My First Red Carpet was for a Good Cause

Last night I attended a benefit for The Barrio Symphony at the Sonora Café. The barrio symphony is a non-profit music organization founded by Peter Quesada, my neighbor and dear friend. Peter invited me to the event so that I might record video of his students performing music from the European, Israeli, and Latin canon. Unfortunately, neither of us was able to track down a video camera so I merely attended as his guest.

First let me say: the kids playing in this orchestra are amazing and could probably hold their own amongst most classical studio musicians. If I had only been there to hear them play, it would have been a fantastic evening. However, things got way more Hollywood than that.

Some highlights:

• I spent a goodly portion of the evening chatting with Vicki Randle of the Tonight Show band. She's a good friend of Peter's and an extremely talented and passionate musician. Just a few weeks ago, I was watching her perform at a taping of The Tonight Show. Unfortunately, she and the rest of the band are currently unemployed due to the WGA strike. I still support the strike, but fallout like this is truly unfortunate. So, please support her by checking out her album "Sleep City," the title track is a funky number that takes me back to a time when lead singers could still summon sass.
  
• I met some of my neighbors from Peter's building. Turns out, Thai Town is crawling with actors, writers, directors, and producers. For the first time since early childhood I'm meeting and getting to know my neighbors. It's great!
  
• Celebrity sightings: Tim Curry, Billy Baldwin, Wendie Malick, and Bellamy Young (Dirty Sexy Money).
  
• Someone donated $20,000 to the orchestra so that they could have a "Dirty Sexy Dinner" with Billy Baldwin and Bellamy Young.
  
• I was devastated to see a signed Dali lithograph on JaPan paper get auctioned off for only $3,600. But Dali is dead and these kids will still get plenty of benefit from that money.
  
• At the end of the evening, I had Michelle Phillips cello from The Mommas and the Poppas in the backseat of my car. She donated it to the Barrio Symphony and I was responsible for escorting the cello back to Peter's apartment.
  

(Above: Billy Baldwin, Peter Quesada, & Bellamy Young)

Did I mention free food and an open bar? I think I'll keep pursuing acting if for no reason other than an endless stream of benefit buffet lines.