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Los Angeles
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Dance Preview: THE GREAT TAMER (Dimitris Papaioannou at Royce Hall, UCLA)
A CREATOR WHO CAN’T BE TAMED Dimitris Papaioannou, who uses the human body to create vignettes brimming with humor, horror, circus-like stunts and optical illusions, has conceived, visualized, and directed The Great Tamer, a visually stunning and surreal pageant that grapples with the meaning of life, the mystery of death, time, destruction and reconstruction. This surrealistic and…
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Dance & Music Preview: HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO & THIRD COAST PERCUSSION (The Wallis)
HUBBA-HUBBA-HUBBARD As one of the world’s most important contemporary dance companies, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago encompasses a vast array of techniques and forms, as well as an understanding of abstract artistry and the emotional nuances of movement. With an exuberant, athletic, and innovative repertoire, Hubbard Street presents performances that inspire, yes, but also challenge how…
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Los Angeles Music Preview: DECK THE HALL HOLIDAY CONCERTS, 2018 (Disney Hall)
EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN ONE DECKED-OUT HALL The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s  Deck the Hall  Holiday Concerts  at Disney Hall are just around the corner, and the variety this year is awesome. Be  enchanted by the ever-popular  Holiday Sing-Along (Dec. 22 at 11:30am and 2:30pm), hosted this year by Melissa Peterman, who wows us every year at the Sing-A-Long Sound of…
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Theater Review: LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE (The Wallis)
ACTUALLY MAGICAL I didn’t have any idea what to expect from this hybrid theatrical invention. It employs scenes from the beloved Richard Curtis film Love Actually, live musicians (who often arrive onstage as characters), and stage actors who act out some of the scenes and then sing songs from the soundtrack as well as a…
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Theater Review: SHE LOVES ME (Actors Co-op)
LITTLE SHOP OF HAPPINESS I’ll be the first to admit that it may be impossible to create a bad production of the 1963 jewel-box musical She Loves Me. This perfect show, based on the 1937 play Parfumerie by Miklós László, is so resplendent, so charming, and so well-constructed that a 2011 gathering of literati for…
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Music Review: MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS AND PATHÉTIQUE (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
NOTHING LIKE MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS EVER WAS Michael Tilson Thomas is a rock star. The Los Angeles native, who made his conducting debut here 50 years ago, proved last night at Disney Hall that he not only maintains a Bernstein-like vigor at the podium — bringing pulse-pounding magic and emotion to Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique —  he…
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Theater Preview: SOUTH PACIFIC (Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura)
SOME ENCHANTED EVENING INDEED At about 8 am on December 7, 1941, Japanese planes filled the sky over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Bombs and bullets rained onto the vessels moored below on the United States Naval Air Base in the Territory of Hawaii in the Pacific. At 8:10, a 1,800-pound bomb smashed through the deck of the…
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Theater Interview: EURIAMIS LOSADA (appearing in WINK at Hollywood’s Zephyr Theatre)
LOSADA COLADA! Looking at photos of Euriamis Losada, it’s no wonder the female (and some part of the male) populace goes gaga at his looks on his muscular 6’ frame. Cuban-born and USA-raised since age six, this talented actor and singer has been performing since his teenhood in Miami, Florida. After years of singing in…
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Review: COME FROM AWAY (North American Tour)
A NEWFOUND(LAND) WAY OF LOOKING AT MUSICAL THEATER This intimate ensemble piece may only have one stand-alone song, and it may not even be the best-crafted musical or have the emotional impact it could have, but it’s a cultural blessing when a show comes along that melts away the coldness of our polarized times by…
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Theater Review: A VERY MERRY MAGIC MANIA (Santa Monica Playhouse)
THIS REALLY IS HOLIDAY MAGIC I can’t think of more entertaining way to spend the holidays then to see A Very Merry Magic Mania at the Santa Monica Playhouse. This intimate showcase of the best magicians around was created by Albie Selznick, creator of the theatrical smash hit, Smoke and Mirrors. Albie, who hosts as well,…
