A cantor’s son travels over the rainbow … Harold Arlen
ed. note: arts·meme reprints with permission Kirk Silsbee’s profile of Harold Arlen originally published by the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Arts. ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ Search any photographic archive for images of composer Harold Arlen (1905-1986), and it’s the rare picture that he’s not seen in a jacket and tie, his pocket filled with a ...
Torturing Rock Hudson
Ed. note: Can a writer and her editors truly be so clueless? Or was this ‘hetero-normative’ article, excerpted below, part of the Hollywood cabal to cover up Hudson’s gayness? Whatever was the case, writer Jane Wilkie by-lined the following interview with Rock Hudson in ‘Modern Screen’ magazine, December 1954. Excerpted here. BY JANE WILKIE ■ ...
‘Gigi,’ at 60. Bring on the champagne!
Nov
27
2018
At 60, she’s still charming the gents. You’ll soon see why. As played by the winsome Leslie Caron in one of the most beloved and acclaimed musicals of all time, Laemmle Anniversary Classics is throwing her a birthday party. Since they already invented champagne, that should be the drink of choice at the Dec 8 ...
What was so ‘faux’ about Miss Ruth?
Nov
26
2018
For years I have read critiques that Ruth St. Denis, by all reckoning along with Isadora Duncan the matriarch of modern dance, staged ‘faux,’ or non-authentic, ethnic choreography. Her lack of performative integrity caused her artistic offspring — Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman and Jack Cole — to rebel. But what does that mean? ...
A singer’s love of language: Luciana Souza comes to Royce Hall
It’s been a recurring pleasure to chart the creative arc of Brazilian singer and songwriter Luciana Souza through her SoCal appearances over the years. We remember Jazz Bakery evenings where she held the room spellbound with a tempered vocal delivery on jazz-rooted arrangements and musical interaction. Souza’s clear soprano uses volume judiciously: she can send ...
Mazowsze, the Polish folkloric dance troupe inspiring ‘Cold War’
Director Pawel Pawlikowski‘s visually beautiful and emotionally gripping Cold War, which opens December 21, rises from the ruins of post-war Poland where is set a seemingly impossible love story. Cold War earned Pawel Pawlikowski the Best Director award at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. In the film produced by Amazon Studios, two fictional lovers meet ...
Aching loss of Arthur Mitchell assuaged by Memorial, DTH season 1
Nov
15
2018
The 50th anniversary season of the beloved Dance Theatre of Harlem will honor its legendary Founding Artistic Director Arthur Mitchell, who passed away on September 19, 2018, with a memorial service on December 3, 2018. Free and open to the Dance Theatre of Harlem community and friends, the memorial will include performances by the company, ...
Rudik’s ‘Swine Lake’ tunic at auction
For your bidding: An embellished custom-made golden bodice with gold lamé embroidery worn by Rudolf Nureyev during his performance as the handsome prince while dancing with a giant ballerina pig in “Swine Lake” on season two of The Muppet Show. The bodice is generously embellished with silver and gold lamé trim, applique, simulated pearls, chunky ...
‘Apollo’ off course. Wrong. Nyet.
Nov
12
2018
The two photos on this page, of Balanchine’s “Apollo,” are not captures of the ballet’s choreography. No such dance moment occurs in “Apollo.” They are, instead, posed tableaux of two casts of four — marketing photos? Above we see principal dancers of the Mariinsky Ballet, who delivered the work at the recent ‘Balanchine: The City ...
Make ’em laff, ladies, at Palm Springs International Comedy Festival
Nov
12
2018
We all need a laff. Pardon my French, but I laughed my a** off watching the exquisite comic timing of Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant in delivering the brilliant script of CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME. A very funny movie with a woman director — highly recommended. I am equally pleased to see Kathy ...