Lyrics of love, loss, longing in Mark Sebastian’s new ‘A Trick of the Light’
From time to time, singer/songwriter Mark Sebastian’s well-meaning comperes have cautioned him about the lyrical content of some of his songs. Sebastian’s literate and sophisticated songs explore the romantic battleground between men and women. He crafts exceedingly poetic evocations of love, loss and longing. The title track contains some of the best contemporary writing you’re liable to ...
Film review: In bracing black/white, photography by George Platt Lynes 1
George Platt Lynes working in his studio. The life of the singular, visionary photographer George Platt Lynes (1907-55) was a brief, intense, whirlwind. Lynes packed a lot into his 47 years—working, partying, boldly living an openly gay life, creating a remarkable archive of work—and then apparently destroying portions of it. He interacted with a fascinating ...
Mesmerizing balletic ode to Virginia Woolf new signature work for American Ballet Theatre 2
American Ballet Theatre, now in its eighth decade, reclaims its mantle as a font of top international repertoire with “Woolf Works,” a theatrical evocation of three novellas written by the most poetic of 20th century authors, Virginia Woolf. The ambitious full-evening ballet has contemporary-classical choreography by Briton Wayne McGregor to a moody and rambunctious original ...
Four-year residency for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater completes first lap at Music Center
AAADT in Kyle Abraham’s ‘Are You in Your Feelings?’ photo by Paul Kolnik The hyper-popular Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater closed a seven-performance run, March 20-24, 2024, at the Los Angeles Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion yesterday — kind of a new post-COVID booking-high in southern California — bringing immense joy to myriad audience members ...
REVIEW: Chilly Nimoy night warmed by jazz duo Goldings & Koonse
photo credit: bob barry It’s a quiet Saturday night on Westwood Boulevard, and all that’s left of the latest rainstorm is a light mist. The Nimoy Theater marquee is the brightest thing on the street, and it draws some people inside. Organist Larry Goldings and guitarist Larry Koonse are playing jazz duets tonight, under the ...
Pina Bausch, Matthew Bourne in dance takeover of Bunker Hill
ROMEO AND JULIET director/choreographer matthew bourne, photo credit: johan persson It warmed my dance critic’s heart to see swarms of Angelenos flocking onto the Plaza of the Los Angeles Music Center to enjoy two impressive and complex dance showcases, both running, separately, at the stalwart performing arts center’s active houses. The 2,000-seat Ahmanson Theater is ...
REVIEW: A well-heeded call for community: DIAVOLO’s ‘Existencia’
We all knew why we were there. We were there to remember and commemorate — most of us having lived through it. We were there to ruminate, and then, to thank our lucky stars. For, in the ashes of the January 17, 1994 Northridge Earthquake, a 6.7-magnitude tumbler that overturned the campus of Cal State ...
‘Perfect Days’: Wenders’ cinematic diary of dappled light & shadow
Soon after the pandemic, acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders was invited to witness Tokyo’s award-winning urban renewal project, The Tokyo Toilet, in which renowned designers reimagined the typical urban public restroom. Wenders, who is also a celebrated documentarian (Buena Vista Social Club, Pina, and the new Anselm), was expected to craft short films about each ...
Mini-movie review: Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari’
If all you want for Christmas is excellent acting and heart-pounding race-car chases in a complex drama-filled love triangle, then master action movie-maker Michael Mann’s Ferrari (presented by NEON) is waiting in a cinema near you. The excellent Adam Driver heads the cast, channeling Enzo Ferrari’s smoldering intensity while working overtime to master the proper ...
FILM REVIEW: ‘Eileen,’ a movie to haunt you on a cold night
One of the rewards of watching Eileen, directed with a pitch-perfect noir sensibility by William Oldroyd (Lady Macbeth) and presented by Neon, is embracing the unknown. Are we watching a prison break film with an unlikely accomplice? A repressed lesbian love story set in the 1960s? Or is it a violent revenge fantasy fueled by ...