Win a trip on “The Price Is Right.”

That’s what happened to Laguna Woods resident Marcus Geiger in February. His trip to the Big Easy comes with round-trip airfare for two, a five-night stay in a “historic property” near the French quarter, a helicopter tour and a private city tour.

But Geiger couldn’t brag about his big win back then. By strict show rules, he had to wait until after the episode aired on TV. That finally came on June 12.

“I’ve never been to New Orleans, and I’ve never been on a helicopter ride,” he said.

Even four months after the taping, Geiger spoke about his experience as enthusiastically and energetically as if it had just happened.

But that’s the kind of guy he is – enthusiastic and energetic, just the kind of person they like for “The Price Is Right.”

“I knew he was going to get picked because he was perfect for the show,” said Geiger’s friend, Teri Judd, who accompanied him to the taping. “He’s friendly, outgoing and very energetic. And he was determined to be up there.”

Geiger said that in the interview room, he “did the whole low five – ran by everybody up one side of the room and down the other, slapped their hands, showed a lot of energy, interacted with all the other people in the room.”

That energy – and Geiger’s bright orange shirt and matching shoes – appeared to catch the eye of the two interviewers.

“They looked at each other and smiled,” Judd said.

Geiger also came prepared for the interview, he said, rehearsing responses to what he figured would be the questions.

“They ask you where you live and what you do and what makes you interesting,” he said. “You gotta play it up a little bit.”

Geiger gave a shout-out to Laguna Woods in the interview.

“I talked about how great life is in Laguna Woods, all the fun stuff here, like every day there’s a lot of fun stuff going on.”

He also talked about being a crossing guard at a school in Laguna Beach and about four-wheeling in his Bronco.

“It’s all about how well you can keep a conversation going under duress,” he said.

When it came time for Geiger to “come on down,” he high-fived his way down to the floor, where the first price test would come.

He missed the first prize – a shuffleboard table – bidding just $2 over. (The price was $1,799.) Show host Drew Carey even commented on that near miss.

On his second try – for a picnic package complete with a tabletop umbrella – Geiger bid $601 and won; the package was worth $865. (The three other contestants guessed too low.)

Once Geiger got on stage for the game “Coming and Going,” his time in the spotlight was over in just about a flash: He simply had to say whether the price of the New Orleans trip was higher or lower than indicated. He listened to his friend Judd in the audience and won the trip, worth $7,469.

“I’m glad I won, but I wish it had been a longer game, like Plinko,” he said.

Geiger didn’t make it into the final showcase, but he’s looking forward to visiting New Orleans. He has a year from the air date to take the trip. (And yes, he’ll be paying taxes on all his winnings.)

So, who will be the lucky person he’ll choose to go with him?

“If I meet my soul mate, it would be great to take her on the trip,” Geiger said. “If I were engaged to be married, it would be great for a honeymoon.”

The Native American-inspired ceremony, held under the branches of a massive pine tree in a remote spot inside Gate 11, was led by Village resident Zahir Movius, a healer, astrologer, yoga instructor, mystic and shaman.

With the solstice on June 20 – the longest day of the year – marking the start of summer, the ceremony was about “honoring the season, nature, growth and fertility,” Movius said. “Acknowledging that we are one with nature and building relationships with each other and the trees and birds.”

To the slow, gentle beating of a drum, the ceremony began with a smudging, a cleansing ritual to purify individuals of negative energies using smoke from burned sage and cedar.

“You never go into prayers without a smudging first,” said Village resident Shining Eagle, a descendant of the Pequot tribe of Connecticut.

As each participant stood to receive the cleansing, Shining Eagle used eagle feathers to waft the smoke from head to toe.

Prayers followed, with the blowing of a conch shell, then a set of Native American songs: a Chumash welcome song, a Lakota song of thanks and a Yaqui good luck song.

Then each participant received a blessing with sacred water, spritzed with an eagle feather.

Anna Kupernov, originally from Bulgaria, drove from Yorba Linda to take part in the ceremony.

“I felt the energy, the presence of my ancestors,” she said. “I tried to connect to them and ask for forgiveness and pray for healing.”

Movius has been holding summer solstice ceremonies in the Village for about 10 years, he said, always at the same site in Gate 11, though the original tree died and he had to choose a new one.

“Certain spots generate an energy that stays,” he said. “Also, it’s a little way away from others – we’re not disturbed, and we’re not disturbing anyone. There’s a sense of remoteness.”

The old pine tree, wrapped with a red ribbon, is special, Movius said.

“There’s just been a lot of prayer under that tree. That’s what makes it special to me, and maybe to a lot of other people,” he said. “To me, all trees are special. They’re a sacred part of nature, and all of nature is special.”

And so I face the final curtain

My friend I’ll say it clear

I’ll state my case of which I’m certain. …

I planned each charted course

Each careful step along the byway

And more, much more than this,

I did it my way.”

With those words, Millie Brown kicked off the beginning of the end of her long-running Champagne Pops concert series in Laguna Woods.

