Miss Rita Rekindles Lucha VaVoom for Fire Relief
In its heyday, Lucha Va Voom was arguably the one of the most uniquely festive events in town. It was a gathering where Mexican wrestling, bodacious burlesque, comedy and often, live music, came together like a sexy slap to the head that made you laugh, gasp and cheer. Though its two promoters went their separate ways last year, each doing their own versions of the event with their names attached, there's always excitement when Lucha comes back to local theaters and clubs. Rita D'Albert's parties have been especially rockin' as she's leaned into her musical roots (she's been in some beloved L.A. bands and projects over the years, from The Pandoras to White Trash Wins Lotto) in producing the show."During the fires, I felt so anxious and unhelpful— like survivors guilt in real time," D'Albert shares, conveying a sentiment we all can relate to. "When we were advised to be ready to evacuate, I just reached out to all of my favorite performers and friends and the response was overwhelming."
"I see this a Valentine to L.A., home to me and so many of my favorite people and artists," she adds. "I want to bring together people from all backgrounds and celebrate the strength and creativity of Angelenos."Feb. 19 will be her first all-ages event in Los Angeles, and the musical theme is, what else: Los Angeles! Artists will perform songs about L.A., and there are a lot of local legends on the bill, including Stray Cats' Slim Jim Phantom, L7's Donita Sparks, punk legends Kid Congo Powers and Alice Bag (performing as Juanita and Juan), Church and Love Bailey to name just a few. Comics Dana Gould and Jeff Davis will host and there will be roller skaters, aerialists, DJs and of course, lucha libre ring action.Goldfinger's Charlie Paulson has put together the backing band, Kii Arens designed the event poster and Rose Apodaca curated the art auction featuring work from Shepard Fairey, Aaron Rose, Piper Ferguson, Merrrick Morton and many more. The proceeds will go to benefit Best Friends Animal Society, ARC Fire-Fighter Fund and Grief & Hope, a fund set up by volunteer artists/art professionals to directly assist the 400+ artists and art professionals who lost or suffered significant damage to their homes, studios and work.
At the Belasco Theater, Wednesday, Feb. 19. theBelasco.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
‘Twelve Moons' Debuts First-Look Clip Ahead of Tribeca Premiere, Director Victoria Franco Speaks About Societal Pressures on Women (EXCLUSIVE)
'Twelve Moons,' the feature debut of Mexican filmmaker Victoria Franco, premieres on Saturday in the International Narrative Competition of Tribeca Festival. Variety debuts an exclusive first clip from the film and speaks to the director. The film stars acclaimed Mexican actor Ana de la Reguera, whose career bridges Hollywood and Latin American cinema, alongside Ariel Award winner Enrique Arreola. Filmmaker Michel Franco, Victoria's brother, is a producer on the film, and the Match Factory is handling international sales. More from Variety 'Billy Joel: And So It Goes' Directors Share Inspirational Message From Ailing Singer: 'He Will Be Back' Tribeca Festival: Miley Cyrus' 'Something Beautiful,' Barbara Walters Doc and 11 Other Films We're Excited to See 'The Shadow Scholars,' Executive Produced by Steve McQueen, Debuts Trailer Ahead of North American Premiere at Tribeca (EXCLUSIVE) 'Twelve Moons' follows Sofia, a 40-year-old architect in Mexico City, who has suffered a devastating loss, and must navigate her complex emotions while trying to stay true to herself. As she struggles with her fertility and identity as a woman, both her personal and professional life begin to deteriorate forcing her to look inward to find the light that will lead her forward. In the clip, we see that Sofia has an issue with alcohol consumption, and in the film, we discover she is also a drug user. 'For me, it's really important to portray people who don't feel comfortable with social conventions,' Franco says. 'There are many people who don't feel that they are part of society but feel societal pressure. And as a woman, there is the added pressure to have a child, have a family, be the perfect woman, and I really admire people who are really authentic and don't give in to these pressures.' Sofia is portrayed with empathy and her alcohol and drug dependency should be seen as a 'disease,' Franco says. It is Sofia's way of relaxing when faced with societal expectations and the pressure to conform – to feel 'normal,' overcome her insecurity, and appear self-confident. Unable to conceive, Sofia's life – both personal and professional – starts to unravel. 