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Music Preview: CALLING ALL ANGELS (Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles Holiday Spectacular)
MAKE THE YULETIDE GAY Attending GMCLA’s Holiday Spectaculars is more like a pilgrimage for me, and is a no-brainer when choosing my wintertime concerts. The musical extravaganza this year, Holiday Spectacular: Calling All Angels, plays at Glendale’s gorgeous Alex Theatre for four performances Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 15 & 16, 2018. What better way is there…
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Dance Preview: GEORGE BALANCHINE’S THE NUTCRACKER (Miami City Ballet at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion)
CRACK AWAY Miami City Ballet’s new redesign of the magical George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, featuring enchanting new costumes and sets by the Cuban-American artist/designer power couple Isabel and Ruben Toledo, Balanchine’s glorious choreography, and Tchaikovsky’s beloved timeless score, returns to The Music Center, having had its world premiere in Los Angeles last year. Running November 30 through December…
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Art Exhibit Review: KING TUT: THE TREASURES OF THE GOLDEN PHARAOH (California Science Center)
THE PHARAOH-EST OF THEM ALL One of the most famous people who has ever existed isn’t well-known because of his life, but his death. Over 5,000 perfectly preserved artifacts were discovered along with this young king’s mummified remains by English archaeologist Howard Carter on November 4, 1922 in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. As the…
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Album Review: COR CHRISTMAS (Cally Banham)
YOU’LL FEEL IT TO THE COR At first glance, I assumed this album from the assistant principal oboe — and Solo English horn position — of the Saint Louis Symphony (SLS), Cally Banham, would be flat-out Muzak. Boy oh hautboy, was I ever wrong. Intimate, warm, plaintive, whimsical, fresh, and full of heart, this holiday…
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Review: DAVID SEDARIS (Royce Hall at UCLA)
BALLGOWN AT A URINAL Bestselling author David Sedaris provided evidence Friday night that he has not exaggerated in the stories he has written about shopping in Japan with his sisters Amy and Gretchen. The three of them (or sometimes just two) giddily, and with acknowledged codependence, buy clothes that are outrageous and often outrageously expensive….
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Opera Preview: HANSEL AND GRETEL (LA Opera)
ONCE UPON A TIME: : An intrepid pair of siblings took a dreamlike journey to unexpected places. The iconic Brothers Grimm story leaps from page to stage with a production pocked with perky puppets created by director Doug Fitch. Sure, a witch wants to bake some kids into gingerbread and eat them, but this deliciously…
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Theater Review: HUGHIE / KRAPP’S LAST TAPE (Geffen Playhouse)
BEAUTIFUL DESPAIR BY A MASTER THESPIAN The river of lost souls can be found in Westwood, and your magnificent tour guide is Brian Dennehy. In this coupling of one-acts by Eugene O’Neill and Samuel Beckett, Dennehy supplies the concentrated crux of regret by embodying how time shreds our delusions. At the same time, with brilliant…
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Theater Feature: GREAT THINGS ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES THEATRE
Los Angeles, dubbed as the City of Angels, is truly a magnificent destination that holds some of the most beautiful architectural buildings in the world. One of the biggest attractions in LA is most assuredly The Los Angeles Theatre and its rich history. This luxurious spot hosts some of the biggest Broadway shows, and based…
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Music & Theater Review: THE TEMPEST (LA Phil and The Old Globe at Disney Hall in Los Angeles)
TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT An ill wind hit Disney Hall last weekend with this collaboration between LA Phil’s Guest Conductor Susanna Målkki and Old Globe Theatre’s Artisitic Director Barry Edelstein. Pairing edited versions of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Jean Sibelius’s incidental music is a great idea, but the waste of talent and energy and money was…
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Los Angeles Theater Review: VALLEY OF THE HEART (Mark Taper Forum)
VALLEY OF THE HEART ON ITS SLEEVE Captivating stagecraft and a winning, although not always authentic, cast fuel this epic tale of war-time love. But the riveting aspects of a relationship between two American citizens — one Mexican, one Japanese — are diluted when didacticism dictates drama. Writer/director Luis Valdez has his heart in the…
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