The words are a fitting tribute to the woman herself, who took the last drops of what was once a pioneering entertainment series in the Village, replenished it, and turned it into the grand cru it became.

Brown read those lyrics, made famous by Frank Sinatra, on May 24 at the Performing Arts Center, packed to the rafters with season ticket holders, longtime fans of the concert series and some newcomers. It was the final show in the Champagne Pops series, with the band Four by Four bringing rousing tributes to the Beatles, Bee Gees, Beach Boys and Motown greats.

Still, she told the audience, “I wasn’t just doing this series my way. I was also doing it your way – what you wanted to see.”

Tribute shows were the essence of Champagne Pops. For 17 years, Brown brought to Laguna Woods Village acts that honored the legacies of artists such as the Drifters, Coasters, Platters and Supremes; the Rat Pack; ’60s acts like the Carpenters and the Mamas and the Papas; the Righteous Brothers; Carole King; the Eagles; and pop’s greatest piano men, Elton John, Billy Joel and Little Richard.

She also brought well-known performers each season, singers like Jeff Trachta, John Davidson and Peter Marshall.

“In my day, they were big names,” Brown, who is in her 80s, said in a recent interview at her home in Laguna Woods. “Nobody even knows their names now.”

In later years, she booked younger stars like Debbie Boone, Rita Coolidge, Melissa Manchester and Lucie Arnaz.

The shows almost always were sell-outs, appealing especially to residents 75 and older.

“I know my audience,” Brown said. “I don’t think 55-year-olds know half the people on this wall,” she added, pointing to the space above her desk in her home office that is covered with flyers from her shows. “The older crowd, they know these people.”

In all, Brown estimates she brought 80 concerts to the Village – around five shows each year, give or take.

And yet, transforming herself into an impresaria when she moved to the Village in 2002 was the last thing on her mind. The retired 30-year mental health therapist had never produced a concert, much less booked talent.

“I never planned to get into show business,” Brown said. “It just dropped into my lap.”

But as she came to find out, “I discovered something that I was good at and that I liked.”

It was on a 2004 cruise to Mexico where Brown caught the showbiz bug.

“I got triggered by Jeff Trachta,” a soap star and singer who performed on the ship, she said.

She was so impressed with Trachta’s show, she said, that when she arrived back home, she spoke first with the recreation department and then the Champagne Pops folks about bringing him to the Village.

It wasn’t an easy task, Brown learned. To try to make it happen, she joined the boards of Champagne Pops and the Chicago Club.

Champagne Pops was founded and run at the time by Seymour Rubinstein and Fay Dressler. Rubinstein, a concert violinist and college orchestra instructor, was booking what he knew best – classical music and opera.

His shows weren’t selling well, Brown said, so he looked to modernize the music.

“But Seymour didn’t know a darn thing about pop music,” she said.

In 2008, when Rubinstein died of a brain tumor, Brown took over the concert series. That’s when she started running Champagne Pops her way.

By now, Brown had racked up experience booking shows for the Chicago Club.

“She taught the club how to put on entertainment,” said Bernie Frogel, 82, a six-year season ticket holder and the publicity director for the Chicago Club.

For Champagne Pops, Brown decided to focus on pop tribute artists rather than classical music. But she also wanted to bring a variety of music styles in each season – Motown, folk, doo-wop, ’60s – “something for all tastes,” she said.

“My thought was that if people didn’t like one show in the series, they would most likely relate to other shows.”

Another goal was to bring quality shows. Brown spent many hours watching promotional videos of bands to find “not the cheapest acts but the best,” she said. And, of course, the price had to be within the series budget.

It was never Brown’s intention to bring shows for the younger demographic in the Village, she said. Instead, she went steadfastly for the older crowd.

“They were expecting something they could depend on,” she said. “And when I saw what started to be successful in the beginning, I did more of the same.” And, yes, she eventually did get Trachta to perform at the PAC.

Loretta Sheppard, 91, was a season ticket holder to the Champagne Pops series since 2008 and saw “every single show,” she said.

“Millie brought the top music of our era,” Sheppard said during a farewell dinner before the final concert. “Champagne Pops was the best that we had. I feel sad because I love the series, and Millie has always brought wonderful shows.”

Sandra Rosencrans, 92, agreed.

“Millie had an outstanding selection of performers,” said the 15-year season ticket holder. “I don’t think any other group (in the Village) attracted that consistently.”

“It’s the kind of music we all group up with,” said Geri Horton, 90, a 17-year ticket holder.

The end of the series is “a big loss to the community,” Horton added. “Millie brought togetherness with the shows. It’s going to be hard to find entertainment next season.”

Champagne Pops’ end came sooner than Brown had wanted. In April 2024, the recreation department deemed Brown’s contract to be a violation of Golden Rain Foundation policy, which states that residents cannot have a business and earn money and that reservations of venues by individuals may only be for private or social gatherings.

When asked by GRF directors at a board meeting, Brown said her net profit typically came to roughly $5,000 a year.