'She has no boundaries, so she doesn't know how to separate her professional and personal life, and she takes them both so seriously,' the director says. 'She feels that through her architecture, her feelings can become connected with other people. She tries to work in a way that is parallel to her feelings. Architecture is very important in this film, because I portray many places that are representing her feelings through their architecture.' Franco describes Sofia as an 'ethical' architect who tries to create buildings that encourage a feeling of freedom in those who inhabit them. We see her visiting buildings in Mexico City that exemplify that approach, like those designed by the architect Luis Barragán. 'She fights to create spaces that allow people to have more liberty within them. There's a conversation where she's arguing about putting fewer parking lots in order to create more green spaces so people can be happier in these places. 'I love Luis Barragán, who talks about a spiritual architecture, about architecture where you can feel the connection between the space and the mind, and you can feel connected with it, and it's the architecture of silence too. He won the Pritzker Prize, and his acceptance speech was amazing. It's beautiful.' Speaking about Ana de la Reguera, Franco says: 'Ana has great presence. She has a lovely face. She's a person with a deep, deep soul. And when I talked to her about the script, I felt that she was very connected with the matter of being a woman in her 40s and the social demands that people make. 'And she's an actress who has like 20 years of experience, so I was really amazed when we were talking and playing around, like, 'Imagine the camera is here, and what would you do?,' and she was improvising and doing things that I was amazed by, because sometimes I felt that she had known the character for her entire life, like she has lived with her.' Regarding the cinematography, she comments: 'First of all, I decided that the movie should be black and white, so the spectator had no distractions with the colors, and he could be really connected with the emotions and the state of mind of the character. 'And also, the movie is about architecture as well, so it's very geometrical. We looked for many locations that were really hard to get permission to film there, but we made it. There's a beautiful fountain by Isamu Noguchi, the Japanese artist, for example. 'The cinematographer, Sergio Armstrong G., is a genius. We improvised a lot. We never felt that we were in control of everything. We played with the freedom of being in the moment and sensing where to put the camera. We didn't have a shooting list of everything, and I felt so free. If I didn't have this cinematographer, Sergio, it would be pretty difficult, because I was pretty sure of the emotional state and everything but the visual things… it was Sergio who put everything together to make the movie look like the state of mind of the character.' As in film noir, the film uses light and shade to reflect the internal landscape of the character, but there were other cinematic influences. 'Many times, I felt inspired by Italian Neo Realism, because we didn't have much budget for lighting, but with its realism sometimes the film feels like a documentary, and the camera was very, very humbled, because we didn't need so much lighting to make it look beautiful. And the shadows and the geometric forms are so important.' There are similarities to how she and her brother work, she says. 'We both film chronologically. That was very helpful, because the actress was really involved with the process of the character and the emotions, and we improvised a lot, so the script changed a lot while shooting. Michel also does that, so I believe we're similar in terms of production.' She is full of praise for her brother's contribution as a producer. 'I think he was the best producer because he really got my back, and he just cares about the creativity and the process that I wanted, and he never gave up, for example, in getting some locations. Even though we didn't have enough money, he'd fight for everything. So, it was a paradise working with him.' Next up for Franco, she says, is a film about a teenager in New York, for which she is writing the screenplay now. Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in June 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
Chicago Tribune
2 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Northbrook Symphony leans toward classical, with some contemporary, as it celebrates 45 years
