By far one of the greatest opening sequences of any film ever made is Woody Allen’sManhattan. Yes, it’s the photography, the voice-over narration, the shots of New York City at its finest, but more than anything, it’s George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” The undertow of buzzing clarinet and twinkling piano, combined with the slow, celebratory build of the entire orchestra induces a simultaneous feeling of hopeful anticipation and relaxed confidence. In Gershwin’s own words: “I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness.”
No, no. Too expected. Too pretentious. Calls too much attention to the movie. Try it again.
By far one of the best pieces of music to completely and flawlessly capture the essence of an entire season is “Summertime,” by George Gershwin. Originally conceived for the ‘folk-opera,’ Porgy and Bess, the aria—which has been covered more times than “Blackbird”—manages to somehow smell like summer. You need an iced tea when you hear it. And what better time, what better place than the Hollywood Bowl…
No. Just get to the point, Josh. You’re supposed to be giving away tickets. That’s all people care about. Just do your job.
To win two tickets to this summertime rhapsody of sorts, all you have to do is enter your first name, last name, and e-mail address into the form below,and you will automatically be entered into the running for this concert, as well as our next three ticket giveaways.
I guess that’s good enough. Why make a blog longer than it needs to be? Why even write these things? God, it’s hot out… I wish I could play the piano…
On one hand, the wildly popular, Tony Award-winning musical turned major motion picture seems to have climaxed to the level of bubbly pop non-sense—Joey Fatone playing no small role in this symbolic transformation. (Trey Parker and Matt Stone’sTeam America: World Police decidedly contains the best satirical take on Rent to date: a group of overjoyed actors on a Broadway stage, clapping their hands to the lyrics, “We’ve all got AIDS!”—the bourgeois audience happily joining in).
On the other hand, Rent is a great show. It reinvented the musical genre and operatic concept for a younger audience, told a worthwhile and relevent story, had some excellent numbers that I still find myself singing in the shower, and originated from the genuine heart and soul of a true artist: Jonathan Larson.
In a weird way, the on-going legacy of Rent has begun to reflect its central theme, which, to me, is the struggle between the intentions of romantic integrity and the compromises of life’s daily realities. Where Larson once insisted on casting actors with little or no experience, the role of Mimi in the film adaptation was handed over to Rosario Dawson. Where the production was once a simple staged reading at the New York Theatre Workshop, the latest tours have ventured as far as Slovakia and Guam. And where the first two rows of every Broadway show were once reserved for the homeless (or at least whoever stood in line the whole day), tickets now sell upwards of $200 a pop.
I’m about to move neighborhoods in Los Angeles. I realize this information is of interest to very few people, and even then, of very little interest. But for the past two years, I’ve lived in the USC area, about two blocks away from the historic Union Theatre—also known at the Velaslavasay Panorama—and I’ve never once stepped inside. I’ve tried. When I first moved in and took my inaugral expedition around the hood, I couldn’t help but gravitate toward the building. It’s vastly out-of-place, an artifact from another era dropped in-between a bodega and some low-rent housing (and in fact, it is from another era: it was built sometime in the 1910’s and operated for many years as a venue of multiple uses, including a playhouse, a silent-film theatre, and a meeting hall for the Tile Layers Union Local #18). When I tried to enter beneath the grand, old-fashioned marquee, however, it was closed. Ever since, it’s just been that mysterious buidling (sometimes aglow) that I drive by nearly every day, and have yet to go in—either because it’s closed or I have no reason. And now I’m about to move.
Fortunately, I have one last chance. This weekend, starting on Friday, but running on Saturdays as well, for five weeks only, the Velaslavasay Panorama opens its doors at 8:00 PM to present the unique and aptly located live performance of The Grand Moving Mirror of California. What is it? Good question. It’s a series of moving painted scenes, which encircle the theatre like a long scroll being rolled out around the audience, and depict the journeys of early American settlers attempting to reach California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Using live narration taken from an actual 19th century script, along with musical accompaniment and radio-play sound-effects, the show celebrates and revives a 130-year-old mode of entertainment that simply shouldn’t be missed.
Not bad for my last weekend in the neighborhood.