The board gave the concert series one more year, after which, Brown said, she would retire.

“I love show business,” she said in the interview. “I’m going to mourn because it’s my passion, and how do you give up your passion?”

She said she has no clue what she will do next.

“I hope that the recreation department will allow me to at least do one show a year,” she said.

Still, Brown vowed she would find something to do. “Someone with my energy doesn’t just sit around and twiddle their thumbs.”

Inscribed on her cake at the farewell dinner: “One door closes, and another opens.”

The applause was great at the PAC on May 24 after the final notes were played, no doubt for the band as well as for the woman behind the music.

“Millie earned it,” said 10-year season ticket holder Mike Gorsky. “She deserved it.”

Assemblywoman Diane Dixon chose the foundation to receive the award for its contributions to the community.

Since its start 28 years ago, the foundation has provided temporary financial assistance to residents facing financial challenges. It works with Village Social Services and provides funding toward Meals on Wheels, Alzheimer’s day care, transportation to a food pantry, emergency response devices and hearing aids.

“What this recognition is, is really a recognition of Laguna Woods,” Marcy Sheinwold, president of the foundation, said in City Council chambers. “The foundation would not exist without the support of the community – 99 percent of the funds that we distribute are raised right here in the Village.”

Sheinwold also lauded the foundation’s all-volunteer board, commending the members for their “hard work, a lot of faith, and commitment to the ideals of what community means.”

The council members praised the foundation for its work in the Village.

“Here in our community, we have a lot of people who find themselves unexpectedly in reduced circumstances, and this foundation is such an exceptional way of helping people through tight times,” said council member Cynthia Conners.

“It can be embarrassing and difficult to ask for help,” said Mayor Shari Horne. The foundation provides help “quietly, unobtrusively, anonymously – and you just help. You don’t even know who’s asking.”

Sheinwold noted that the need among Village residents doesn’t end. In fact, she said, it has only increased.

“This year, we have been distributing nearly $20,000 monthly,” she said. “But last month we went up to $34,000. So the need is very real in the community.”

For that reason, council member Annie McCary noted, “it’s really good to know that the foundation is not the best-kept secret anymore.”

David Blight, a professor of history and African American studies at Yale, has called the Charleston commemoration the first Memorial Day, although the inaugural official national observance occurred on May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery to honor soldiers killed in the Civil War.

Laguna Woods resident and veteran Ernest Leard gave this account of the holiday as keynote speaker at the Memorial Day ceremony at the Performing Arts Center on Monday, May 26.

“It’s a Memorial Day story you have probably never heard before,” Leard told the audience.

And, though he acknowledges there are many other accounts of the first Memorial Day observance, “I believe the (Charleston) story is the truth.”

A capacity crowd packed the auditorium of 814 seats on Memorial Day to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for peace, freedom and the country.

The ceremony opened with an invocation and prayer by Alan Clark, chaplain of Laguna Woods American Legion Post 257, honoring the more than 1 million military fatalities since the Revolutionary War in 1775.

Dennis Powell, post commander, then led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. Post 257 member Kathy Rath and Pastor Paul Finley of the Lutheran Church of the Cross joined forces to sing patriotic songs against a video backdrop of military-themed images of America from sea to shining sea.

A host of speakers then encouraged attendees to give thanks to those who fought, prayers for those who died, and to reflect on the principles they served to protect.

Laguna Woods resident and Air Force veteran Art Stone spent one year in Vietnam 57 years ago.

“I survived, but today we remember those who did not survive,” he said, before giving a brief history of Memorial Day. “Man, we’ve had our share of war,” he added. “We are here because they gave all.”

Cush Bhada, president of the Golden Rain Foundation, paid tribute to military families, and Laguna Woods Mayor Shari Horne paid respects to those who died.

“The best way to honor the dead is to take care of the living,” Horne said.

Keynote speaker Leard (pronounced like “beard,” he notes) comes from a military family. At the ceremony, he honored his father, who was killed when his B-29 bomber crashed on Guam at the end of the Korean War. He also remembered his uncle, who was lost in his B-24 bomber over the South Pacific in the closing months of World War II.

Leard, 77, spent 24 years in the Navy, from 1970 to 1994. He served on three ships: the USS Hancock, a World War II-era aircraft carrier, which took him to the coast of Vietnam in 1972; the amphibious flagship USS Shreveport, with duty supporting the Marines in Beirut in the early 1980s; and the amphibious ship USS Nassau, out of Norfolk, Virginia.

Leard was an “intel guy” – an intelligence officer – a job that suited him perfectly.

“I’ve always liked puzzles, geography and political science,” he said in an interview at his home. “So my job was to get information, sort it, analyze it and put together my findings.”

That information had to do with whatever “malicious forces” might be up to, he said.

One memorable experience was his duty in Indonesia, he said, when he had to keep his eyes on an Indonesian Navy ship. That was in the mid-1970s, when tensions escalated in East Timor, then a Portuguese colony.

