Long Day’s Journey: a family feud, familiar fodder for Americans
Jun
14
2018
Every family has its problems. Every problem spurs its drama. I anticipate my upcoming visit to The Wallis to see Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night as a microcosm, a kind of deep dive into a Petree dish — a ‘family drama’ the likes of which our nation is undergoing now. A highly controversial ...
Wild rhythms of Japan & India to tumble from Ford Amphitheatre stage
Ask the average American theater-goer or music listener to describe Japanese taiko drumming and you’ll probably hear a description something like this: solemn men in loin cloths and sweat bands who beat oversized drums in unison — loudly and interminably. Brian Yamami has spent his last 18 years trying to change that perception. He’s a ...
Live, again, on Hollywood Boulevard: Jackie Wilson
Kind of a stunning cultural moment to attend the first-ever Hologram-only theater right on the tourist strip of Hollywood Boulevard. A block from the Egyptian Theatre, it’s a wholesome entertainment addition to the ‘hood. Last week, we attended a debut screening of a hologram-homage to a great r&b/early-rock artist, Jackie Wilson. Now, gosh. This strip ...
Be sublime! instructs ‘Bayadere’ coach Susan Jones
Jun
11
2018
It was nice to hear from Susan Jones, the impassioned ballet mistress of American Ballet Theatre who lately admits to a special assignment indeed. “For weeks we have worked on every detail of La Bayadère Act 2 Shades,” she shares on Facebook, referring to the famous sequence that opens the second act of “La Bayadère,” ...
Gifted women of dance revive community connection – courtesy of DVP
Jun
4
2018
Myna Majors (Baba Olatunji Drum and Dancers), Shirley Black Brown Coward (Audelco Award, Black Nativity), Ellen Graff (Martha Graham Dance Company), Naomi Goldberg Haas (Dances for a Variable Population), Audrey Hubbard Madison (Charles Moore Dance Theater), Elizabeth Keen (Paul Taylor, Helen Tamiris/Daniel Nagrin), Marnie Thomas Wood (Martha Graham Dance Company) and Alice Tierstein (Young Dancemakers ...
A neighborly day in this beautywood with Fred Rogers
All that was missing was my blankie and a pacifier. Then I would hunker down all night with “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” the latest documentary from Morgan Neville. Neville, whose Twenty Feet from Stardom shone a thrilling light on the unheralded talent of backup singers, in this new doc shifts focus to yet another ...