Music will fill the Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield on June 19 when the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra celebrates the conclusion of its 45th season with its annual gala, 'American Songbook.' Robbie Ellis, the on-air announcer for radio station WFMT, will emcee and serve as the orchestra's preconcert speaker, according to Highland Park resident Steven Greene, who is in his third year as president of the orchestra's board of directors. 'He's both a pianist and a singer,' Greene said. 'For our benefit, he's taking a bunch of Tom Lehrer songs and rewording them to the current day and adding a bit about Northbrook Symphony.' Lehrer is an American songwriter known for penning lyrics that were frequently satirical. A string quintet from the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra will also perform. In addition, several students will speak about their experience of getting musical instruments from the orchestra's Instrument Drive, in which the orchestra collects musical instruments for underserved music students in Waukegan Public Schools, working with Bravo Waukegan. There will also be a silent auction and raffle. The Northbrook Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1980 by former Chicago Symphony concertmaster Samuel Magad. The current music director, Mina Zikri, who was a violinist with the orchestra starting in 2002, began leading the orchestra in the 2019-20 season. 'We have five or six concerts a year,' Zikri said. Sometimes, the family concert is part of the season; other times it's the sixth concert. This year's family concert, on Aug. 24, will be 'Mozart's Magnificent Voyage.' All of the concerts are performed at Sheely Center for the Performing Arts, 2300 Shermer Road in Northbrook. 'Because we play less concerts, we tend to do the classical favorites,' Zikri said. 'I tend to stay away from experimental compositions and contemporary, even though we do offer them because we owe it to our audiences to inform them and perform for them what's happening in the world. I try to do this in reasonable doses.' Board President Greene noted that, for the last two seasons, the orchestra's final program has been focused on a particular event, composer or culture. 'At the end of our 22-23 season, we presented a program called 'The Violins of Hope,'' Greene said. That refers to a collection of stringed instruments played by Jewish musicians before and during World War II. Prior to the concerts, there was a presentation of those instruments in the lobby. 'We had tremendous attendance from people very interested in this unique collection of instruments,' Greene said. 'And, for the concert, some of our musicians played on those instruments. It was a very moving experience for a lot of our concertgoers.' At the end of the 2023-24 season, Greene reported, the Orchestra performed 'Fiesta Mexicana,' a celebration of the music culture of Mexico. The Northbrook Symphony played classical Mexican music, folk band Sones de Mexico Ensemble played Mexican folk music, and there was also a mariachi band and a dancer. Clarinetist Ilya Shterenberg and 55 musicians were scheduled for a June 8 concert of Tchaikovsky's 'Symphony No. 4.' Between 45 and 65 musicians perform at each concert. 'It depends on the repertoire,' Zikri explained. 'The string section composes two-thirds of the orchestra. The other third is split between woodwinds, brass and percussions.' Although the Northbrook Symphony began as a community orchestra, Zikri noted, it is now 100% professional. 'I have personally focused on young professionals,' he added. Principal Cellist Daniel Klingler joined the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra 12 years ago at the request of a previous musical director, Lawrence Rapchak. 'One of the reasons I had a lot of interest in joining the orchestra was they played a little off-the-beaten track repertoire,' Klingler explained. 