By CHARLES ANDREWS
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Final Performances -“BLUE KISS,” Ruskin Group Theatre – I hope you’ve taken the opportunity to experience this all-around excellent two-actor play, a most unusual story slowly revealed like layers of an onion, each fraught with building strong emotion. Playwright Stephen Fife has meticulously constructed a bizarre family odyssey that peels off layer by layer, with surprises and even shock. This one is not an easy ride for the audience, not many smiles, but well worth it. They’ve got another winner here, more proof of what an artistic gold mine lil ol’ Santa Monica is. Only an idiot wouldn’t want to preserve and nurture all this. It’s a perfect opportunity to experience the beautiful new Ruskin Group Arts Center, just a couple of buildings down from the old one. This play is in the smaller room, the 55-seat Audre Theatre. Their bar is now open at the Ruskin, so sit back and enjoy the ride. Fri, Sat 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., Ruskin Group Theatre, SM Airport, $30-35.
TOPANGA BANJO FIDDLE CONTEST & FOLK FESTIVAL – For the 61st year running, it’s the harbinger of a flood of great music and envied California summer sunshine. You can think of it as a series of concerts, or a constant stream of them, held in a magical rural setting, or as an opportunity to take a getaway from the city while music accompanies your every stroll. Yes, it is a contest, and it draws musicians from literally all over the globe, but it is more of a community gathering of those who love music, and you will find big jam sessions under every shady tree. There will be many stages, food and drink opportunities, crafts, activities for the kids, workshops, and an instrument petting zoo. Let your hair down if ya got it and break out the overalls. But don’t forget to occasionally just plunk down somewhere and take it all in, because there’s nothing quite like this anywhere. It’s gotten too expensive to fly or even drive, so consider this a nearby family vacation opportunity. Sun 9 a.m. contests, 12 noon featured performers, jams all day long, King Gilette Ranch, Calabasas, kids 9 and under free, students, seniors $51, adults $66.
HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES – This rockin’ quintet, known for Django Reinhardt-style ‘30s-’40s jazz (for starters, but they go way beyond), whose across-the-board virtuosity never fails to bring a smile. I have never heard anyone walk away from one of the HCOLA shows and say, “They’re pretty good!” Usually, it’s hard to say anything when your jaw is on the floor. Still at their years-long residency at the intimate Cinema Bar just outside Santa Monica, every Monday night. Lucky us. Take advantage. Mon 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, no cover.
DUDAMEL, WAGNER, LA PHIL, DIE WALKÜRE
DUDAMEL CONDUCTS DIE WALKÜRE – OK, here’s your unintended glance into how the sausage is made. I finally get to the end of this column, deadline breathing down my neck, and I have a sudden horrifying thought like a cymbal crash next to my ear: I check the LA Phil calendar and oh my gosh, the incredible series I thought was beginning the following week in fact kicks off on Tuesday. Skip it? I can’t, even though I will have an unhappy editor, already so generous and long-suffering. So go to their website and enthuse yourself with the details, order your tickets for all three acts immediately, and I will write more about it next week because it is being repeated. This is, in my opinion, Gustavo Dudamel’s last big hurrah before shipping off to the barren, cold, dirty shores of NYC. Tues, Wed, Thurs 8 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, $107-278.
RECOMMENDED:
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. (Yes, you bet, this is art.) Sun 9 p.m., Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $13.
TV RECOMMENDATIONS:
“THE DAILY SHOW” – I think they now have the best cast ever. (Apologies to Roy Wood Jr.) In fact… yelling, wildly gesticulating Jon Stewart is my least favorite host. Mon – Thurs 11 p.m., COMEDY CENTRAL.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): LORDE, Kia Forum, 5/14; RUSKIN GROUP THEATRE, “BLUE KISS,” 5/15, 16, 17; PACIFIC OPERA PROJECT, “ZORRO,” San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, 5/16, 17; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s Santa Monica, 5/17, 24, 31; TOPANGA BANJO FIDDLE CONTEST & FOLK FESTIVAL, King Gilette Ranch, 5/17; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 5/18, 25;
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): L.A. OPERA, MOZART “THE MAGIC FLUTE,” 5/30, 6/6, 11, 14, 17, 21; PAUL SIMON, Hollywood Bowl, 6/7; MILES 100: A CELEBRATION IN AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ, Jazz Bakery, 6/13; LIBRARY GIRL, Ruskin Group Theatre, 6/14, 7/12, 8/9, 9/13, 10/11, 11/8;
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.
