Crosby, Mason and Harold in Orpheus Descending

When celebrities start doing theater in Los Angeles, you can bet it’s a labor of love.  And that’s absolutely true of the rarely produced Tennessee Williams play Orpheus Descending taking place at Theater/Theater until February 21^st.  Starring Gale Harold (Queer as Folk), Denise Crosby (Star Trek TNG), and cover girl-turned-actress Claudia Mason (Vogue, Elle, W, Cosmopolitan), the play is Tennessee Williams’ take on Orpheus and Eurydice as set in the South, the perfect American equivalent for emotional repression and alienation.  It was his ultimate ode to his youth and took him a laborious 17 years to complete to his satisfaction.

The production itself was also a carefully constructed labor, born out of a collective of artists with director Lou Pepe leading the way.  I had the opportunity to speak with Claudia Mason, who takes on the role of the Greek Chorus as the outsider Carol Cutrere, about the process of bringing this play to life.  There was a great deal of artistic luxury with role playing to fill in the subtexts and events that directly affect what takes place on stage.  It was that intense commitment to exploration that Claudia shared as her favorite part of the rehearsal process.

Orpheus Descending opened last week to mixed reviews.  The play is a snapshot in time and very weighty in theme. In a time when so many people are still struggling in the hard hit Los Angeles economy, it’s not the kind of escapism many are seeking.  But, from what I can gather, watching Denise Crosby run the gamut of emotional range from one end of the spectrum to the other with a dizzying ease is worth the price of admission.  It’s the value of any celebrity driven theater – getting to see these people who are at the top of their game work just a few feet away from you.  Even if it isn’t award winning, it’s still incredible to witness.  If you go with that perspective, you won’t leave disappointed.

Orpheus Descending runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, January 15 through February 21.  General admission is $25.  Theatre/Theater is located at 5041 W Pico Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90019 (two blocks west of La Brea, ample street parking available),  For reservations and information, call (800) 838-3006 or go to  www.BrownPaperTickets.com/event/92508 .

In the column of disheartening news, the economy has taken away yet another of my favorite spots to visit while on the go during my daily routine.  First, the Famima in Downtown Los Angeles on Figueroa shut down just before Christmas.  And now the Hows Market in the NoHo Commons has started clearing their shelves in order to close.   It’s depressing in a very striking way. In times like these, the little things are what get us by.  This was one of my little things.

I know that many people, my closest friends included, felt that Hows was an expensive place to shop.  It was also often very quiet.  I am most likely in a minority when it comes to those who mourn its passing.  But it was convenient to my travel patterns.  I liked the fact that it wasn’t crowded.  It was open until 1 am so I could swing by after a late night of work.  And I could find exotic items without much trouble.

In trying to find a silver lining, I have high hopes for what will take its place.  If it has to be a huge chain grocery store… let it be a Vons Pavilions or a Whole Foods.

James Roday

To many of us, he’s the frenetic observational genius with a white hot wit Sean Spencer on USA’s Psych.  It’s a good thing to be.  As an admitted addict of USA’s original programming, I count on those characters to help me blow off steam after a long day of the intensity we call every day life in the City of Angels.  But I have to admit to being surprised (and more than a little excited) when I found out that James Roday was about to hit a local stage right here on theater row to perform a play with the theater company he founded (Red Dog Squadron).

Extinction, a play written by a classmate (Gabe McKinley) of James’ from his NYU days, is the story of two college friends on a wild trip to Atlantic City, a place they go to descend into their favorite vices with dark abandon.  But on this particular trip, something is different and results in a high stakes showdown between friends.  Co-staring with him is a close friend, Michael Weston, an actor who has been on many of the best shows on television from Six Feet Under to House.

I had the opportunity to speak with James and found out what I couldn’t discover with a little Google stalking.  My first question when confronted with someone having the courageousness to do theater in a city notoriously unappreciative of the medium is always about the dangers of that endeavor.  But he was unphased by it.  Red Dog Squadron was something he created as a way to keep himself anchored in the place that first made him want to pursue a creative life.  It was also a means to do all the theater he didn’t get to do between college and a fully formed career.  Like many actors coming out of school, he expected to pay his dues doing stage work while bartending to pay the bills.  But Hollywood came calling early on, rendering that transition unnecessary.

When asked about the state of theater in Los Angeles, he remarked, “You have to do due diligence… to find good theater.”  He acknowledged that the city was full of bad theater, which often turns off new converts, but a savvy patron needs only do a little research to find where the high caliber theater is going down.

As for Extinction, James didn’t expect to be performing.  He signed up to produce the play but as the whole process of refining the writing and casting unfolded, it became clear he should be taking on one of the two lead roles.

The production is set to open in a little over a week at the Elephant Space.  Due to James’ schedule with Psych, the rehearsal period has been brief compared to what is traditional for theater.  But his enthusiasm and passion, along with that of everyone involved, has a kind of insane fire to it.  It’s the sweet jump off a cliff into the unknown so many artists find intoxicating.  “One of us might not make it to opening night alive,” he stated.  Somehow, I doubt that.  It sounds like everyone is in their natural habitat with the theater-goers of Los Angeles ending up the winners as they are about to reap the benefits of creative audacity.

