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Friday, October 31, 2014
Friday, October 31, 2014
TheaterLuis Alfaro's Latest Play Adapts a Classic to Southern California
Comments (0)By Steven Leigh Morris
Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 5:18 AM
Categories: Theater
A common habit by drama critics is to compare and contrast a new adaptation of an old work with or against that old work, which would seem a reasonable approach. But not in the case of poet-performer-playwright Luis Alfaro. Alfaro’s work, whether the solo autobiographical performance St. Jude, presented last year at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, or his 2005 adaptation of Elektra at the Mark Taper Forum (Electricidad) are singularly Alfaro creations rather than amalgams.
Alfaro’s words have a colloquial poeticism, so that you barely notice the poetry, until it seeps out ever so subtly. You barely notice how impassioned his world view is, until, amidst glib quips about LACMA, MOCA and former mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, you realize that you’ve haven’t moved, perhaps you haven’t even breathed, for the past minute, because a crescendo of pain mixed with anger and beauty has gripped you.
Alfaro’s words have a colloquial poeticism, so that you barely notice the poetry, until it seeps out ever so subtly. You barely notice how impassioned his world view is, until, amidst glib quips about LACMA, MOCA and former mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, you realize that you’ve haven’t moved, perhaps you haven’t even breathed, for the past minute, because a crescendo of pain mixed with anger and beauty has gripped you.
Events
5 Scary Cool Things to Do This Week for Less Than $12
Comments (0)By Sascha Bos
Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 5:01 AM
Categories: Events
This Halloween weekend is all treats, no tricks – with a bunch of great (and cheap!) events from the flashy to the funny to the... Cat-y?
Hit up the city's best Halloween Parade on Friday, then celebrate Mexico's Día de los Muertos by choosing from one of four awesome parties around the city (three of which are free!). After honoring the dead, you're going to need some laughs. Which is where Triple Header, the coolest thing to hit L.A. standup in a while, comes in.
If you're looking for something even weirder, hit up Catopia, a one-night-only cat-centric variety show with music, lectures, and magic. On Thursday, an exhibit featuring everyone's favorite pastime – stalking each other on the internet – opens with a ping!
Hit up the city's best Halloween Parade on Friday, then celebrate Mexico's Día de los Muertos by choosing from one of four awesome parties around the city (three of which are free!). After honoring the dead, you're going to need some laughs. Which is where Triple Header, the coolest thing to hit L.A. standup in a while, comes in.
If you're looking for something even weirder, hit up Catopia, a one-night-only cat-centric variety show with music, lectures, and magic. On Thursday, an exhibit featuring everyone's favorite pastime – stalking each other on the internet – opens with a ping!
Theater
Playwright-Psychic Asher Hartman's New Work Combines French Revolution With Food Puppets
Comments (0)By Catherine Wagley
Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 4:40 AM
Categories: Theater, Art
On a Wednesday night two weeks ago, a human-sized head of happy-looking kale named Salad Bar and a similarly sized pink-and-white bag of popcorn named Donkey, both made of new-looking fabric, made appearances at Echo Park alt space Machine Project. Puppets animated by unidentified individuals whose legs were visible from about the knees down, they sat on the stage in the comically ornate theater that currently takes up Machine’s basement.
The theater’s ornateness is comical mostly because of how it contrasts with the workspace vibe of the main upstairs room, where Machine hosts most events and workshops. You get to it via a winding DIY ladder that leads you right onto the stage or via inauspicious backstairs. So maybe, like visitors on this particular night, who came for a vague preview of Asher Hartman’s new production, Purple Electric Play! (abbreviated PEP!), you’ve been sitting on a folding chair at ground-level listening to informal presentations and watching video teasers on a projector screen. Then you descend into a room where the chairs are well-preserved antiques, mauves and crimsons dominate, and certain fixtures resemble fixtures uncannily resemble those from the small theater Marie Antoinette built at Versailles circa 1780.