'Having been a professional freelancer and having played in orchestras for many years, a lot of the repertoire was repeated. I was interested in playing with an orchestra that was playing music that wasn't being played that often.' Although the repertoire has changed to more traditional selections under Conductor Zikri, Klingler enjoys the fact that 'a lot of the members of the orchestra are friends so it has a really comfortable feeling of making music with your friends. And I feel like the Northbrook community has a lot of pride in their orchestra, as I feel they should.' There are currently eight members on the orchestra's board of directors, with two more scheduled to be added shortly. The bylaws of the organization allow a dozen board members. Greene said, 'In years past, when we had a general manager, we just provided broad oversight.' Since the general manager left six or seven years ago and wasn't replaced, 'the board has gotten more involved in operational control of the symphony,' Greene said. That has become 'unwieldy' for the board, Greene said, so they are currently planning to hire a general manager or an executive director. Currently, the board spends a lot of time planning events like the upcoming June 19 gala, since fundraising is one of its vital responsibilities. The board hires an outside person to work on grant-writing with them. 'Grants are an essential part of all fundraising,' Greene said. 'Right now, about 25% of our annual revenue is from ticket sales; the rest is from grants and individual donors.' Tickets to the 6 p.m. June 19 gala at Sunset Ridge Country Club, 2100 Sunset Ridge Rd. in Northfield, are $150. Find details at or 847-272-0755. Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Golf comedy ‘Stick' can't get out of the rough
Owen Wilson brings his shaggy brand of charm to the role of Pryce 'Stick' Cahill, a former pro golf stud who flamed out years back, beset by grief (spoiler advisories prevent me from saying why), drinking, and disappointment. His ex-wife, Amber-Linn (Judy Greer, always a welcome presence) is tolerant but weary. His RV-driving former caddy and current barroom hustle partner, Mitts (Boston University alum Then, one day at the driving range, he hears a magical sound. It's the ball flying off the club of Santi (Peter Dager), a teen prodigy with a bit of an attitude. Pryce sees Santi as his way back to golf nirvana. But the kid was coached by his hard-ass dad, who then up and left him and his mother, Elena (promising Mexican actress Mariana Treviño, who shows sharp timing here and opposite Tom Hanks in 2022's 'A Man Called Otto'). He wants no part of competitive golf. Undeterred, Pryce cuts a check for Elena, convinces Santi that together they can make the big time, and embarks on a wild, wacky, life-affirming tour of major amateur events, with Elena, Mitts, and his RV along for the ride. Advertisement Peter Dager, Mariana Treviño, Kirstin Eggers, Marc Maron and Owen Wilson in "Stick." Apple TV+ Golf is rife with metaphors applicable to the game of life, particularly where it comes to deciding between playing it safe or letting it all hang out. A past big-screen golf comedy, which we'll get to in a moment, worked these ideas to smooth and even raunchy effect. 'Stick,' on the other hand, likes to whack you over the head with a 9-iron. The comedy feels forced, more in the vein of a middling network sitcom than a premium streaming series. The drama can be downright maudlin, especially when it tries to visualize Pryce's ruminations on his past and his might-have-beens. As Pryce tries to get his pupil to slow down and let the game come to him, it's hard not to wish 'Stick' had followed similar advice. 'Stick' also shanks its attempts at edgy nowness. Along the way the crew picks up a wild card, a young woman named Zero (Lili Kay). She describes herself as a 'genderqueer, anti-capitalist, postcolonial feminist.' Kids. They're really something, am I right? She becomes Santi's girlfriend and touchstone, which would be fine if the two actors had better chemistry and better material to work with. The series also tries to have some fun at the expense of a hyper-competitive pickleball couple, because pickleball is, you know, hot. You can sense someone standing behind the scenes of 'Stick,' constantly trying to gauge its Q Score. Advertisement There are some highlights. The brightest is Clark is actually a lot like David Simms, Kevin Costner's slick, slimy adversary, who was played by Don Johnson in the 1996 romantic golf comedy 'Tin Cup.' Come to think of it, 'Stick' has an awful lot in common with 'Tin Cup,' another story of a washed-up, impetuous golfer looking for a shot at redemption. The biggest difference is that 'Tin Cup' never sweated on the course as it mixed homespun wisdom with sex appeal. 'Stick' can't keep its cool the same way. You feel it straining to be meaningful and charming, and to fill out ten episodes. Playing golf can be frustrating. Watching a comedy about it shouldn't be. Advertisement STICK Starring Owen Wilson, Peter Dager, Lili Kay, Marc Maron, Mariana Treviño, Timothy Olyphant, and Judy Greer. On Apple TV+. Chris Vognar, a freelance culture writer, was the 2009 Nieman Arts and Culture Fellow at Harvard University.
