Filmgoers will know Somers from his scores for such films as Honey Boy (currently playing), Captain Fantastic and Hale County This Morning, This Evening. Music fans might know him as a producer, engineer and mixer of several Sigur Rós albums. He and Jónsi, the band’s lead singer, also released an album together called Riceboy Sleeps. The two are also partners.

Performing this score will be Wild Up lead by Christopher Rountree. A woman’s chorus from Tonality also performs the score.

Dawson City was the final stop for film distribution. It was cost-prohibitive to send the prints back, so they found their final resting place in this Canadian town. Many of these films were thought to be lost forever. They didn’t come out unscathed by time and the elements, but more survived than expected. It’s truly a remarkable story and Morrison has created a thoroughly captivating film.

If the saying that “truth is stranger than fiction,” then Dawson City: Frozen Time is the perfect documentary to prove that point.

We will have an interview with Somers later this week. Be sure to check back for that.

Photo of First Avenue in Dawson in  1898 by Ernest F. Keir/Courtesy of Vancouver Public Library

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Avery*Sunshine, whose real name is Denise White, has a show tonight at Yoshi’s in Oakland. On Saturday she’s performing at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel as part of the CAP UCLA season.

In these excerpts from our conversation we discussed music old and new, mixing of genres and how her father’s passing inspired her.

You are still touring behind your 2017 album, Twenty Sixty Four. Two plus years after releasing it, how do you make the material fresh for yourself in performance?

You know what’s interesting, because I’m an independent artist, there are so many people who have no idea who I am and have never heard the music. I’m always introducing it to people. That’s the upside of being an indie artist and playing clubs and not arenas. If I’m playing somewhere and 50,000 people come, I have to do more music. But for the way we tour, it’s not really hard to do. From my first album [2010’s Avery*sunshine Album] I have to sing it like it’s new.  My husband [Dana Johnson] and I write all the music together and I love it. I really love the music.

You seem to release new material about every three years. Is new material on the way?

I’m actually working on new material. The album is almost finished. We’re finishing that album and we’re going to do a live recording in Atlanta on December 28th. There’s a bunch of stuff going on.

Will you be performing that material in these upcoming concerts?

We are going to do three-to-five tunes from the upcoming album.

You can’t easily be defined by any one genre. Why is that important to you?

It is important to me, but I don’t do it because it is important to me, but because it is a part of me. I am a roux of all the music I’ve ever been exposed to and all the experiences I’ve ever had. I find that when I just let it come out in the way it is supposed to come – it might come out in a gospel song or a love song – whatever it is, it comes out however it comes out. My focus hasn’t been on doing it because it is important but because it is honest to me.

I saw a video where you spontaneously sat down at a piano when Fantasia was being interviewed and sang Safe in His Arms in a blend of gospel and jazz styles. I’m not religious, but if every gospel song sounded like that I would sign up.

What’s so funny about that interview with Sirius XM and Cayman Kelly is we were on a tour with another artist and we had to wait [for someone to show up] and Fantasia came in and so he interviewed her and we’re all in the room. And he spontaneously says “Avery, come to the piano.” I was sick. It was her time and I didn’t want to do that. Everywhere I go in the world somebody tells me about that.

Thank you for reminding me that I have to allow the universe to move and to dictate. Sometimes I have to get out of my own way. I didn’t want anybody to see it. It felt like a really vulnerable space for her and me. It was too personal for people to see. But for someone like you who isn’t religious, that’s my hope that whatever I sing, I want people to feel better or be better. It’s not about which religion.

We live in troubled times. What role do you want your music to play in helping get through it all and what role does music play in helping you get through it all?

I just touched on it. i want people to feel better, to feel hopeful. The same way I feel hopeful when I listen to [Marvin Gaye’s] What’s Going On. For lack of a better way of saying it, it’s the songs like [Public Enemy’s] Fight the Power, the kind of songs that don’t exist now. The songs that make you feel like we’re going to be alright as long as we’re together. Aretha Franklin wrote songs like that. I want my music to be that way.