- By Joshua Morrison
For more information about the Union Theatre, the Panorama, or panoramas in general, please visit www.panoramaonview.org, or call 213-746-2166.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Please get yourselves down to the Nuart and quick. I didn’t realize it until it was almost too late, but since the 11th they’ve been screening, daily, the five-part masterpiece of avant-garde artist Matthew Barney, The Cremaster Cycle.
The Cremaster Cycle is comprised of Barney’s sculpture, photography, drawings, and five feature-length films that Barney created between 1994 and 2002. The films, whose loose, wordless narratives vary widely, explore the processes of creation in ways that reach far beyond the biological implications (“cremaster” is the term for the muscle that controls testicular response to external stimuli). Barney spares no expense—he includes everything from an extravagant, Busby Berkeley-esque musical revue in a blue-turf’d football stadium to a high-fashion Western starring Norman Mailer; an epic ascension of New York City’s Chrysler Building, to motorcycle gangs, faeries, magicians, live pigeons, and the Budapest Opera & Philharmonic—I mean, everything. What’s best, the films can be enjoyed individually or as consecutive parts of a whole.
So act fast, folks. These films are rarely screened—especially with the opportunity to see them consecutively. My recommendation would be to take the day off, swing by the 99c store for a few packs of Red Vines, and settle in to the dark theater for a day of gross overstimulation.
The Cremaster Cycle screens at the Nuart from June 11 through the 17th. Visit the Nuart’s website for ticket information.
The best thing about A Chorus Line—and there’s a lot of good things—is that there’s a moment every ten minutes or so when chills run up your spine. You know these chills, too. They are the chills of recognition, chills of connection. They are the cells inside your body racing alongside your bones, like an excited dog, at the mere thought of meeting something or someone like them.
A Chorus Line—which opened at the Pantages Theatre this past Tuesday, and runs for two weeks only until June 13th—comes loaded with history. Michael Bennett’s visionary piece, since 1975, has been a staple of Broadway, off-Broadway, and high-school productions alike. It has won numerous prizes, including the Tony and Pulitzer Prize for Best Musical. It spawned an awful film adaptation, and a wonderful documentary. In 2006, the show was revived on Broadway by the original co-choreographer, Bob Avian. It broke all sorts of box office records. And the cousin of Avian’s revival still tours today, occasionally to Los Angeles for brief, two-week runs.
But for all the bombast, A Chorus Line is best when it sticks to its roots—the loose grouping of Broadway dancers that Michael Bennett brought together in 1974 at the Nickolaus Exercise Center to tell their stories on tape. The show often veers from this core focus, unable to restrain from bits of bravado, much like the character Cassie (Rebecca Riker) does when told by her ex-boyfriend/director Zach (Derek Hanson) to stick to the choreography. These hardly un-enjoyable departures, however, only allow for the true moments—when Paul (Nicky Venditti) has his monologue, when Sheila (Ashley Yeater) starts to sing “At the Ballet,” and of course when Diana (Selina Verastegui) leads the cast in “What I Did For Love”—to shine all the brighter.
As far as this particular production goes, it’s pretty much what you would expect, which, when talking about A Chorus Line, is a good thing. Because you expect to be thrilled, and to be sad, and be privy to that oh-so rare sight in musical theatre: honesty on stage. Without a doubt, actor Andy Mills, who plays the show-stealing character of Mike, steals the show. Mills is so good-looking he stands out from the mezzanine, and his dancing is so flawless you find yourself using him as the bar for other dancers. I also enjoyed Derek Hanson, who’s interpretation of Zach—the fictional director that remains in the shadows for most of the show—was complex enough to support the facets of the for-sure Michael Bennett stand-in character. Other notables include Rebecca Riker, Ashley Yeater, Donald C. Shorter, and Nathan Lucrezio.
A Chorus Line is a musical that kind of begs to be updated or adapted. I’d love to hear one of the dancers talk about bulimia, for instance. Or have a character make a comment on gay marriage, or the economy. But seeing the show live, and with such an excellent cast makes me realize this is not the way to go. Every line and every step of Bennett’s masterwork holds up, and though it wouldn’t exactly be sacrilege to change a few things to make it more topical, there’s really no need to change what still gives me those chills up my spine.
