ExperienceLA Bloggers experience the diversity of Los Angeles arts and culture, giving insight on their adventures. This blog is in conjunction with ExperienceLA.com - a free public service and online resource for Los Angeles arts and culture.
Here's something I love: when communities come together and create something they can call their own. That's exactly what North Hollywood did about 7 months ago when they started the monthly Hear NoHo Music Festival. While most cities have art walks, North Hollywood decided to celebrate its musical side.
Much like the art walks around LA, Hear NoHo is another example of a community coming together to support local artists. Businesses from shops to galleries and theatres lend their spaces to the event. Musicians get a free space to play. Audiences get to discover some new, local (as well as not local) music and possibly a new theatre or gallery in their backyard. Businesses get the benefit of exposure to new patrons. It's a win-win-win situation for all. Read more »
This Tuesday, I went to the opening night of one of the longest running, most anticipated (at least by me!), and very emotionally-charged musicals, CATS. I say emotionally-charged not because the musical has moments of joy, laughter, mystery, sadness and more, but that discussions about the musical always end up with people loving it or hating it, in the same way people love or hate cats (not kittens, of course - everyone loves kittens).
Of course, this is a generalization, and one does not need to love cats in order to enjoy the musical, CATS - but it helps. An interest in dance, especially modern dance, and a fondness for 80s nostalgia (especially leg warmers) also help. When I had first seen CATS in L.A., way back when, I could only remember the amazing makeup, costumes and large, "cat-sized" household objects of the extensive set. Now, I realized how talented and full of energy the cast must be in order to pull off what seemed to be a continuous dance movement. Rarely was there a still moment on stage. If the "cats" weren't dancing or singing, they were pawing, purring and playing like... well, cats!
For those anticipating the return of the magic and mystery, these performances will not disappoint. I've memorized every song from the musical, and still I enjoyed singing along (okay - actually just mouthing the words - I didn't want to ruin it for everyone else!) to my favorite ones. I was also pleasantly surprised by the extensive amount of dancing (not on the soundtrack!) and the little quirks of a live performance. The Rum Tum Tugger's (overly) confident drawl got extra laughs, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser's (slightly) skewed duet gave a neat twist to their song of mischief and mayhem, and Skimbleshanks extra cheeriness (my personal favorite) really hit the spot (I always felt that Skimbleshanks was too uptight on the CD).
The first musical I saw as a young child was CATS, and from then on I was hooked. A variety of music, modern dance, leg warmers and cats all wrapped up with a splash of 80s nostalgia - what's not to love?
Ok, I know it's something we see everyday - trash on the side of the road. Here in LA, and everywhere across the country, there's litter. It's a sad reality of the world we live in. But, I don't think I've ever been impacted so greatly as when I was at Balboa Park a couple weekends ago. I think we've all seen those demonstrations of what the bottom of our rivers, lakes and oceans look like with trash. What I saw in real life was unbelievable and unforgettable.
The Stella Adler Theatre is tucked away on the second floor in a small building in the midst of Hollywood's hustle-and-bustle. I had taken the Metro Red Line there to meet my friend Melissa for "Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them". The theatre is practically next door to Hollywood and Highland station, but I still had to walk by the lights and tall white columns of the Hollywood/Highland complex, past the El Capitan's blinking marquee, and the staple street performers and tourists roaming out on a Friday night. So finding myself so immediately in a small theatre space was a little jarring - not in a bad way at all, but in that pleasant way where your headspace is slightly off and you appreciate the best of both worlds because you've somehow just experienced the good of both places at once. "Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them" is kind of like that...messing with your headspace - in a good way - and making you laugh the entire time - even when you wonder if you're supposed to....
The audience follows the confusion of waking up in bed with an absolute stranger. Felicity (portrayed by Rhea Seehorn) hilariously does what most might do - try to escape. Remember this moment, because things will only get absurd from here. Try as she might to escape, the bad keeps on and the audience can't help but laugh on.
Zamir (Sunil Malhotra), who keeps on insisting that he's Irish, reveals that he's had a history of crime, appears fairly violent toward women, and doesn't really like the idea of a job. Felicity also suspects he might be a terrorist. But worse than waking up next to someone you don't remember, Felicity finds she is apparently married to this man and he doesn't believe in divorce.
