Welcome to another edition of Essential Arts, where the question of the week might be: How have 99-cent-only stores shaped the cultural landscape of Los Angeles? (Artist Andreas Gursky provides his contribution to The Broad.) But before we dive into the week's news, let's run through our staff's recommendations for your cultural calendar in the coming days.
Best Bets: What's on our radar
1. “Fat Ham”
“Hamlet” serves as the springboard for the lively comedy of “Fat Ham” by director James Ijames, winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Josey, the novel's young black protagonist, receives an angry visit from his dead father demanding revenge for his murder. But a backyard barbecue is currently underway to celebrate the wedding of Josey's mother and uncle. The entertaining Broadway production arrives at the Geffen Theater with its pervasive Shakespearean and Freudian themes to revisit an age-old question: Can we say no to the tragic fate assigned to us? Although funny and thought-provoking, “Fat Ham” is not to be missed.
Until April 28. Geffen Theater, 10886 Le Conte Blvd., Westwood. geffenplayhouse.org
– Charles McNulty
“Fat Ham” at the Geffen Theater.
(Jeff Lorsch)
2. Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Coachella is back, and the 23rd edition of the festival is arguably its most SoCal-focused bill yet. Lana del rey friday headline live here. Tyler, the creative who headlined Saturday, grew up here, as did Doja Cat, who headlined Sunday. Orange County's No Doubt, the Gwen Stefani-led pop-ska band that last performed together in 2015, is reuniting at the festival, and Long Beach reformed band Sublime has also reunited. Check out our coverage of the weekend from the Times team on the ground.
April 12-14 and 19-21. Empire Polo Club, 81-800 51st Street, India. www.coachella.com
– August Brown
Jacob Noel takes his father's place in Sublime at Coachella.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
3. “Kairos”
Part romantic comedy, part “Black Mirror” episode? Lisa Sanae Dreng's compelling new play “Kairos” presents a medical advance that could ensure immortality. Sylvia Cowan and Gerard Joseph play two people in their 30s who, as they fall in love, contemplate the potential consequences of embracing eternal life, and how it will affect society as a whole – not to mention their budding relationship, because eternity is a very long time. Jesca Prudencio directs the world premiere of this piece, which was originally developed as part of the Geffen Playhouse writers room.
Until April 28. Union Center for the Arts, David Henry Hwang Theater, 120 N. Judge Jun Aiso Street, Little Tokyo. eastwestplayers.org
– Ashley Lee
4. “The Book of Mountains and Seas”
Composer Huang Ru, who was born in 1976 at the end of the Cultural Revolution and immigrated to the United States as a young man, wrote his extraordinary string quartet “Dust in Time,” inspired by Tibetan Buddhist mandalas, at the beginning of the pandemic. Recorded in San Francisco's empty Grace Cathedral, it served as a sort of otherworldly healing ceremony. The following year, Ruo embarked on an opera based on the ancient Chinese myth. Created in collaboration with dazzling puppeteer Basil Twist and the spirited chorus Ars Nova Copenhagen, “The Book of Mountains and Seas” now comes to Santa Monica courtesy of Los Angeles Opera.
Wednesday until April 14. Broad Theater, 1310 11th Street, Santa Monica. laopera.org
– Mark Swed
Puppeteer Basil Twist worked on part of “The Book of Mountains and Seas” presented by the Los Angeles Opera at the Broad Theater in Santa Monica.
(Stephen Pisano)
5. “Wolf’s Works”
Three Virginia Woolf novels — “Mrs. Dalloway,” “Orlando,” and “The Waves” — are the inspiration for Wayne McGregor’s ballet, which will have its North American premiere next week at the American Ballet Theater in Costa Mesa. The three dance works are not literal adaptations of Woolf’s stories but rather evocations Visual for the emotions and themes of novels. In reviewing the Royal Ballet's performance of Wolf Works last year, The Guardian used words like “enchanting,” “astonishing” and, yes, “masterpiece.”
Thursday-Sunday. Segerstrom Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org
-Craig Nakano
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Next week: Coordinated calendar
Sunday
Long story short An exhibition featuring artworks dating from the 1940s to the present day, drawn from MOCA's collection with the aim of reminding viewers that “art history, and history more broadly, is being made in the present.”
Until April 28. Museum of Contemporary Art, 250 S. Grand Ave., Downtown Los Angeles moca.org
Tuesday
Hippolyte Bayard: A Continuing Pioneer One of the lesser-known pioneers of photography, Bayard was a Parisian bureaucrat and inventor who practiced his art on the side; The exhibition presents photographs dating back to the 1840s and includes one of the oldest photo albums ever created.
Tuesday – July 7th. The Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles getty.edu
Photography in the 19th century now A fresh look at the Getty's collection of nineteenth-century photography and the works of contemporary artists who respond directly to its historical themes and subject matter.
Tuesday – July 7th. The Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles getty.edu
feed Sana Jatia's first solo exhibition in Los Angeles precedes the artist's upcoming participation in the Uganda Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
Until May 18. Karma, 7351 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles karmakarma.org
Wednesday
Statements 4: Dred and Harriet Scott's decision Conceptual artist Charles Gaines' performance-based installation transforms the original text of the landmark 1857 US Supreme Court case.
