Modernism is certainly what has put us on the map. The next two weekends and the week in between will make Palm Springs shine brightly. And there’s much more on the Gay Desert Guide Events calendar. Here’s the weekend for your enjoyment.
Brad Fuhr, your Gay Desert Guide & KGAY 106.5 Palm Springs
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Modernism Week Begins
Modernism Week’s annual 11-day festival takes place February 17–28, and will feature more than 350 events including the Palm Springs Modernism Show & Sale, tours of iconic homes in more than 30 neighborhoods, and the popular Signature Home Tour on both weekends. Also offered are architectural walking, biking and double-decker bus tours, tours of the historic Annenberg Estate at Sunnylands, a classic car show, garden tours, nightly parties, and a special series of compelling and informative talks. [Get tickets]
For a roundup of the numerous Neighborhood Tours, including Historic Tennis Club, Mesquite Canyon Estates, Little Tuscany and many more, check out our Modernism Week Neighborhood Tours event listing [here]. Modernism Show & Sale details are [here].
All Modernism Week events are open to the public, and many events are free or low cost. Modernism Week’s CAMP (“Community and Meeting Place”) is the central hub, located for the first time this year in the spacious atrium-style lobby of the Hyatt Palm Springs. CAMP will include an information desk, a box office, a shop by Modernism Week’s merchandise and branding partner Destination PSP, a theater, and many interactive sponsor booths. Entrance into CAMP is free and open to the public daily from February 18–28 from 9 am–6 pm. And while you’re at CAMP, don’t forget to pick up your free copy of our hot-off-the-press Spring edition of the Gay Desert Guide Visitor Map & Guide!
WIN FREE Tickets to MOGO Silent Disco
MOGO Silent Disco is a brand new, bi-weekly social event for people who love to dance. On Friday and Saturday evenings at 6:30 pm, join the tour and don a pair of party headphones to strance (that’s “stroll” and “dance”) through downtown Palm Springs in your own private, high-energy parade! KGAY 106.5 and Gay Desert Guide are giving away 10 pairs of tickets to our special MOGO Silent Disco event on Friday, April 8. We have 8 ways for you to [ENTER TO WIN]. Dance the night away listening to our own DJ Galaxy as you groove your way around downtown Palm Springs! (To learn more about MOGO Silent Disco, click here)
Salty: A Play About Penguins and People
Desert Ensemble Theatre presents Salty by AJ Klauss from February 18–27 at the Palm Springs Cultural Center. A recent hit at Seattle’s ReAct Theatre, Salty was inspired by the true story of two male African penguins at a Dutch zoo, who made international headlines in 2019 when they stole an egg from a heterosexual couple. Set sometime in the future when global warming has taken firm hold, Salty tracks the parallel lives of some of the last penguins on the planet and their all too human zookeepers.
Get tickets
Neil Simon’s I Ought to be in Pictures
Desert Theatreworks presents Neil Simon’s I Ought to Be in Pictures playing through March 13 at the Indio Performing Arts Center. Herb Tucker is a struggling Hollywood screenwriter suffering from writer’s block. To make matters worse, his forgotten past just showed up on his doorstep in the form of Libby, his young teenage daughter he abandoned, along with her mother and brother, years earlier. Libby is a wisecracking, resourceful girl who has come to Hollywood to be an actor. Herb decides to take another stab at fatherhood and hopefully this time, get it right. Get tickets
🎭 Upcoming Theatre Productions
Here’s a glance ahead at more local productions taking the stage soon!
- The Drag from Desert Rose Playhouse, Feb. 23–Mar. 6
- Palm Springs Getaway from Palm Canyon Theatre, Feb. 25–Mar. 13
- Closer than Ever from CVRep, Mar. 1–20
- The Mountaintop from Dezart Performs, postponed to Mar. 4–13
Masks Still Required in Palm Springs
Despite California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent announcement that the statewide indoor mask mandate expired (for vaccinated individuals) on Wednesday, February 16, under the Palm Springs’ local COVID-19 order, masks are still required indoors within the City of Palm Springs for the time being. In addition, proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test is still required in restaurants and bars, again, for the time being. The City Council voted to give City Manager/Emergency Services Director Justin Clifton the authority to decide when to remove the City’s COVID-19 restrictions, based on data and metrics and suggested milestones such as two multiple consecutive weeks in decline in cases and hospitalizations.
Malcolm H. Myers Exhibition Reception
A reception will take place Saturday, February 19, from 5–8 pm to celebrate Rubine Red Gallery’s retrospective exhibition of oil, acrylic and gouache paintings by iconic American printmaker and painter Malcolm H. Myers, running through February 28. While by no means a complete retrospective, the gallery is endeavoring to show Myers’ mastery and breadth of styles from his 5 decades as a professor and professional artist. More info
Mid-Mod Art Party at DAC
The Desert Art Center (DAC) launches its Mid-Mod Show with a Tiki-Taki Luau Reception on Friday, February 18 from 4–6 pm. They’ve challenged their Gallery Artists to create their most interesting modernist spin for this show, so dust off your Hawaiian shirt and come see the results of their versatility. The Mid-Mod Show runs for two weekends in the Studio Gallery, February 18–21 and 24–27. More info
