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Los Angeles Times
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
MOCA gala honors Frank Gehry, others, raises $3.1 million: L.A. arts and culture this weekend
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles threw a glitzy bash at the institution's Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo Saturday, raising $3.1 million and honoring architect Frank Gehry, artist Theaster Gates and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi — a surprise guest — showed up to pay tribute to Gehry, while Ava DuVernay celebrated Gates and Jane Fonda honored Schmidt. The special program honoring 'visionaries' who helped shaped the museum's trajectory is part of a new gala tradition called MOCA Legends, which will continue with new honorees next year. The night began with cocktails in the plaza and private access to the Olafur Eliasson exhibition, 'OPEN.' The Japanese American drumming group TAIKOPROJECT played while guests found their seats for dinner. MOCA director Johanna Burton welcomed attendees with a speech about the power of art and its ability to bring communities together. 'As we celebrate our annual gala, we are not just honoring individual achievements, but reaffirming our collective belief in the power of art to connect and challenge; uplift and endure,' Burton said, according to a news release about the event. After Pelosi's introduction of Gehry, which included mention of his 1983 renovation of the Geffen Contemporary, the 96-year-old legend noted how much the museum has meant to him over the years. 'Artists brought me into their club — it's where I wanted to be, and they opened my eyes to another world,' Gehry said. I'm arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, and I'm here for all the celebrations of art and artists — the more the better. Here's your weekend rundown of arts news. Noah DavisA collection of more than 50 figurative paintings made by the late Los Angeles artist, who died at 32 in 2015, just as Davis' career was beginning to attract wide attention, arrives after stops in Potsdam, Germany, and London. Davis' paintings, often built around found photographs, regularly balance on a knife-edge between daily life and dream. The exhibition represents the first institutional survey of Davis' 31. UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. Seoul FestivalThe L.A. Phil turns to the South Korean capital this week for a follow-up to its revelatory Reykjavik and Mexico City festivals. Unsuk Chin, today's best-known Korean composer, is the curator. Despite a seeming wealth of renowned performers, Korea remains a musically mysterious land. The mostly youngish composers and performers in the first festival event, an exceptional concert of new music on Tuesday night, were all discoveries. The festival continues with weekend orchestra concerts featuring different mixes of four more new Korean scores commissioned by the L.A. Phil, Chin's 2014 Clarinet Concerto and a pair of Brahms concertos. A chamber music concert with works by Schumann and Brahms played by Korean musicians is the closing event Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. 'Lear Redux'While Center Theatre Group reworks Shakepeare's 'Hamlet' at the Mark Taper Forum (see item below), across town, Odyssey Theatre renews its collaboration with theater artist John Farmanesh-Bocca for a madcap adaptation of the Bard's 'King Lear,' another entry in the director-playwright's Redux series. Veteran stage actor Jack Stehlin stars as the titular monarch in the production, which Stage Raw's Deborah Klugman described as 'wildly idiosyncratic.' In 2016, Times' contributor Philip Brandes made Farmanesh-Bocca's 'Tempest Redux' at the Odyssey (also starring Stehlin) a Critic's Choice, writing that the work 'boldly transposes Shakespeare's play to a darker, more unsettling key, but the inventive staging and solid command of source text make for a memorable re-imagining.'Wednesday-Sunday, through July 13. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. When CNN broadcasts a live performance of 'Good Night, and Good Luck' from the Winter Garden in New York City on Saturday (4 p.m. PDT), it's apparently the first time a Broadway play will be shown live on television, and the timing could not be better. An adaptation of George Clooney and Grant Heslov's 2005 film, which chronicled CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow's heroic crusade against Sen. Joseph McCarthy's communist witch hunts, the broodingly elegant production, sharply directed by David Cromer and starring a quietly committed Clooney in the role of Murrow (played in the film by David Strathairn), was not only one of the most stirring offerings of the Broadway season but also one of the most necessary. As media companies face a campaign of intimidation from the Trump administration, the figure of Murrow, standing tall in the face of demagogic adversity, is the courageous example we need right now. I don't know how different the experience will be watching at home, but 'Good Night, and Good Luck' made me reflect on what theatergoing might have been like in ancient Greece. Athenian citizens would gather at an open-air theater as a democratic privilege and responsibility. Playwrights addressed the polis not by dramatizing current events but by recasting tales from the mythological and historic past to sharpen critical thinking on contemporary concerns. Clooney and Heslov aren't writing dramatic poetry. Their more straightforward approach is closer to documentary drama, but the effect is not so disparate. We are affirmed in the knowledge that we are the body politic. — Charles McNulty Director and playwright Robert O'Hara's world premiere adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' opened Wednesday at the Mark Taper Forum starring Patrick Ball from 'The Pitt' and Gina Torres from 'Suits.' The Times sat down with the trio of creatives