Latest news with #CenterTheatreGroup
Los Angeles Times
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Center Theatre Group's 2025-26 season: David Byrne's 'Here Lies Love,' 'Paranormal Activity' and more
Bisserat Tseggai, left, and Mia Ellis in 'JaJa's African Hair Braiding.' The Imelda Marcos bio-musical 'Here Lies Love' injects some disco shimmer to the Center Theatre Group 2025-26 season announced Tuesday. The company behind the Ahmanson Theatre and Mark Taper Forum in downtown L.A. and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City released a lineup that also includes the Jocelyn Bioh play 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding'; Eboni Booth's new play 'Primary Trust'; a stage riff on the 'Paranormal Activity' movies; the musical '& Juliet' and a 25th anniversary revival of 'Mamma Mia!' 'Here Lies Love,' featuring music by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, and lyrics by Byrne, made history as Broadway's first musical with an all-Filipino cast. The production earned 2024 Tony nominations for score, sound design, scene design and choreography as well as praise from critics including the New York Times' Jesse Green, who applauded the 'infernally catchy songs.' The musical also faced criticism for historical distortion and what some saw as the underplaying of corruption, censorship and violent political oppression in the Philippines during the Marcos regime. The musical has been updated since its 2013 Off-Broadway premiere at the Public Theater to emphasize the People Power Revolution that spurred the end of the Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos era. In New York, producers transformed the Broadway Theater to evoke Studio 54. Center Theatre Group will present 'Here Lies Love' in the Taper in a run scheduled to open Feb. 11. Snehal Desai, CTG's artistic director, will helm the production. The comedy 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding' earned Tony nominations last year for best play, direction, scenic design and sound design, and Dede Ayite won the award for her costumes. Set in Harlem, Bioh's play centers on a community of West African immigrants who 'confront the challenges of being outsiders in their own neighborhood.' Whitney White will direct a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. It opens at the Taper on Oct. 1. Booth's 'Primary Trust' was the 2024 Pulitzer Prize winner for drama. The Pulitzer citation called it 'a simple and elegantly crafted story of an emotionally damaged man who finds a new job, new friends and a new sense of worth, illustrating how small acts of kindness can change a person's life and enrich an entire community.' Caleb Eberhardt in La Jolla Playhouse's West Coast-premiere production of 'Primary Trust' last year. After seeing the play's West Coast premiere at La Jolla Playhouse last year, Times theater critic Charles McNulty wrote: 'This is a quirky, small-scale, quietly reflective work that's as tenderhearted as it is spryly comic and as poignant as it is ultimately uplifting. 'It's refreshing to see such a prodigious honor bestowed on a piece of writing that's content to go about its human business without the need to inflate its own importance.' Knud Adams will direct the Taper production, which opens in May 2026. Here are the six major productions in the 2025-26 CTG schedule (in chronological order) announced by Desai, managing director and chief executive Meghan Pressman and producing director Douglas C. Baker. A seventh production will be announced at a later date. '& Juliet'Book by David West ReadMusic by Max Martin & FriendsDirected By Luke SheppardAhmanson Theatre Aug. 13-Sept. 7 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding'Mark Taper Forum Oct. 1-Nov. 9 'Paranormal Activity'Based on the 'Paranormal Activity' films from Blumhouse and Solana Films, adapted here by arrangement with Paramount Pictures and Melting PotWritten by Levi HollowayDirected by Felix BarrettCo-production with American Conservatory Theater of San Francisco, Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Shakespeare Theatre Company of Washington, D.C. Ahmanson Theatre Nov. 13-Dec. 7 'Here Lies Love'Mark Taper Forum Feb. 11-March 22 'Primary Trust'Mark Taper Forum May 20-June 28, 2026 'Mamma Mia!'Music and lyrics by Benny Andersson & Björn UlvaeusBook by Catherine JohnsonDirected by Phyllida LloydAhmanson Theatre June 23-July 19, 2026 The company's 'CTG:FWD' programming includes three shows at the Kirk Douglas: 'Puppet Up! — Uncensored,' an audience-driven affair featuring creations from the Jim Henson Co., running July 16-27; 'Guac,' writer and star Manuel Oliver's one-man show, from the father of a son who was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., running Oct. 14-Nov. 2; and 'The Enormous Crocodile,' a musical based on the work of Roald Dahl, Dec. 5-Jan. 4. 'Like It Like Harlem,' a production in partnership with Muse/ique, is scheduled for Aug. 8-10 at the Taper.
