Lifestyle
A slime museum is coming to L.A. — and it’s bringing the healing power of play
When it comes to healing from grief, there’s often not a simple answer, but there are some recommended standbys. Therapy, of course, is essential, and maintaining close contact with a community also is often recommended.
And maybe, perhaps, a bit of slime?
Such was the case for Karen Robinovitz, one of the co-founders of the Sloomoo Institute, a playful palace dedicated to all things gooey and goopy, where guests can toss slime, mold it, walk on it, get drenched by it and even experience the ASMR benefits of it. Los Angeles soon will be home to the fifth Sloomoo Institute in the U.S. — an outpost on Fairfax Avenue across from the Original Farmers Market opens this summer.
Kids play with slime at Sloomoo Institute’s Atlanta location.
(Sloomoo Institute)
Before the interactive, make-a-mess emporiums became a reality, Robinovitz was struggling to simply get through the day. A survivor of multiple tragedies, Robinovitz seven years ago lost her husband. Months later, a cousin was killed in the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Fla. She was living, she says, with “a very deep and dark depression,” talking to someone — a therapist or various support groups — five days a week.
“I was really struggling,” Robinovitz says. “You’re talking about it all the time. In my home, I’m reminded of it in every corner of my house. In my neighborhood, everything reminds you of the person that you lost.”
Healing came in an unexpected place — and a surprising substance. A friend visited with her then-10-year-old daughter, who brought some slime with her for solo playtime while the adults talked. Robinovitz, however, found herself transfixed by the ooze.
Sloomoo Institute guests in Chicago get drenched with slime.
(Grace Pisula)
“I sat on the floor with her, and four hours later I realized I was in a complete state of joy,” Robinovitz says. “I had unleashed a part of myself that I never thought I’d see again, which was the inner child. I was happy playing. When they were leaving, I said that this did more for me than all the therapy, all the experts and all the support groups I had been seeing. I said I need to keep this. I became what is known affectionately as an ‘adult slimer.’”
Robinovitz and her longtime friend Sara Schiller created the Sloomoo Institute. The first location launched in late 2019 in New York, and Sloomoo Institutes in Atlanta, Chicago and Houston followed.
This is no mere immersive “pop-up,” says Robinovitz, as the two have signed a long-term lease with the intention of being in L.A. to stay — perhaps even tapping into the city’s creative class to expand their slimy mascots and creatures into other media. But for now, their mission is to merge silly with a bit of science, and to explore the importance of play for play’s sake.
A visit to a Sloomoo Institute takes guests through various slime stations, some that are very hands-on and others that resemble a light obstacle course. Some are just goofy, such as a slime slingshot, which allows participants to catapult slime at someone else. (Don’t worry, they’re tucked safely behind plexiglass.) Stations may focus on touch, such as a blindfolded journey through various gloppy textures, while others are directed toward more aural sensations. New for Los Angeles is a sound bath, with art from Randy Polumbo — think reflective surfaces, amorphic shapes and synchronized sound.
Karen Robinovitz, left, and Sara Schiller founded the Sloomoo Institute to celebrate the power of play.
(Lanna Apisukh)
Built into the room will be bowls and meditation-ready balls, which guests will be able to strike to create their own personal symphonies. One can imagine a cacophony of noise on a crowded day, but Robinovitz and Schiller also speak of it as an event space, a potential home for yoga or more relaxing, psychedelic-inspired sound baths. It taps into the Sloomoo Institute’s underlying mission, as the firm collaborates with psychiatrists such as Dr. Judith Joseph to better understand the importance of sensory play.
“Adults, we need this,” says Robinovitz. “I started to talk to a psychiatrist friend of mine because I wanted to understand what was happening. At once, you’re tapping into three or four of your five senses. It’s tactile. It makes sounds when you touch it. All the slimes we make are scented, so they smell really yummy, and scent is the sense that’s most closely tied to memory.”
L.A. ticket prices haven’t been announced yet, but based on admission in other cities, expect to spend around $40 for a general admission Sloomoo Institute ticket. Those who want to get rained on by slime — an experienced dubbed Sloomoo Falls — will need to pay for an “enhanced experience,” which can double the ticket price. Important to note: One shouldn’t come wearing a favorite outfit to the Sloomoo Institute, even though ponchos will be provided for the slime showers.
A shop inside Sloomoo Institute.