I hope that my music, and in no way am I comparing myself to them, I want people to feel better. I want them to feel hopeful. I know when I’m at a show and people say, “That one thing you said, you said that to me,” it’s real.

Does using a stage name allow you to do things Denise White would never do?

I thought so at first. No, it’s the same thing. God rest my father’s soul, he passed in March. My father and my daughter called me Avery. That burned me up. And they wouldn’t stop. He said, “It’s the same thing. You’re the same thing.” So no, I thought it would be a big deal.

I was in a non-creative space before Dad transitioned. I didn’t want to do anything and then he transitioned and it felt like the sky opened up and things were clear. So I’m grateful. On the upcoming album we have a song called Boomerang, the first song I wrote after Dad died. 

I asked my Dad, he had been gone for three or four days, I said, “Man, you left us. I’m hurting. My heart is broken. I have not created in months. If you want me to do this, you have to help me.” It took fifteen minutes and the song was done. It was one of the best thing I’ve had the honor of being a vessel for. 

By this point in our conversation, their Uber had found the venue and it was time for Avery to get inside, have a shot of espresso and get ready for her performance.

Avery*Sunshine performs November 21st at Yoshi’s in Oakland. Her Los Angeles performance at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel is on November 23rd.

All photos by LANSTU/Courtesy of Averysunshine.com

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Teju Cole is an author, he’s the photography critic for the New York Times Magazine and he’s also a photographer. Pianist/Composer Vijay Iyer, has been named Jazz Artist of the Year three times by Downbeat Magazine (2018, 2015, 2012.)

Iyer & Cole have collaborated on Blind Spot. The project shares its name with the 2017 book Cole had published that pairs his photography with text. It examines society’s apathy to injustice and tragedy throughout history. Those photographs will be presented with Cole reading the text and it is all accompanied by a score written by Iyer.

Joining Iyer to perform the music are trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, mallet percussionist Patricia Brennan and cellist Tomeka Reid.

Before the concert begins, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an live mic event with the Get Lit Players. From 7:15 PM to 7:45 PM poets will respond to the question, “What is Your Blind Spot?”

Photo of Vijay Iyer by Lena Adasheva

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School of Rock – Pantages Theatre

Now-May 27th

When this musical adaptation of Richard Linklater’s film opened last night at the Pantages Theatre, the show’s illustrious composer, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber was in attendance. This musical tells the story of a man who still dreams of being a rock star, Dewey Finn (Rob Colletti). He pretends to be his best friend Ned (Matt Bittner) when an offer to teach at Grace Academy arrives for Ned. Dewey suddenly finds himself a school teacher. Rather than teach the traditional curriculum, (after all, he’s not really a teacher,) he schools them in the ways of rock ‘n’ roll. The school isn’t happy. The parents aren’t happy. But check out that band! All the kids in the show are actually playing their instruments. No faking it.

Angélique Kidjo Remain in Light – The Theatre at the Ace Hotel/CapUCLA

May 5th

When The Talking Heads released their landmark album Remain in Light in 1980, they gave the world such great songs as “Once in a Lifetime,” “Crosseyed and Painless” and “Seen and Not Seen” and “The Great Curve.” Now the phenomenal Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo has put her own spin on this album and she will be performing live on Saturday night at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel. Kidjo is always a force of nature on stage. Her taking on this great album is both inspired and will certainly make for one of the best concerts of the year.

If this combination seems unusual, it’s best to keep in mind what Kidjo once told me during an interview: “I like unpredictable settings and pairings. Life is too short to be boring. Every music deserves to be heard and every truth of the music diverse to be heard. Expose people to that diversity of music that is part of the diversity of the human family that we all are. That’s all that matters to me.” No need to ask “How did she get here.”

Noises Off – A Noise Within

Now – May 26th

This backstage comedy by Michael Frayn continues to be one of the most popular shows presented by A Noise Within. Each time they stage the show it gets extended and the calls for another revival grow louder. If every show had the goings on that Frayn’s comedy depicts, nothing would ever work on stage. Thankfully the laughs reign supreme here because productions are more buttoned up. Noises Off is the perfect show to use to forget the world and laugh your butt off.