Performances of Extinction take place Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7 pm, November 21 through December 13.  There will be one preview performance on Friday, November 20 at 8 pm.  General admission is $18.00; students (with valid ID) and seniors are $15.00.  Elephant Space is located at 6322 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood, 90038.  For reservations and information, call (323) 960-7784 or go to www.plays411.com/Extinction.

Dance to the sweet strains (Darkwave, New Romantic, Tribal Goth) of your final hours with music spun by DJ Xian and MP3J SARK while partaking of exotic libations. (I hear the coconut martinis are mindblowing.)  Also, fans of Gentleman Junkie can expect a chance to own a limited edition CD that can only be procured on this one occasion.

Nemesis debuts on 11/11 and will slither back to life quarterly. Doors open to the Electric Lotus (4656 Franklin Ave) at 10:30 pm.  Cover is $5 until 11 pm, after which it becomes $10. Valet parking is available.

If you’ve never experienced Lucent Dossier…. GO!  If you know why so many of us love these people to bits, now is your chance to play again and bring all your friends.

What can you expect from this latest incarnation?

Let the night take you away and if you please, indulge in a rose water foot bath, Post Portal Post Office, uplifting aura readings, Sweet Teddy Bear Tea Party and herbal elixirs to cleanse your soul.  What Lucent does best is create wonderlands for our guests to lose themselves in, so let us be your guide into a fantastical realm where brilliance and insanity fuse together in an exotic kind of ecstatic bliss.

H.Wood is located at 1738 N. Orange, Los Angeles, CA 90028.  Parking can be found in the Hollywood Highland Complex (rates are $2 for 4 hours with validation!)  Dinner is available.  Doors open at 8pm.  The show begins at 9 p.m. and lasts through to midnight.  Stay afterward until 2 a.m. to dance.  General admission is  $15 adv/door (Or join the Lucent Dossier mailing list for discount ticket “secret password.”)  VIP Table reservations are available by contacting H.Wood.

Tonight at the Festival, you can check out Get Lit! – a group of teen poets bringing you classic literature along with their own unruly compositions.  It’s at 8 pm tonight at The Actor’s Gang.  Pay what you can!

Tomorrow evening Jewell Rae brings her cooking show live to the prison for her Johnny Cash tribute show All Cake, No File.  She’s a regular culinary political columnist with the Huffington Post!  Backing her up for the night is the tribute band With A Bible And A Gun as well as special guests The Broken Numbers Band.  The curtain goes up at 9 pm and it’s $15.

On Halloween night, WTF?! Festival invites you to take a peek into the damn scary world of Christian Halloween horror houses with a screening of Hell House. Stay afterward for a costume party!  The movie starts at 8 pm and tickets are $10.  Costumes are highly encouraged if not compulsory.

For more information or to see what else is going on with the WTF?! Festival visit the website here.

Each week of the WTF?! Festival offers a wide range of activities from free events to $150 fundraising productions.  Because there is so much going on with this mighty undertaking, I will be doing regular updates here at LA Metblogs to keep you on top of everything, including an interview with Tim Robbins.

Here’s what’s happening on this week!

Tuesday night begins Week 2 with an exclusive look at the as yet unreleased documentary William Kunstler: Disturbing The Universe. It’s the story of the civil rights lawyer who fought for equality with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented the famed Chicago 8 activists as told by his daughters.  The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Emily Kunstler.  It begins at 8 pm and is free!

Wednesday night is a screening of The Aristocrats after which filmmaker Paul Provenza and special guests will discuss the film, not to mention offer up new Aristocrat jokes live.  Just $15 puts you in a seat for a rare evening of tawdry entertainment.  The bar opens at 7 pm. The show begins at 8 pm.

Thursday night is an evening of theater with the one woman production called The Need To Know performed by former Air Force Intelligence Analyst April Fitzsimmons. It’s a critically acclaimed performance exploring her journey from being a member of the armed forces to an activist in the peace movement.  The show is followed by a veterans’ forum.  The curtain goes up at 8 pm and tickets are $15.

Former Cirque du Soleil performer Daisuke Tsuji executes his one man visual poem Death And Giggles on Friday evening with a frenetic presentation of sock puppets, dance, clowning and balloons.  It begins at 9 pm and is $15.

Week 2 ends on Saturday with an intimate evening of music presented by 89.9 KRCW featuring singer/songwriter Jackson Browne with his son, Ryan Browne.  Tim Robbins and his son, Miles, will also put in an appearance.  This is a $150 fundraising event that begins at 8:30 pm.

For more information about the WTF?! Festival visit the website here.  Otherwise, keep a look out here at LA Metblogs for upcoming events.

Photography by Phil Holland

Thursday night of last week saw the return of Lucent Dossier to its home town for a night of music and play at the El Rey Theatre called Ravenous Rouge.  The reverently restored venue was a perfect backdrop for the unique brand of theatrical whimsy that has made Lucent Dossier beloved all over the world.