for an interview about how the show came together — as well as the many novel ways it diverges from the traditional script. O'Hara presents a modern-day vision that questions whether Hamlet is a tragic hero or a murderous psychopath. The mystery is solved 'CSI'-style and the tone is very L.A. noir. For his part, Ball can't believe any of this is really happening, having been a relative unknown before 'The Pitt' premiered in January. L.A. Opera announced Domingo Hindoyan as its new music director. Hindoyan — chief conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic — will replace outgoing music director James Conlon when he steps down at the end of the 2026 season. When Hindoyan, a native of Venezuela, made his L.A. Opera debut last November with 'Roméo et Juliette,' Times classical music critic Mark Swed speculated he might be in the running for the coveted position. Turns out he was right. Times contributor Nick Owchar talks with architectural historian Nathan Marsak about the Angel City Press reissue of photographer Arnold Hylen's book of mid-20th century photos, 'Los Angeles Before the Freeways: Images of an Era 1850-1950.' Marsak curated and expanded the new edition, which details a fascinating world of lost streets, civic buildings, shops and restaurants. Orange County Museum of Art executive director Heidi Zuckerman — who announced she will step down in December — has launched a new online platform called 'About Art.' It's home to her 'Why Art Matters' newsletter and 'About Art' podcast, as well as a number of lifestyle offerings including an entry on Zuckerman's love of matcha and how to prepare the perfect cup. In a news release about the venture, Zuckerman notes that her work has gathered a community of 40,000 art enthusiasts. The summer Hollywood Bowl season is upon us, and with it comes the complimentary Market Tasting Series with wine picks by chef Caroline Styne. The fun begins with the Roots Picnic this Sunday in the Plaza Marketplace near the box office. Tastings start an hour before doors open, and you can meet with vintners and reps from Habit Wines, Skurnik Wines, Grapevine Wine Company, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Elevage Wines and more. The final tasting will take place before the John Legend concert on Sunday, Sept. 28. Speaking of wine, Barnsdall Art Park Foundation is back — beginning tonight at 5:30 p.m. — with its 16th annual Barnsdall Fridays wine tasting fundraiser (the first two Fridays are already sold out). Proceeds from the events, scheduled to run through Sept. 26, support cultural programming at the park. The popular summer series comes as proposed city budget cuts imperil the park's finances. Guests are invited to relax on Olive Hill, as well as the west lawn of Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House — the only existing UNESCO World Heritage site in the city of Los Angeles. Wines come courtesy of Silverlake Wine, and there are always a variety of local food trucks onsite, as well as a DJ. While there, visitors can check out exhibitions and artist-led presentations at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and Barnsdall Junior Arts Center Gallery. — Jessica Gelt I'm happy to report that I've been to 14 of the 17 eateries on The Times Food section's list of L.A.'s oldest restaurants. Some, like Musso & Frank Grill, I've ambled into many times (that martini!), and others, like Mijares Mexican Restaurant, I've stumbled upon while walking around town. I'll spend this weekend visiting the remaining three.
Los Angeles Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘Life of Pi' opens at the Ahmanson: L.A. arts and culture this weekend
It's all about the magic of puppets in the play 'Life of Pi,' which opened Wednesday at the Ahmanson Theatre — part of the inaugural North American tour after opening on Broadway in 2023 and later winning three Tony Awards. Lolita Chakrabarti's stage adaptation of Yann Martel's bestselling 2001 novel follows a shipwrecked Indian boy who survives at sea in the company of animals including a Bengal tiger. It's that tiger, a 450-pound beast named Richard Parker, that captivates the audience alongside an orangutan named Orange Juice plus a hyena and a zebra. The creatures were designed by Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell, with movement direction by Caldwell, whose work is among the best in the business. It takes three puppeteers to fully animate the astonishing Richard Parker. This isn't a children's play, mind you, and it's recommended for ages 10 and older. The story has crushingly tragic elements and contemplates the big mysteries of life and death through a spiritual lens. I thought my 9-year-old daughter could handle the intense moments, and she did sit slack-jawed throughout. The puppets imbued the play with a poetry of motion and an otherworldly sense of wonder. The puppeteers were fully visible as they rendered the taut, muscular menace of the tiger and the kinetic leaping of the orangutan, making the creatures appear to be the stuff of fantasy. Lead actor Taha Mandviwala, who plays Pi, is equally lithe and surefooted as he leaped across the stage in communion with his animal castmates in choreography that felt very much like dance. I'm arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt looking forward to a weekend of being shipwrecked on my couch. Here's your regular dose of arts news. From one tiger we jump to another: Twelve years before Ang Lee directed the movie adaptation of 'Life of Pi,' the filmmaker dazzled audiences with 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.' With a cast that included Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat, the 2000 movie went on to win four Oscars — and arguably could have won best picture had the academy voting body been as globally diverse then as it is now. The film will screen in 35mm, and filmmaker Ang Lee and actor Zhang Ziyi in conversation with Academy of Motion Pictures President Janet Yang. Advance tickets are already sold out, but standby seats will be available on first-come basis.7:30 p.m. Friday. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. L.A. Choreographer and performer Djordjevich says her upcoming Warehouse at the Geffen Contemporary show 'eroticizes the labor of the dancing body.' Bob is an alter-ego and, according to the Museum of Contemporary Art's description of the program, that alter-ego is 'on a rampage with and against self-consciousness in order to bask in reverie, delusion, desire and rage. Show no mercy!' Um, OK! 7:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, 4-5 p.m. Saturday. Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, 152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo. Touted as an exhibition of 180 masterpieces of Buddhist art, this show at LACMA follows Buddhism's origins in India as it spread across Asia — Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal, Tibet, China, Korea and Japan. Paintings, sculptures and ritual artifacts have been culled from the museum's permanent collection or borrowed from private owners. Sunday-July 12. Resnick Pavilion, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Evergreen Review Author Pat Thomas signs his new book, 'Evergreen Review Magazine: Dispatches from the Literary Underground: Covers & Essays 1957-1973,' and discusses the counterculture magazine with writer Jessica Hundley and illustrator Jess Rotter.7 p.m. Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. The Homecoming Frédérique Michel directs this production of Harold Pinter's classic enigmatic domestic drama.8 p.m. Friday, Saturday; 4 p.m. Sunday, through June 15. City Garage 2525 Michigan Ave. Building T1, Santa Monica Max Richter The innovative composer performs work from his albums 'The Blue Notebooks' (2004) and 'In A Landscape' (2024) with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble.8 p.m. Friday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. Venice Family Clinic Art Walk + Auction The annual fundraiser showcases the work of established, mid-career and emerging artists, with a spotlight on this year's joint Signature Artists, Lita and Isabelle Albuquerque.11 a.m.-6 p.m. through May 18. Venice Art Walk Gallery, 910 Abbot Kinney Blvd. Just Like Heaven The millennial indie compendium gets a long-awaited Rilo Kiley reunion and sets from Vampire Weekend, Bloc Party and TV on the Brookside at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena. Wicked Elphaba and Galinda's adventures in Oz get the outdoor treatment with food trucks, live music and more, plus a Q&A with choreographer Christopher Scott before the screening. 8 p.m. Autry Museum of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park. Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who has performed for years after a brain cancer diagnosis, made his last public appearance at a San Francisco Symphony gala and a tribute to him. Times classical music critic Mark Swed attended the festive affair, noting, 'For six decades, beginning with his undergraduate years at USC — where he attracted the attention of Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky and the odd rock 'n' roll musician about town — Tilson Thomas has been a joy-making key figure in American music.' Times art critic Christopher Knight dives into the photographic history of child labor as seen through the lens of sociologist Lewis W. Hine, who photographed kids at work during the first decades of the 20th century. These striking and unsettling images played a key role in galvanizing Americans to push for comprehensive child labor laws. 'Legislatures in 16 states, Florida prominent among them, have been deliberating rolling back child labor laws. In some cases, major steps have already been taken to loosen restrictions on work by kids as young as 14. The erasures, almost exclusively promoted by Republicans, target legal prohibitions against child exploitation that have been in place for nearly a century,' writes Knight. Center Theatre Group has revealed its 2025-26 season lineup, which includes the Imelda Marcos bio-musical 'Here Lies Love,' featuring music by David Byrne of the art-rock band Talking Heads; the Jocelyn Bioh play 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding'; Eboni Booth's new Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'Primary Trust'; a stage riff on the 'Paranormal Activity' movies; the musical '& Juliet'; and a 25th anniversary revival of 'Mamma Mia!' Read all about the upcoming offerings, here. Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Adam Lambert will play Judas opposite Cythia Erivo's Jesus in the Hollywood Bowl's August production of 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' the Los Angeles Philharmonic announced this week. Lambert is no stranger to musical theater, having appeared in a Tony Award-winning production of 'Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,' as well as in the first national tour and L.A. company of 'Wicked.' Single tickets for Bowl shows also went on sale this week. Topanga's Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum has announced the two Shakespeare comedies that will kick off its '2025 Season of Resilience' (so-named after the Palisades fire came perilously close to the venue) in its lovely outdoor amphitheater: 'Much Ado About Nothing' on June 7 and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' on June 8. The Academy Museum has announced that writer-director Judd Apatow will be its first guest curator for a new comedy film exhibition set to open in April 2027. The news was revealed during a 20th anniversary screening of Apatow's 2005 directorial debut, 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin,' starring Steve Carell. — Jessica Gelt Read Times columnist Mary McNamara's timely take on why television is currently stocked with women 'with no more f—s to give.'