The theater’s ornateness is comical mostly because of how it contrasts with the workspace vibe of the main upstairs room, where Machine hosts most events and workshops. You get to it via a winding DIY ladder that leads you right onto the stage or via inauspicious backstairs. So maybe, like visitors on this particular night, who came for a vague preview of Asher Hartman’s new production, Purple Electric Play! (abbreviated PEP!), you’ve been sitting on a folding chair at ground-level listening to informal presentations and watching video teasers on a projector screen. Then you descend into a room where the chairs are well-preserved antiques, mauves and crimsons dominate, and certain fixtures resemble fixtures uncannily resemble those from the small theater Marie Antoinette built at Versailles circa 1780.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Dance5 Dance Shows to See This Week, Including a Troupe That Goes Gaga
Comments (0)By Ann Haskins
Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 1:45 PM
Categories: Dance
This week's dance shows include a dancers who practice Gaga, a last chance to see Los Angeles Ballet's Swan Lake and modern dance meets tap.
5. Before gaga was a lady
Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company once was known in the United States primarily because Martha Graham was a founder, along with the Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild. Today it’s known as the base camp for artistic director Ohad Naharin, who assumed the helm in 1990. Naharin is the choreographer responsible for the dance technique/style known as Gaga, an approach that emphasizes Butoh-esque, slow movement countered by explosive, percussive moments. Naharin’s approach, which includes banishing mirrors in class and rehearsal, will be on view as this most au courant company arrives to celebrating its golden-anniversary year with two performances of Naharin’s Sadeh21. Sadeh translates roughly as “field,” as in a field of study, while 21 refers to the number of segments illustrating the elements of Gaga, from a solo for a bendy dancer in No. 1 to the soundtrack of a screaming woman in No. 20. This anniversary visit extends beyond the performances with workshops and other activities including a dance installation with L.A.'s own Ate9 Dance Company led by Batsheva alum Danielle Agami. Details on all the events at www.cap.ucla.edu/calendar/details/537. At UCLA Royce Hall, 340 Royce Drive, Wstwd.; Sat., Nov. 1, 8 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 2, 4 p.m.; $29-$89. 310-825-2101, www.ticketmaster.com.
Comedy
Jessie Kahnweiler Combines Dark Comedy With Judaism
Comments (0)By Siran Babayan
Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 11:36 AM
Categories: Comedy, Web Series
Seldom have the words hummus and handjobs been uttered in the same sentence, especially by a nice Jewish girl. But Jessie Kahnweiler is not your typical nice Jewish girl. In less than two years, the 29-year-old filmmaker has become an online favorite of the Girls generation, with a series of autobiographical web shorts on topics ranging from Judaism to dating hipsters to sexual abuse. She’s quick-witted, unfiltered and endlessly quotable, with the kind of humor that would’ve made Joan Rivers laugh tears while clutching her QVC jewelry. Can we tawk?
On a blazing hot morning in Atwater Village, Kahnweiler points out the bed marks on her face and apologizes for oversleeping in a voice she later describes as “dude from Jersey.” Her head is a riot of curls. She’s wearing a Western shirt, shorts and unbuckled sandals that flap around as she walks.
On a blazing hot morning in Atwater Village, Kahnweiler points out the bed marks on her face and apologizes for oversleeping in a voice she later describes as “dude from Jersey.” Her head is a riot of curls. She’s wearing a Western shirt, shorts and unbuckled sandals that flap around as she walks.
Film and TV
Film Podcast: John Wick Restores Our Faith in Violent Movies
Comments (0)By LA Weekly
Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 7:01 AM
Categories: Film and TV
On this week's Voice Film Club podcast, we welcome Village Voice contributor and filmmaker Zachary Wigon, who tells us about his paranoid thriller The Heart Machine (iTunes).We also scoop out some time for John Wick, which helps restore our faith in violent movies, Horns, Nightcrawler (be sure to read our interview with Jake Gyllenhaal about the film), Citizenfour, Housebound, and Force Majeure.
Theater
Theresa Rebeck's Zealot Depicts a Fustercluck Over Middle East Politics (GO!)
