Maximizing his fun time, using the buddy system

A third-degree black belt at the age of 9, Rasta Thomas nonetheless misbehaved in martial arts classes. His punishment: ballet classes. The result: He was the first American to join the Kirov Ballet in Russia and is now the star of “Pearl,” Debbie Allen’s dance remake of “Snow White.” His role? He plays Charm, of course.

Monday, Monday

The only real day off I have is Monday, when the theater is dark. Usually that’s when my best friend, Oscar Hawkins, a performer in Cirque du Soleil’s Mystere, drives in from Las Vegas. He’s working on a CD, so we’ll go to the recording studio and lay down some tracks and have some fun doing that. I flow a little bit -- do some vocals, you know, trying to expand the horizons.

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Meals and movie magic

Then we’ll have some lunch, someplace like Le Petit Four. One time we went to the Mann Village to catch a movie -- “Harry Potter.” The theater was right across from California Pizza Kitchen, so just before the movie, we went in and had some key lime pie -- their key lime is major.

We went to the Gap, went to the record shop -- Oscar bought Missy Elliot’s new CD. I got Linkin Park. And then we caught up with another friend who lives in Westwood and we went to Eurochow to have drinks and just hang out.

A couple of nights ago, I went to Barnie’s Beanery, that’s pretty good. It’s got karaoke and my friend Allison Porter was hosting, so that was fun. But on most of my free time I like to go see movies.

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A time to laugh

I went to the Ha Ha Cafe last night after the performance. Buddy Lewis, one of my “Pearl” co-stars, hosts there every Wednesday night. I love to laugh. Well, one night before the show opened, Buddy tells me Tommy Davidson is hosting a night at the Platinum Live. Tommy is from Maryland, like me.

Everybody was there that night: Cedric the Entertainer, Jamie Foxx and Brian McKnight. They brought Brian up and he sang, and all of the women went googoo, gaga. But I can’t go out every night now that the show has started. But there’s always Mondays.

-- Carolyn Patricia Scott