Los Angeles

A STUNNING TRIFONOV MAKES HIS HOLLYWOOD BOWL DEBUT It was both fascinating and distracting to watch 22-year-old Daniil Trifonov, the current Big Thing of the piano world, perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (1897) at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday. Hunched over the keys and stroking them with a fierce tenderness, he consistently appeared to…

THE  BARE TRUTH There’s a kind of desperate seriousness about the “rock” musical Bare ’” more pop than rock ’” first produced in 2000, now back with updated music and a telegenic and talented cast. The original production preceded Spring Awakening and Glee, but it feels like it cashes in on both genres of teen musical:…

BLUE MAN GROUP GETS BOWLED OVER International phenomenon Blue Man Group (BMG)  made their Hollywood Bowl debut on Friday in a wildly uneven yet ultimately entertaining evening ranging from moments of true wonderment to “what were they thinking?” befuddlement. The theme of the night was  FUN and Principal Guest Conductor Thomas Wilkins and members of LA Phil’s…

MAGNIFIQUE Sometimes, dance performances are entertaining, but only for the spectator who understands the storyline behind the dancing. Other times, the performances are less about dance and more about the esoteric, self-righteous fulfillment of the dancer being able to perform. Where is the line drawn between these forms and how does the viewer know when…

TOO MUCH OF TOO LITTLE FOR TOO LONG An aged widow and an even more aged married man have a shared, passionate history with each other that ended after World War II. Now, nearly seventy years later, they find themselves with an opportunity to reunite, make up for lost time, and take one last shot…

THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER:OR IS IT? Smart, funny and thought-provoking, Rapture, Blister Burn has arrived at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood with the original New York cast in tow. Written by Gina Gionfriddo (Pulitzer Prize finalist for Becky Shaw) the show puts a new spin on the often beaten to death themes of gender…

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE As promised, the Los Angeles Philharmonic program last Tuesday offered stylishness and sophistication, but guest artists Katia and Marielle Labéque added an element of fierce emotion. It was evident in the centerpiece, Mendelssohn’s Concerto in E major for Two Pianos (and Orchestra), how well the sisters complement each other.  Marielle, wearing black, had…

A ZESTY SUMMER COCKTAIL In their seventeen years as a fourteen member full “little orchestra,” Pink Martini has established a reputation  for  clever, daring, sophisticated and  delightful music. The unusually overcast sky  at the Hollywood Bowl Sunday evening provided an excellent opportunity for LA Phil and Pink Martini to perk up the environment with some much needed color and…

THE X FACTOR How many times have we mused that we would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when ___________? That’s exactly what playwright Kemp Powers has done in his One Night in Miami…, the world premiere of which is currently on at Rogue Machine. Taking a real gathering of four…

RUPTURED RAPTURE Attending the opening night of a comedy at one of the smaller 99 seat theaters in Los Angeles can be problematic. In addition to a minute smattering of critics and avid theatergoers, the audience is primarily made up of friends of the cast and members of the theater company.   Therein lies the rub.  …

THE SHAPE OF THINGS After Bruce Norris’s A Parallelogram at the Mark Taper Forum, I overheard a few audience members describe the play as “cute.†For all of the play’s political incorrectness, ramblings about physics, a future plague, and fairly unlikeable (and unknowable) characters, it appears that the playwright was going for provocative philosophy, but…

MISGUIDED MELODRAMA Billy Wilder’s 1950 film masterpiece Sunset Boulevard starred Gloria Swanson as the washed-up-actress-turned-cougar Norma Desmond, and William Holden as her prematurely-jaded-Hollywood-writer-turned-boy-toy Joe Gillis.   Using the camera as an instrument to capture performances of discomforting intensity, it wove a psychologically intricate tale of seduction, jealousy and betrayal set, of course, in Hollywood.   It skirted…

THE NIGHT THEY INVENTED TINY BUBBLES After Marvin Hamlisch’s untimely passing, Michael Feinstein, who has singlehandedly reinvigorated the American Songbook for the 21st century, took over as principal conductor for the Pasadena POPS. His first concert, Michael Feinstein’s Songbook, saw the beguiling raconteur as a perfect fit for the POPS crowd which, let’s face it,…