Felicity then tries to escape to her parents - Luella (Christine Estabrook) and Leonard (Mike Genovese) - but she doesn't seem to escape anywhere but to a place that might just be more quietly dysfunctional. Luella can't help but talk of plays to escape and Leonard has his "butterfly" collection that occupies him for hours. Leonard is an extreme conservative - anti-abortion, pro-Second Amendment, anti-terrorism - and latches on too quickly (and fondly) to the idea that Zamir might be a terrorist.
Christopher Durang's play holds nothing back in political references and jokes at the conservative extreme, nor does he hold back in the amusing portrayal of the lax liberal Reverend Mike (Nicholas Brendon) who makes his living in less-than-holy ways. He successfully adds in the Leonard-fan/follower Hildegarde (Catherine Hicks) and the "voice" Felicity hears (Alec Mapa) to bring the audience to an absurdist reality of misunderstanding and prejudices seen through a comic lens. Even Hooters doesn't look the same in this play.
The cast as a whole is a terrific ensemble and each actor brings their role to the audience well. Seehorn as Felicity keeps the play together as it shifts in and out of one absurd situation into another and Malhotra, as Zamir, gives a character you want to hate, then you're not sure if you should, then you really root for him when the play is at its most intense. Genovese as Leonard is so seriously devoted in his extremism that you can't help but laugh, particularly alongside Estabrook's delivery of Luella's love for plays, rambling crazy facts/assessments about her husband, and flights-of-fancy. Meanwhile, Hicks as Hildegarde, Mapa as the Voice, and Brendon as Reverend Mike shine in their time on stage - from Hicks' comedic portrayal of loving devotion to Leonard to Mapa's random appearances as a narrator to Brendon's hilarious psychedelic Reverend Mike with his philosophy and one-liners.
The play successfully executes "Why Torture..." is right.
WHY TORTURE IS WRONG, AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM by Christopher Durang runs until March 14th. For more details, visit the listing on ExperienceLA.com.
An upcoming partner event this spring (May 22 & 23, in fact) is the Silver Lake Jubilee. This brand new, two-day art and music festival celebrates the cultural offerings of Silver Lake and surrounding neighborhoods. When I first learned of Silver Lake Jubilee, I was excited to help support the event as it seemed a perfect fit for ExperienceLA fans: family-friendly, promotes art and cultural awareness, embraces the community...In speaking with the event organizers to get additional details, I discovered that they were interested in promoting not just a community, but a sustainable community.
This intrigued me. I wondered how a festival of any size can go green beyond providing recycling bins. So the organizers put me in touch with one of their partners, Leslie VanKeuren from Sustain LA. Leslie is working with SLJ to help design a festival that will have "zero waste" when all is said and done, meaning that 90% of waste will be diverted from landfills through recycling, composting, and by designing out the waste.
I was surprised to learn all the various ways waste could be "designed" out of an event. For instance, I never really stopped to think about the water I purchased on those hot summer days attending music festivals. Nor did I think twice about what my food was served in or on. Sure, I was at least aware of putting my water bottle into the recycling bin, and making sure my disposable plates and aluminum foil went into the waste basket. But I never even considered that those items might not be necessary in the first place.
One of the ways SLJ will look to reduce waste is by encouraging the use of reusable beverage containers. Food vendors will also be educated on options for plating and serving that are biodegradable. Solar panels will be brought in to supply energy to the event. And festival goers can do their part by taking Metro or other public transportation, or riding their bikes to Silver Lake Jubilee (bike valets will be available). Volunteers will also be available to provide more information for those interested in learning how to be more effective in reducing your carbon footprint.
Of course, while these are just a few of the ways that SLJ hope to achieve a zero waste and carbon neutral status, the event won't accomplish its green goal simply by design. The biggest challenge is to change how people think about waste. Surely it won't happen overnight, but the effort is a start. At least for me, learning about SLJ's goals and the steps it's taking has made me more aware and conscientous of the waste I produce on a daily basis (shocking!), and adjust some of my behaviors. It will be curious to see whether other festival attendees will be affected in the same way and make a conscious effort to help eliminate waste while they're enjoying the jubilee. It's exciting to think about the possibility of LA one day becoming a leader in sustainable living.
As a side note, check out the calendar listing, or back on our blog for event updates as musical acts are confirmed!
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