(Sloomoo Institute)
Schiller had her own personal connection to slime, noticing that play allows participants to get out of their head. Vulnerability, for instance, can come naturally in a state of play. Schiller’s eldest daughter has Angelman syndrome, a genetic disorder that can leave children unable to communicate via speech or writing, and her husband has survived multiple bilateral strokes. Slime, she says, has helped foster connections, helping her family better deal with disabilities and stressful moments.
“The great thing that I say about slime is that when you’re playing with slime, you can have difficult conversations or meaningful conversations without them being awkward,” Schiller says, theorizing that when we are in a relaxed, playful state — and focused on a group activity — we feel more at ease. “But you’re not on your device. You’re not distracted. You’re connected to yourself and you’re connected to the other person.”
The two founders are eager to talk about their history, noting they don’t want their personal stories divorced from the Sloomoo Institute. Longtime friends, Robinovitz and Schiller have entrepreneurial backgrounds. Robinovitz, for instance, launched a talent firm dedicated to digital influencers, while Schiller has an extensive history in the hospitality and art worlds. Together, they’re proud to note that the Sloomoo Institute workforce is about 10% neurodivergent, as they wanted the spaces to be inclusive and accessible (there are scent blockers available, for instance, for those sensitive to Sloomoo Institute’s smell-heavy focus).
While they are still places full of picture-friendly moments ripe for social media — one area is filled with gargantuan-sized slime-inspired chairs — the two clearly are wary of their slime boutiques going the way of so many so-called “Instagram museums,” spaces that used “immersive” as a buzzword for little more than photo opportunities. The centerpiece of the Sloomoo Institute, perhaps, is a do-it-yourself “slime bar,” where guests can explore 40 colors of slime, 60 fragrances and dozens of textures to build their own take-home creation.
“I know when I was going through my own personal grief, talking to other women who lost their husbands at young ages was really powerful to me,” Robinovitz says. “I had people going through the same kind of grief, and I could see there was potentially a way to live a life when you’re not in pain 24/7. It makes our brand important. This brand wouldn’t mean anything without the hardship. It’s not just a fun candy-colored universe with cute things.”
Sensory play is at the heart of the museum.
(Sloomoo Institute)
That’s not to say Sloomoo Institutes are purely mindful places for serious play, though there are references to the science of slime and what chemical mixtures may result in a substance that’s more sticky or more bubbly. With a contemporary, space-age sheen — Robinovitz and Schiller stress they designed the spaces to be inviting to adults — Sloomoo Institutes allow for unexpected moments to occur: the sensation, for instance, of walking barefoot on slime, or ASMR-focused installations that allow guests to experience the pleasing, tingling sound sensations of slime.
Well, mostly pleasing. One of the ASMR sounds asks guests to imagine what it sounds like when slime farts.
“It’s a whole fart soundtrack,” says Schiller. “It’s loved by kids and adults.”
Play may have rejuvenating powers, but no one said it need always be sophisticated. Sometimes the best healing prescription may be to simply giggle like an 8-year-old.
Lifestyle
Tony Award winners list: ‘Schmigadoon!’ wins best musical, ‘Death of a Salesman’ lives on
Singer-songwriter P!nk hosted The 79th Tony Awards on Sunday at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
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Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
The 79th Annual Tony Awards celebrated the best of Broadway performances on Sunday in New York City, but the night was stolen by a performer who’s never starred in a Broadway show at all: the singer-songwriter P!nk.
P!nk, who hosted the evening, started the show dressed like Peter Pan, swinging from the ceiling, but soon donned a pink bustier to sing a raucous version of “Lady Marmalade” that celebrated women in theater. She was joined by Megan Thee Stallion, Broadway stars, and a cast of about 170 others stretching across the huge stage at Radio City Music Hall. That opening number was written by Dear Evan Hansen‘s Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, plus Mark Sonnenblick, who wrote songs for KPOP Demon Hunters.
There was no big winner this year. Instead, awards were spread among several shows — best new musical went to Schmigadoon!, which won four awards; best play revival and direction went to Death of a Salesman (it won six Tonys in all.)
Plenty of celebrities showed up to share the stage, including cameos from former hosts Neil Patrick Harris and Ariana DeBose, plus presenters Sting, Paul Rudd, Billy Crystal, Bernadette Peters and Adrien Brody.
