Oscar was a dancer 2
This amusing photo of Oscar-winning dancer George Chakiris (Best Actor in a Supporting Role, “West Side Story,” 1962) and dance critic Debra Levine taken by Dana Ross last Saturday night at “Oscars Outdoors” sparked an email from Hollywood dance expert Larry Billman. Writes Larry, “The “original Oscar” was a dancer named Emilio Ferandez who modeled ...
At “Oscars Outdoors,” gentlemen still prefer blondes 1
It was a super-special 60th anniversary screening, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science’s “Oscars Outdoors” summer series, of 20th Century-Fox’s comic classic from 1953, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” the movie that blasted off the career of Marilyn Monroe. And the flick’s funnier than ever. Lead actresses Monroe and Jane Russell zing out hilarious ...
George Chakiris to introduce GENTLEMEN at Academy; Debra Levine to discuss Jack Cole
Sixty years after appearing as a chorus dancer behind Marilyn Monroe in “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” George Chakiris will host the Academy’s “Oscars Outdoors” screening of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES Saturday night, August 3, 2013. In the photo at right we see George, a young man with fake grey highlights spraypainted in his hair. ...
El Cid endures … powered by fifty years of flamenco
Jul
30
2013
It was heady, returning to Los Angeles after two weeks out of town, to drive directly from LAX and drop down — and I mean literally drop down a double staircase into a ravine off Sunset Boulevard and land at El Cid, the venerable Spanish-themed restaurant and live music venue, located in Los Angeles’ Silver ...
At Santa Fe Opera, not “Oscar”-worthy 2
Ascending the hallowed hilltop upon which Santa Fe Opera roosts is a treasured journey — even for the initiated. The massive parking lot is sprinkled with “tailgaters,” their fold-out picnic tables draped in linen, wine bottles atilt in ice buckets. It’s the first visual hint of a wonderful evening in store. Outdoor “lobbies” that encircle ...
That pink dress! Costuming Marilyn Monroe for “Diamonds”
At right, Travilla‘s design for Marilyn’s iconic pink dress in “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” from GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953) whose 60th anniversary we are honoring with a screening at the Academy’s “Oscars Outdoors” series Saturday August 3. The classy pink dress, lined with felt, was a replacement design for an original, much less ...
Recommended: “Never Stand Still” on Great Performances Friday night
An award-winning documentary on the influence and importance of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival will broadcast on PBS Friday night. Legendary dancers and choreographers appear alongside new innovators to reveal the passion, discipline, and daring of the world of dance in Never Stand Still, directed by Ron Honsa. This documentary, filmed at the Pillow and narrated by Bill ...
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet takes on Cayetano Soto 2
You’re seated amidst a smallish audience in a theater in the middle of the country. You’re not in New York, you’re not in London. But you’re watching an advancement the art of classical ballet. It’s the premiere, this past weekend in Aspen, Colorado, of a new work by Cayetano Soto for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet ...
Fabulous: Gary Lucas to accompany Spanish “Dracula” @ Cinefamily
Jul
19
2013
The uncannily talented virtuoso guitarist Gary Lucas keeps coming up with amazing projects. The latest to arrive in Los Angeles is Gary’s guitar-plus accompaniment of “Dracula” (1931)—not the Tod Browning/Bela Lugosi blood-sucking variety, but “Dracula”‘s Spanish-language doppelganger. Unbeknownst to many film fans, a second, alternate, version of “Dracula” was filmed at Universal, by night, using ...
The temerity of Tamara, at Golden Legend Gallery 1
We recently heard from arts·meme friend, Gordon Hollis, proprietor of Golden Legend Gallery in Beverly Hills who alerted us to a unique print in a rare book he is handling. Svetlov, Valerien. Thamar Karsavina. London: Beaumont, 1922. First edition. No. 16 of 120 copies, specially signed by Karsavina, with hand-tinted illustrations, and specially bound in ...