By Charles Andrews
THE NEW RUSKIN GROUP THEATRE IS OPEN, AND IT’S GORGEOUS!
I hope to see their opening production, “Honour,” very soon, and to give you the lowdown, but I can tell you, in many years of attending plays there, they always hit a very high mark, and I can’t imagine that extra care has gone into choosing and casting this launching production. Just because there are so many performances scheduled, you shouldn’t wait to get tickets, because you could be disappointed. They have a history of selling out even extended runs. Thurs, Fri, Sat 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m. Rusking Group Theatre, SM Airport, $20-45.
CAROLINE TOROSIS, NATALYA ZERNITSKAYA, DAN HALL, JESSE ZWICK – want to “densify” Santa Monica and cram housing everywhere (which will not make it affordable), but they will not be allowed to kill our Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. It must remain and be restored, and they must go from our City Council. We need some great candidates to courageously step forward, now.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
DUDAMEL, BEETHOVEN, LORENZ, SCHUMANN – What a show! The Lorenz is the world premiere of an LA Phil commission, and I always find those to be provocative and fantastic. In his music to “Egmont,” Beethoven distilled the heroic tale of a Dutch warrior who gave his life to preserve freedom and independence in the face of oppression – a tale for our times, and not by accident, I’ll bet. Boy, are we going to miss Gustavo Dudamel. Cate Blanchett does the narration. Yunchan Lim, winner of the 2022 Van Cliburn competition, performs Schumann’s Piano Concerto.
A note from Gustavo Dudamel:
This is a program of many journeys, across time, continents, and experiences. We begin with Ricardo Lorenz’s “Humboldt’s Nature,” that captures the curiosity and wonder of the explorer Alexander von Humboldt. As Humboldt traveled through the Americas at the turn of the 19th century, he interacted with the world and all its complexity, and Ricardo’s music brings that same spirit to life.
Next, we are joined by the remarkable Yunchan Lim, on Schumann’s “Piano Concerto.” Schumann believed that music could “send light into the darkness of men’s hearts,” and Yunchan does exactly that. The clarity and intensity of his playing bring out the deepest warmth of this piece.
We conclude with a very special presentation of Beethoven’s music for Goethe’s “Egmont,” a work that has fascinated me for many years and one I have long wanted to explore in a new way. Beethoven was drawn to Goethe’s story of a Dutch nobleman who stands against tyranny, and that struggle for freedom still resonates powerfully today. This project grew from my desire to bring “Egmont” fully into the present, and over the past year, it has been a great joy to work closely with Cate Blanchett and Jeremy O. Harris to shape this adaptation.
For me, this evening is about connection: connecting past and present, East and West, imagination and reality. It is about sharing a moment together in which music becomes a living bridge between all of us. Thurs, Sat 8 p.m., Fri 11 a.m., Sun 2 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, $226-400.
HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES – The HCOLA don’t claim to play note-for-note Django, but they are the spot-on purveyors of his spirit, and I think if he were to walk into the Cinema Bar on a Monday night and sit in with them, they would all be smiling big. Just be sure to call me if that happens. Mondays 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, always no cover.
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“HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU” – They’re back for a new season, just in time! To make us all laugh at the headlines rather than sticking our heads in the oven or moving to Antarctica over the evil results of Stephen Miller’s latest Donald whisperings. Roy Wood Jr., ex-“The Daily Show” and brilliantly funny MC of the 2023 Washington Correspondents’ Dinner, is the ringmaster of this kind of game show based on the news, but it’s much more important to be funny than correct. They don’t even pretend to keep score. Aided hilariously by team captains Michael Ian Black and Amber Ruffin, each with some celebrity teammates, usually struggle to keep up. Based on the immensely popular UK version, but, come on, except for Monty Python, Ricky Gervais, and Jimmy Carr, Yanks are much funnier. Sat 9 p.m., CNN.
TOLEDO DIAMOND – Who’s been showing up even longer than the Hot Club, with a very different but also virtuosic show? His decades-long Sunday night residency at Santa Monica’s Harvelle’s, the oldest blues bar in LA (almost a century!), is the stuff of myth. Toledo choreographs a truly unique show, a blend of ‘50s hipster jazz and his dancing dames and a most modern smokin’ hot band that gets better all the time. Toledo is perhaps the longest-running proof that Santa Monica is a City of the Arts. Sun 9 p.m., Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $13.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): DUDAMEL, BEETHOVEN, LORENZ, SCHUMANN, Disney Hall, 2/12-15; ALBERT LEE, McCabe’s, 2/13; “HONOUR,” Ruskin Group Theatre, 2/14,15, 19-22, 26-28, 3/1, 5-8, 12-15, 19-22; “HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU,” CNN Sat 9 p.m., 2/14, 21, 28; ANNE HILLERMAN’S “DARK WINDS,” Season 4, AMC/+, 2/15; LA CAFE PLAYS, Ruskin Group Theatre, 2/15; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s Santa Monica, 2/15, 22; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 2/16, 23; WARREN HAYNES Solo, Blue Note LA, 2/17, 18; DAMN WELL PLEASE ORGAN TRIO, Harvelle’s, 2/17; PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND, The Soraya, 2/18; KAUKONEN The Final Tour, McCabe’s, 2/20, 21, 22; GUSTAVO, BEETHOVEN “MISSA SOLEMNIS,” Disney Hall, 2/20-22; BEETHOVEN, ORTIZ, DUDAMEL, Disney Hall, 2/26-3/1; LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO, BroadStage, 2/27; BRANDI CARLILE, Kia Forum, 2/27;
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): GLASS “AKHNATEN,” LA OPERA, 2/28, 3/8, 11, 14, 19, 22; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s Santa Monica, 3/1, 8, 15, 22, 29; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 3/2, 9, 16, 23, 30; BILL FRISELL TRIO, Blue Note LA, 3/4, 5; DUDAMEL, “Dante,” BEETHOVEN 6, Disney Hall, 3/5, 6, 8; SANTA CECILIA, Fonda, 3/6; “HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU,” CNN Sat 9 p.m., 3/7, 14, 21, 28; CHARLIE HUNTER TRIO, Blue Note LA, 3/9; THE BAD PLUS POTTER TABORN, Blue Note LA, 3/10, 11;
MADELEINE PEYROUX, Blue Note LA, 3/17, 18; “VERTIGO” in concert, Disney Hall, 3/21; ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES, Kia Forum, 4/3; SAMARA JOY, Blue Note LA, 4/15, 16; VERDI “FALSTAFF,” LA OPERA, 4/18, 26, 30, 5/2, 6, 10; TAKE 6, Blue Note LA, 4/30-5/3; STANLEY CLARKE’S SANTA MONICA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, BroadStage, 5/1-9; MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO, Blue Note LA, 5/4, 5; LA SANTA CECILIA, Fonda Theatre, 5/7; MOZART “THE MAGIC FLUTE,” LA OPERA, 5/30, 6/6, 11, 14, 17, 21.
Charles Andrews has listened to a lot of music of all kinds, including more than 3,500 live shows. He has lived in Santa Monica for 40 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or hate mail to: therealmrmusic@gmail.com.