Los Angeles Times
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Paul McCartney's photographs and John Waters' birthday: L.A. arts and culture this weekend
This weekend is the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, when more than 650 authors and speakers gather across seven outdoor stages and 15 indoor venues across USC's University Park campus. Your Essential Arts scribes are on the lineup of the free, two-day event: My colleague Jessica Gelt is chatting with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, while I, Ashley Lee, am moderating a conversation with director and memoirist Jon M. Chu, as well as a Center Theatre Group panel with Lolita Chakrabarti, who penned the stunning stage adaptation of 'Life of Pi,' Larissa FastHorse, the playwright of the farce 'Fake It Until You Make It,' and Robert O'Hara, who is helming his film noir take on 'Hamlet.' For more headlines and happenings beyond book talk, here's your weekend newsletter. Feel free to scroll through it poolside like the Beatles' George Harrison, as photographed in 1964 by Paul McCartney. 'Rearview Mirror: Photographs, December 1963–February 1964'This Gagosian show highlights recently rediscovered photographs taken by McCartney between December 1963 and February 1964, during the emergence of Beatlemania. Shot all over Liverpool, London, Paris and the U.S., the mix of black-and-white and color prints includes self-portraits, intimate views of his bandmates and shots of the fandom that constantly surrounded them. Accompanying the photos is an installation of contemporaneous ephemera, as well as excerpts of cinema verité-style footage of the band recorded by filmmakers Albert and David Maysles, who were granted access to document the group during their first U.S. visit in February 1964. The exhibition, which opens tonight, is on view through June 21. Gagosian, 456 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills. Arts Open San PedroThis weekend-long celebration of the waterfront Arts and Cultural District features more than 100 South Bay artists, open studios, interactive workshops and immersive art installations, with free trolley routes connecting arts lovers to various hotspots. Two main stages will host live music and dance performances, and smaller shows will take over venues throughout the city. Admission to the event — which runs Saturday from noon until 7 p.m., and Sunday from noon until 7 p.m. — is free with online RSVP. 'The Turnaway Play'Lesley Lisa Greene's play is inspired by the Turnaway Study, which followed 1,000 pregnant people over 10 years and reached the first definitive scientific conclusions on the impact on their lives from either having or being denied an abortion. This staged reading — starring Alysia Reiner, Mishal Prada, Jenny Yang and Sasheer Zamata — is followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Diana Greene Foster, lead researcher of the Turnaway Study, Francine Coeytaux, co-founder of Plan C, a public health campaign for abortion pill access by mail in every state, and Xochitl Lopez-Ayala, policy coordinator for Access RJ, which advocates for reproductive justice. The one-night-only fundraiser starts at 7 p.m. Sunday. Lodge Room, 104 N. Ave 56, 2nd Floor, L.A. 'John Waters' Birthday Celebration: The Naked Truth''Humor is always the way to win a war, to terrorize people, to make them laugh, to change their mind, to scare them and to be friendly,' the movie director and raconteur told Jessica Gelt of his birthday tour, which stops at the Wallis this weekend. The event's press release promises 'an endless bag of transgressive, and hetero-non-aggressive twisted tales that will warm the dark little hearts of non-binary brats all over the world.' Remember, Waters says he loves everything he teases 'and maybe that's why I really never am mean, and people embrace even the most crazy s— I say.' Saturday, 7:30 p.m. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. — Ashley Lee FRIDAYBen Folds The erstwhile layer of 'Brick' joins the Pacific Symphony for an evening of impromptu genre-spanning musical exploration.8 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. Heidi Hahn 'Not Your Woman' is the third solo exhibition of the Brooklyn-based painter's June 6, Michael Kohn Gallery, 1227 N. Highland Ave. Legally Blonde The Musical The hit stage show based on the hit 2001 movie follows the unexpected trajectory of Elle Woods from sorority girl to Harvard May 18. La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. Mozart & Nielsen Ryan Bancroft conducts Nielsen's Fourth, and Yeol Eum Son performs Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24. 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. Phish The eclectic jam band and its ravenous Phishhead fans invade the Bowl for three nights of genre-blending musical improvisation.7 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. SATURDAYAinadamar Ana María Martínez stars as Margarita Xirgu, the muse of poet Federico García Lorca, in LA Opera's production of Osvaldo Golijov's dramatic, flamenco-inspired score with a libretto by David Henry Hwang about the writer's life and his last days in the Spanish Civil War. Lina González-Granados conducts with Daniela Mack as May 18. