Doors history: ice cream dreams at Thee Experience (part 2)
ed. note: part 2 (of 3) author kirk silsbee’s coverage of the scene at thee experience the short lived sunset strip psychedelia club. part 1 here. One of the people who visited the kitchen at Thee Experience was Owsley Stanley. The little man who dosed the whole West Coast with purple LSD traveled with the ...
Spend quality time with Bert & Ernie
In 2011, when our society was slightly more playful mood, a petition circulated to cajole the two besties, Bert & Ernie, from the closet, and marry ’em right on Sesame Street. Who knew that five years later we would elect an actual prime-time puppet to the presidency? But to take a break from all of ...
Summer flower splendor in a vase by Cara Jean
Cara Jean’s mantra is “Never Enough Flowers!….Ever!” That’s why along with her Baroque, filigreed cups, saucers, dishware, eggcups, she has created this romantic vase and crammed it with peonies. A former dancer, Cara Jean puts the movement into her dynamic, delicious porcelain ware. Cara Jean Clay | on sale on line
Doors history: Thee Experience where Jim Morrison hung out (part 1)
ed. note: Harvey Kubernik’s book, The Doors: Summer’s Gone (Otherworld Cottage Industries, 2018) includes the following chapter by arts·meme contributor Kirk Silsbee. Serialized on arts·meme in three sections. Enjoy! After the Doors had tasted success, Hollywood was Jim Morrison’s playground. The Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, which launched the band, showcased all the ...
Kaplan’s “No Business” poster of MM mashes Travilla costumes
We all know that Mike Kaplan’s startlingly fabulous collection of dance-movie posters, Gotta Dance Too, a redux exhibition after Gotta Dance in 2014, now hangs at Jacob’s Pillow (a slide show of several posters here). The fetching poster above shows our girl Marilyn, aka Double M, in an interesting amalgam of two looks in which ...
Hardest hit on ‘White Christmas’ movie set? The dancers. 12
The lyric may be “iconic,” but it’s also “ironic.” Robert Alton’s sumptuous dance duet, “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing,” a classy, flowing number for Vera-Ellen and Danny Kaye, in White Christmas (1954) reveals the choreographer’s signature moves. Alton [Easter Parade, There’s No Business Like Show Business, White Christmas] could move bodies around a ...
Dance-movie delirium, as vibrant posters invade Pillow 1
Four years have passed since Mike Kaplan, an art director, marketing strategist, film producer and friend of arts·meme (FOAM), shared his hugely popular collection of dance movie posters at Jacob’s Pillow, GOTTA DANCE. Now, in certified Hollywood tradition, that exhibition has spawned a sequel. GOTTA DANCE TOO now hangs in the Pillow’s Blake’s Barn, displaying ...
Review: ABT’s Misty·fying ‘La Bayadere’ disappoints 3
Let’s start at the end: During curtain calls at American Ballet Theatre’s “La Bayadère” Friday night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, ballerina Isabella Boylston gave her bouquet to her partner Jeffrey Cirio with a deferential flourish. Then, in a strange, gender-bending moment, she and third lead Misty Copeland curtsied, and curtsied some more to Cirio, ...
Isabel Emrich’s refracting beauty, in solo show 1
Gallery openings can be uncomfortable affairs, with too many bodies jammed into small, unventilated spaces. Painter Isabel Emrich’s “Progressions” opening last weekend at Skidmore Contemporary Art at Bergamot Station was no exception, but the work itself provided a visual oasis from the oppressive heat and humidity. It’s her second one-woman show at Skidmore — always ...
The art of the jazz song: Tadd Dameron for Sarah Vaughan 3
Ed. note: Guest writer Mark Miller deconstructs a jazz standard, “If You Could See Me Now,” for our appreciation. Music: Tadd Dameron Lyrics: Carl Sigman Jazz panist Tadd Dameron was known for his lyricism, an ironic attribute for an important bebop musician. Widely recognized as the bop era’s definitive arranger/composer, Dameron concocted this distinctive ballad ...