8:30 p.m. Redcat, 631 W. 2nd St., Downtown Los Angeles redcat.org
Image worlds: Greek, Maya and Moche pottery Ancient works from the Mediterranean, Mesoamerica, and northern Peru explore the ways in which ceramics were a dynamic medium for storytelling and social engagement.
Until July 2. Getty Villa, 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades. getty.edu
Thursday
Memorizes RHe's going to a party: Greetings ROr Jimmy Buffett Paul McCartney, The Eagles, Jon Bon Jovi and more pay tribute to the late mayor of Margaritaville.
7 p.m. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. hollywoodbowl.com
Friday
the monster A science fiction romantic drama written and directed by Bertrand Bonello, starring Léa Seydoux and George MacKay, loosely based on Henry James's 1903 novella The Beast in the Wood.
Play Now, AMC Burbank and Landmark Sunset Theaters; Opens Friday, Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica; Laemmle Town Center 5, Encino; Lyme Glendale; Laimle Clermont. laemmle.com
Civil war Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny star in writer-director Alex Garland's thriller about a fractured United States in a not-so-distant future.
It starts Friday with Thursday previews. a24films.com
Cailee Spaeny, left, and Kirsten Dunst are pictured in a Los Angeles Times article about “The Civil War.”
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Saint-Saëns's organ symphony Conductor Louis Langre leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Saint-Saëns' Third Symphony, as well as the world premiere of Jonathan Billy Holland's symphony. 8 pm Friday; 2 p.m. April 13-14. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Downtown Los Angeles laphil.com
Saturday 13 April
Rainbow: Judy Garland's New Musical Michael Feinstein stars in this multimedia journey through the life of the Hollywood icon.
8 p.m. Mark Taper Forum, 35 N. Grand Ave., Downtown Los Angeles centertheatregroup.org
The biggest Los Angeles culture news
the Mark Taper Forum Regular programming will be relaunched in early 2025, but it has underlying problems that have forced Center Theater Group To close its historical phase was resolved? That was the question that prompted the conversation between the Times theater critic Charles McNulty and CTG Leads Technical Director Snehal Desai And managing partner Megan Pressman. The story was the most read by subscribers this week.
McNulty also has the ruling Katrina McCrimmon Like Fanny Brice: dazzling. You can read his review of “Funny girl” In the Ahmanson Theater.
Katrina McCrimmon and Stephen Mark Lucas in “Funny Girl.”
(Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)
Staff writer Ashley Lee Contains the back story of “Ride,” a production at the Old Globe in San Diego that chronicles the journey of Annie Londonderry, the first woman to ride a bicycle around the world. The story unfolds with just two actors, and Lee explores how increasingly regional theater companies across the country, faced with limited budgets, searched for productions that entertained audiences with as few actors as possible.
Livvi Markus and Alex Finke in “Ride” at the Old Globe.
(Jim Cox)
Times classical music critic Mark Swed Explains the phenomenon Philip Glass20 pieces, which became the composer's most performed music. Sweid explains why Yuga Wang, Alice Waters, Justin Beck, Martin Scorsese And Laurie Andersonamong others, were expressing this admiration for these glass works.
Taylor Swift and Beyoncé may be selling out stadiums, but concerts and music festivals aren't universal gold these days. Made in USAthe Jay-Z-founded Labor Day festival in Philadelphia that added a satellite to downtown Los Angeles in 2014, has been canceled for the second year in a row.
More culture news in brief…
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the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announced its 2024-25 season lineup, which includes partnerships with the opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Ballet, Los Angeles Dance Project And Tone, among other things. Theater is part of the plan, including Tectonic Theater Project The play “Here There Are Blueberries” by Moises Kaufman And Amanda Groenich.
The Segerstrom Center for the Arts has announced its 2024-25 Broadway programming. The lineup includes 10 shows including “Hamilton,” “Kimberly Akimbo,” “Life of Pi,” “Back to the Future: The Musical” and “Hadestown.”
Designated Palm Springs Museum of Art Christine Friday As its new chief curator. Vendredi is the former global artistic director of Louis Vuitton and co-author of two books on architecture. She starts in her position this month.
Long longthe classical pianist who plays movie tunes at the Hollywood Bowl while performing a Bach concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, will receive his star at Hollywood Walk of Fame Wednesday.
Pacific Opera Project announced its 2024-25 season lineup, which includes two outside productions: a Los Angeles premiere; Antonin Dvorjak “Rusalka” was presented in Descanso Gardens At La Cañada Flintridge, and Gilbert and Sullivan's “HMS Pinafore” were put on display at Heritage Square Museum In Montecito Heights.
to cut Christopher Durang, Tony Award-winning writer of “Vanya, Sonya, Masha and Spike” has died at the age of 75.
Finnish conductor Klaus Makelawho turned 28 in January, has been named musical director of Chicago Symphony OrchestraHe succeeded Riccardo Muti and became the youngest leader of the civil society organization since its founding in 1891.
—Jessica Gilt
Klaus Makela
(Frank Franklin II/Associated Press)
last but not least …
Perfect for the smart kid who figured out that waving a truancy slip in front of a concert stage is an excellent way to get an autograph from Bruce Springsteen.
