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Los Angeles
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Theater Review: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (A Noise Within in Pasadena)
SWINGTIME SHAKESPEARE Everyone will make much ado about Guillermo Cienfuego‘s delightful take on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, which opened last weekend at A Noise Within. This comedy has it all: sparring partners, deceit, mistaken identities, many overheard conversations, love, and my favorite comedic character in all of Shakespeare: Dogberry, a pompous, scattered constable who…
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Art Recommendation: NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY (The Hilton Als Series at The Huntington)
As spring approaches, it’s a wonderful time to walk about Huntington’s Botanical Gardens. You should also check out the fascinating exhibition that I saw at The Met: Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts. And starting today, Huntington’s Art Museum will display a selection of five works by Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based artist Njideka…
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Theater Review: NIMROD (Theatre of NOTE)
THIS JOYOUS TRIUMPH IS LIKE A PIG IN SHIT Mixed with the contradictory language of William Shakespeare and Trump-speak, Nimrod is a gut-busting, refreshing, sharp, irreverent, and often cacophonous satirical play delivered by a big, superbly talented cast at Theatre of NOTE. Phinneas Kiyomura is The Bard of our time — writing in the form…
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FIVE DAYS OF BROADWAY CAMP (Segerstrom Center for the Arts / Costa Mesa)
BROADWAY SUMMER CAMP IS COMING First Week | Students ages 11–13 Second Week | Students ages 14–19 As a participant in Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ Five Days of Broadway camp, students of all experience levels from ages 11-19 are coached in musical theater performance and technique by some of the industry’s leading professional artists and…
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Highly Recommended: THE CLAYTON-HAMILTON JAZZ ORCHESTRA with SAMARA JOY (The Soraya)
THIS CONCERT WILL BE ONE FOR THE BOOKS, AND WILL BE LIVESTREAMED FOR ONLY $19 While Ms. Joy had to cancel her original date of Feb. 11, and the March 26 show now sold out, don’t despair. You can still see her, as The Soraya is offering a livestream for only 19 bucks (get tickets…
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Theater Review: THE FIRST DEEP BREATH (Geffen)
WAITING TO EXHALE Getting its West Coast Premiere at the Geffen Playhouse’s mainstage Gil Cates Theater, The First Deep Breath, a 2019 play by Lee Edward Colston II, is an overstuffed family drama that left me wanting : less. Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III, this double-intermissioned, 3 hour and 45 minute play takes place…
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Theater Review: RIDE THE CYCLONE (Chance Theater)
WHAT A RIDE! NOTHING GOES OFF THE RAILS IN THIS CALIFORNIA PREMIERE Ride the Cyclone is a 2008 musical by Canadians Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell. Originally written as a song cycle for the Atomic Vaudeville Theatre Company, it was retooled for its 2015 critically lauded US premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Since then, the…
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Recommended Cabaret: SEVEN LOVES (Getty Villa)
A CABARET TO LOVE SEVEN TIMES MORE THAN ANY OTHER Getty Villa Museum presents Seven Loves, a Valentine’s cabaret that brings together well-known, amazing performers singing songs from Broadway, based on Greek and Roman myths, to explore the full range and complexities of love. Songs will be performed from musicals including The Boys from Syracuse, Hedwig and…
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Highly Recommended Music: CAMERATA PACIFICA (Feb. 12-17, Ventura, Pasadena, DTLA & Santa Barbara)
Camerata Pacifica is far and away the most programmatically original chamber outfit I know. In addition, the quality of the players is stunning (see my review of a program earlier this season). Based in Santa Barbara, CP performs a monthly series of concerts in Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Marino (at the Huntington), and DTLA’s Zipper…
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Highly Recommended Theater: MEAN GIRLS (National Tour at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, March 7-19)
Direct from Broadway, MEAN GIRLS is the hilarious hit musical from book writer TINA FEY (30 Rock), composer JEFF RICHMOND (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), lyricist NELL BENJAMIN (Legally Blonde) and director CASEY NICHOLAW (The Book of Mormon). The story of a naïve newbie who falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies is a “thoroughly enjoyable musical, as…
