In 2017 I wasn't able to get out to the theater often (so I reviewed film and book and other events as well). I maybe saw 10 concerts, including the big bubbly premiere of American Balllet Theatre's "Whipped Cream," the new Alexei Ratmansky creation replete with 3-D ferret-giraffes and Abe-Lincolns from artist Mark Ryden. Many of my friends … [Read more...]
The Will of Eva Perón, Painted in Tango
If it's coming your way, you won't do wrong to grab tickets to Tango Buenos Aires' current touring show, "Song of Eva Perón." Already immortalized in music and on film, Evita's physical portrait here -- mostly an energetic one, as considered here through the lens of Argentine tango -- adds subtle dimension to her mystique. Eva Perón’s … [Read more...]
Ira Glass’ Dance Theater Follies To Tour Through 2015
It feels like it might have been a dare. The group of quirky, brainy folks who produce “This American Life” radio show week after week, challenge its creator/host, the wildly popular Ira Glass, to produce a piece on an impossible to produce subject. “Federal Reserve regulators!” Already done that, he says. “Nine shows about poultry!” … [Read more...]
On Bessies Night, L.A. Cheers for Keen Presenters
On the night of the Bessie Awards, New York City once again feels to eclipse all, sending L.A. into dark orbit. At the end of the night, however, L.A. dance-lovers have to come away with renewed appreciation for the great programmers out here who recognized the evening's genius, prize-winning solo artists from the U.S. and beyond, way before they … [Read more...]
Blood-Rich ‘Beauty’
Considered the consummate classical ballet, "The Sleeping Beauty" features devilishly hard technical challenges, with nowhere to hide. Traditional stagings -- like Pacific Northwest Ballet's long, rich, drafty one -- have pretty vapid storylines. Instead, the audience identifies with the dancers' technical struggles. That's the meaningful, heroic … [Read more...]
Wheeldon’s Wonderful ‘Alice’
[slideshow] When British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon left his dance company Morphoses in 2010, I was so worried he might retreat from choreography, exhausted from the battle of keeping a transatlantic dance company funded and strong. How glorious, then, to see the National Ballet of Canada (NBC) bring Wheeldon's robust new creation, a … [Read more...]
Radiolab with Pilobolus tours “In the Dark”
[This ran in the L.A. Times.] Before touring live versions of Radiolab, his gripping radio shows of scientific discovery and biography concocted with co-host Jad Abumrad, Peabody-winning reporter Robert Krulwich made just one brief stage appearance, decades ago, when he was recruited off the Manhattan streets to play a frozen, chair-bound Prince … [Read more...]