A Chorus Line runs until June 13th at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. For more information, please call 323-468-1770, or visit www.broadwayla.org.
When my friends first dragged me to a Cherry Boom Boom show late one night at the Key Club on Sunset, I was more than reluctant. I’m the type of girl who fights for women to keep their clothes ON in the entertainment industry. More depictions of powerful women prosecutors, professors and presidents please; not more docile eye candy for the power-bloated male.
But what I discovered at the Key Club that night broke through my ridged outlook of propriety and introduced me to a new era of women’s comedy, creativity, and right to strut their stuff.
Although the leggy ladies of Cherry Boom Boom do embrace some of the imagery of the 1950’s pin-up girl, they are a bevy of powerful 21st century women whose passion and power will overwhelm you and leave you grasping at your seat. The group combines nouveau cabaret dance vignettes with the gimmicks and humor of old time burlesque and a healthy dose of ‘don’t mess with me! I’m proud of my body and who I am’. The Boom Booms’ intelligence, flair for storytelling, skill with a whip, and perceptive comic timing, enliven and enlighten the genre I had labeled as ‘stripping’ and judged so harshly from outside the Key Club doors.
Artistic Director and choreographer Lindsley Allen created the group two years ago and began touring small LA venues with the show. They got such a buzz that Allen was invited to choreograph and co-direct a piece for Dancing With The Stars, starring Cherry Boom Boom and featuring Carmen Elektra. Allen, one of the original Pussycat Dolls, received her BFA in ballet and has had a successful career as a dancer and choreographer.
Cherry Boom Boom’s new show, “The Rendezvous”, opening at the King King Hollywood in May, also utilizes Allen’s background in Commedia Dell’Arte, the 16th century Italian clowning style. Allen studies commedia with Tim Robbins’s world-renowned theater company, The Actors’ Gang, and she chose to bring elements of that style to “The Rendezvous” to utilize the unique characters each of her dancers developed over the past year. Rather than being a typical dance review, “The Rendezvous” brings to life the timeless commedia story of the thwarted LOVERS.“You get to go on a classic journey,” Allen explained, “All the dance numbers support the story. I’m so excited to bring dance and commedia together. This show is a love affair between my two favorite worlds”.
The King King’s performance space is ideal for the piece. The multi-leveled stage, VIP lounge seating, and bar accentuate Cherry Boom Boom’s fusion between nightclub cabaret and Broadway show. You will definitely see me in line at the King King, this time dragging some new skeptics along with me.
- By Stephanie Carrie
“The Rendezvous” will perform at the King King on the last Thursday of every month, May-October. Opening night is Thursday, May 27th. Doors open at 8pm for a 9pm show. Be sure to stay for the dance party afterwards! For tickets www.kingkinghollywood.com or call (323) 960-9234.
There are some pairings in film that conjure eye rolls and looks of confusion. There are still others that are so perfectly crafted, they practically create a new era of film in and of themselves. Cue Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. That their first film together, Flying Down to Rio (1933), was a Hollywood-style happy accident was more fortuitous than producers and audiences could imagine. From that film onwards, they delighted audiences with their charm, chemistry, and dancing style.
Astaire, 12 years her senior, offered Rogers a cigarette in The Gay Divorcee (1935) with his sly smile and a song in mind, “Night and Day.” Dance numbers between the two range from vivacious, Vegas-style spectaculars to intimate, two-on-two turns on an impromptu dance floor. Their costumes ranged from gowns and coattails to slacks and blazers just as their styles ran the gamut from sweet and silly dancing to dramatic sweeps across the floor.
In celebration of the romantic duo’s 75th Anniversary, the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood will host a double feature of two of their most memorable turns on the silver screen – Top Hat (1935) and Roberta (1935). The first is a comic look at what happens when, simply put, Astaire tries to impress Rogers with his good looks and dance moves during a show they’re both working on in London. The latter sees them tapping their toes in Paris where Astaire, leader of a band in need of a gig, gets help from his old girlfriend, Rogers.