Quetzal with Flor de Toloache – The Soraya (Valley Performing Arts Center)

May 5th

Why stand in line at your local Mexican restaurant on Cinco de Mayo to prove you can celebrate like everyone else? Instead, head over to The Soraya to hear Quetzal perform. They are a local band from East LA who put jazz, rock and R&B into their musical blender to come up with a tasty blend. Flor de Toloache is an all-female mariachi band. They shatter stereotypes and impress with their music. And if that isn’t enough, there will be taco trucks at the venue serving up a wide array of gourmet tacos.

Honeymoon in Vegas – Musical Theatre Guild – Alex Theatre

May 6th

Jason Robert Brown’s musical adaptation of the film Honeymoon in Vegas was one of the most purely delightful shows to hit Broadway in a long time. Brown perfectly captured the wit and joy that Andrew Bergman brought to the 1992 film. Thankfully shows don’t have to disappear forever. Musical Theatre Guild is performing, for one night only, this utterly charming show (which, of course, has skydiving Elvis impersonators.)

I once asked the composer why the show didn’t succeed on Broadway. “We did get great reviews. The music was so much fun. People will appreciate Honeymoon in Vegas. I’m so grateful that it got done and it got done exactly the way we wanted it to. What can I tell you, our producers sucked.” He went on to say that “It will get licensed and it will be all over the world.”

The show is wonderful and I recommend you make your way to Glendale on Sunday to check it out. Here’s a montage from the New York production:

Angelia Kidjo photo by Danny Clinch. Courtesy of Shore Fire Media

The post The 5 Shows You Need to See: This Weekend in LA (5/4-5/6) appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra/Chick Corea/Kurt Elling – Walt Disney Concert Hall

March 23rd

Any opportunity to see the legendary pianist Chick Corea is a welcome one indeed. This master of the keyboard has played with Miles Davis, Lionel Hampton, Herbie Hancock and countless others. In this show he’ll be showcasing some of his compositions with the assistance of the always impressive Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Opening the show is Kurt Elling who will sing jazz standards as only he can.

For those of you in San Diego, this show will be at the Copley Symphony Hall on Saturday. And for those in Orange County, the show will be at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Sunday. Mr. Elling will not be part of those two concerts.

Lynda Carter – Catalina Bar & Grill

March 23-24

I can’t think of a better time for Lynda Carter to be taking the stage at Catalina Bar & Grill. Last year’s Wonder Woman feature was a smash success worldwide. Ms. Carter will be getting her star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood in April. And most importantly for someone who is going to be singing, she has a new album that was just released called Red Rock ‘n’ Blues. On the recording she sings such songs as “Take Me to the River,” “God Bless the Child,” “Stop in the Name of Love” and Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire.” Clearly there is a demand to see her as Saturday’s show is already sold out.

The Phantom Tollbooth – South Coast Repertory

March 24-25

The classic novel by Norton Juster has been adapted by Susan Nanus for this play designed for children of all ages and performed by South Coast Rep’s Junior Players as they tell the story of Milo who finds himself transported to the Land of Wisdom. If only we had such a tollbooth for our leaders.  These are matinee performances on both Saturday and Sunday.

The Invention of Morel – Long Beach Opera

March 24-25

When we last hear from Stewart Copeland (yes, from The Police), he had written a big score for the silent movie version of Ben-Hur. That was performed at the Valley Performing Arts Center. Now he’s back with an opera entitled The Invention of Morel which is having its world premiere at Long Beach Opera.

The story is a classic trouble in paradise story with a twist. A fugitive finds himself madly in love with a beautiful tourist. What he doesn’t know is that these tourists also occupy an alternate universe controlled by the titular madman, Morel. It’s doubtful this one has a happy ending.

