Posts by Bondo Wyszpolski
Getting away with “Love & Murder”
“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder” – going once, going twice In case you haven’t gotten around to seeing (nay, experiencing!) one of the most delightful musicals of the past few years, let me make my way into the belfry so I can toll the bells that say: Last call! “A Gentleman’s Guide to…
Read MoreWhat price freedom? Suzan-Lori Parks at the Mark Taper Forum
Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) – a review The latest effort from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks to come to the Mark Taper Forum (“Topdog/Underdog” has stayed with me all these years) takes place during the Civil War and begins on a modest plantation in Texas, where it also…
Read MoreLife Cycles: Artist Steve Shriver took a tumble, and it’s an arduous climb back up
We all know what happened to Humpty Dumpty: All the king’s horses and all the king’s men/ couldn’t put Humpty together again. But wait. If he’d been airlifted to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center maybe we’d have a different rhyme and a different outcome. Steve Shriver may not forgive me for comparing him to…
Read MoreWhere the Music Never Ends
The Norris Theatre presents “Fiddler on the Roof” for three weekends Tomorrow evening, the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” opens at the Norris Theatre for 11 performances, a decent run by local standards. However, when the show opened on Broadway in 1964 it was an unstoppable phenomenon that didn’t step off the stage until nearly…
Read MoreA Feisty Woman, and the Man in the Mirror
Surf City Theatre brings a rarely seen comedy to Hermosa Beach Charles Busch has written many successful plays, including “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife,” which in 2002 was staged to acclaim at the Ahmanson Theatre. “Olive and the Bitter Herbs” didn’t garner as much praise when it opened off-Broadway a few years back, and…
Read MoreLong Beach Opera: Nocturnal Desperation
“La Voix Humaine,” a review In recent years, Long Beach Opera has set some of its out-of-the-usual repertoire productions in out-of-the-usual venues. We’ve seen performances in swimming pools, parking garages, warehouses, and, just last month, the National Guard Armory. Now, if you hurry, you can enjoy Francis Poulenc’s “La Voix Humaine” in the intimate setting…
Read MoreSitting in with Old Friends
Jazz pianist Bob Mamet plays Saint Rocke on Saturday evening It’s good to have Bob Mamet back in town. The accomplished jazz pianist was born and raised in Chicago, where he returned nearly five years ago after spending 30 years in L.A., with 10 of those here in the South Bay. Happily, he’s missed us,…
Read MoreThe songwriter behind the songs: Jimmy Webb performs his Glen Campbell songs
Jimmy Webb wrote dozens of songs that were recorded by Glen Campbell, including “Wichita Lineman” and “Galveston.” Webb performs many of them Friday in Torrance. Beginning in the 1960s, Jimmy Webb was on a roll. Although he himself wasn’t known as a recording artist, his songs were being recorded by the likes of Richard…
Read MoreLA Opera: The Scream of the Butterfly
LA Opera’s “Madame Butterfly” (a review) Sometimes we go to experience an opera we’ve never seen before, and at other times we go because it’s a work we’ve seen many times and are familiar with the libretto and score. In the latter case it’s not so much the novelty as it is the nuances that…
Read MoreMagic Realism: This Way to Hogsmeade
The countdown begins for “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” at Universal Studios The seven novels by J.K.Rowling, and the eight films that broadened their appeal, have been a closed chapter for five years, but in a few days the Hogwarts Express will officially pull into the station at Universal Studios. It’s the most anticipated…
Read More“Fallujah” : Long Beach Opera goes to war
“Fallujah” (the opera, reviewed) Stepping into the Army National Guard for an opera is not quite the same as entering the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion or Disney Hall, but Long Beach Opera likes to keep us on our toes (and off-balance at the same time), which thus makes this an almost ideal venue in which to…
Read MorePoet JB Kennedy doesn’t like what he sees. Do you?
Poet JB Kennedy doesn’t like what he sees. Do you? For several decades, Redondo Beach resident JB Kennedy has eyed politicians and religious fanatics with wariness and contempt, often expressed in these pages as literary commentary or biting poetry. One thing’s for sure, he won’t be lacking fuel for fire between now and November,…
Read MoreArts & Entertainment – March 10-16
The Pastel Society of Southern California is hosting its seventh annual members’ exhibition at the South Bay Lexus Service Center, 24777 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance. The show features nearly 100 paintings. Through April 29. Pictured, “1955 Chevy Nomad,” by Morgan Kari. (310) 374-8309 or go to pastelsocal.com. Hotdogging * Arts Calendar 3/10-17 Thursday, March 10…
Read MoreWhimsy and Wonder
A mid-career survey of ceramic work by Keiko Fukazawa opens tonight at El Camino College Keiko Fukazawa must be having loads of fun. Her whimsical ceramic creations often make us smile but at the same time they are elegant and thought-provoking. Christopher Knight of the L.A. Times recently devoted lots of ink to her exhibition…
Read MoreDarkness Visible: “Noir” at the Getty
Noir: The Romance of Black in 19th Century French Drawings and Prints In the middle of the 19th century things got dark, although not necessarily bleak. Charcoal, fabricated black chalk, and conte crayon, among other drawing materials, became readily available, and artists ventured forth to explore their possibilities. Also, as Getty Senior Curator of Drawings…
Read MorePassion, Persistence, and Paint
Manhattan Beach artist Virginia Vilchis draws her subjects from within The paintings of Virginia Vilchis tend to be bright and dark at the same time. By bright I mean colorful, and by dark I mean somber, with an alluring gravitas. Combined with mixed media and a texture so prevalent we may want to run our…
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