ENO ‘Cosi’ conjured at Coney Island
How do you solve a problem like Cosi — Mozart’s Job-like musical glory of messing with the minds of two women on a bet, just to prove that they’re “like that”? In the words of Peter Sellars, prior to his revisionist diner production more than twenty years ago: “Is this the most offensive anti-feminist opera ...
arts·meme turns six 1
May
20
2014
A sparkling ‘Shirley Temple’ for arts·meme, the Los Angeles arts blog that came into existence on May 24, 2008. The young lady, having formally entered café society, here hoists a cocktail in commemoration of her sixth birthday. Happy birthday, arts·meme! Kudos and hugs around to arts·meme technology guru, Beijing-based Mark Levine; Heap Big Technology Friend ...
How do you spell civilization? Catherine Turocy’s historic dance workshop in Santa Barbara
May
19
2014
Why not consider a break from the unremitting wonderfulness of the 21st century — just for a few days — and meet some nice people? And while you’re hanging around, learn to stretch, spin, dip, tiptoe, curtsey and pose? Sign on for the Santa Barbara Historical Dance Workshop… run by amazingly well-credentialed experts in 17th ...
Tracey Davis lovingly honors father, Sammy Davis Jr.
“It’s been a rough day … a little up and down,” admitted Tracey Davis, her eyes welling slightly with tears as she spoke to a gathered group last night at Larry Edmunds Bookshop about her new book “Sammy Davis, Jr.: A Personal Journey With My Father.” Her high emotion was somewhat atypical for an author ...
At CAP UCLA, the ‘B’s have it!
To be or not to be, that was the question Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA artistic director Kristy Edmunds pondered in fashioning her arts-forward performance series for the 2014-15 season. So much so that the curator tilted in one direction: toward artists with names starting with the letter ‘B.’ Yes, a barrage ...
Dance giants shmooze @ “Tappin’ Thru Life” opening night
May
12
2014
A glorious night, Friday, in Beverly Hills, as veteran hoofer Maurice Hines poured major show-biz nostalgia onto the stage of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (known to cognoscenti as “The Wallis”). After the show, a bevy of dance royalty hugged, kissed, and shared a whole lotta lobby love. Featured in the photos: ...
REVIEW: Maurice Hines tappin’ to mother’s heartbeat @ The Wallis 1
The act was called Hines, Hines & Dad. But song-and-dance man Maurice Hines, 70, rectified any oversight of his mom, Friday night, as he opened his one-man show powered by personal history, “Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life,” at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. The touching, classy, and beautifully staged cabaret program, ...
Oh yeah, Sammy!
The great dancer Sammy Davis Jr. … and oh yes, also the superb singer, actor and consummate cool guy … had a daughter! That lucky lady, Tracey Davis, has written a book, “Sammy Davis Jr.– A Personal Journey with My Father.” Swing on by (‘cuz everything about SD, Jr. is swingin’) Larry Edmund’s Bookshop on Hollywood ...
Debonair song-and-dance man Maurice Hines tappin’ @ the Wallis
Marvel of marvels, a beautiful event coming your way, in the still-new and pretty gorgeous Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Broadway legend Maurice Hines teams up with the Manzari Brothers and 11-year old tapping phenomenom Luke Spring, to tap through 40 years in show business. In “Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Through Life,” Hines, ...
Romain Gary, the Hollywood years, celebrated May 15
The French Consulate General in Los Angeles is hosting an homage to the multifaceted French intellectual, statesman, novelist and filmmaker, Romain Gary, on the centennial of his birth. War hero, diplomat and film director, Gary moved from the Russian Empire, where he was born, to Nice, where he spent his childhood, and from his Air ...