L.A. Weeklyfri 9/7
FOOD
Briny Bounty
Admittedly a drink called a “Screaming Lobster” isn't quite as appetizing when you consider what actually makes a lobster scream (Surprise! It's an icepick!), but the 22nd annual Long Beach Lobster Festival is nothing if not contemplative of every aspect of lobster consciousness. Over three days, you'll enjoy lobster, lobster and more lobster with these doomed Maine expatriates. You'll also experience such marvels as the world's largest lobster cooker; lobster sliders, rolls and on-a-stick; arts-and-crafts concessions; and karaoke that is by law required to include the song “Rock Lobster.” Rainbow Lagoon, north side of Shoreline Drive at Linden Avenue, Long Beach; Fri., Sept. 7, 5-10 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., Sept. 8-9, noon-10 p.m.; $5-$87. (562) 495-5959, originallobsterfestival.com. —David Cotner
DANCE
California Story
Based on the 1884 story by Helen Hunt Jackson, a dramatization of Ramona was a regular pageant at the San Gabriel Mission for many decades and became something of a branding tool for the romantic ideal of California. Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, with its band of dancers, musicians, actors and performers, descends on this site, which actually figures in the Jackson story, for Ramona After Dark. Choreographer Duckler combines the troupe's site-specific chops with dance, American music and contemporary considerations of female empowerment and the racial discrimination that laces the romanticism in this timeless coming-of-age tale. The two performances after the opening are dubbed The Story of Ramona. Same show, different pre- and post-show events. Details at HeidiDuckler.org. San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, 320 S. Mission Drive, San Gabriel; Fri., Sept. 7, 9 p.m., Sun., Sept. 16 & 23, 7 p.m., $50, $25 students and students, $15 13 and under. missionplayhouse.org/event/ramona-after-dark. —Ann Haskins
Sympathy for the Devil; Credit: © 2018 ABKCO Films/Cupid Films
FILM
Godard Gets Stoned
Two icons of the 1960s — The Rolling Stones and director Jean-Luc Godard — collide and collaborate in one of the strangest and most unsettling rock & roll films of the era, Sympathy for the Devil. Originally titled One Plus One by Godard, the film, set against the chaotic culture clashes of 1968, is ostensibly a documentation of the British band while they're recording ever-mutating versions of “Sympathy for the Devil” (at one point, Mick Jagger has to pluralize and update his original lyric “Who killed Kennedy?” to acknowledge the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy). But Godard juxtaposed studio performances by the Stones with jarring footage of the Black Panthers and symbolic allusions to socialism to create a work that thoroughly confused the band's teeny-bopper fans. Cinematographer Tony Richmond will do a post-screening Q&A. Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; Fri., Sept. 7, 7:30 p.m.; $12. (323) 466-3456, americancinemathequecalendar.com. —Falling James
ART
L.A. Can Be So Lonesome
Empathy and paint markers prepare the artist known as Lonesome Town for the random encounters that inspire him — not with people but instead with the things they discard, ignore and neglect. A fridge, a sidewalk stain, a dirty electrical box, a dinged-up street sign, a television monitor and so very, very many couches — where others see litter, Lonesome Town sees a lost soul that really needs a sad clown face in its life. With the addition of his crisp, cartoonish, colorful clown-mask paintings, the situation gets exponentially more funny, creepy and photogenic. Mostly he chronicles these public art adventures on Instagram, but for this exhibition at La Luz de Jesus, the artist will be creating an immersive sculptural installation as well. It's probably fine, but maybe don't touch anything. La Luz de Jesus Gallery, 4633 Hollywood Blvd., Los Feliz; opening reception Fri., Sept. 7, 8-11 p.m.; free. Runs thru Sun., Sept. 30. (323) 666-7667, laluzdejesus.com/lonesome-town/. —Shana Nys Dambrot
Andrew Rhoden's Hobgoblin fights a teenage Spiderman at Long Beach Comic Expo.; Credit: Star Foreman
sat 9/8
CONVENTIONS
Fan Fare in the LBC
Long Beach Comic Con might not be quite as sprawling and historic as its cousin in San Diego, but the annual gathering of comic-book fans, writers, illustrators and cosplayers — along with assorted scientists, wrestlers and actors — is nonetheless a monumental pop-culture event. This year's special guests include longtime comic-book writer and editor Marv Wolfman (Daredevil, The Tomb of Dracula), illustrator-writer Jamie Hernandez (Love and Rockets), actor/former AFL defensive back Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, Sherilyn Fenn (one of several Twin Peaks cast members scheduled to appear), artist Koi Turnbull, dream-spinning chanteuse Chrysta Bell, supremely committed cosplayer Victoria Ikerd-Schreiter (lawyer by day, Wonder Woman by night), writer Christopher Priest, Dan Mendoza (Dollface), writer Margaret Stohl and wrestlers Akanesi and Otto Von Clutch. Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach; Sat.-Sun., Sept. 8-9, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; free-$399. (562) 436-3636, longbeachcomiccon.com. —Falling James
FOOD & DRINK
Everyone Loves Lemonade
The ninth edition of L.A. Loves Alex's Lemonade, co-hosted by Lucques Group's Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne and Hungry Cat's David Lentz, promises a plethora of fine food and drink, all for a good cause. The afternoon of fare prepared by the nation's best chefs and mixologists, plus activities for kids, live and silent auctions and more, benefits Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and its battle to help kids with cancer. Participating chefs include Chris Bianco, April Bloomfield, Evan Funke, Giada De Laurentiis, Adam Perry Lang, Donald Link, Nancy Oakes, Nancy Silverton, Steve Samson, Jon Shook, Vinny Dotolo, Rocco Whalen and Marc Vetri. Royce Quad, UCLA, Westwood; Sat., Sept. 8, 12:30–4:30 p.m.; $195-$1,200, kids under 12 free with paying adult. alexslemonade.org/campaign/la-loves-alexs-lemonade. —Lisa Horowitz
