Key ingredient in Ebony Rep’s STEW? Family!

Theater
She’s equal parts Mildred Pierce, Julia Child, and Danai Gurira. She’s in her muu-muu with house slippers. Her hair is wrapped, and she’s cooking. She’s Greta Oblesby, playing “Mama,” in a marvelous, alive production of Zora Howard’s Pulitzer Prize-shortlisted play, STEW. Newly produced by Ebony Repertory Theater and directed by Jade King Carroll, it’s now ...

REVIEW: Julia Child, warbly kitchen warrior near to our hearts, in new doc

Film · Reviews
The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu is ‘said’ to have said, “When the student is ready, the master will appear.” American homemakers didn’t realize it in the post-World War II decade, but Julia Child was the master they awaited – a down-to-earth cookery guru to guide them away from pre-made mixes, frozen variety trays, and the ...

Not ladies who lunch, but women who write

Ideas & Opinion
Two upcoming events celebrate the literary ladies. The first is a reading on Sunday at Alias Books East of a new ebook Anaïs Nin: The Last Days. The author, Barbara Kraft, knew both Anais Nin and Henry Miller in LA at the end of their lives, independently of one another.  Anaïs Nin, noted for her ...

Southwest Chamber Music’s French Chef-inspired performances @ The Huntington

Music
I’m attending a beautiful chamber music concert in San Marino, just south of Pasadena, this weekend. It’s the Southwest Chamber Music Summer Festival at The Huntington. It’s part of a beautiful themed food & music summer festival celebrating the centenary of the French Chef, Julia Child. Child was born in Pasadena. Her years in post-WWII ...

Next up for Meryl Streep: Maggie T. takes cooking lessons 1

Film
We’re just back from the local multiplex. Yes, we double-dipped. We first watched a reenactment of an historical movie moment. An American actress, Michelle Williams, portrays a prior thespian, Marilyn Monroe, in her struggle to collaborate with Sir Laurence Olivier in the filming of “The Prince & the Showgirl.” Kenneth Branagh plays Sir Larry in ...

Mike and Julia 4

Film · Ideas & Opinion
After immensely enjoying the Nora Ephron film, “Julie and Julia,” I remembered that decades ago my father, Mike Levine, interviewed Julia Child on his talk show on KDKA, Pittsburgh’s 50,000-watt AM radio station. My dad, who during the “Madmen” era looked, dressed, and smoked like Don Draper, interviewed everyone — from his days as a ...