The rumor that mulls around American musical lovers is that Ginger Rogers really wasn’t a great dancer in her own right. It’s that Astaire was such a professional, he made her look like queen of the dance floor. (I mean, he has danced with a coat rack.) No one really knows if that’s true, but if you think about it, it’s a sweet rumor – they were more together than they were alone. Swoon.
The double feature of Top Hat and Roberta at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood is on view this Sunday, March 14 from 7:30pm. For more information, please call (323) 466-3456 or click here.
In an outburst of song, dance, and color, Center Theater Group, Disney, and Cameron Mackintosh present a rare touring production with electric showmanship, mesmerizing production design, and powerhouse orchestration.
On a faint wind of nostalgia, “Mary Poppins” floated into the Ahmanson Theatre with her magic carpetbag of endless marvel. The excitement was palpable as audience members, old and young (even if it was just at heart), awaited a promise that anything really can happen. No one could disagree that “Mary Poppins’” timing was, for lack of a better phrase, “practically perfect in every way”.
Based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the 1964 Walt Disney Film, the performance features original Academy Award winning music and lyrics by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman as well as new music by Olivier Award winning team George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Director Richard Eyre and Co-Director/Choreographer Matthew Bourne (he of the famed all-male Swan Lake production in London) introduce a kaleidoscope of whimsy that ranges from the over-the-top (a nanny who flies out over the audience and into the rafters with her magical umbrella, then returns to center stage, landing primly atop a chimney) to the old-fashioned (a simple magic trick involving a bouquet that appears out of thin air and a cheeky, knowing smile).
The production opens upon the set of the Banks family household where we find Mr. and Mrs. George and Winifred Banks and their two children, Jane and Michael in the midst of their daily navigation through marital issues and family dilemmas. Kezler is appropriately gruff as a regimented banker, who later finds his compassion at home after his career takes a turn for the worse; Grey and Thomas are the epitome of textbook battiness and childhood curiosity, while Osterhaus is heartwarming as the empathetic mother holding her family together.
The carnival heaves into view with the first act’s “Jolly Holiday”, where the Banks children follow new nanny Mary Poppins (played by Ashley Brown) and an animated jack-of-all-trades named Bert into sidewalk paintings, through pastel gardens, and over rooftops of tap dancing chimney sweeps. Brown plays Mary with the perfect air of self-assurance, and Gavin Lee masterfully harnesses comedic horseplay in his spot-on rendition of Bert. Valerie Boyle’s performance as Mrs. Brill, the Banks’ overly burdened household maid, is wildly entertaining and a definite highlight of the production, and Ellen Harvey as Mr. Banks’ former nanny, the “holy terror” Miss. Andrew, nearly steals the whole show with her operatic performance of “Brimstone and Treacle”. While each musical act is guaranteed to delight, the second act’s “Step In Time” delivers some serious razzle-dazzle with melodic tap dancing and a jaw-dropping re-creation of Fred Astaire’s gravity-defying “walking-on-the-ceiling” act.
With noteworthy talent (on and off the stage), a little Disney magic, and a pleasantly tolerable amount of cheese, “Mary Poppins” proves to be an all around crowd pleaser and a must-see. If you aren’t already on your feet after the 78th repetition of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” then you certainly will be by curtain call.
- By Harper Flood
“Mary Poppins” will run through February 7, 2010 at the Ahmanson Theatre. For more information, please call (213) 628-2772 orclick here.
You’re met with fishnet stockings held up by a garter belt. As your eyes pan upwards, you see a nude corset with black hooks and a jet-black wig. As you take in the whole picture, you see a dancer/singer performing a rendition of Billie Holiday’s “You’ve Changed,” with swaying hips before an elaborate set. Then you realize that this chanteuse is not like the others – not exactly that throaty singer you daydream about. Potentially because… he’s a man…in drag.
His name is Joey Arias and he’s bringing his friend Basil Twist to REDCAT to perform their show Arias with a Twist. From Wednesday, November 18 through December 13, you will be met with a feverish, fabulous theatrical extravaganza. Arias will perform live a selection of songs from a host of different genres – from Billie Holiday to a Busby Berkeley-esque finale, you’ll be thoroughly entertained once you pick your jaw up from the floor. We promise there will be costume changes and shocking showstoppers abound. Telling you about them all would only ruin the effect.
