By CHARLES ANDREWS AFTER ALMOST FIVE DECADES OF SEEING THE ARTS EXPLODE Every summer in LA, after the post-Christmas doldrums, I am no longer surprised. But some summers are better than others, and you never […]

By Charles Andrews HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Tonight! – 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 […]

By CHARLES ANDREWS WILL STEPHEN COLBERT HAVE THE LAST LAUGH? I sure hope so. But he had the laugh on me when I watched the first of his last four shows and panned it. There […]

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 […]

By CHARLES ANDREWS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: TONIGHT! – VERDI “FALSTAFF,” L.A. OPERA – Drink it in, the incomparable Romantic Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi borrows a really good story from the British Bard. Expect comic mayhem, […]

By Charles Andrews FRIDAY, MAY 1, A NATIONAL STRIKE, TO RESTORE SANITY You know what to do…nothing. No work, no school, no patronizing of corporations, shop if you must at mom & pop businesses (and […]

By CHARLES ANDREWS BUT FIRST! THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE – If you care about the arts. And free speech, free media, free libraries – then please participate in the next protest against the insane clown posse […]

By CHARLES ANDREWS WELCOME into the world, JULIAN! My newly minted next-door neighbor, now is the third Beautiful Boy in our small complex. While there are little ones running around trying to get us to […]

By CHARLES ANDREWS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: “BLUE KISS,” Ruskin Group Theatre – How can I highly recommend something I haven’t seen yet? See Library Girl. See Jazz Bakery. Track record and integrity. More next week, but […]