Posts by Bondo Wyszpolski
At the Getty: Edme Bouchardon, masterful French sculptor
Bouchardon: Royal Artist of the Enlightenment Clearly not a household name, in this country at least, the French draftsman and marble sculptor Edme Bouchardon (1698-1762) was a transitional figure between Rococo and Neoclassicism, part of “the generation of 1700” as Pierre Rosenberg coined it in 1973. In the catalogue that accompanies the Getty exhibition of…
Read MoreSondheim’s “Company” in Manhattan Beach
Comes That Day of Reckoning A local church theater presents “Company,” Sondheim’s acclaimed musical Musicals, by and large, are uplifting, and the ones performed under the auspices of your local church perhaps doubly so. But sitting down with Bob Manning, who’s directing Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” for the Manhattan Beach Community Church Theater, it’s the word…
Read MoreShrek sets foot at Redondo Union High
Passion and Performance Melissa Staab stages “Shrek” at RUHS Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed might be one way to describe Melissa Staab, the new theater director at Redondo Union High School, who is about to stage her first musical here. “Shrek” opens tomorrow and plays this weekend and next. She grew up in Oak Park, a little…
Read MoreSouth Bay arts calendar for March 23 to 29
Friday, March 24 Magic in the air “Enchanted Evening,” presented by the Beach Cities Symphony and conducted by Barry Brisk, features Max Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy,” featuring violin soloist Roberto Cani, as well as Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite” and Stravinsky’s 1919 “Firebird Suite.” Free. The concerts begins at 8:15 p.m. but there’s a pre-concert lecture at…
Read MoreCalifornia Locos in Manhattan Beach
Let’s Get a Little Crazy, Shall We? A California Locos experience at the Manhattan Beach Art Center In a few minutes, an L.A.-based art collective will set up camp, drop “an art intelligence bomb,” the likes of which we haven’t seen here in the South Bay, and then they’ll scatter, to regroup elsewhere. Such is…
Read MoreSurf City Theatre’s latest opens Saturday
Family Matters “Over the River and Through the Woods” opens Saturday in Hermosa Beach Surf City Theater is back in business with a bittersweet comedy by Joe DiPietro, the author of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” and the Tony Award-winning musical, “Memphis.” As for “Over the River and Through the Woods,” which premiered…
Read MoreSouth Bay Arts Calendar for March 16 – 22
Thursday, March 16 People stumbling along Robin Finn is the author of “Restless in L.A.,” and she’ll be discussing the novel at 7 p.m. at {pages}, 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach. The story was inspired in part by the author’s own experiences as a mother struggling to maintain a balanced family as well as her…
Read MoreLunafest: Women Behind the Camera
“Lunafest” returns to Redondo Beach Established in 2000 by Luna, the company that produces the Whole Nutrition Bar for Women, “Lunafest” is a traveling show, each year going from city to city to screen the latest short films by talented female filmmakers. In the South Bay, “Lunafest” is hosted by Soroptimist of Manhattan Beach, which…
Read MoreESMoA: Seeing El Segundo in a new light
Municipal Makeover ESMoA’s “Elsegundissimo” looks at ways to beautify the City of El Segundo You’ve heard the expression. It’s not what it is, but what it can be, and it’s a saying that can be applied to many things, painting a picture, for instance, writing a novel, or preparing for a dance recital. On…
Read MoreSouth Bay arts calendar for March 9 to 15
Thursday, March 9 We are what we look like Speaker Jes Baker leads the discussion “Changing the World, Love Your Body: The Social Impact of Body Love” at 7 p.m. in Marsee Auditorium at El Camino College, Crenshaw and Redondo Beach boulevards, Torrance. Her talk explores the state of current body image issues. Tickets, $24.…
Read MoreSouth Bay Contemporary heads North
Beyond the Bubble Two South Bay artists set up shop on the other side of town Linda Jo Russell and Peggy Zask are excited and optimistic about their joint venture and collaboration. “There’s a synergy,” says Linda Jo; “there’s an ease about it.” “It feels like we’re in the right place at the right time,”…
Read MoreJump on it! South Bay Film Society screens “Donald Cried”
“Donald Cried” – film review Since it regularly sells out three auditoriums with each screening, the South Bay Film Society probably doesn’t qualify for “best kept secret” status, but among younger filmgoers it still needs to be discovered. Despite showing art house, independent, and foreign cinema, the audience is largely comprised of people in their,…
Read MoreSouth Bay arts calendar for March 2 to 8
Thursday, March 2 Tunnel down to enchantment Palos Intermediate School is dishing up a production of “Alice in Wonderland, Jr.,” and it’s taking place Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m., plus Saturday at 2 p.m. Also next week, March 10 and 11. For tickets, email seakingdrama@gmail.com. Letting it out “Jazz Expression Night” is an evening…
Read More“Salome” : LA Opera’s decadent delight
“Salome” – Ah, the madness! Now, here’s an opera that doesn’t try and do too much, despite its many dysfunctional relationships and the way it encloses the viewer in an atmosphere of the exotic and the erotic. When Richard Strauss premiered “Salome” in 1905 it was unlike any opera the world had seen, the “Midnight…
Read MoreCoffee and art with Drica Lobo at Java Man in Hermosa Beach
Hermosa Beach, through Brazilian Eyes Drica Lobo’s paintings glow brightly at Java Man If you like art that’s vibrant and colorful, check this box ⃣ ; and it you like scenes of palm trees, the beach and the ocean, check here ⃣ ; And if you like the sights of Hermosa Beach then here’s one…
Read MoreSouth Bay arts calendar – Feb. 23-March 1
Thursday, February 23 Hip and avant-garde The Free Jazz Radicals, with avant-garde jazz composer Bobby Breton, J. Michael O’Neal, and Del Atkins, are featured from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in “Tunes at TAM,” the monthly jazz concert held at the Torrance Art Museum, 3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance. Suggested donation, $20. Call (310) 376-5577 or…
Read More