Most luaus take place on the beach, or at least somewhere sandy, or so the movies and travel brochures tell us.
But one of our city's favorite ocean-breezy bashes actually rolls out miles from the ocean, in the middle of concrete-and-asphalt-laden Hollywood. We're talking about the Egyptian Theatre's annual Tiki Night, which, of course, has a movie as its centerpiece, but lots of other tiki-riffic things, too.
(Our personal vow not to add "-riffic" onto short words was broken there, clearly, but, tiki! At the Egyptian! Forgive us?)
The date is Saturday, June 1 -- the first day of June sounds plenty ready for a tiki party to us -- and the movie? "Hell's Half Acre," a 1954 sunshine noir that gives LA's own sunshine noirs a run for their money (this flick, though, is set in Hawaii).
And what'll be going down in the Egyptian's famous courtyard? That aforementioned luau. Courtyard favorite King Kukulele & The Friki Tiki will summon the sounds of Polynesia beginning at 5 p.m., and the Polynesian Paradise Dancers will perform some hula and other beautiful traditional dances.
Yep, there'll be a bar. Yep, there shall be tables at which to shop for tiki goods.
Nope, there won't be sand, or waves, or gulls, or palm trees. Wait, the boulevard does have palm trees. And wait, Hollywood movies often depict sand and waves and gulls. We suppose if there was ever a non-beach place for a beach party, the middle of Tinseltown is it.
