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THIS WEEK in L.A.
This weekend is a smorgasbord of opportunity: take a taste of Encino in the San Fernando Valley or Abbot Kinney in Venice, and dance tastes will be offered at the Music Center Plaza. If you have a taste for art head to Monrovia to "Celebrate the Arts" at their 46th Annual Art Festival. Or you might like to explore Hometown Pasadena or all 27 miles of Washington Blvd.
Eye Spy LA has a number of volunteers who, from time to time, write about theatre, entertainment, events and other places to go in L.A. Because they're volunteers, they pick the things they write about and freely give their own opinions. I do too. If I recommend something it is because I've been there or it is something I plan on going to or would go to if I could.
No one has been a more prolific playgoer than Mike Buzzelli over the last several months and I'm sad to report, Mike has moved to the East Coast and will no longer be writing all of those great theatre reviews for us.
On the upside, I'd like to introduce M.R. Hunter, read her first two reviews for Eye Spy LA below. And while I'm at it I'd like to thank Mark Share, Charles Phoenix, Kelly Hargraves and all the others who contribute their writings regularly or as they can.
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Go Crazy with the Gogol Project at The Bootleg Theatre Review by M.R. Hunter
Call it crazy or just plain silly, but most of all call it absurdly fun. The Rogue Artists Ensemble brings to life Russian writer's Nikolai Gogol (often referred to as the father of modern Russian realism), three best-known works with a hyper-theatrical use of puppetry, music and dance.
In the fantastic and odd world of Gogol's short stories, "The Nose," "The Overcoat" and "The Diary of a Madman,": noses grow legs, dogs sing love songs, and time keeps on ticking with the help of a lovesick clock-keeper who later believes himself to be the Queen of Spain. No one can accuse this show of being anything less than original...
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HEART & SOLE at The Actor's Gang: "Death and Giggles" and "Sole Mate"
Review by M.R. Hunter
 Minimalist performance art can run the risk of coming across too coldly abstract to feel anything except curious admiration, but The Actor's Gang duel performances show that less can still have a lot of heart and, in this case, plenty of sole.
If you love Jimmy Choo, then the opening show is for you.
"Sole Mate" is a cute, somewhat sappily sweet little number about a shoe searching for his better half. Standing atop a chair, Cristina Bercovitz sings and manipulates the open flap of a single shoe as Mr. Shoe recounts his luckless dating adventures. Yes, apparently finding love in LA is just as hard on the shoes. Mr. Shoe goes from one mismatched pair to another, as Jessica Erskine provides The Legs and the who's who footwear of swinging, single soles from behind a colorful wardrobe....
...Introspective, bold, and daringly original, "Death and Giggles" is like looking at Jackson Pollock's squiggly high-concept art; you can appreciate it but don't bother analyzing it to death. Sometimes a balloon is just a balloon, until it pops. Read the FULL REVIEW |
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TOTEM POLE PARK & AQUARIUM, 1956
A giant drive-thru redwood tree trunk provides a perfect perch for a billboard of one of the most bizarre roadside tourist traps I've ever discovered in a slide. Not only does this rural wonder claim to be a park of totem poles (and, who, tell me doesn't like totem poles,) it's also an aquarium where you can see "Ocean Wonders ALIVE - Like a Walk on the Floor of the Sea - Just Ahead." Or in the case of this robin's egg blue 1949 Plymouth, just behind! Judging by the mossy tree trunk this has to be somewhere in Northern California. Does any remember this memorable place???
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Eye Spy LA is celebrating 6 years as the Local's Guide to L.A.
Content is written, edited and maintained by locals and only about
local events and the local creative community.
You'll always find the latest events & activities plus commentary about where we've been at eyespyLA.com - updated daily.
Have a GREAT Weekend! -- Andrea Kirk (editor@eyespyLA.com) |
