Party on, Fay McKenzie!
Jul
13
2011
Fay McKenzie, the hard-working child actress of the prior post, now 93 years old, is perhaps best known for her uncredited appearance in the party scene of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” in which she alternately laughs, then cries, into a mirror. McKenzie’s husband, comedy writer Tom Waldman, was a frequent collaborator of Blake Edwards. He wrote ...
Fay McKenzie, child actress … in 1924! 1
Jul
12
2011
Supplementing the Academy’s “Summer of Silents” series, which last night screened the marvelous early Western feature film, “The Covered Wagon” (1923), was programmer Randy Haberkamp’s extremely delightful interview with Fay McKenzie. Born in a trunk in 1918, the still funny and alert actress was the daughter of the actors Robert McKenzie and Eva McKenzie. All ...
Elo elicits elevated illumination
Very pleased that HuffPo arts page found the tale of Jorma Elo, the Finnish-born freelance choreographer who’s about to premiere a new work commissioned for the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, sufficiently newsworthy to grant banner headline status ! Read it here.
Roland Petit est mort 2
Jul
11
2011
Choreographer Roland Petit, a giant of contemporary ballet — he more or less pioneered the genre — died this weekend. Petit’s lifelong involvement with ballet, creating 100+ works, gave him two enduring credits: Carmen (1949) and Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, a dramatic ballet set to a Bach passacaglia, with scenario by Jean Cocteau ...
Celebrating classic film at LACMA 1
Jul
10
2011
We spun in classic film heaven at LACMA this weekend. The first installment of curator Ian Birnie’s final series — his last picture show — which is devoted to “audience favorites,” offered four stellar international films — one, each, by directors from Germany (Murnau), the U.K. (Powell/Pressburger), again Germany via France (Ophuls) and Italy (Antonioni). ...
Miguel Gutierrez vs. American Ballet Theatre 1
Jul
9
2011
Informed that his upcoming performances at Los Angeles’s Alexandria Hotel will go toe to toe (he, barefoot, they, in pointe shoes) with American Ballet Theatre’s “The Bright Stream” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Guggenheim fellow Miguel Gutierrez said: “Shit! It’s always between me and those fuckers!” [Would I make that up?] So, who are you ...
You want audience? China has audience! 2
Jul
6
2011
Back now for several weeks from the tour of central China with Lula Washington Dance Theatre, our friend Keith forwards us photos. Perusing, I’m reminded of the outdoor amphitheater at Zhengzhou’s SIAS University in Henan where we had two shows. The first night a mere 2,000 people were in the house; the second, ostensibly enjoying ...
Fabulous summer silent film series @ the Academy screens “The Covered Wagon”
Jul
5
2011
“The Covered Wagon” (1923) will be the next film screened in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Summer of Silents” series on Monday, July 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. I’m going. Having lived in California for 21 years, I’m fascinated by stories and images of the western expansion, ...
Hofesh Shechter talks … 1
Jul
5
2011
Lyndsey Winship interviews Israeli born, London-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter, an ex-rocker, in Time Out London published today: Shechter has difficulty acknowledging his own success. ‘I’m experiencing failure daily,’ he says. ‘It’s difficult for me to connect to the idea that I’m successful. I can see it in the fact that my work tours all around ...
Robert Brown’s “Harbor Theme,” historic mural from Beverly Hilton hotel, at New Puppy Gallery 1
Jul
5
2011
Robert W. Brown was a prolific Los Angeles visual artist with a vast range of talents: a print maker, studio glass artist, professor of art, ceramicist, figure artist; there are few art forms he didn’t delve into, and he was generally a master technician at each. Brown completed Harbor Theme sometime in 1954 or 1955. ...