Fernando, and a tasting of the latest vintages. The 2021 Blanc Famille Isabel Fernando Chateauneuf du Pape was a great sample of their wines. The 2020 Colombis from Chateauneuf du Pape was outstanding as well.
Saint Prefert Isabel Ferrando
The afternoon brought us to Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe. Vieux Telegraphe has been a family run winery since 1891. The sixth generation of the Brunier family is continuing the tradition of making excellent wines. Daniel Brunier gave us a wonderful tour and explanation of their winemaking style. The tour included a walk through their newly constructed caves for wine aging and storage.
The tasting began with Clos Roquete, a very approachable wine made from 33% Roussanne, 33% Clairette, and 34% Grenache Blanc. This wine was so good, we bought a bottle for dinner that night. The 2020 Blanc was outstanding as well. We tasted the entire flight ending with the 2019 Rouge Chateauneuf du Pape made from 65% Grenache Noir, 15% Mourvedre, 15% Syrah, with Cinsault, Clairette and others at 5%. As a special treat, Daniel opened their 2010 rouge Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape. This wine was truly a standout in all the wines tasted on the trip so far. The wine had aged well and still had the ability go age a couple of dozen more years. Many Vieux Telegraphe wines were included in the case we had shipped home.
Instagrams: @DomaineDuGrandTinel @isabelferrando_stprefert @VieuxTelegraphe
Websites: https://www.domainegrandtinel.fr/en/#historique
https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/
Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in the first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits.
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Upgrading Your Hollywood Hills House? Start by Choosing Your Best Mattress in 2023
Upgrading Your Home? – Your Best Mattress in 2023
Reviewed and revealed. Time for you to find your mattress in 2023. Most of us spend a third of our lives asleep. Science says it’s how we repair, recharge and dream. With hybrid work or work from home, we sometimes rest more. Some of us work from our bed.
You’re moving? You upgraded your house? Either way, it’s time for a new mattress. And a lot of changed since the old days of mattress shopping. Even if “the old days” was just 5 years ago.
Big changes. Real science upgrades depending on sleep position, body type, health conditions, body temperature, temperature of the room and flexibility, adaptability of all of these variables.
It’s a lot of decisions that you probably don’t want to research. You just want an awesome night’s sleep.
So we did the mattress research for you
Brooklyn Bedding’s Signature
What’s the best mattress overall?
Brooklyn Bedding’s Signature is pretty amazing. The Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid is the brand’s flagship bed.
The mattress offers three firmness options, a strong steel coil foundation layer, a comfy “give” that rests your aching bones, strong and durable hybrid construction.
Their hybrid mattress (a bed made with coils and foam) offers a neutral-foam feel that’s more light and airy than traditional memory foam. It also offers improved edge support, thanks to a thick layer of pocketed coils with reinforced coils around the edges of its support bed.
Accommodating for all body types and even suits any sleeping position.
If you time it right (they have sales), it’s surprisingly affordable.
Price is usually closer to $1200, but with the right timing (discounts), you can sleep well for under $1000.
Layla Hybrid mattress
Best Mattress for Side Sleepers
Layla Hybrid mattress is special! Generations ago, flippable mattresses were popular and the Layla brand is bringing back the trend. So yes, it’s flippable and both sides offer different firmness levels – so yes, you have two choices to pick from to match your personal preference. One side is soft and pressure relieving while the other is firmer and more supportive.
Also, Layla’s primary comfort layers are made with copper-gel memory foam which helps regulate temperature, while the material feels ultra light and airy. This is more responsive than the foam’s traditional slow-bouncing nature.
The Layla Hybrid is ultra plush and soft. Indulgently comfortable. A. great choice for side sleepers of all body shapes and sizes.
The Layla Hybrid comes in a range of sizes: twin to California king sizes and prices range from $1,299 to $1,899.
Saatva Classic
Best Firm Mattress
The Saatva Classic offers both plush comfort with premium support. Its thick and supportive construction provides contouring that fits each of your body’s curves. Unique from most hybrid beds, it offers two coil layers (one innerspring layer and one pocketed coil layer), memory foam, Lumbar Zone Active Spinal Wire and a quilted, zoned pillow-top add to a luxury experience. Designed to promote comfort and spinal alignment.
The innerspring mattress hybrid construction is the magic behind why this bed is so supportive and firm.
The Saatva Classic’s special lumbar technology is designed to keep your spine aligned while comforting your shoulders and hips.Also allows you to choose how firm you want your firm bed to be.
The Saatva Classic comes in sizes twin XL to split California king and prices range from $887 up to $2,296.