“They were up to something. They were getting ready to invade,” Leard recalled. His analysis found that the Indonesians were “probably going to launch an invasion in the next 24 hours.”

With around 200 Americans – students, tourists and aid workers – in Indonesia, his report was of utmost importance.

Twelve hours after he filed his report, he said, Indonesia invaded East Timor. The next day, he received a message from the White House Situation Room: “Bravo Zulu,” meaning job well done.

“That was kinda neat,” Leard said.

The story of the Charleston commemoration in 1865 so moved Leard that he researched it extensively, he said. Once, when he worked as a minister 15 years after his service, he gave a sermon on it.

“It’s a story that needs to be repeated,” he said. “It’s a piece of history that should not be forgotten. Locals did it out of respect for those who died.”

But the fact that it isn’t widely known, he said, is “like an erasure of our history.”

After Leard’s speech at the PAC, the All-American Boys Chorus, based in Santa Ana, gave a rousing performance.

The Laguna Woods favorite and an annual part of the Memorial Day ceremony performed a medley of spiritual songs, country rock tunes, jazz numbers, Souza marches, the national anthem and “Amazing Grace.”

The boys wrapped up their concert with a salute to the armed forces, singing the official songs of each service: “The Army Goes Rolling Along,” the Navy’s “Anchors Away,” the Coast Guard’s “Semper Paratus,” the Air Force’s “Wild Blue Yonder” and “The Marines’ Hymn” with the line “From the halls of Montezuma.”

American Legion Post 257 Memorial Day poppy drive

“In Flanders Field the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.”

The World War I poem “In Flanders Field” was written by Lt. Col. John McCrae, a Canadian poet who served as a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres in Flanders, Belgium.

McCrae wrote the poem to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the conflict, particularly those who died in Flanders. Amid the death and destruction, poppies sprouted among the soldiers’ graves and came to symbolize the sacrifice of those who fought and the beauty that coexists with the ugliness of war.

Since its publication in 1915, the poem has been adopted by the American Legion and its auxiliary, and the poppy has become the official flower to memorialize the fallen. In 1924, the distribution of poppies ahead of Memorial Day became a national program of the American Legion.

In the week before Memorial Day, members of American Legion Post 257 of Laguna Woods and its auxiliary distributed crepe poppies outside Stater Bros. market in exchange for donations to help veterans, their families, and teachers at the Camp Pendleton elementary school.

Alan Clark, the chaplain of Post 257, and his wife, Diane, an auxiliary member, distributed poppies on Monday, May 19.

“The poppies just started coming up out of nowhere,” Alan said, referring to Flanders Field. “They were an inspiration that things will be better and we can recover” after war.

“It’s a way to remember veterans, now and in the past,” Diane added.

American Legion Post 257 has been distributing poppies ahead of Memorial Day since the late 1960s, when the post was established in Laguna Woods, said Jackie Yencer, a retired chief hospital corpsman in the Marines who served two tours in Iraq and Kuwait, and who is the post treasurer.

Laguna Woods resident Bonnie Mika stopped by Yencer’s table to make a donation as she left the grocery store.

“It’s the all-American thing to do,” Mika said, adding that her father and some uncles were veterans and her son served in Vietnam. “We should support positive things like this. I’m tired of all the hate.”

Resident Alice Effendi said she was engaged to a Marine who died in 1971 while serving in Vietnam. It is for his sake, she said, that she has always donated to the American Legion poppy drive.

“Poppies mean something to me,” Effendi said, “because … they meant so much to him.”

Investigators were notified in April of multiple incidents of indecent exposure in Laguna Woods, according to an OCSD news release. Residents reported the incidents to Village security personnel, and three victims filed formal reports with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the news release said.

Authorities said the man would follow the residents home in his white convertible Ford Mustang. He would later return to the residence and expose himself to the victims, they said. Authorities would not say where in the Village the incidents took place.

Robert Mario Perri, 66, was arrested by Sheriff’s Department investigators on April 8 on suspicion of indecent exposure, the department’s news release said.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Detail at 714-647-7419 or 714-647-7000.

Anonymous tips can be sent to OC Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS (855-847-6227) or at occrimestoppers.org.

The protest was among the Hands Off demonstrations taking place that day in more than 1,200 locations in all 50 states. Demonstrators nationwide voiced anger over the Trump administration’s steep cuts in federal agencies and the federal workforce and the sweeping tariffs.

In Laguna Hills, protesters packed all four corners of the intersection, with crowds lining the sidewalks in front of Walgreens, Chase Bank, the gas station and Starbucks. They carried signs and waved flags, as passing cars honked almost incessantly, to protest the way President Donald Trump and his unelected adviser, billionaire Elon Musk, are running the country.

Among the signs: “Make lying wrong again.” “Think while it is still legal.” “I’ve seen smarter cabinets at IKEA.” And signs calling for hands off Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits, health care and more.

For residents of the Laguna Woods retirement community, many of them on fixed incomes and reliant on federal programs, the greatest concerns were mass firings at the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Medicare offices; the new tariffs and their effect on prices and the plunge of the stock market that followed; and cuts in funding for public health programs.

