Tony Curtis, forever young 1
Sep
30
2010
About an hour after this photo was taken in 2004, up pulled a huge stretch limousine and out popped the devilish Tony Curtis, forever young. A sidewalk full of admirers and fans immediately surrounded him. It was fun watching Curtis work the crowd. Edging in, I asked for his autograph. Only … I don’ t ...
C.B.’s captivating “Cleopatra”
Sep
28
2010
We just loved Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra (1934) — a movie that burns at high voltage for one hundred entertaining minutes. It looked all the better projected onto the Egyptian Theater’s humongous screen. Scott Eyman, author of the new DeMille biography, “Empire of Dreams,” was on hand to banter about the film with critic Leonard ...
Upcoming: NEA classical music institute in NYC
Sep
25
2010
arts·meme is proud to announce her participation in the National Endowment for the Arts’s seventh Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera, October 9 – 19 at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. The Institute is one of three NEA-funded programs that endeavors to reenforce the role that informed writing/criticism plays in a flourishing arts ...
Royal couple of California modernism to be honored
The extraordinary — and never open to the public — Case Study House #9 designed by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen for “Arts and Architecture” magazine publisher, John Entenza in the Pacific Palisades will be the venue for the Museum of California Design’s October 3rd Award Benefit and Auction honoring Charles and Ray Eames. Christopher ...
Start ’em young 1
Sep
19
2010
Jack Cole dancer Nita Bieber coaches her nephew, Christopher, in ballet at an early age. From Life Magazine in 1949.
Hendrix died forty years ago … 2
Sep
18
2010
… on Sept 18 1970. He was 27 years old. “I’m going to sacrifice something right here that I really love.” Watching this mesmerizing video from 1967 in which Jimi does just about everything possible with his guitar (the mentionables include playing blind and playing behind his back), it sets my standard for performance art. ...
Happy 100th birthday, Julius Shulman 3
In keeping with arts·meme’s devotion to the dearly departed, we’d like to add Uncle Julius to the mix. The great Brooklyn-born, Los Angeles-reared architectural photographer left our midst last year. By most measures, his was a life well lived (1910-2009). He left behind the visual splendor of his timeless photography, which captures and defines California ...
Remembering Kevin McCarthy 4
Sep
15
2010
Guest writer Michael Schlesinger contributes this reminiscence of actor Kevin McCarthy, who died earlier this week. I met Kevin McCarthy through our mutual friend, actor James Karen; we sometimes all had lunch at Musso & Frank’s. And it turned out that Kevin lived a few blocks from me in Sherman Oaks, so I happily chauffeured ...
“Ballets With a Twist” serves drinks all around 3
Sep
14
2010
It was one of those magical Los Angeles evenings. In a location as romantic as its name – Rustic Canyon – the New York-based Ballets with a Twist made its local debut Friday night. The forested glen, tucked about a mile inland from the Pacific Ocean, provided a fantasy setting for the choreography of Marilyn ...
MOCA’s Arshile Gorky show to close 20 September
Sep
12
2010
I was entranced by a Sunday afternoon visit to MOCA, where the historic Arshile Gorky retrospective is still on. Beautiful, strange, powerful paintings. It’s slated to come down in one week — on 20 September. Recommend that you make the effort and see this show. Thursday night is free night. Gorky was the Armenian-born precursor ...