Later, P!nk sang “All That Jazz” from the long-running musical Chicago, along with the current Broadway cast. Other performances that received rapturous receptions from the crowd included The Rocky Horror Show cast singing “Time Warp” and a number from CATS: The Jellicle Ball — a musical that brings Andrew Lloyd Webber’s show into the world of drag ballroom. Members of the audience were given branded fans from the production, and they snapped them happily.
The ceremony also offered a few surprises, like best new play going to Bess Wohl’s Pulitzer-winning Liberation, beating out Giant, about Roald Dahl. Wohl’s win was the first by an American woman playwright in 37 years.
The design awards were given out in the pre-show on Pluto TV, which made room for the CBS broadcast to focus primarily on performances of new and longer-running shows. In the pre-show, Qween Jean, who won for best costume design for CATS: The Jellicle Ball, became the first openly transgender woman to win a Tony. In 2023, J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell were the first nonbinary actors to win Tonys.
The full list of winners is below.
Best New Musical
WINNER: Schmigadoon!
The Lost Boys
Titaníque
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Best New Play
WINNER: Liberation
The Balusters
Giant
Little Bear Ridge Road
Best Revival of a Musical

WINNER: Ragtime
CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Best Revival of a Play

WINNER: Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Becky Shaw
Every Brilliant Thing
Fallen Angels
Oedipus
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
WINNER: Joshua Henry, Ragtime
Nicholas Christopher, Chess
Luke Evans, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Sam Tutty, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Brandon Uranowitz, Ragtime
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
WINNER: Caissie Levy, Ragtime
Sara Chase, Schmigadoon!
Stephanie Hsu, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Marla Mindelle, Titaníque
Christiani Pitts, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
WINNER: Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw
Christopher Abbott, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Danny Burstein, Marjorie Prime
Brandon J. Dirden, Waiting for Godot
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Richard Thomas, The Balusters
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

WINNER: Lesley Manville, Oedipus
Rose Byrne, Fallen Angels
Carrie Coon, Bug
Susannah Flood, Liberation
Kelli O’Hara, Fallen Angels
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

WINNER: Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Lost Boys
André De Shields, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Bryce Pinkham, Chess
Ben Levi Ross, Ragtime
Layton Williams, Titaníque
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
WINNER: Shoshana Bean, The Lost Boys
Hannah Cruz, Chess
Rachel Dratch, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Ana Gasteyer, Schmigadoon!
Nichelle Lewis, Ragtime
Best Direction of a Play
WINNER: Joe Mantello, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Nicholas Hytner, Giant
Robert Icke, Oedipus
Kenny Leon, The Balusters
Whitney White, Liberation
Best Direction of a Musical
WINNER: Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Michael Arden, The Lost Boys
Lear deBessonet, Ragtime
Christopher Gattelli, Schmigadoon!
Tim Jackson, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
WINNER: Laurie Metcalf, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Betsy Aidem, Liberation
Marylouise Burke, The Balusters
Aya Cash, Giant
June Squibb, Marjorie Prime
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
WINNER: John Lithgow, Giant
Will Harrison, Punch
Nathan Lane, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Daniel Radcliffe, Every Brilliant Thing
Mark Strong, Oedipus
Best Book of a Musical
WINNER: Schmigadoon!, Cinco Paul
The Lost Boys, David Hornsby and Chris Hoch
Titaníque, Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), Jim Barne and Kit Buchan
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
WINNER: Schmigadoon!, Music & Lyrics: Cinco Paul
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Music: Caroline Shaw
August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Music: Steve Bargonetti
The Lost Boys, Music & Lyrics: The Rescues
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), Music & Lyrics: Jim Barne and Kit Buchan
Best Scenic Design of a Play
WINNER: Chloe Lamford, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Hildegard Bechtler, Oedipus
Takeshi Kata, Bug
David Korins, Dog Day Afternoon
David Rockwell, Fallen Angels
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
WINNER: Dane Laffrey, The Lost Boys
dots, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Soutra Gilmour, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Rachel Hauck, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Scott Pask, Schmigadoon!
Best Costume Design of a Play
WINNER: Jeff Mahshie, Fallen Angels
Brenda Abbandandolo, Dog Day Afternoon
Qween Jean, Liberation
Emilio Sosa, The Balusters
Paul Tazewell, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Qween Jean, who won for best costume design for CATS: The Jellicle Ball, is the first openly transgender woman to win a Tony in any category.
Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions
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Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions
Best Costume Design of a Musical
WINNER: Qween Jean, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Linda Cho, Ragtime
Linda Cho, Schmigadoon!
Ryan Park, The Lost Boys
David I. Reynoso, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Best Lighting Design of a Play
WINNER: Jack Knowles, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Isabella Byrd, Dog Day Afternoon
Natasha Chivers, Oedipus
Stacey Derosier, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Heather Gilbert, Bug
Heather Gilbert, The Fear of 13
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
WINNER: Jen Schriever and Michael Arden, The Lost Boys
Kevin Adams, Chess
Jane Cox, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Donald Holder, Schmigadoon!
Adam Honoré, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Adam Honoré and Donald Holder (Lighting Design) and 59 Studio (Projection Design), Ragtime
Best Sound Design of a Play
WINNER: Mikaal Sulaiman, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Justin Ellington, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Tom Gibbons, Oedipus
Lee Kinney, The Fear of 13
Josh Schmidt, Bug
Best Sound Design of a Musical
WINNER: Kai Harada, Ragtime
Kai Harada, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Adam Fisher, The Lost Boys
Brian Ronan, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Walter Trarbach, Schmigadoon!
Best Choreography
WINNER: Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Christopher Gattelli, Schmigadoon!
Ellenore Scott, Ragtime
Ani Taj, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant, The Lost Boys
Best Orchestrations
WINNER: Doug Besterman and Mike Morris, Schmigadoon!
Ethan Popp, Kyler England, Adrianne “AG” Gonzalez and Gabriel Mann, The Lost Boys
Lux Pyramid, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Brian Usifer, Chess
Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Wilson, Trevor Holder and Doug Schadt, CATS: The Jellicle Ball

Lifestyle
Sunday Puzzle: NBA Team Names
Sunday Puzzle
NPR
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NPR
On-air challenge
As you probably know, the N.B.A. finals are going on right now. Game 3 between the Knicks and the Spurs is tomorrow night. So today I’ve brought a puzzle based on N.B.A. team names.
1. The name of what N.B.A. team is an anagram of PARROTS?
2. The name of what N.B.A. team is an anagram of THRONES
3. The name of what N.B.A. team is an anagram of SCRAPE?
4. Name two N.B.A. franchises that are birds.
5. You can remove the consecutive letters UGG of one N.B.A. team to get another. What teams are these?
6. The name of what N.B.A. team sounds like what they try to do for home games?
Last week’s challenge
Last week’s challenge comes from Mike Reiss, a longtime writer and showrunner for “The Simpsons.” Name a classic song with a two-word title. Drop the first letter. Add an R after the new first letter. The result will be the names of two countries one after the other. What song is this?
Answer: “Piano Man” by Billy Joel –> Iran, Oman
Winner
This week’s winner is Jocelyn Tutak of Portland, Oregon.
This week’s challenge
Rearrange the letters of “NECESSARY MISPRINT” to spell a familiar phrase.
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, June 11 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: include a phone number where we can reach you.
Lifestyle
A wildfire burned my memories of Santa Rosa Island. Now, we wait to see what’s left
When I saw the headlines that flames were ravaging Santa Rosa Island, sadness washed over me.
Many of the news stories highlighted the threat to the unique plants and animals inhabiting the island off the coast of Santa Barbara, from plucky, pint-sized foxes to the rarest pine trees in North America.
To me, the loss wasn’t theoretical. I saw these and many other otherworldly species while on a life-changing backpacking trip to the island five years ago, which I chronicled for this newspaper. Looking at the fire map, I could see much of the path I charted was now seared.
That includes my first wilderness campsite near Ford Point, where a several-thousand-pound elephant seal roused me from slumber with its jarring bark. It wasn’t pleasant moving a tent after hiking for 10 hours, but seeing the behemoth (and his mate) in the gauzy morning light made it worth it.
The fire also passed through a grove of critically endangered Torrey pines, which I had hiked up to and gazed down on the island’s crystal blue water. It burned through Water Canyon Campground, where I spent my final night in relative comfort after roughing it in the backcountry. Beyond the sights, the trip brought me closer to my husband, who had transformed into a bona fide outdoorsman during the pandemic.
