Posts by Bondo Wyszpolski
Cirque du Soleil’s “Toruk” coming to Staples Center, Nov. 11-13
“Toruk – The First Flight” Cirque du Soleil goes from the big top to the arena This week you won’t have to do what I did last week, which was to do the freeway crawl to Ontario in order to catch “Toruk: The First Flight,” the latest spectacle from Cirque du Soleil. It’s coming to…
Read MoreSouth Bay Arts Calendar – Nov. 10 – 16
Thursday, November 10 Nearly time for Almost The Mira Costa High School Drama/Tech Dept. is presenting John Cariani’s romantic comedy, “Almost, Maine,” tonight (Thursday) at 6:30 p.m.; Friday at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., in the school’s “blackbox” Small Theater, 1401 Artesia Blvd., Manhattan Beach. Tickets, $15 adult; $12 students, seniors.…
Read MoreA different slant to theater at Vistamar in El Segundo
A Theater Program with a Social Conscience Vistamar School presents “The Diary of Anne Frank” this weekend Where have I been? Prior to last week, I’d have received an “F” if you’d asked me about Vistamar School. On the other hand, this private high school in El Segundo with a total enrollment of about 280…
Read MoreSouth Bay arts calendar for Nov. 3 – 9
Thursday, November 3 Quilt while you’re ahead “Urban Graffiti,” an exhibit of fiber art that expands perspectives of time, previews from 6 to 9 p.m. during the First Thursday Art Walk at South Bay Contemporary, in the Loft, 401 S. Mesa St., third floor, San Pedro. Reception for the artists on Saturday from 4 to…
Read MoreFright night: Guillermo del Toro at LACMA
Before They Run Amok! “Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters” on view at LACMA I’m not sure how this happened, but a few years ago the Hollywood film industry received a mighty boost from three superb Mexican filmmakers, all born in the early 1960s: Alfonso Cuarón (“Gravity”), Alejandro González Iñárritu (“Birdman,” “The Revenant”), and…
Read MoreAlluring Graceful Gale at Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor
In the Still of the Night Queen Mary’s Graceful Gale is enchanting… and deadly If you push your way through the brambles on a moonlit night and climb towards the summit of Palos Verdes, which faces the Port of Los Angeles, there’s a magnificent view of the “Queen Mary.” But how to explain that eerie…
Read MoreA vignette in the spirit of Dark Harbor’s Graceful Gale
Forever Twilight A young man in a hotel bar sits down for a drink… *NOTE: What follows is a “sidebar” to the story of Graceful Gale published in Easy Reader on Thursday, October 27, 2016* Graceful Gale, one of the characters of Queen Mary’s “Dark Harbor,” reminded me suddenly of a vignette I’d penned a…
Read MoreSouth Bay Arts Calendar for Oct. 27-Nov. 2
Friday, October 28 Man of a thousand faces Lon Chaney stars in the original silent version of “The Phantom of the Opera,” screening Friday and Saturday night at 8:15, and for non-vampires at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, in the Old Town Music Hall, 140 Richmond St., El Segundo. The live Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Pipe Organ…
Read MoreCheech Marin’s Chicano art pays a visit to Manhattan Beach
From One Backyard to Another Artwork from the collection of Cheech Marin goes on view Wednesday in Manhattan Beach by Bondo “Little Chihuahua” Wyszpolski Next year, with nearly 8.5 million in seed money from the Getty, galleries and museums across the Southland will be hosting exhibitions large and small that focus on Latin American and Latino…
Read MoreSouth Bay arts calendar for Oct. 20 to 26
Thursday, October 20 Tunes at TAM The Eridālō Trio, featuring Erika Snow Robinson on bassoon, with Logan Dalla Betta (flute, piano) and David Sucik (clarinet), performs from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Torrance Museum of Art, 3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance. Enjoy classical music surrounded by fine art. Suggested donation, $20. Call (310) 376-5577.…
Read More“Brain” – Photographs of Nobel Prize winners at ESMoA
Mind Over Matter “Brain,” photographs of Nobel Prize laureates by Peter Badge, opens Sunday at ESMoA Have you ever been in the presence of a Nobel Prize winner? You have? Oh. How about hundreds of them at the same time? Well, now you can have that privilege, beginning Sunday afternoon in El Segundo when ESMoA…
Read MoreSouth Bay Arts Calendar for Oct. 13 to 19
Thursday, October 13 Wasn’t it just over here? “Vanishing Boundaries,” comprised of work by Anne Page and George Page, with Felicia Page, opens with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight in the El Camino College Art Gallery, Crenshaw and Redondo Beach boulevards, Torrance. An artist talk is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 18, at…
Read More“Power of Art 2016” opens Friday; a talk with artist Diane Reeves
What Remains When the Journey Ends Diane Reeves is among the artists in RBAG’s annual “Power of Art,” opening Friday The real power of art begins with the persistence of those people who grapple with it, whether daily or in between mundane chores and obligations. Diane Reeves, one of the original members of RBAG, or…
Read MoreSouth Bay Arts Calendar for Oct. 6 – 12
Thursday, October 6 Up in the cold country Eowyn Ivey, author of “To the Bright Edge of the World,” which takes place in 1885 in Vancouver, talks about her book at 7 p.m. at {pages}, 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach. (310) 318-0900 or go to pagesabookstore.com. Collectors of fine art Paul Corneil and Judith Burke…
Read More“Havana Light” and “Havana Noir” – Saturday at the Palos Verdes Art Center
Let There Be Light! (and Dark) “Havana Light” and “Havana Noir” open Saturday at the PV Art Center Americans by and large seem to have an image of Havana as it may have existed in the 1950s, with Latin big bands and sumptuous floor shows, fancy hotels with pulsating neon signs, and Ernest Hemingway at…
Read MoreSouth Bay arts calendar Sept. 29 to Oct. 5
Thursday, September 29 Lather up The Sunscreen Film Festival kicks off this evening with “Run Paddle Chug,” directed by Robert Enriquez at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. in the Hermosa Beach Theatre, 710 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach. Tickets, $25. The film is a documentary of the yearly “Ironman” event on the sand of Hermosa, where vomiting…
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