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. All of the Above Monologues in the form of first-person narratives, poems, songs and stories anonymously written by women are performed by female-identifying actors.7 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday. The Actors Company, 916 N. Formosa Ave. Centroamérica The artistic collective Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol reaches beyond preconceived ideas about the region in this play about a Nicaraguan woman fleeing Daniel Ortega's dictatorship. Presented in Spanish with English supertitles.8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 262 Westwood Blvd. Dark Library: Paris 1925 Visit Gertrude Stein's apartment and mingle with such notable expats as Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, via this intersection of multisensory mediums, including cocktails, dance and movement, and experiential design.7 and 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday. New Musicals Inc., 5628 Vineland Ave., North Hollywood. Junwen Liang The pianist peforms his 'Sonata Extravaganza' featuring Mozart's Sonata No. 10, Ravel's Sonatine and Prokofiev's Sonata No. 8.8 p.m. Boston Court, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. Los Angeles Times Festival of Books More than 650 authors and speakers, including 'Wicked' director Jon M. Chu, comedian Chelsea Handler, exoneree Amanda Knox, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, politician Stacey Abrams and poet Amanda Gorman, gather across seven outdoor stages and 15 indoor day Saturday-Sunday. USC, University Park campus. Tasty Little Rabbit An 1890s love triangle between poet Sebastian Melmoth, photographer Wilhelm Von Gloeden and an 18-year-old Sicilian boy is the subject of this play written by Tom Jacobson and directed by George June 6, Moving Arts, 3191 Casitas Ave. 30th Anniversary Concert Richard Carpenter and Renee Elise Goldsberry, the Tony Award-winning star of 'Hamilton,' will open the show with 'Rainy Days and Mondays' to honor the Carpenter Center's three decades.8 p.m. Saturday. Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 E. Atherton St., Long Beach. Verdi Chorus In the program 'Bella Bellini,' the vocal group performs selections from operas by Vincenzo Bellini and Giuseppe Verdi.7:30 p.m. Saturday; 4 p.m Sunday. First Presbyterian Church, 1220 2nd St., Santa Monica. SUNDAYAmy Adler: Nice Girl The exhibition features an installation of 20 new oil pastel works that critique the social media mirror selfie through portraits of anonymous young women.11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday-Saturday, through Sept. 7. Orange County Museum of Art, 3333 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa. The Glass Menagerie Carolyn Ratteray directs Tennessee Williams' shattering classic about a fading Southern belle, her two children and the impending arrival of a gentleman June 2. Antaeus Theatre Company, Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center, 110 E. Broadway, Glendale. The Millennium Tour Trey Songz, Omarion and Bow Wow headline this collection of hip-hop and R&B stars.7 p.m. Kia Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. The Staircase A mother and son spin Hawaiian folk tales while playing cards to avoid their own stories in a play by Noa Gardner, directed by Gaye Taylor May 18. South Coast Repertory, Emmes/Benson Theatre Center, 655 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. The stagecraft at the heart of the new Broadway show 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' is examined by Ashley Lee in a Q&A concluding that the most difficult illusion is creating the franchise's signature nosebleeds. Visual effects designers Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher, who also worked on 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' reveal the behind-the-scenes strategies that any superfan of either franchise will be glad to know about. Speaking of 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow,' Times theater critic Charles McNulty was in New York to catch its Broadway debut — and warns viewers to enter the Marquis Theatre at their own risk. If Disney shows make the art form veer into theme park territory, McNulty notes, the signature Netflix sci-fi franchise sets it squarely in the violently frenetic world of Dungeons & Dragons. While the visual effects are lavish and stunning, the script feels lacking, McNulty writes. Read about why, here. Ashley also sat down with playwright a.k. payne between rehearsals of 'Furlough's Paradise,' which is at Geffen Playhouse through May 18. The show is about the relationship between two estranged cousins — with vastly divergent lives — as they reunite in their hometown for a funeral. In a wide-ranging conversation, payne discusses what inspired the show, what the characters represent and what their hopes are for the audience's experience. The photographer John Humble — known for his incisive images of L.A.'s vast urban landscape — has died. He was 81. After studying at the University of Maryland, Humble was drafted during the Vietnam War, spending more than a year overseas as a medic. He