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Music Review: AX –¢ KAVAKOS –¢ MA (Disney Hall)
A QUEST FOR MUSIC AND HUMANITY On a delightful Saturday afternoon, January 28th, Los Angeles was graced by three masters at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Billed simply as Ax ’¢ Kavakos ’¢ Ma, the eponymous concert title did little to convey the content of the concert because, let’s face it, whatever these three will be…
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Opera Review: GIRLS OF THE GOLDEN WEST (John Adams and the LA Phil at Disney Hall)
HOW THE WEST WAS LOST AND BORING Under the baton of California’s own celebrity composer, John Adams, the LA Phil performed his Girls of the Golden West in a concert setting on Friday, January 27th. Premiered in 2017 by the San Francisco Opera, the work was conceived and co-created by librettist, culture maker and long-time…
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Music Recommendation: KODO ONE EARTH TOUR: TSUZUMI (North American Tour)
A POUND OF CURE Since 1981, KODO, Japan’s taiko performing arts ensemble, has brought the gloriously life-affirming art form of taiko to 46 countries around the globe. Under the banner of One Earth Tour, Kodo exemplifies why percussion is the primal source of all movement and rhythm. The newest production, Tsuzumi, is touring North America…
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Music Review: HECTOR OLIVERA (Organ Recital at Walt Disney Concert Hall)
HEIGH-HO, HECTOR! The full house at Walt Disney Concert Hall buzzed with excitement as fast-paced whispers reverberated through the crowd when Hector Olivera opened his solo organ recital by walking directly to the remote console on stage, placing his stuffed Kermit the Frog doll next to him, where the frog appeared to be waiting for…
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Music Review: RAVEL, DAWSON & PROKOFIEV (LA Phil, Guest Conductor Roderick Cox)
DAWSON GETS HIS DUE IN LA PHIL’S FIRST PERFORMANCE OF HIS NEGRO FOLK SYMPHONY The swellegant Maestro Roderick Cox returned to Disney Hall with the LA Phil last weekend. Even knowing the talent of the conductor, players, and guest violinist Karen Gomyo, there were some surprises at this stupendous program. The first came before the…
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Theater Review: GREASE (La Mirada Theatre)
GET READY TO BE GREASED UP The year is 1959, when rock and roll was giving birth to the Sexual Revolution and the turbulent 1960s were about to burst on the scene. Record companies were releasing over a hundred singles every week and the country was about to radically change. In its original raunchy incarnation,…
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Theater Review: GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER? (Theatre 40)
GUESS WHAT SHOULD BE ON BROADWAY? A hit at their home theater on the Beverly Hills High School campus, Theatre 40’s production of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? has been remounted at the gorgeous Greystone Mansion on a Beverly Hills bluff overlooking L.A., a choice setting for the Bay Area hilltop home of a wealthy…
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Theater Review: BROTHERS PLAY (Legacy LA)
A LOST TRIBE OF BROTHERS Because a child who has been sexually abused often knew and trusted the perpetrator, only about a third of the cases are reported. Many remain silent. As if the act itself wasn’t traumatic enough, childhood abuse often has a wide range of effects in adulthood — drug use, impulsive risky…
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Theater Review: TO THE BONE (Open Fist Theatre Company Remount at Theatre 68 Arts Complex)
WICKED GOOD [Editor’s Note: TO THE BONE will be remounted at Theatre 68 Arts Complex, 5112 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood March 4 – March 26, 2023. Tisha Terrasini Banker, Alice Kors, Kacey Mayeda, Jack David Sharpe and Amanda Weier reprise their roles in Butterfield’s dark comedy about family, baseball and genetics. We reprint our…
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Music Review: SHEKU PLAYS HAYDN (Sheku Kanneh-Mason & Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra)
SHEKU INHABITS HAYDN I hear an old soul in his playing. English cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, aka Sheku, is a decent, heartfelt, unpretentious performer, and his music follows suit. He evokes some kind of sacred spirit in his cello playing, which is dreamy and soothing while being exhilarating. He does Casals, Du Pre & Rostropovich proud,…
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