Want to be a movie star? Line up here.
Mar
31
2016
A super interesting evening upcoming at the Academy that examines a critical backstage process in film making — casting. Acclaimed casting directors Lynn Stalmaster, Juliet Taylor and Mike Fenton will sit down with the governors of the Academy’s Casting Directors Branch to discuss the evolution of their profession and the essential role the casting director ...
Anoushka!
Mar
31
2016
Virtuoso sitar player/composer Anoushka Shankar brings to Los Angeles her inimitable blend of classical Indian music crossed with flamenco, jazz, electronica and Western classical music. Always surrounded by the best-in-class musicians, Shankar’s concert bodes beauty and spirituality at Royce Hall. Anoushka and her band will perform selections from Land of Gold – a deeply personal ...
Fred of our dreams
From our friends at Julien’s Auctions, a pair of black-and-white silver gelatin prints of Fred Astaire taken by Andre de Dienes circa 1938. Both hand printed by de Dienes on double-weight paper and stamped by the photographer on verso. Sold at auction March 28, 2016.
Doubling up to double down: Lula Washington & Pony Box @ Nate Holden 2
Mar
29
2016
“We all live together on this one planet and we all need to get along.” So states choreographer Lula Washington in her inimitable straight-ahead fashion that has made her not just a beloved figure, but a bulwark, of the Los Angeles dance community. She’s referring to her work “Global Village,” pictured above, which will be ...
Pre-tax pleasure: ‘Starring George Chakiris’ April 14
We’re fans and we’re friends. That’s why we are so pleased that Turner Classic Movies is showcasing the creative output of actor/dancer/singer George Chakiris, whose triple-threat talent and smoldering good looks were made for the movies. Though a huge teen heartthrob in the sixties, Chakiris was often cast as a dark figure, famously in WEST ...
Like butter … dancer Clarice Young 3
A memorable performance tonight at the Broad Stage by Evidence: A Dance Company, the Brooklyn-based troupe overseen by uber talented choreographer Ronald K. Brown, whose dense dance vision overlays post-modern elements onto a rich African-based vocabulary, often working with jazz scores. Outstanding among the strong individuals to possess the stage was the radiant and beatific ...
This diamond ring … needs you 2
From Shirley Temple, to you, with love. Price tag $35-45 mil The Shirley Temple Blue Diamond ring is seeking a new owner. Weighing an impressive 9.54 carats, the charming cushion-cut Fancy Blue Diamond ring was purchased by the child star’s father George Temple for $7,210 in 1940 as the film The Blue Bird was completed. Just in ...
arts·meme’s TCM Fest coverage announced 1
Mar
24
2016
The dream team debuted last year — and hit a home run. So… three strong film writers are set to do it again! The strategy remains the same: Divide and conquer the densely programmed, movie-studded long weekend of the seventh annual TCM Classic Film Festival. Pounding the (once-glittering, still star-studded) sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard and ...
The new normal: the Stones play La Habana 2
A super-special expression of a new reality. As native Britons, the Rolling Stones have never been particularly hamstrung by America’s culture-throttling 50-year trade embargo on Cuba. But with so many ties to the U.S. market (indeed with band members in residence here), they’ve surely been circumspect. Spreading the wild winds of Western civilization at the ...
REVIEW: ‘Remembering Water’ from String Theory
Everything about “Remembering Water,” a fully integrated dance-and-rock-music pageant presented by Los Angeles-based String Theory, and repeated next weekend at Santa Monica’s charming Miles Playhouse, is pure joy. Spooling through 13 staged songs for a nicely compact 65 minutes, the highly versatile and handsome troupe of eleven (seven musicians, four dancers) radiate a spontaneous pleasure ...