Clown Tomas Kubinek, professional lunatic, walks the walk
Nov
10
2017
Tomas Kubinek, who smartly selected an always in-demand profession, that of a clown, is described as a comic genius, virtuoso vaudevillian, and all-round charmer who gives audiences a joyous experience. Kubínek, born in Prague, was smuggled out of the country at age 3 by his parents to escape the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. After ...
Hocus-pocus, here comes the circus!
Just to prove that Washington D.C. does not have the lock on staging circuses, we’ve got a really cool one coming our way in Los Angeles. It’s a revival, by The Bob Baker Marionette Theater, of The Circus, a Bob Baker original production that has not been seen in nearly 40 years. The Circus, originally ...
French music hall revisited with “Monsieur Chocolat” @ COLCOA
“Monsieur Chocolat,” a biopic set in the fin-de-siècle world of French circus and music hall opened the 20th anniversary edition of COLCOA French Film Festival in Los Angeles last night, bringing exotica and rich visual zing to the big screen of the Director’s Guild of America. The film’s talented director Roschy Zem and its star, ...
Review: The Hamburg Ballet in “Liliom” at Segerstrom Hall
All elements converged for John Neumeier’s “Liliom,” a two-act narrative ballet presented Saturday night by the choreographer’s stellar company of 38 years, The Hamburg Ballet. The revisiting of Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar’s play, adopted by Rodgers & Hammerstein as “Carousel” in 1945, packed much visceral pleasure and emotional punch into one evening at Segerstrom Hall. ...
Jackie Chan fast, furious, funny at the Academy 1
Jun
4
2013
He kept popping out of his chair; at one point he perched on its arm. His energy was immense and direct. His water glass sat nearby, untouched. He was a Jackie Chan wind-up toy. Clutching a hand-held mike like a stand-up comic, he worked the room—the velvet-red Samuel Goldwyn Theater of the Academy of Motion ...
Pierre Étaix’s “Heureux Anniversaire” (1962) screened @ the Academy 1
Nov
18
2011
An exquisite evening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on Wednesday night, when two beautifully refurbished films by the comic French filmmaker, Pierre Étaix, 82, got rare American screenings. Étaix, who started as young man in circus and remained faithful to clowns, casting them in cameo roles in his films, was present ...