I attended the event solo, entering very close to the moment the doors opened to the public. Unlike my forays into Lucent Dossier’s world in the past, I was an observer rather than a participant. I selected an unmolested little corner of the bar to sip on my wine and witness what unfolded before me with a sense of awe.

Photography by Phil Holland

The first thing I noticed was the crowd.  It defied any labeling.  Generally in LA nightlife, it is easy to categorize the people attending.  That was not the case with Ravenous Rouge.  There was a little of everything.  Further, the faces of people streaming in the doors were childlike – glowing with a radiant joy and friendliness.  If you’ve lived in Los Angeles long enough, you know that we accessorize with attitude, particularly in Hollywood.   The absence of that was quite a feat.   But it demonstrates the power of the culture Lucent Dossier has established.  They offer something all of us deeply need – a place to just be without all the complications we unnecessarily add to our lives.

Music is an important part of the Lucent Dossier experience.  When there wasn’t a DJ spinning a mystical tapestry of sound, musical acts melted on and off the stage with no announcement.  Only the brilliant DJs knew when the transitions would take place. Things appeared, dazzled and then melted into sweet memory.  At the same time, about the floor, there were little stations of activity.  One was a massage area.  Another was a foot bath.  Nearest me was an impish little sprite doing something I couldn’t quite explain but was completely enchanting to watch.  I think we all fell in love with her and couldn’t get enough of her infectiously effervescent personality.

Photography by Phil Holland

Speaking of those brilliant DJs (El Papa Chango and Obscure), I didn’t hear a single note of music I was remotely familiar with all night and yet I felt like I was at home.  The sounds were universal yet eclectic.  People moved as if unable to help themselves.  For me, it was a soundtrack to the human revelry I was watching unfold so I managed to stay still.  But I understood the urge to interpret the beats and instrumental hooks.  It came from that same pure place that had plastered the child-like glee on everyone’s face.

I wasn’t able to stay for the entire evening.  I heard that the end of the night held a magical moment of pure love for those remaining.  Those of us who weren’t there missed out in a big way.

Honestly, writing about Lucent Dossier is almost futile.  They defy words, labels or categorizing.  They are an experience.  A feeling.  A deep sense of joy wrapped in a hug full of unconditional love.

Next time you see that they are performing – Go!  You will be happy you did.

One cannot tell the tale of Jerome Robbins without mentioning Balanchine – the name of the shadow he would forever live beneath without ever once realizing his worth or contributions to American theater and ballet.  If Balanchine was the technical master to which American ballet would aspire, Jerome was the deep soul with an unflinching commitment to the truth no matter how it came out.  To the very day that he died in 1998,  Jerome Robbins never quite felt like he fit in, always questioned his skills and drove himself to unleash laboriously polished gems to the public.

American Masters – Jerome Robbins: Something To Dance About is a daring and adoring feat of documentation created by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Judy Kinberg and Robbins biographer Amanda Vaill with narration by Ron Rifkin.  It will be presented to the public in a rare screening at Dance Camera West Saturday June 13th at 7 pm just in time for the 90th birthday of the legendary choreographer.  The documentary is an exquisite and honest look at a controversial, tortured, brilliant man who battled with himself as well as the artists who worked with him to create visual odes to the human condition that have endured through the years.  To this day, the very same steps executed by the original cast of West Side Story are still being danced on Broadway and across the world, not to mention countless numbers of ballets.  The documentary not only offers up a comprehensive tale of his life and work but incredible archival performances by the man himself along with some of the greatest dancers ever to live.

Admission is free.  No reservations are necessary.  Seating is first come first serve.   The Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theater is located at 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024. For more information on this venue please call 310-443-7000 or visit www.hammer.ucla.edu. For more information on Dance Camera West (DCW) and to see its June 2009 schedule please visit www.dancecamerawest.org.

Photo by Neil Berrett

Heidi “Bluegirl” Calvert is teaming up with twisted performance troupe Art Of Bleeding to present an evening of naughty nurses, gorey performance art and bandages applied for all the wrong reasons.  Fever! hits the Infusion Gallery this Saturday June 13th at 9 pm with a medical disco dress code.  So, break out your hospital gowns, six inch heels, gauze and glitter for a sick evening of disease driven expression. 

Featured artists include Heidi Calvert, Al Ridenour, Muffinhead, Debra Haden, Paul Torres, Eban Lehrer, VK7, Marianne Williams, Miss Numa, Alan Deforest, Auriana- Lynn, Radhika Heresy, Paul Zollo, Rajiv Jain, Jason Hadley, June Julliet, Jezebelle X, Dr. Mangor, Jerry Shawback, and Joe Holliday.  Live performances throughout the evening from Art of Bleeding’s Ambulance Theater & Nursing Fetish Ward will melt your brain while DJ Howie Pyro spins the soundtrack to your demise.

Fever! is 18+ with a bar available for those who can legally kill brain cells. $8 donation at the door ( only $6 for those in themed costume ).