Taylor Mac: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music – Theatre at the Ace Hotel/CapUCLA

March 24

It appears tickets are sold out for the last 6-hour installment of Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music. But if you can find yourself a ticket, you will experience one of the most unique performance art shows of this, or any other, year. We spoke with Taylor Mac about this unique view of American history through popular song. Part one can be found here. Part two can be found here. Go!

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In the second part of my interview with Taylor Mac about A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, we talk about the cathartic component for both the performer and the audience and also about being makers not markers of history. (For the first part of my interview, please go here.)

When you performed the 24 hour marathon in New York, audiences there had witnessed the progression and development of your show. When you travel to a city that has little, if any, exposure to it, what challenges do you face in getting new audiences to roll with the direction of the show?

I think it’s tricky to get them there, but the show has been crafted to prepare you for it. The main thing that always happens is I give permission to the audience for them to feel however they want to feel. I’m not telling them they have to be happy when I ask them to stand up. Maybe they are tired or unhappy. I’m still asking them to stand up. I’m happy when they are rolling their eyes. I want them to feel seen and acknowledged. That’s part of the art in the room. I think that gives them permission and they are usually game to do it. They have said to me, “that made me think about a lot of things about history and about the people in the room with me and myself and my relationship with them.” They have profound experiences with that. They don’t have to perform. I’m the performer, you’re amateurs.

When we spoke a couple years ago, you said that you “work in catharsis. That’s my job.” Can you expand on that?

For the audience, it’s very rare for people to spend six hours in another room with a group of other people all watching the same thing. Especially when that thing is inspiring them to express and contemplate the full range of themselves. A sporting event it’s about rooting for one team, to be one thing. At church services it’s about rooting for one ideology. Here everyone can think about who they are in relation to a much larger world and this much longer history, 240 plus years, and all of that onslaught of culture in terms of music we have. That changes people when they are allowed to see something from many different angles instead of just one. Particularly when they see the audience around them doing that. And they have to do things. It’s a very active show and I think catharsis comes with that. Just sitting can build walls. It’s nice when theatre asks you to get up and do something.

Is it also cathartic for you?

It is. I put my body, my musicians, my music director Matt Ray…it’s not just six hours. It’s all the tech rehearsals and that entire three-week period where we are intensely in the show. We kind of come out the other side as slightly different people. I always feel more grounded and slightly more at peace and slightly more empathetic after I’ve gone through the whole experience. And sore. My body tends to be sore.

Wesley Morris of the New York Times called the 24-hour performance at St. Ann’s “one of the greatest experiences of my life.” How would you describe it from your perspective?

It felt a bit like manhood or queendomhood. It felt like coming of age in a way. I’m not a kid anymore. I felt incredibly bonded to the people in the room: the audience, the musicians and the guests. I see them now, people I haven’t seen since that show, and I feel like they’re family. It felt like this profound experience we all went through together. I’ve never seen an audience that emotionally available before. That’s proven true for the six-hour shows, too.

I was really inspired by your piece What’s gonna happen on your website and the idea of being makers not markers. Can you explain how it applies to your work and how it might help the rest of us deal with what is happening?

I don’t think everybody is an artist. The Public Theatre had a program Everyone’s An Artist. No, everyone has the capability of being creative. Being an artist is building a craft and putting years of your life into it and building an expertise to be an artist. But everyone is creative. Everyone has the ability to make things. To make something that is tangible instead of ephemeral ideas or writing on a Facebook post. You can do something in the world.

That’s how I approach it. Instead of marking your life – social media doesn’t feel like direct action. We do real life at my show. We don’t mark. The audience has an opportunity to and are encouraged to be makers of the show with us. What they do in the theatre is the profundity. I’m just the diviner. It’s the audience’s job to go digging and I give them the tools to do so. Then I’m cheerleading, but I’m the one who is sweating.

Leonard Bernstein, whose 100^th birthday is being celebrated around the world said in 1967 about the state of affairs, “It’s worse than ever because of the multiplying nuclear arsenals and the total unpredictability of statesmen who are hardly statesmen like.” He also bemoaned the “farcical cynical way everything is being handled. The massive lie that is constantly being told. How can one feel that one is part of anything real? I can’t.” 51 years later, do you share his view or are you more optimistic?

