THIS WEEK
 The Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations wrap up this weekend with the Annual Lantern Festival at El Pueblo. Weather was spectacular for the Firecracker Run last weekend, not so sure the Lantern Festival will fare as well.
If you need to duck for cover, there are numerous good plays, comedy shows and concerts. Film buff's: Kursawa's masterpiece RAN is now showing at the Nuart.
GOOD DEAL: Amoeba's monthly charity auction on Saturday has a cornucopia of items you never knew you HAD to have. Bid on rare and collectible memorabilia and wacky off-beat promotional items. Who could possibly resist an Obama Aloha Bobblehead Doll? Proceeds benefit DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS and Haiti Earthquake relief.
More relief for Haiti is on the way with proceeds from the Rise From The Rubble concert in Inglewood. Hip hop, jazz, gospel, spoken word, comedy, and dance.
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THE BALLAD OF EMMETT TILL: A LYRICAL TRIBUTE OF LOVE AND LOSS @ THE FOUNTAIN THEATRE Review by M.R. Hunter
 "My life was short, but not uneventful."
So begins the true story of one Emmett Till, a magnanimous fourteen-year-old with the gift of gab and a buoyant optimism that caused him to be the victim of hate, but whose murder sparked a call to action in the dawn of the civil rights movement.
The year was 1955-a time when race sharply divided a country into two unequal parts of equality and justice. In Argo, a small suburb outside of Chicago, whistling at a white woman or wearing a Panama hat might turn a few heads, but in the deep south of Mississippi, it could get a black man killed. For Emmett, race knew no bounds in his sheltered childhood with his mother and grandmother in Illinois. Using his charisma and mercurial wit to overcome his limp and slight stutter brought on by polio, Emmett's personal strengths become a lethal liability when he spends the summer on his uncle's plantation in the heart of Jim Crow country.
After its celebrated premiere at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, (garnering the 2008 Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award), playwright Ifa Bayeza refitted the play, whittling the original cast of 13 to a mere five with all but the titled character playing various roles throughout.
The result is a compact, moving tribute integrated with lyrical movement, superimposed speech, and stunning tableaus....
FULL REVIEW
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FOR A LIMITED AUDIENCE: BROADS! THE MUSICAL @ El Portal Forum Theatre Review by M.R. Hunter
There's nothing worse than seeing incredible talent go wasted on some schlocky material. Joe Symon and Jennie Fahn might have seen one too many Golden Girls episodes to crank out this recycled hash of banal one-liners, tired numbers and a predictable storyline concerning age and friendship.
Senior citizens, the obvious target audience, might find this as irresistible as the Early Bird Special at NoHo Diner, but don't let that fool you, I caught most of them snoozing in their seats... |
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LAST WEEK IN DANCE by Kelly Hargraves
Point Shoes and Helmets: Alberta Ballet (Over)does Joni Mitchell
I call it tragically hopeful. Take a folk singer with aspirations of saving the world through song-- not unreasonable considering Joni Mitchell's place as a voice of a generation - add it to a young upstart ballet company and choreographer, intent on visualizing the songstress' images and it's all a bit too much-the camouflage painted skin, with minimal cloth incorporated; the waving flags; the toy guns; the helmets, the huge earth covered balloon, the gimmick girl child, etc, etc.
Also the Los Angeles Ballet takes on Balanchine... Read the FULL REVIEWS |
