Frank Arthur

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE WHEREVER IT LEADS Evidence, A Dance Company  is recognized nationally and internationally for its fusion of African dance with contemporary choreography and storytelling that combines Cuban, Caribbean, West African and modern American dance movement. A selection of signature works from its repertory will be performed to tell the story and mark the extraordinary…

TAKE A TRIP TO POCATELLO Since this is a Samuel D. Hunter play, its setting is a nondescript town in Idaho whose business district is beseiged  by big-box stores and chain restaurants — in this case  a pre-fabricated eatery laden with  temperamental  technology. But unlike his previous studies in isolation, this group portrait of hinterland culture represents the author’s…

CARVING A “HAM” Direct from a critically acclaimed off-Broadway run, Harris’s  HAM: A Musical Memoir  makes  its West Coast debut at the LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre this  Saturday, January 23, 2016. But the show can only last so long  (as with any great ham, even if its refrigerated), so this  strictly limited engagement will close on  February 7. Tell me you remember…

IT JUST KEEPS ON KEEPIN’ ON This  Friday, January 22, Clark Terry protégé and jazz pianist  Justin Kauflin  will be appearing at the Wallis in Beverly Hills for one night only. Following an 8pm screening of Keep On Keepin’ On, Alan Hicks’ ode to the friendship between the prodigious lifetime Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Clark Terry and Kauflin (see…

ALL DOLLED UP AND READY TO GO, GUYS It’s a new tradition that I could get used to. The season of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is practically year-round. Performances begin in Ashland in February and last until late October or early November. That leaves two months for a “breather” before the company heads back into…

VIVA LA POP’S MAMMA Bringing opera to a wider audience is the noble goal of many a musical entrepreneur, but few succeed as well as Josh Shaw (stage direction and production design) and Stephen Karr (music director and conductor), founders of Pacific Opera Project (POP). Major opera companies should take note of the upstart company’s…

AND NOW, WITH FURTHER ADO: Not only is it one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, but Much Ado About Nothing contains a favorite character: Dogberry. This bumbling constable arrives much later in the play than the famous sparring couple’”Beatrice and Benedick’”and adds an enormous amount of comic energy to a play that is already awash…

THE FUTURE LOOKS LIGHT For almost 40 years, The Groundlings has proved itself to be one of the premiere comedy troupes in the nation, creating more stars than the Big Bang. Performers showcase material that arises from improvisation workshops; their weekly shows range from all-improv to all-sketches and anywhere in-between. The current sketch comedy offering…

AN ABUNDANCE OF DANZA In 1994, Tania Pérez-Salas founded Compaí±í­a de Danza in Mexico City. Since then, her company has become unrivaled in the arena of Mexican contemporary dance, and Pérez-Salas has not only proven herself to be Mexico’s premiere contemporary choreographer, but her troupe has made many global appearances. Thanks to Glorya Kaufman Presents…

MUSICALS LIKE THIS OCCUR  ONCE EVERY 100 YEARS In 1947, when Brigadoon confirmed the mutual genius of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, timing was everything: A second global conflict had just ended, leaving in its wake postwar angst and searing doubts that the millions of deaths had made no difference. Hoping that faith could move…

THE LATEST FASHION Since its founding in 2004, Vs. Theatre Company has upped the ante for storefront theater in Los Angeles, offering both original works and LA premieres with the kind of love and professionalism I associate with Chicago theater (the best in the nation). Among Vs.’s productions are In Arabia We’d All Be Kings,…