Crystal clear waters of Santa Rosa Island.
(Lila Seidman / Los Angeles Times)
Now fear clouds the memories: Does the rugged, magical place of my mind’s eye still exist? As The Times’ wildlife and outdoors reporter, I felt immediate concern for the island’s critters and plants. I was a visitor, but this is their home. Would it still be hospitable?
Among the good news is that the fire is now fully contained, after igniting three weeks ago. But before it was vanquished, the blaze chewed through about a third of the island, one of five that comprise Channel Islands National Park. While the cause remains under investigation, the U.S. Coast Guard initially reported a shipwrecked sailor may have sparked the blaze after firing flares for help. Coast Guard images showed the 67-year-old man had carved “SOS” into what looked like charred ground before being rescued by helicopter.
The Channel Islands, an archipelago that includes three additional islands outside the park, are nicknamed the “Galapagos of North America” for the flora and fauna found only there. Fires of such magnitude are rare on Santa Rosa so its inhabitants haven’t evolved with them.
Speaking to fire officials and scientists, the prevailing sentiment is there’s much we don’t know about the fire’s impact and how long recovery will take — or if it will ever even look the same. Starting Friday, specialists will begin assessing where everything stands. Until then, researchers can take educated guesses.
“There will be winners and losers for sure,” said Heather Schneider, director of conservation at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, whose work includes studying and protecting rare plants on the island.
Take the Hoffmann’s slender-flowered gilia, a federally endangered wildflower found only on the island and much of it within the area that burned. It’s possible the blaze incinerated the dainty purple-and-white flowers before they could drop seeds this year. But Schneider and her colleagues believe there’s probably a healthy collection of seeds in the soil from previous years that hasn’t germinated yet that could help it recover when conditions are right.
Some glimmers of hope have emerged from what we do know. It’s believed the island’s Torrey pines are largely intact and much of the campground survived. The pinnipeds that crashed my first night on the island were probably not affected much. Certain areas I visited, like the historic South Point Light Station, were spared.
Greg Pauly, curator of herpetology for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, who has researched the island’s reptiles and amphibians for 14 years, highlighted that the web of life is interconnected — and certain effects may play out over time.
“It’s sort of a one-two punch,” he said. “You’ve got to survive the fire, and then you’ve got to be able to figure out how to make a living in a landscape that looks very different than it did a week ago.”
In many parts of the island, the soil’s high clay content causes deep fractures to form as it dries. He expects many animals, like the gopher snake, made it through the fire by hunkering down in the cracks.
When the snake emerges, it should find enough mice to chow down on. But a lack of seeds and other food for mice might mean that prey dwindles over time.
He worries about other ripple effects, too.
Non-native grasses that have taken hold “create a carpet of highly flammable material for much of the year,” he said. In the aftermath of fire, such grasses often spring up quickly and shade out native plants. He expects the acreage to increase.
That’s bad news for the majority of wildlife on the island that relies on native habitat, like woody shrubs.
Yet, as Pauly put it, the island is no stranger to flux. Just within the past two centuries, cattle and sheep brought in for ranching — and then later elk and deer for hunting — ate up the island’s shrubs, he said. Since 2011, he added, the island’s been free of these non-native grazers and native vegetation has rebounded.
He expects even more change. Scientists are clocking an increase in temperature and slight decrease in fog. He also predicts fires will become more common as more people visit.
Emanuel Röhss, the author’s husband, sits amid fog during a backpacking trip to the island five years ago.
(Lila Seidman / Los Angeles Times)
While harrowing, I also found a strange comfort in Pauly’s words. Change is inevitable, whether bad or good. My memories of the island are of a snapshot in time. I went during the height of the pandemic, when my boatmates were masked and socially distanced. All the wonder I experienced notwithstanding, I wouldn’t want that aspect of the journey to carry on.
And change doesn’t need to be taken lying down. Some are already gearing up to get the island back on track.
The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has seeds for all of the rare plants in the burn area, a sort of fail safe if they need help recovering. Additionally, just this March, it opened a conservation grove of Torrey pines grown from seeds collected on Santa Rosa. The Channel Islands National Park Foundation is on hand to raise money for the park.
“It’s going to be an all hands on deck situation to understand, assess and plan the recovery,” the garden’s Schneider said.
If I go back to Santa Rosa, I hope to embrace it as it is: transformed.
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