Ann Joynt and Jan McKenzie carried signs proclaiming “Free Musk” and “Hands off Social Security.”

“We think that this president and his good buddy are ruining our country, killing our democracy and trying to establish a dictatorship,” Joynt said.

“We did need to cut some of the fat,” said McKenzie, “but it is the way they are doing it, without asking the experts at those agencies they’re cutting. It’s really appalling.”

McKenzie added that she felt it was important to join the protest.

“It feels really good to make our thoughts known, instead of being silenced,” she said.

Stuart Hack agreed that change was needed in Washington.

“I’m not opposed to change,” he said. “I’m opposed to doing it without taking the time to do it right. It’s the capriciousness of the government.”

Hack said he’s concerned about what the actions of the administration are doing on “the population least able to afford the negative economics,” such as retirees on fixed incomes whose IRA value has dropped significantly when the stock market reacted.

Trump has long advocated for tariffs as the solution to economic challenges, and his insistence that other countries are ripping off the United States is one of his most consistently expressed beliefs over the years.

“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate,” he said last week, according to The Associated Press. He also described the tariffs as a necessity and said he was undeterred by the cratering stock market, adding that “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”

Don Price, who served two years in the Army in the 1960s, was at the protest with his wife, Peggy.

“The leadership does not have values that I can believe in,” she said, citing human needs rather than wealth and greed.

“Everything he (Trump) touches is going to serve himself, and not the American economy,” Don Price added.

Protester John Biehl, who lives in Lake Forest, served in the Army for two years in the 1960s in Turkey. He said he has a “deep, profound dislike for the direction our country is headed – the bigotry, greed and lack of patriotism.”

Biehl said he sees the cutting of thousands of employees at the VA as “just another promise broken – the promise for medical care through the VA, and the lack of respect for the military.”

Laguna Woods resident Kevin Hertell lamented the “lack of good management practices” of the administration.

“The cuts in the agencies don’t make sense, there’s no efficiency, and people are in turmoil,” he said. “Resistance is the key. We have to be part of the collective if we are going to survive this.”

Ann Omae said she rallied the residents to attend the protest on Saturday.

“A lot of people have concerns about what is going on in Washington, D.C.,” she said. “They needed a place to voice their opinions that was accessible and safe to go to.”

As a community, “we’re really vulnerable, we have a real stake in Social Security and Medicare, Medicaid and veterans benefits and the stability in financial markets,” the retired school librarian said. “It’s incredibly worrisome.”

The protest, she said, was a chance to “have our elected officials get a sense of how concerned we are.”

Resident Annie Wright agreed that word of the discontent needs to get out.

“Protests like this one send a clear message – our government is failing us,” she said. “By speaking out, we expose these failures and mobilize others to demand accountability. Change begins when citizens rise up, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Perhaps the oldest protesters Saturday were Richard Krizman, 100, and his wife, Arlene, 98. The couple lives in the San Sebastian 55+ Apartment Homes in Laguna Woods.

It was the first time they took part in a protest, Richard Krizman said in an email afterward. They lived in Kansas City, he said, and were busy with family and work.

Krizman felt it was important for them to take part in the protest “because Trump is making a mess out of everything,” he said. “He’s making the country prejudiced again. He’s taking away jobs. He’s threatening Social Security and Medicare. We’re old, and we depend on that money to make ends meet.”

For Krizman, attending the protest was worth it: “It was nice to see so many people out there protesting. Our friends and neighbors. Old people. Young people. It made me proud. And everyone was so nice.”

The couple’s son, Rick Krizman, and daughter-in-law, Debra Young Krizman, accompanied them at the protest.

“This whole event has been so great for them,” Young Krizman said. “They’ve been pretty much dancing on air.”

Well, not really.

But it could be! Because dark and stormy stuff is happening.

There’s been a murder most foul.

A killer is on the loose.

And a party is going just plain off the rails.

And there’s more. Everyone at the party is a suspect, and the murderer is among them.

But not to worry. It’s all happening with tongue firmly in cheek.

That’s the premise of “It’s Murder in the Wings,” a new production by the Laguna Woods Theatre Guild, set to be staged in April as a dinner theater show. Over coffee and dessert, the audience will have a chance to ferret out whodunnit, with prizes awarded to whoever done that successfully.

“It’s Murder in the Wings” is the story of a publishing company – named Wings – that’s about to go out of business unless the boss signs a contract with a new author. Problem is, said boss is lying dead as a doornail in his office, even as the contract-signing party is underway in the room next door.

The trick is to keep the body under wraps until that contract is signed, which will bring a nice fat loan from the bank, which will save the company. Easy, right?

Not if you have a big cast of quirky characters. There’s Bobbie June, a pretty Southern belle; Eddie, a substitute janitor with a secret; Kitty, a script reader with a sharp tongue; Doris, her younger sister who’s usually a beat behind. Not to mention Lionel Upshaw, a pompous, famous playwright.