I’m more optimistic because that was 51 years ago and we’re still here. The wonderful thing about our system is nobody can fuck it up for too long. Trump’s got four years, maybe eight, to fuck it up and then in come the cleaners. We have to do our job to get in the position to start the cleaning again.

We’re having a hard time learning how to deal with a new force: the internet, social media. It’s a challenge. I think it’s the wrong time to be engaging in social media. If a salesman can become president then you have to protest the tool of production and the internet is that. Until we figure that out, we should take it a bit slower.

I’m trying to spend time with actual people and have real conversations rather than un-nuanced arguments. Everybody wants to be seen and heard. I know why. Because so many aren’t. At the same time you see yourself in every reflective surface. You have to see yourself in everything? It’s such an egocentric culture.

It’s one of the reasons we made this show primarily about the audience. It’s our attempt to make it about somebody else. To be seen and heard. Take up space for ourselves. But at the same time, give more space to the community in the room.

Photo Credit: Teddy Wolff

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In early February I spoke with Taylor Mac about that one mammoth performance and the goal of these concerts. We also spoke two years ago and some of this column includes comments from that interview as well.

How does your 24-hour song cycle continue to evolve and what role does the audience have in the evolution?

Oh gosh, it’s just everything. I shouldn’t say it’s everything. The core show we had at St. Ann’s in New York is the same show we’re bringing. But it’s so different. When we took the show to San Francisco we had to change for seats that were nailed down and didn’t move, three tiers, 1600 people instead of 800. We’re continuing that in Los Angeles, but we’re sharpening it. The world is so different from what we did in New York. Trump is President and has been for a year. And that has changed the conversation and it has changed the way people look at the show. They experience the show more as a necessity for healing more than it had been pre-Trump presidency.

What is the criteria you used for selecting the songs for this 24-hour concert?

The big thing for me is content dictates the form. I’m always thinking about what the particular decade is going to be about; what the whole show is about and then I find songs that work within that theme. The challenge in the early decades is there isn’t that much material that survives that we can pinpoint to the decade. That’s the challenge for those. The challenge for the later decades is there is so much. How do you choose?

We are trying to use these popular songs to rally people to a cause, to mourn together, to celebrate together, to cheer together, to love together, to protest together. I try to find the songs that are trying to do something.

In 2015 a survey was released that revealed that  lyrics have become dumber and dumber. Vis-à-vis the songs in your show, what decade most impressed you with its wit and intelligence and which decade do you find the depths of facile writing?

It’s hard to say the worst decade. I will say the 1890s had some really bad songs. Have you ever heard “After the Ball is Over?” It’s one of the most popular songs and it’s one of the worst songs. Hip-hop lyrics are intensely profound when compared to “After the Ball is Over.”

It’s also what you do with it. You find a song and turn it into something useful. It’s like Bob Dylan with “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” There’s a song called “Lord Randall” about a guy who hooks up with a girl. He’s on his deathbed and he gives money to his mother. Dylan turns that into activism and wanting to do something in the world. He transforms the song into something useful to people. That’s what we’re trying to do with all this fluff and find out what’s profound about the fluff and what we can do with it.

You and playwright Larry Kramer (The Normal Heart) share a desire to add gays to American history, albeit in different ways. [Kramer revisits history in his book The American People Volume 1.] Why is it important to reconsider history with the addition of a gay component?

Well there’s a reason why there is homophobia in the world. And one of the reasons is there isn’t representation. Someone I was talking to recently said “gays are on television now. Everything is gay.” Then we went to HBO and scrolled through all their selections. Looking was the only show that had gays as central characters and that was cancelled. Everything else was about straight people. There were a few shows that had gay people. Game of Thrones – what happened to them? They were killed. Sex and the City they were secondary characters. It’s certainly not 10%.

