Meet Misha and Michel, winners of the Vilcek Prize 2
Feb
29
2012
Wonderful news from the New York-based Vilcek Foundation, the non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of immigrant contributions to the American arts and sciences. The 2012 Vilcek Prizes in dance honor immigrant dance artists who have made significant contributions to the field in America. The Latvia-born Russian national, now a great American, Mikhail Baryshnikov, nabs ...
Remembering Marilyn
Feb
29
2012
A sad memorial looms this year, the 50th anniversary of the tragic death of Marilyn Monroe, who died of an overdose to barbiturates in August 1962. I recently enjoyed two well made documentaries about Monroe. The Legend of Marilyn Monroe 1966, 16 format, b/w, 53 min, dir Terry Sanders Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lee ...
Ahmad Jamal, child pianist, photographed by “Teenie” Harris
He’s propped up on a trumpet case! It’s the young Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell ‘Fritz’ Jones), a Pittsburgh native whose photo by renegade photog, Charles “Teenie” Harris, is featured in an exhibit at the city’s Carnegie Museum of Art. Jamal’s is only one of 80,000 photographs Harris snapped of daily African-American life in the ...
A masterpiece of dance on film: Jack Cole’s “Happy Ending”
The dance sequence below, choreographed by the great Jack Cole (he dances in it as well) closes Twentieth Century Fox’s “On the Riviera” (1951). Every element of “Happy Ending” rings true. Not a single step is wrong or jarring; on the contrary, all is balanced and golden and smart and right. It’s evidence of Cole’s ...
Meeting Art Laboe, L.A.’s pioneering rock ‘n roll deejay
We enjoyed meeting the amazing Los Angeles radio legend, Art Laboe, Wednesday night at the Grammy Museum downtown. Laboe’s a pioneer in many ways — issuing the first-ever record compilations and coining the expression “Oldies But Goodies.” The deejay is very much alive and kicking; though in his eighties, he was in great shape cruising ...
Bone up on your classic theater at The Antaeus Company
Feb
22
2012
An intriguing program — offering casual exposure to great theater-art — is on offer in ClassicsFest 2012 this spring. The Antaeus Company, L.A.’s classical theater ensemble, presents staged readings of six classics in six weeks.
Earl Carroll’s beautiful construction site
[click on photo for detail] Label reads: Earl Carroll’s theater-restaurant is famed not only for its “most beautiful girls in the world” but, also, for its unique construction. During the show, leggy ladies of the line paraded onto a huge circular, revolving stage. This photo shows Earl Carroll and some of his aides and chorus ...
Wherefore art thou, o Hollywood choreographer? 2
[mouse over images for captions] Say you are a film producer, and you have a project that gets a green-light. There’s a dance sequence in the script and you need to hire a choreographer. Using the prime professional database of the film and television industry, IMDB Pro, you will be hard pressed to find one. ...
Classical Underground rocks
Clamor filled the central-Los Angeles industrial loft last Thursday evening, when the Russian expatriate painter, Alexey Steele, and his wife Olga opened their funky-junky, atelier-style home to the music lovers of Los Angeles. Amidst a clutter of books, art supplies, burning candles, and oversized classical paintings, propped onto surfaces or hanging from walls, habitués of ...
Turner Classic Movies launches pre-festival: Road to Hollywood
The amazing, generous-spirited, movie-loving peeps at Turner Classic Movies are launching a fun nation-wide program of FREE screenings in ten cities across the country en route to the third annual TCM Fest in Los Angeles, April 12 – 15, 2012. There’s a centralized ticket reservation website and it is here.