If you've had your fill of Nutcrackers and Scrooges and were hoping to branch out a bit theatrically this holiday season, there's a branch well worth seeing in Beverly Hills: it's the one Robin Hood swings and leaps from in the Wallis' production of The Heart of Robin Hood. Not a traditional Christmas play by any means (in fact, the holiday is barely mentioned at all), but the adventure, exuberance, excitement, and spectacle of this retelling of the old tale make it an event worth squeezing into your busy holiday schedule. I brought a tween and a teen (no easy audience), and they were delighted—particularly by one unexpected feature. 

There is nothing like Cavalia. The touring production Odysseo by the Cavalia team feels like the dreams we might have if we lived among wild horses and gypsy acrobats. And dream really is the key word: from the first moment until the last, herds of horses, flocks of aerialists, and scenic displays of epic proportions fill the stage with sequences that transport the audience to a magical dreamscape beyond most of our imaginings. You'll be rubbing your eyes to work out how they fit this world in one tent.

If someone in your house loves horses, this show is truly a must; if horses don't normally move you, Odysseo will change that. If these words seem overly effusive, rest assured that they don't begin to do justice to the spectacle taking place daily in that big castle-like tent next to the 101 freeway in Camarillo.

Some sad news came out of a much loved street corner in Sherman Oaks yesterday: Boney Island is no more.

We have been visiting—and raving about—Boney Island for years. It is, or was, a home haunt that could only happen in the Entertainment Capital, particularly since it took place on the lawn of the Emmy Award-winning animation producer of The Simpsons. No one does Halloween better than Hollywood on its day off, and this suburban lawn filled with skeletons performing everything from levitation to mind reading to phosphorescent water shows is a SoCal legend. Not satisfied with bringing my own kid every year, I've visited this wonderful example of Halloween creativity with just about every kid I know, and it has never failed to delight. Its closure is a sad day.