To make the matter of keeping the body on the down low even more complicated: Snooping around the party are reporters, those dedicated folks who work tirelessly in their quest for truth and justice.

The two-act play is “fun and crazy,” fast-paced with quick, witty dialogue, and 13 characters who are “all unique in their own way,” says Donna Valenti, the play’s director, who’s also in charge of props, costumes, music, sound, lighting – basically everything, she says, although “it’s a team effort.”

Valenti, who hails from Riverside, came to Laguna Woods after a career training people in public speaking.

But her passion has always been directing. Starting at the ripe young age of 10, she began putting on plays – fairy tales, Robin Hood, Peter Pan and the like – for her siblings in the garage. She continued that pastime with her own kids, then her grandkids.

As a young teen, Valenti saw her first Shakespeare play, “Romeo and Juliet,” and got hooked on the Bard.

“I always read Shakespeare to my kids instead of children’s books,” she recalled.

She earned a BA in theater from Cal State Fullerton and continued to be involved in the field after she graduated.

In Laguna Woods, Valenti is known for directing “Juliet’s Garden,” plus a Christmas show for veterans and a Reader’s Theater production.

“You have to be a psychologist,” she says of directing. “You have to deal with a lot of different kinds of people.

“I’m a nice person,” she adds, “but I’m a tough director.”

Debbie Drennan plays Maddie, the lead character in “It’s Murder in the Wings.” She describes Maddie as a “no-nonsense businesswoman who worked her way up in the publishing company to editor.”

“Her focus is keeping the business going, and, hopefully, successful,” she says. “She also has been dating Donald (a reporter) for a while, and is secretly hoping he will propose soon.”

As the lead, Drennan has the majority of the lines in the play. She says she listens to her parts on her near-daily walks and has been practicing with fellow cast mates and friends.

“I think the show is just so funny and engaging that it really wasn’t too difficult to learn them all,” she says.

Drennan came late to theater, after a career as an assistive technology specialist and raising a family. She moved to Laguna Woods just two years ago and immediately joined the Theatre Guild, where she has acted in two prior productions.

“I never really understood the craft of acting and all that it takes to really make a great show until recently,” she says.

Now, theater has become her “new passion.”

“The people in the Theatre Guild have been fantastic, teaching me and coaching me,” she says.

Seasoned actor Robin LaValley plays Tyrolia in the murder mystery, “a tough broad who worked for the police before getting a job with the publishing company.”

LaValley has performed in theater and musicals at the Welk Resort in Palm Springs and elsewhere around Southern California, at summer stock back East, and at Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, dubbed the world’s largest performance arts festival.

She honed her skills with improvisation, going on to teach the unscripted form of theater in Hollywood.

One of her more memorable gigs, she says, was working as a stand-in for Gary Coleman in the TV sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes.” While the child actors were in school, she and other adults would sit in for them during rehearsals. During the final episode, she even got to play bit parts on the show.

LaValley, who is from Covina, studied theater arts at Cal Poly Pomona. She’s been in the Theatre Guild for three years and performed in “Love Letters,” “Juliet’s Garden” and some Christmas shows.

She likens “It’s Murder in the Wings” to “Noises Off,” a 1982 British farce about a theater group’s chaotic rehearsals.

“It’s the same craziness,” she says. “There’s quick dialogue and always actors coming and going.”

“It’s Murder in the Wings” will be staged on Monday, April 14, and Tuesday, April 15, in Clubhouse 5. Both shows are sold out.

“We feel we are providing something very special and different,” says Barbara Powell, the play’s producer. “People who love theater and want a nice dining experience, without having to drive to and pay parking, will be willing to pay an additional $5 for it.

“We have a lot of dances in the Village. This provides a different option, but it is not necessarily appealing to everyone.”

For more information about the Laguna Woods Theatre Guild and future shows, visit TheatreGuildLW.com.

Jeffrey Scott Brown, the featured speaker at the club’s closed meeting Friday, March 7, was convicted for assaulting police during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and was later pardoned by President Donald Trump.

Protesters outside the clubhouse packed the front sidewalks and lined the walkway leading to the building’s main entrance. They carried signs that read “Hate has no home here,” “Shame on you” and “We back the blue.” At times, the crowd broke into singing “God Bless America.”

Greg Ridge was among the protesters.

“I don’t think we should whitewash what happened on Jan. 6,” he said. “I don’t believe we should honor violent insurrectionists as patriotic.”

Fellow protester Mike Murphy said he enjoys going to events at the clubhouse and was upset about the speaker being there.

“Clubhouse 5 is being defiled by the presence of this person,” Murphy said. “My main concern is the evolution of the Republican Party into an authoritarian party and honoring someone who attacked police with pepper spray. This guy’s on a victory tour.”

Brown was convicted in December 2022 for assaulting police during the attack on the Capitol, where he was caught on video pepper spraying officers, and was sentenced to four and a half years in federal prison in April 2023. In January, Trump issued blanket pardons and commutations for those indicted or sentenced in connection with the riot, including Brown.