landed a job as a photojournalist at the Washington Post upon his return, but ultimately left to perfect his craft at the San Francisco Art Institute. In 1974, Humble moved to Los Angeles. He never meant to stay, but ended up putting down roots for the rest of his life — gaining a reputation as one of the city's most clear-eyed viewers and honest visual champions. The French luxury fashion house, Chanel, in collaboration with CalArts, announced the creation of the Chanel Center for Artists and Technology, made with support from Chanel's Culture Fund. The center will give students on campus unfettered access to crucial upcoming technology, including cutting-edge AI software and hardware; machine learning; and digital imaging tools. The resources will be made available in all disciplines, allowing for collaboration and innovation in dance, art, film, music, animation and theater. The center will also welcome visiting artists and fellows, many of whom have also received support from the brand's Culture Fund. Expected guests include Jacolby Satterwhite, Arthur Jafa, Cao Fei and William Kentridge. The 60th Annual Pasadena Showcase House of Design is now open, and welcomes guests for tours through May 18. As one of the country's longest running and most expansive home and garden tours, this year's Showcase House features the renovated Bauer Estate & Gardens. The 15,000-square-foot Monterey colonial estate was built in 1928 and features five acres of botanical gardens, which guests can walk through while taking in the latest in interior and landscape design trends. The program's opening night gala raised more than $200,000 for area music programs. — Jessica Gelt Cynthia Erivo's cover of Prince's 'Purple Rain' with the Los Angeles Philharmonic was my Coachella highlight.
Los Angeles Times
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
On the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, what have we learned?: L.A. Arts and Culture this week
Today is March 10. Five years ago (on March 12, 2020, to be exact) news hit that the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera and Center Theatre Group were canceling performances in response to COVID-19. I remember that day well. I was already working from home and I sat at a makeshift desk in my kitchen as a wave of press releases hit my inbox, each alerting me to another cancellation. The world was shutting down around me, but I had no idea what was coming. In the year that followed, I kept a daily journal of what it was like to raise my 4-year-old daughter in pandemic isolation. I recently came across this letter I wrote to her as Christmas approached. I am sharing it here as a reminder that although the pandemic narrative has calcified around all the things we did wrong, there was nothing incorrect about our instinct to protect others, including those we love. For the record: 8:01 a.m. March 10, 2025Friday's Essential Arts said the Broadway show 'Hell's Kitchen' won last year's Tony Award for best musical. 'The Outsiders,' based on S.E. Hinton's novel, was the winner. Dear Henri Boo, You tried to play Twister alone last week, and I hit a breaking point. It might have been the most soul-crushing moment of the pandemic — an image summing up all the loss, pain, heartache and anxiety of the year: You in your blue-and white unicorn pajamas struggling to put your right hand on yellow, while your left foot was on blue, and then having no idea how you would flick the spinner to decide your next move. You collapsed in tears onto the floor next to the Christmas tree, the cheap plastic game board wrinkling beneath your small, shaking body. The endeavor was doomed to failure from the moment you took the game out of the cabinet, and I should never have let you do it. But I did anyway — just trying to buy a bit more time for myself on the computer — typing away at a sad story, and doom scrolling the latest death toll and infection rates in the states where people I love live. Things are bad, Henri Boo. So bad. I can't explain it to you. But you feel it somehow, even though you don't understand what it means. The mood in the house. The sorrow. The quiet terror at a world that appears to be sifting to dust. There are more than 315,000 Americans dead at this point, and the hospitals in L.A. County have reached a nadir of 0% capacity. A colleague of mine at the L.A. Times just wrote a story about a woman who died in the ER after waiting 12 hours to be seen. Public health officials say 1 in 80 people in L.A. County is actively infected. There is a viral wildfire outside these walls. So we wait inside, wondering how much worse it will get before it gets better. We are lucky, though. The house is warm, and we had a Christmas tree delivered. A beautiful bushy tree that leans to the left under the weight of the old aluminum foil star that your father made for our first Christmas together. I would have taken you to see Santa, except Santas are sitting behind plexiglass this year, and like many COVID-era substitute experiences, this is not one I want for either one of us. So we will forgo the tradition. I am edgy and impatient. You need attention all the time. You are desperate for it. You are bone tired of playing alone. You want to play 'family' often. Cat family and bunny family are your favorites. You also like to play a game called 'Cheetah Cuddle,' in which we are cheetah sisters and we cuddle. 