Basil Twist, on the other hand, will be behind a team of puppeteers with vintage marionettes and “anatomically correct puppets.” Known well for his underwater rendition of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, Twist has a wild imagination for creative, interactive set design and choreographed feats of puppeteering. Originally hailing from New York’s downtown art scene, Arias and Twist have an underground street cred that’s making its way around the world and across the US – so far this year, they’ve toured through Paris, Brussels, Stockholm and now, Los Angeles.
What better way to kick off the holiday season than with a show that heightens your senses and shocks your sensibilities with familiar songs, wild costumes, spectacular set design, and good ol’ fashioned drag. Just keep in mind that the more you drink, the better he starts to look.
Think back to a time when, whether or not you were asked, you’d explain that when you grew up, your name would be all lit up on Broadway. No matter where you’re from (except New York), you were headed straight to the city that never sleeps to prove the adage that if you can make it there, you’d make it anywhere. Somewhere along the way, for any number of reasons, those dreams changed – perhaps your name is now written in sky blue on personalized stationary or is embossed on your business card. For a select few, that dream has become a brightly lit reality. Those are the ones who, while singing in some very green makeup, for example, keep the dream alive for kids of every ilk.
Everyone from the ingénue to the witch has a role to play in the theatre and this Saturday night, there are some big names coming together to make sure kids are still dreaming big. Make-A-Wish Orange County president Mark Pilone and theatre producer Robert Krueger have joined forces to not only raise money for Make-A-Wish, but to do so in a way that, as Pilon says, “goes beyond the chicken dinners in a hotel ballroom.” Their lineup includes Broadway heavyweights like Norm Lewis (Les Miserables, Little Mermaid), Laura Bell Bundy (Legally Blonde), Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde), Tim Howar (Rent), and the girls from Wicked that we recently sat down with: Megan Hilty and Eden Espinosa. According to associate producer Elyse Barton, their opening act will be a “very special performance by a local star.” We are sure that Saturday night will be the truest form of wish fulfillment!
Make-A-Wish Orange County is one of the hardest working chapters in the country. With 300 local wishes a year and 425 wishes they coordinate for kids across the nation, the organization decided to branch out with this “Broadway Wishes” concert in order to reach new supporters and a new audience. They developed a team of local volunteers, producers, and familiar names to come together and remind Southern California how worthy and inspirational this cause really is.
Each performer will get on stage and do just what it is that he or she does best; Megan Hilty and Eden Espinosa will be singing tunes from Wicked, Kate Shindle and Laura Bell Bundy,we have a hunch, will perform a selection from Legally Blonde, and so on – think of it as their “greatest hits.” What better way to make sure kids are inspired by the performing arts – get a bunch of brightly lit names on stage, give them all microphones, and by the way, they’re here to support Make-A-Wish. They say we should all dream big… Mission accomplished.
P.S. We got a chance to chat with Megan Hilty and Eden Espinosa from Wicked about why they’re passionate about this performance, what made them want to do what they do, and why they still love it. Check it out!
“Broadway Wishes” is on Saturday, October 24 at 7:30pm at the Orange County Pavilion. For more information, please call or click here. To buy your tickets, pleaseclick here.
By far one of the greatest opening sequences of any film ever made is Woody Allen’s Manhattan. Yes, it’s the photography, the voice-over narration, the shots of New York City at its finest, but more than anything, it’s George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” The undertow of buzzing clarinet and twinkling piano, combined with the slow, celebratory build of the entire orchestra induces a simultaneous feeling of hopeful anticipation and relaxed confidence. In Gershwin’s own words: “I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness.”
In an outburst of song, dance, and color, Center Theater Group, Disney, and 
You’re met with fishnet stockings held up by a garter belt. As your eyes pan upwards, you see a nude corset with black hooks and a jet-black wig. As you take in the whole picture, you see a dancer/singer performing a rendition of Billie Holiday’s “You’ve Changed,” with swaying hips before an elaborate set. Then you realize that this chanteuse is not like the others – not exactly that throaty singer you daydream about. Potentially because… he’s a man…in drag.
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