Pat Micone, president of the Republican Club, has defended the speaker. In a recent article submitted to the Laguna Woods Globe by the club, she said, “Jeffrey Brown went to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with thousands of other patriots with the intent to protest the results of the 2020 election and, while he never entered the Capitol building, like many hundreds of patriotic Americans, he was unfortunately caught up in the chaos of the day.”

Micone said in an email Sunday, March 9, that the meeting was attended by 170 members and guests “eager to hear our speaker Jeffrey Scott Brown’s story and personal account of that day.”

She added, “The negative we experienced was not Democrat villagers exercising their First Amendment right in a peaceful manner, but an inconsiderate and disruptive interference with a paid legitimate and properly conducted event.

“They lined up and often blocked the walkway entry to our venue, parading their signs mockingly posting assumptions and outright lies which they know full well have been proven false, ” she said.

“We do not do this to them. Their deceitful, juvenile behavior spoke loudly to people who respect every American’s constitutional right to free speech, not just speech that fits their narrative.”

According to court records, security camera footage and a YouTube video captured Brown using pepper spray at Capitol and Metropolitan police officers. In the video, Brown is seen at the Lower West Terrace entrance, using his body to push the crowd forward and spraying an officer whose gas mask had been torn off his face.

Republican Club member Alan Clark said he arrived at Clubhouse 5 early that day to help set up for the meeting. Most of the protesters had not yet arrived.

Clark said he thought the meeting went well.

“Jeff was very informative about what happened to him and so many others who were shamelessly treated by the Biden administration,” Clark said in an email. “So many terrible things happening to so many other people falsely accused of wrongdoing. Jeff was a wonder! He spoke brilliantly!

“He was not angry, not hostile,” Clark added. “Very much to the point.”

Brown, through Micone, declined to comment.

Sue Dearing, a former longtime president of the Democratic Club, said the club organized the protest because of the calls and emails it received from residents regarding the meeting.

“Many people were outraged by the Republican Club paying an unrepentant felon to speak to them and portraying him as a ‘victim,’ so they contacted the club,” Dearing said in an email. “We wanted to give them a chance to express their outrage and to stand up for what they believe in and to show that Democrats support the police and believe in law and order. I think we accomplished that.”

Dearing vehemently denied that the protesters were inconsiderate and disruptive.

“Absolutely not,” she said. “I walked up and down there, over and over again. And I told people not to engage with anybody. I asked people not to block others. People stood way off to the sides of the walkway.”

Mary Ribando, the new president of the Democratic Club, agreed.

“I thought that everybody was respectful. They were very courteous about not blocking the way. And nobody said anything to any of the Republicans walking in,” she said. “The point of the protest was just to be there and to show from our signs that we were displeased.”

About half an hour into the protest, a shouting match broke out between some of the protesters and Joe Camera, a self-described Republican and 11-year Village resident.

Camera held a sign that read, “Learn the truth J6 = false flag” and moved through the crowd, saying, “Educate yourselves. Every American needs to know.”

He said he was exercising his right to free speech and argued that Brown should be allowed to do the same.

“He was charged, served his time and has a story to tell. Maybe he’s going to say, ‘I made a terrible mistake, I shouldn’t have done it,’” he said at the protest. “At least hear the guy. Don’t try to shut him down.”

Camera, a Navy officer for over 30 years who said he did not attend the meeting because he had other commitments, said he made his sign that morning and attended the protest to “encourage discussion about what really happened on J6.”

“I feel all people should be open-minded about all things and allow alternate perspectives to be heard,” he said in an email. “I went there peacefully and was speaking to people assembled outside the building.”

He said that as he was speaking with a newspaper reporter, a woman came up and waved her sign close to his face and “rudely held it there.”

Throughout the morning, Laguna Woods Security officers walked around the protest area to make sure the situation was under control. Vehicles from the OC Sheriff’s Department kept watch at Gates 7 and 9 on El Toro Road.

“There’s freedom of speech on both sides,” said a Security officer who did not want to give his name. “That’s why we’re here, to keep everybody safe.”

Word of the Republican Club’s meeting and the protest spread on social media and in several news outlets.

Antony Bakke of San Clemente joined the reported 50 or so protesters outside Gate 7 as passing cars honked their horns.

“The Republican Club is honoring an insurrectionist,” he said. “We’re here to make a statement about what is happening to this country and against honoring a criminal.”

Corey Clippinger with the political action group 50501 – 50 states, 50 protests, 1 movement – helped organize the protest at the gate, he said.

“We don’t believe someone like that should be a paid speaker,” he said.

Meanwhile, Micone of the Republican Club said a video recording of the meeting is scheduled to be broadcast on Laguna Woods Village TV on Thursdays in April, as well as on YouTube, “so everyone can judge for themselves.”

Orange County Register writer Hannah Kang contributed to this report.

It’s all part of my fantasy

I love the music and I love to see the crowd

Dancing in the aisles and singin’ out loud.”

