By CHARLES ANDREWS
VERY IMPORTANT REMINDER
A week from Saturday, March 27, is the second NO KINGS PROTEST, and it almost feels larely like this might be our last shot, to show overwhelmingly, millions and millions of us in the streets, that this Trump regime and all its evils and incompetencies and bloodshed, is not us, not the USA.
Palisades Park, north end, 11-1. Please be there.
I keep pounding the message that our great city should be known as
A CITY OF THE ARTS
Not of laughable overspending and burdensome debt, terrible crime, corrupt politicians, out of control homelessness, drug addicts, and the mentally ill terrorizing the streets, and a City Hall working overtime to block out sunny skies with soaring skyscrapers, and unhealthy density development. Why, some of our hardworking City Council members even go so far as to take on the burden of a second job, to further that development. And most of them went beyond the call of duty to look at state laws that take away our zoning and ability to shape the city as we, the residents, see fit. No! We need a third story and fewer fire exits to squeeze in more units.
But has City Hall gotten that message, or are they mostly working in the opposite direction?
While they may do little things here and there, my observation over the decades is they blow the big stuff, the most important moments.
It’s easy to say rah rah for the terrific FRIEZE citywide art festival, but that has been established for years. Many City Council members showed up to show their support.
But where were they, any of them, even one, for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the beautiful new Ruskin Group Theatre at the airport? The most important new arts facility in my 40 years here.
They show up for ribbon cuttings at yogurt shops, yoga studios, and every other business. But not this? The most important new arts facility I’ve seen in my 40 years here, more than three years and countless hours in the making, and they raised more than $1.6M on their own.
Shame, City Council. You’ve shown your true priorities. Lots of big-name actors were there, but not one of you.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
“HONOUR” – You can’t say I didn’t warn you. You may have procrastinated too long. Now the last four performances of this well-written and -acted thought-provoking debut drama at the beautiful new Ruskin Group Theatre are listed as sold out. What to do? Call them to see if there is a waiting list for cancellations (good luck)? Cry about how you so wanted to take your great uncle Charlie, who doesn’t have many days left on this planet, and he would so love this? Directed by Max Mayer, a founding member of New York Stage and Film, he previously worked on the workshop of “Honour,” making this production a homecoming for the play. It’s small in scale, with only four characters (Marcia Cross, Matt Letscher, Ariana Afradi, and Jude Mayer), the story takes a tense and confusing but fairly common family situation and touches on issues much larger. Thurs, Fri, Sat 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., Ruskin Group Theatre, SM Airport, $20-45.
GLASS “AKHNATEN,” LA OPERA You haven’t seen this yet? Me either, and we are both running out of chances. I have been anticipating this one for a long time. It promises to be spectacular and memorable on every level. There are a lot of artists I love but don’t closely follow their careers. I loved Philip Glass from the first cosmic performance on a bare stage at UCLA, a long time ago. I was surprised to learn he has now written 28 operas, as many as Verdi. With this combination of music, spectacular sets and costumes, storytelling and history, I would run there anyway, but when the very reliable LA Times critic Mark Swed gives it an OK, that’s plenty good for me. Thurs, Sat 7:30 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA, $391- 415.
“VERTIGO” in concert – Many consider this Hitchcock’s masterpiece, and I can only imagine it will be even more gripping on a big screen with live music blasting dramatically. Yes, it will probably be the most expensive movie ticket you ever buy, but “Vertigo,” at Disney Hall, with the LA Philharmonic for the live soundtrack? I guarantee you will remember it forever. And if you have never seen this film, you are really in for a ride. Sat 8 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, $169-277.
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.
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. Sun 9 p.m., Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $13.
PUCCINI “TURANDOT,” PACIFIC OPERA PROJECT – I enjoy this Li’l opera company that could, but haven’t been to a show for a while, only because they usually perform across town and for only a few scheduled shows. But they are really good and incredibly inventive. They perform in some wonderful old-school venues. I saw them do “Butterfly” years ago in this theater in Little Tokyo. It’s elegant; they had strolling actors in the courtyard in full geisha gear prior to the opera, to set the stage, and they were the first opera company to do “Madame B” in both English and Japanese (for the Japanese characters, none of whom would have sung in Italian). You never know what outrageous yet appropriate outfit founding artistic director Josh Shaw will show up in, but that’s part of the show. Next up, mid-May: “Zorro”! That should be a treat! Sun 3 p.m., Aratani Theatre, Little Tokyo, $15-150.
TV RECOMMENDATIONS:
“THE DAILY SHOW” – Mon – Thurs 11 p.m., COMEDY CENTRAL.
“HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU” – Sat 9 p.m., CNN.
‘“DARK WINDS” – I don’t understand how this was passed by for awards consideration. Based on the very popular series of murder mysteries by Tony Hillerman, set on the Navajo Reservation, his daughter Anne took up the series after he died and added a female police officer, and her novels have all hit the NY Times bestseller lists. Four years ago, Robert Redford and George R.R. Martin began producing shows that combined some novels by both Hillermans, and the results have been spectacular. Stunning NM scenery, great stories integrating Native American spiritual beliefs (sometimes metaphysically scary), superb soundtrack, and a phenomenal cast of nearly all Indigenous Peoples. The fourth season started this past Sunday on AMC and also airs on AMC+. The previous three seasons are available on Netflix, and I seriously recommend you binge-watch them all first. You will thank me. Sundays 9 p.m., AMC, AMC+.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): GLASS “AKHNATEN,” LA OPERA, 3/19, 21, 22; “HONOUR,” Ruskin Group Theatre, 3/19-22; “VERTIGO” in concert, Disney Hall, 3/21; PUCCINI “TURANDOT,” Pacific Opera Project, Aratani Theatre, 3/22; “HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU,” CNN Sat 9 p.m., 3/21, 28; ANNE HILLERMAN’S “DARK WINDS,” Season 4, AMC/+, 3/22, 29, 4/4; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s Santa Monica, 3/22, 29; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 3/23, 30; NICK LOWE, Bellwether, 3/27;
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): UCLA-USC College Night, Sam First, 4/1; ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES, Belasco, 4/3; FRED HERSCH TRIO, Jazz Bakery, 4/11; DAVID BYRNE, Santa Barbara Bowl, 4/14; SAMARA JOY, Blue Note LA, 4/15, 16; LIBRARY GIRL, Ruskin Group Theatre, 4/12; 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.