Comments (0)By Joel Beers
Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 2:49 AM
Categories: Theater
Geo-political and religious implications abound in Theresa Rebeck’s world premiere play Zealot. An American diplomat is locked in a fierce battle with a British diplomat over the fate of a Muslim woman accused of committing heresy during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
But while issues of faith, convoluted history, and diplomatic maneuvering in a powder keg region certainly factor into Rebeck’s taut, engrossing tale, she is more concerned with exploring the less explosive, but just as lethal, issue of female empowerment.
But while issues of faith, convoluted history, and diplomatic maneuvering in a powder keg region certainly factor into Rebeck’s taut, engrossing tale, she is more concerned with exploring the less explosive, but just as lethal, issue of female empowerment.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
5 Artsy Things to Do5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. this Week: What Is Karaoke Really All About?
Comments (0)By Catherine Wagley
Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 5:51 AM
Categories: 5 Artsy Things to Do, Art, Galleries, Museums, Painting, Performance Art, Sculpture, Video Art, Video Games
This week, karaoke gets a close examination at USC, and an animated cat appears repeatedly in an immersive Hollywood installation.
5. Playing with food
Robert Heinecken’s TV dinners, gritty, dimensional photographs of dinners from the frozen-food aisle, look as if they actually went through the microwave themselves. The dinners alone make a trip to Heinecken’s Hammer Museum survey worth it. 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Wstwd.; through Jan. 18. (310) 443-7000, hammer.ucla.edu.
Your Weekly Movie To-Do List
Your Weekly Movie To-Do List: Mulholland Drive, Antonioni and Stanwyck
Comments (0)By Michael Nordine
Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 5:41 AM
Categories: Your Weekly Movie To-Do List, Film and TV
Friday, Oct. 31
If you're averse to traditional horror films but still want to spend Halloween at the movies, try Old Town Music Hall's 8:15 p.m. screening of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The legendary comedy duo encounter a trifecta of classic Universal monsters (Frankenstein, the Wolfman and Dracula) to produce a balance between laughs and screams that's a lot more family-friendly than the rest of your viewing options on this most spooky of holidays. More information is available at oldtownmusichall.org/films.html.
If you're averse to traditional horror films but still want to spend Halloween at the movies, try Old Town Music Hall's 8:15 p.m. screening of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The legendary comedy duo encounter a trifecta of classic Universal monsters (Frankenstein, the Wolfman and Dracula) to produce a balance between laughs and screams that's a lot more family-friendly than the rest of your viewing options on this most spooky of holidays. More information is available at oldtownmusichall.org/films.html.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
ArtHow Do You Talk Productively About the Whiteness of Art Institutions?
Comments (5)By Catherine Wagley
Tue, Oct 28, 2014 at 3:20 PM
Categories: Art, Culture, Museums
By ten minutes after eight o’ clock last night, there were already no chairs left at Human Resources. About 150 people had shown up for “decolonizing the white box,” a discussion of racial and ethnic diversity or the lack thereof in art institutions.
But the lack of chairs would become a non-issue pretty quickly, since Raquel Gutierrez, the moderator, would ask everyone to put their chairs up against the wall and move en masse into the room’s middle for a series of group activities in which the main goal seemed to be making sure everyone, not just the self-selected talkative few, participated.
But the lack of chairs would become a non-issue pretty quickly, since Raquel Gutierrez, the moderator, would ask everyone to put their chairs up against the wall and move en masse into the room’s middle for a series of group activities in which the main goal seemed to be making sure everyone, not just the self-selected talkative few, participated.
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On a Wednesday night two weeks ago, a human-sized head of happy-looking kale named Salad Bar and a similarly sized pink-and-white bag of popcorn named Donkey, both made of new-looking fabric, made appearances at Echo Park alt space Machine Project. Puppets animated by unidentified individuals whose legs were visible from...@ 4:40 AM On Fri, October 31 -
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Theresa Rebeck's Zealot Depicts a Fustercluck Over Middle East Politics (GO!)
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