Los Angeles

FOUNTAIN’S FANTASTIC FLAMENCO FIESTA While classic and modern dance seem to be continually reinventing themselves, Flamenco remains a bedrock of the moving arts. As Forever Flamenco! at the Ford proved last Saturday, age and body type have nothing to do with the soulful expressiveness inherent in this traditional dance form. There are many forms of…

THE VOICE IN THE SILENCE Raiford Rogers has been choreographing dance for over thirty years.   He co-founded (with Victoria Koenig) the Los Angeles Chamber Ballet in 1981, known since Koenig’s departure as the Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet.   He has designed everything from pop moves for superstars (he never tells for whom) to sophisticated classical compositions.  …

JEKYLL AND HYDE DIRECTION MAKES THE MAGIC DISAPPEAR IN WATSON AND THE DARK ART OF HARRY HOUDINI Writer/Director Jaime Robledo follows up his award-winning smash hit Watson: The Last Great Tale of the Legendary Sherlock Holmes (reviewed here) with a world premiere sequel Watson  and the Dark Art of Harry Houdini at the Sacred Fools Theater…

VERDI ON THE VERGE Hearing Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth is a rather disorienting experience, at least at the beginning. The difference is that we’re used to Shakespeare’s English, even if it is archaic. Translating his tragic play into Italian makes it seem like something else entirely. Then add to that the very Italian flavor of Verdi’s…

LITTLE MORTAL JUMP TURNS OUT TO BE THE BIGGEST THING OF THE NIGHT The lineup at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion begins with the respected and always impressive Hubbard Street Dance Chicago as they converge with the San Francisco-based Alonzo King LINES Ballet. When combined, the crowd-control extravaganza which closes the program, Azimuth, features a sprawling…

GMCLA OFFERS NOT ENTIRELY WICKED, FEATURING STEPHEN SCHWARTZ AND LIZ CALLAWAY In what is surely one of the busiest weekends for the arts in Los Angeles, let me help you make a decision. It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime concert events that will not be replicated, nor will it have a long run. In fact, you…

NOT JUST A GAY BAR ANY MORE It is the unfortunate nature of some gay dramas to hammer home or leadenly evangelize a theme with a heavy hand.   You know the sort of thing I am talking about:   The drama about a homophobic thug who beats a gay person, with the beater portrayed as a…

A FEINSTEIN FIRST The untimely passing of Marvin Hamlisch was a blow to the entertainment industry, but no more keenly felt than at the Pasadena Pops where he was the principal conductor. Who could possibly replace Hamlisch, the musician extraordinaire and jovial raconteur who had vast knowledge of the American Songbook and an array of…

PHALLUS IN BLUNDERLAND Who has been accused of being a Sexual Reprobate? Satirist? Socialist? Philosopher? The precursor to Freudian psychology and existentialism? Woman-hating pornographer? An ideal of freedom? If you mentioned the American Senate circa 1915, you’re only partially right. No, the answer is the Marquis de Sade (1740 –1814), a French aristocrat, philosopher, and…

A SHOW OF GREAT IMPORTANCE An anomaly of the Hollywood Fringe Festival has arrived. A gem which alone justifies the Fringe’s existence. A nascent troupe named Good People Theater Company is using the Festival’s built-in promotional tie-in and relative inexpensiveness to its advantage. They spent a bit more requesting a specific schedule to accommodate 15…

FALLING FOR DONIZETTI’S VALLEY GIRL Opera in Los Angeles seems to be thriving these days. In addition to established companies like LA Opera and Long Beach Opera, there are smaller companies cropping up all over the place, such as Pacific Opera Project, the Independent Opera Company and Center Stage Opera (CSO). While the first two…

DON’T COME TO THE CABARET It’s the first time I have ever seen someone on stage in flop sweat. Poor Anastasia Barnes had a rough go in her opening of The Ruby Besler Cabaret. One would suppose a lack of air conditioning was the culprit, but the other five women on stage were dry as…

A DIFFERENT KIND OF GAME Rufus Wainwright received a smattering of awards for his self-titled 1998 debut, loud fanfare for his follow-up album Poses, and his cover of Leonard Cohen’s classic “Hallelujah” for the Shrek Soundtrack in 2001, but has not found the same level of praise or success for his subsequent efforts. Mentions of…

A HEAD SPINNINGLY GOOD EXORCIST ROMP THAT DOESN’T SUCK C#CKS IN HELL A year or two back, wily producers crafted a stage version of the chilling 1970s horror flick, The Exorcist, and gave it a lavish staging at the Geffen Playhouse.   It was a thudding flop, in spite of a cast whose members included Brooke…

YES, EVERYONE Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister were BBC television shows that ran on American PBS stations when I was a kid; I resented them for not being Monty Python, and dismissed them, and never thought twice about them until I heard Ron Bottitta was going to be in some kind of stage resurrection…

GIRL, PLEASE! Prior to curtain at Musical Theatre Guild’s concert staging of Girl Crazy, we were warned that the Gershwin brothers’ 1930 musical was written before “the code” (read: censorship), so “expect to be offended.” Well, thank God. I am rather tired of inoffensive theater. Besides, the one memorable thing about Guy Bolton and Jack…