Those lyrics are from Bad Company’s 1979 hit “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy.”

In Laguna Woods retirement community, 19 residents got to live out their own rock ‘n’ roll fantasy at the Sing With the Band concert Feb. 20 at Clubhouse 5, put on by the Theatre Guild.

Sure, there’s karaoke and open mic – who hasn’t done that?

But this was different.

The 19 singers auditioned to be part of the show (and apparently no one was turned down). They rehearsed with the band – Laguna Woods’ own Rock of Ages. And they got star billing when they performed on stage, with the musicians in the background (OK, so RoA lead singer Jeff Sinclair helped out with the vocals a bit). Some even came dressed for the part.

And the crowd went wild – yup, dancing in the aisles and singin’ out loud, clapping and cheering, even high-fiving the singers.

It could have been any tribute band playing at a club’s monthly dance.

“There was great energy – the band and the audience,” said Madelyn Enright, who crooned “Blue Bayou,” Linda Ronstadt’s signature song. “It was a great experience to sing with a live band. The energy was just so special.”

Jeff Weissberg was a hit channeling Mick Jagger in his red sequined jacket and belting out the Rolling Stones classic “Miss You.”

“It was exhilarating,” he said.

Exhilarating, thrilling, energizing – all words used by the singers when they came off stage.

But before they hit the spotlight, many admitted to being nervous and worried about forgetting the words. Though some said they had sung karaoke in bars, this time there was no machine displaying the lyrics on a screen.

“God, I tried to remember the words! I’m so glad it’s over,” said Jean Madigan, who just turned 89 and sang Chuck Berry’s rockin’ and rollin’ “Johnny B. Goode.”

Jean Reitz was nervous before she took the stage to sing Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” (the one about thunder only happening when it rains). “I had to let go and just do it,” she said.

And she did it just fine.

“I loved it,” Reitz said. “It was very energizing and fun, especially the support from the band and the audience, ready to rock.”

Here’s what the pro had to say:

“If you don’t have experience performing in front of an audience, it certainly takes a lot of courage,” said Sinclair. “It takes chutzpah to get up and do that. If you hit a sour note, you don’t want to be known for that. I thought it was very brave of them to do it.”

Some of those who sang said they had some show biz experience under their belts

Kathleen Kernohan, who crooned “Crazy,” by Patsy Cline, said she was a professional backup singer for Robert Goulet in the 1970s and also toured with Lawrence Welk.

Penny Hanold, who also sang “Dreams,” was a professional singer in the ’80s and ’90s, she said, performing country rock and with a jazz pianist.

Stan Levin is a veteran of bands in Laguna Woods and of jam sessions outside the gates. He got the crowd moving with some swamp rock in “Green River,” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and he played a mean harmonica, too.

Gregory Anderson, a seasoned thespian, got the heavy metal thunder rolling with Steppenwolf’s classic “Born to Be Wild” (who can forget “Easy Rider”?). He’s got some Vegas experience: He said he’s been known to sing karaoke at an Irish pub in Sin City. Plus he has experience singing in his car, he said.

“It was a rush,” Anderson said of performing with Rock of Ages. “As the band started, I immediately got into the groove, and boom! I felt the music, felt the song and gave it everything I had.

“I was in somewhat of a daze, but I could see the crowd up front was enjoying it, which gave me more confidence to really deliver.”

Lou Reinitz, who just turned 88, sang the Eagles’ “Peaceful Easy Feeling.” He said he sang R&B professionally, and he still sings in church every week.

He wasn’t nervous, he said, or worried about forgetting the lyrics.

“The hardest part was walking out on stage without my cane,” Reinitz said. “And I wasn’t gonna sing a rock song with a cane.”

Looking mighty non-nervous and just like a rock star, Victoria Herbert came all decked out, from the pink feathers in her hair down to her fluffy pink house slippers. In fact, she was so not nervous, she sang two songs.

The first was the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There,” except Herbert tweaked the lyrics: Instead of singing, “I saw HER standing there,” she sang, “I saw HIM standing there” (what starry-eyed girl didn’t do that back in the day, and, heck, she probably still does that).

And instead of the line “she was just 17,” Herbert sang “he was just 70” (gotta know your audience, right?).

Herbert’s second song was the great Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee.”

“I hope to channel Janis,” she said. “She’s got a lot of soul and she sings with a lot of heart, and I hope I do too.” And, boy, did she ever.

The experience on stage “totally brought out my inner rock star,” Herbert said. “It was a dream come true.”

Singing with a live band is “kind of a bucket list thing for a lot of people,” Sinclair said. “It’s not something they do – it’s just something they always wanted to try.”

And did the pro have a favorite singer?

Yeah, sure, but we’ll leave him with his diplomatic response: “I enjoyed every singer for the courage it took to get up and do that. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Think you got the guts to sing with the band? Sinclair and Barbara Powell of the Theatre Guild, who produced the show, are hoping to repeat the experience in the fall.