Queerness is the subtheme of this show. It’s certainly present and it’s declared, but it’s only the reference and contextualization. It’s only queer because I’m queer and everything I do is queer. The point of the show isn’t just queer. It’s a slightly different way of depicting that history.

It’s everything when people know queers and growing up they can stop being afraid. Isn’t that one of the great joys of history is that we can be less afraid and we can learn and evolve?

You have a lot of ground to cover during 24 hours of performance. What role, if any, will technology play in your getting through it all?

I don’t use a teleprompter. I had a meeting with (music producer) Hal Wilner and he said “you’re going to have to have a monitor.” No! Absolutely not! I want the audience to see how hard I am working. Somebody sat and memorized 240 songs and worked it all out. Part of the show is about failure and what happens when you are falling apart. It’s okay if I forget a lyric. It’s not about presenting polish. It’s about presenting humanity and vulnerability and doing your best to make the best show you can. We have a lot of fun and if something goes wrong, it’s an excuse for more fun.

For part two of our interview with Taylor Mac, please go here. In this interview we talk about how “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music” is cathartic for both the audience and the performer.

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Here is the breakdown of the four parts:

Thursday, March 15th: Chapter 1: 1776-1836

The American Revolution from the perspective of the Yankee Doodle Dandy, the early women’s lib movement, an epic battle between drinking songs and early Temperance songs; a dream sequence where the audience is and the heteronormal narrative of colonization.

Friday, March 17th: Chapter II:  1836-1896

Walt Whitman and Stephen Foster go head to head for the title of Father of the American Song culminating in the queerest Civil War Reenactment in history.  Oh…and a production of the Mikado set on Mars.

Thursday, March 22nd: Chapter III: 1896-1956

A Jewish tenement, a WWI trench, a speak-easy, a depression and a zoot suit riot all make the white people flee the cities.

Saturday, March 24th: Chapter IV: 1956-Present

Bayard Rustin’s March on Washington leads to a queer riot, sexual deviance as revolution, radical lesbians and a community building itself while under siege.

Check back later this week for part one of a two-part interview with Taylor Mac about this massive project. (The second part will run next week.)

The post Taylor Mac: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Phantom Thread with Live Score  – The Theatre at the Ace Hotel

Friday, March 2nd (two shows, the first at 8 PM is sold out. The midnight show has availability)

Jonny Greenwood’s Oscar-nominated score for Paul Thomas Anderson’s also nominated film Phantom Thread will be performed live while the film is projected at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel.  Nearly three-quarters of the film is scored by Greenwood. This is a ravishing and beautiful score. There are additional cues by Brahms, Schubert and others. Performing the score will be members of the London Contemporary Orchestra (the orchestra used to record the score.) Not only is this a great opportunity to hear this stunning score, it is also a great opportunity to catch Phantom Thread on the big screen – where it was truly meant to be seen.

Allegiance – Aratani Theatre

Now – April 1st

George Takei of Star Trek fame stars in this musical about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.  As this reflects, in part, his own experiences, he has been a fierce advocate of this musical. He starred in the original production at the Old Globe in San Diego in 2012. He’s also taken the show to Broadway where it opened in 2015 for 111 performances. Jay Kuo wrote the music, lyrics and book and Marc Acito and Lorenzo Thione also wrote the book. Joining Takei in this production are Greg Watanabe, Elena Wang and Ethan Le Phong.  Look for an interview with Takei next week here at Cultural Attaché.

A Trip to the Moon – LA Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Friday,March 2 and Saturday March 3rd

If you ever saw Martin Scorsese’s film Hugo, you might be familiar with Georges Méliès’ film A Trip to the Moon. It’s a delightful and innovative film from 1902. Composer Andrew Norman was commissioned by the LA Philharmonic to write this opera for the child in all of us inspired by the film. Yuval Sharon, the director behind this year’s War of the Worlds, directs this concertized production. Also on the bill is Gustav Holst’s The Planets.