'Sister, sister,' you say with your sweet little lisp. 'Your fur is so soft.' You stroke my back and cuddle into me. I tell you your fur is soft too, and that I like your spots. One day this will be over, Boo. I promise you that a lot. I tell you that things will be 'normal' again, even though I know we will be forever altered. The wounds inside me are raw and bleeding. They will scab over, and one day they will heal. But the scars on my soul will remain. Two vaccines have been approved, and more than 100,000 health care workers, including your cousin Alyssa, have been vaccinated. This is good news. People say it is the beginning of the end of the pandemic. But as many as 200,000 more people could die in America before the bulk of us get a shot. I tried to explain the vaccine to you the other day. I told you it was going to change our situation, that it was going to make things better. Daddy listened to me struggle with my words. 'How do you describe a vaccine to a 4-year-old?' he asked. I'm not sure I did it well, but I somehow did it. You listened closely. You seemed thoughtful, looking at me intently with your clear, blue eyes. You asked if you would get a lollipop after you got the shot. I said you would, but I knew you wouldn't. I love you my sweet girl, my darling daughter, my cheetah sister, Mama I'm arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt thinking about all the people we lost during the pandemic and hoping we have learned enough to not let such a thing happen again. Ashley Lee and I have your arts news rundown for the week. 'Here There Are Blueberries'Moisés Kaufman's documentary play centers on a set of photographs, sent to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007, that captured the daily lives of Auschwitz concentration camp workers. 'When I first saw the Tectonic Theatre Project production at La Jolla Playhouse in 2022, I was unprepared for the quiet devastation of this contemplative drama,' wrote Times theater critic Charles McNulty earlier this year. 'A Pulitzer Prize finalist, the play examines the Holocaust from the vantage of the perpetrators, training an objective eye on those who carried out the unimaginable. It dares to look at how humanity could so profoundly betray itself. The result is documentary theater at its most harrowing — and essential.' Performances start Thursday and run through March 30. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. L.A. Omnibus: Tren Al SurTo all my fellow Carolina A. Miranda fans: The beloved former Times columnist will be in conversation with L.A. Omnibus series curator Raquel Gutierrez, discussing all things art, culture and movement in L.A. At the event, both writers will also read from their respective works-in-progress memoirs; the evening also includes musical performances by Rubén Martínez, Júan Pérez and Marco Amador. 8 p.m., Thursday. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd., Westwood. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra'Theirs is not a sound but a sensitivity to sound and a standard,' wrote Times classical music critic Mark Swed of the Austrian ensemble when they were last in Southern California more than 10 years ago. 'It's a way of players blending with other players that may be integral to Viennese culture but that also transcends race, gender and nationality.' The orchestra, who had a sold-out event Sunday, is putting on a second concert, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting Schubert's 'Tragic' symphony and Dvorák's 'From the New World' symphony. 8 p.m. Tuesday. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. — Ashley Lee TUESDAYGhosts of Segregation Photographer Richard Frishman chronicles the residue of segregation, slavery and institutional racism that remains visible in American architecture. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, Friday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday, through March 29. Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Westchester. David Hammons A reprise of the artist's acclaimed installation work 'Concerto in Black and Blue' is shown for the first time in 20 years.11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays, through 1 June. Hauser & Wirth, 901 E. 3rd St., downtown L.A. Michael Kohn Gallery MKG marks its 40th anniversary with an exhibition featuring work by Keith Haring, Chiffon Thomas, Alicia Adamerovich, Martha Alf and others, plus the restoration of Bruce Conner's 1967 documentary short 'The White Rose.'1227 N. Highland Ave., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, through April 19. Holly Lowen The artist's solo exhibition, 'Entanglement,' explores the complexities of human and animal March 30. Visit by appointment. Hill House, Pasadena. (323) 389-5315. WEDNESDAYLizzo The classically trained flutist turned Grammy-winning hip-hop star plays a smaller-scale theater show.8 p.m. The Wiltern, 3790 Wilshire Blvd. THURSDAYAmerican Ballet Theatre Studio Company The troupe of rising stars performs works including 'Interplay' by Jerome Robbins, 'Tarantella' by George Balanchine and the Black Swan pas de deux from 'Swan Lake.'7:30 p.m. Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts, Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu. Anora This year's Academy Award winner for best picture gets a four-day run in 35 mm at one of the theaters owned by Quentin Tarantino, who presented Sean Baker his directing Oscar last week. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 6:30 p.m. March 16. New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd. Branford Marsalis Quartet The Grammy-winning saxophonist and composer and his group tour ahead of the release of their Blue Note Records debut, 'Belonging,' an interpretation of Keith Jarrett's 1974 jazz album of the same name.7:30 p.m. Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 18000 Park Plaza Drive Midori The Japanese violinist and her longtime recital partner, Özgür Aydin, perform selections from Brahms, Poulenc and Ravel.8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. Schlitzie: Alive and Inside The true story of the misunderstood sideshow performer who appeared in the 1932 film 'Freaks' and found a family with other marginalized and disabled artists comes to life.8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 7 p.m. Sundays; through March 30. Heritage Square Museum, 3800 Homer St. Step + Repeat An exhibition of 46 Southern California artists inspired by I the historical Pattern and Decoration movement of the mid-1970s.1-4 p.m. Sunday, for public reception. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; through May 18. Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Tren Al Sur L.A. Times (and Essential Arts newsletter) alum Carolina Miranda and writer Raquel Gutierrez discuss art, culture and movement in Los Angeles, and read from their respective works-in-progress memoirs; with musical performance by Rubén Martínez, Júan Pérez and Marco Amador.8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. With Christian nationalism on the rise in Washington D.C., Times art critic Christopher Knight explains the history behind a statue called 'The Puritan,' by the American Beaux-Arts sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens of a pious leader named Deacon Samuel Chapin. Chapin arrived in America in the 1600s and happens to be Knight's ancestor. In his column, Knight discusses how the Puritans' move to mix religion and politics failed spectacularly — and speculates that a similar fate might await the current administration if it continues its strident faith-based trajectory. The first Los Angeles museum survey of French Impressionist painter Gustave Caillebotte's work in nearly 30 years is on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Titled 'Gustave Caillebotte: Painting Men,' the exhibit uses more than 60 paintings and dozens of drawings and studies to examine the artists relationship with the male identity. Unlike many of his peers, including Manet, Degas, Morisot, Monet, Renoir, Cassatt — who put plenty of focus on female subjects — 'it's raining men' in Caillebotte's paintings, writes Knight in his review. Suzan Lori-Parks' play 'Topdog/Underdog' won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize, making Parks the first Black woman to receive the award for drama. The play also landed her on Broadway. Since then, 'Topdog/Underdog' has remained a beloved work with a panel of New York Times critics ranking it No. 1 on a 2018 list of 25 great works of American drama since Tony Kushner's 'Angels in America.' Unfortunately, a new revival directed by directed by Gregg T. Daniel at Pasadena Playhouse does not rise to the level of greatness achievable by the script, Times theater critic Charles McNulty writes in his review. Los Angeles Philharmonic announced the final season for its beloved music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel, who, after 17 years will move on to helm the New York Philharmonic. Called 'Gracias Gustavo' the offerings including the second Wagner 'Ring' opera, 'Die Walküre,' with sets by friend and collaborator Frank Gehry. The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, composed of professional theater critics and journalists, announced its 2024 season award finalists. The best production category includes a list of favorites, including Center Theatre Group's 'A Strange Loop' at the Ahmanson Theatre; 'Fat Ham' at the Geffen Playhouse; 'Company' at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre; 'Crevasse,' a co-production of Victory Theatre Center and Son of Semele; 'Dido of Idaho' at Echo Theater Company; 'Funny Girl' at the Ahmanson and Segerstrom Hall; and 'Reefer Madness: The Musical' at The Whitley. The Marciano Art Foundation has extended Doug Aitken's 'Lightscape' installation through May. It was originally scheduled to close on March 15. Free weekly dance and music programming is also being expanded, including performances by Suzanne Ciani, Beck with La Lom , Carlos Niño, LA Dance Project, Konkrete and LA Master Chorale. — Jessica Gelt At the end of the day, says this dude under an umbrella (who also happens to be a producer), theater is a business.