Elīna Garanča – The Broad Stage

Saturday, March 3rd

This mezzo-soprano from Latvia offers up an evening of zarzuelas and arias from operas. Bizet’s Carmen is included in the announced program. Also included are such works as El Gato Montés and El Barquillero. Accompanying Garanca is a full orchestra under the baton of Karel Mark Chichon. This marks a return to the venue where she made her first US recital.

The Graduate – Laguna Playhouse

Official Opening March 4 – March 25

“Well here’s to you Mrs. Robinson, Melanie Griffith plays you in this show….whoa whoa whoa.” Mike Nichols won an Academy Award for directing Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft in 1967’s The Graduate. He was also nominated for another Best Director Oscar for the film Working Girl. Melanie Griffith was nominated for her performance in the same film. And opening night is on Oscar Sunday. What concentric circles!

Griffith portrays the seductive Mrs. Robinson opposite Nick Tag as Benjamin Braddock. Adapting the book and screenplay for the stage is Terry Johnson. Michael Matthews directs.

The post The 5 Things You Must See: This Weekend in LA (March 2-4) appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Nico Muhly’s “Register” World Premiere – Walt Disney Concert Hall

February 23-25

36-year-old composer Nico Muhly was commissioned by the LA Philharmonic to write a concerto that takes full advantage of the mighty organ at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The result, Register, has its world premiere tonight with two additional performances on Saturday and Sunday. All three concerts will include Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Friday’s show, part of the “Casual Fridays” series does not include Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin. James Conlon conducts the three concerts. To learn more about Register, check out our interview with Muhly here.

For an example of Muhly’s work for the organ, here’s a video of The Revd Mustard his Installation Prelude:

The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk – The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

February 23-March 11

England’s Kneehigh Theatre brings this highly theatrical portrayal of the life of painter Marc Chagall and his wife Bella. Through the use of color and imagery mirroring the master painter’s work and music from the Russian Jewish history, this show offers many of the same delights found in other Kneehigh projects such as their Brief Encounter and Tristan and Yseult. Marc Antolin plays Marc Chagall and Daisy Maywood plays Bella. The show was written by Daniel Jamieson and directed by Emma Rice.

Bob Baker Day – Bob Baker Marionette Theatre

February 24

If you’ve never been to the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre then you are missing out on one of the jewels of Los Angeles. The master puppeteer passed away several years ago, but the legacy of his work is celebrated every day at the theatre that bears his name. This all-day festival will include presentations inside his magical theatre and also in and around the grounds nearby. The event begins at 10 AM with a puppet procession opening ceremony. The grand marshal is DJ Lance Rock of  Yo Gabba Gabba!  OK Go’s Tim Nordwind will be doing an DJ set. There are also plenty of games, displays and more available and it is all free. Regularly scheduled performances will take place in the theatre (those five shows are ticketed at $10; two of the performances are already sold out.)

For the Record Presents Shoshana Bean – The Theatre at the Ace Hotel

February 24

There are massive roles in musical theatre for women. Amongst them are “Elphaba” in Wicked and “Fanny Brice” in Funny Girl. Singer Shoshana Bean has performed both. Her massive voice with the ability to be as soft as a feather and as soulful as a woman in church served both projects well. Bean showcases the full range of her vocal abilities with her new CD, Spectrum. This is a different project for Bean and finds her backed by an 18-piece big band. On Saturday night she will be celebrating the release of Spectrum with a concert at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel. She will be joined by the 18-piece band and by special guest Amber Riley (Glee, Dreamgirls.) For Shoshana Bean’s thoughts on the project and this concert, check out our interview with her here.

And take a look at this cover Shoshana Bean and Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo did of Taylor Swift’s “I Did Something Bad” that Swift loved!

Stepping Out – The Soraya at Valley Performing Arts Center

February 25

The Dublin Irish Dance Company presents a story of immigrants through dance and music. In a time when the subject of immigration is one of the pressing issues of our day, this show reminds us that the American Dream has long held sway for countless generations. Through the music and dance of Ireland, Stepping Out tells the story of people leaving famine behind in their native land, crossing the Atlantic and going to a land of opportunity.

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