Lydia Breckenridge's quilts; Credit: Gallery 30 South
sun 9/9
ART
Punk Piecework
Pillar of the 1980s punk music scene in L.A., frontwoman for The Bags, music video artist, infamous Wilton Hotel resident, Wacko shop manager and … dedicated quilter? Leave it to Lydia Breckenridge to find a way to make cozy crafting radical. Her “African-American Punk Rock Quilts” recall, depict and chronicle the iconic bands and some of her zanier personal memories of that era, combining font logos, folksy pictorial motifs and imagery, and vintage photographs into intricate patterns, textures and collage-like stories. While her content may be a trip down the memory lane of her Hollywood youth, the affinity for quilting as an art form represents a deeper exploration of identity, referring to the African-American tradition of quilting as both an homage to ancestral craft traditions and a post-diaspora cultural melding — an idiom perfectly suited to the literal piecework of the quilting process. Gallery 30 South, 30 S. Wilson Ave., Pasadena; artist reception, Sun., Sept. 9, 3-6 p.m.; free. Runs thru Sept. 30. (323) 547-3227, gallery30south.com/lydia-breckenridge/. —Shana Nys Dambrot
Claudia Dey; Credit: Courtesy Claudia Dey
mon 9/10
BOOKS
Forbidden Territory
“There is no such thing as permanent,” Claudia Dey writes in her new novel, Heartbreaker. What begins as a simple mystery — a daughter attempting to investigate the sudden disappearance of her mother — turns into a much stranger and more engrossing tale, as it turns out that the family is part of a secretive cult that's located in a remote settlement known only as The Territory. Dey deepens this dark fantasy through the imaginatively detailed, keen observations of teen narrator Darlene Fontaine, who muses about her place amid this blank landscape while anchoring the proceedings with sly pop-culture references. Dey's rich prose drives the story with poetic acuteness, whether she's describing “heartsick, immortal gulls cawing and bombing like psychotic confetti” or “the smell my mother was giving off now in our front hallway — an unfinished space, an open body cavity, an open grave.” Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz; Mon., Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m.; free, book is $26. (323) 660-1175, skylightbooks.com. —Falling James
Leonard Bernstein in 1955; Credit: Al Ravenna/Courtesy Library of Congress
tue 9/11
MUSIC
A Theme for Our Times
L.A. Philharmonic continues its yearlong celebration of the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein's birth with a performance of the composer's Second Symphony — a bold, modernist, wide-ranging work of sounds and spaces that's aptly subtitled The Age of Anxiety — featuring French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. American conductor Karina Canellakis, who presided over the inventive presentation of Dai Fujikura's Secret Forest with L.A. Chamber Orchestra earlier this year, begins the evening with A Short Piece for Orchestra by overlooked African-American composer Julia Perry before switching gears completely with Johannes Brahms' more traditional Second Symphony. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood; Tue., Sept. 11, 8 p.m.; $1-$158. (323) 660-1175, hollywoodbowl.com. —Falling James
Just Sayin'! PSA launch party; Credit: Greg Tuzin
COMEDY
PSAs for a Cause
Did you know that Americans waste 72 billion pounds of food in this country every year? Or that 40 percent of the planet's ocean surface is covered in plastic? Comedians often tackle hard-hitting issues in their material, but in Just Sayin'!, they're trying to get all of us to bring about social change. Directed by Brent Bishop, the series of minute-long video PSAs, which begin airing on YouTube this month, features comics and actors like David Koechner, Todd Glass, Kyle Kinane, Baron Vaughn and the Sklar Brothers cracking wise but also getting serious about various causes, whether it's racism, sexism, homelessness, mental health or the environment. Bishop has so far filmed more than two dozen PSAs that also lend support to organizations and nonprofits including the ACLU, Black Lives Matter, Planned Parenthood, American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Greenpeace and the Humane Society. Bishop hosts tonight's Just Sayin'! PSA Launch Party with Koechner, Kinane, Aparna Nancherla and Eliza Skinner, who screen their videos and perform stand-up. UCB, 5419 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood; Tue., Sept. 11, 8:30 p.m.; $7. (323) 908-8702, justsayinpsa.com. —Siran Babayan
wed 9/12
ART
Live Painting Gone Wild
While you might think that brushes sharpened by old paint and razor-edged palettes might seem like worthwhile weapons to use in a fight, tonight artists put aside their constant rage and lust for painful slaughter during Art Battle Los Angeles. It's a tournament during which local artists paint in front of a live audience of occasional philistines who now scream for the thrill of the kill as, over the course of 20 mind-melting minutes, white canvases are transmogrified into art so beautiful that they gnash their teeth and rend their garments at the thought of such beauty visiting their lives. Exchange L.A., 618 S. Spring St., downtown; Wed., Sept. 12, 7:30-11 p.m.; $15-$20. (213) 627-8070, eventbrite.com/e/art-battle-los-angeles-september-12-2018-tickets-48340221905. —David Cotner
thu 9/13
ART
Printing for Power
On view at the Fine Art Gallery on the Cal State L.A. campus, “Entre Tinta y Lucha” is a carefully curated selection of fine-art prints from the Self-Help Graphics archive, spanning the beloved Eastside institution's storied 45-year history. Though the 50 amazing works on display just scratch the surface of the 1,000-plus editions SHG has produced, the exhibition demonstrates the indelible influence of Chicano art on the city — an influence felt far beyond the art world. The extended SHG family of artists and activists also has a lot to say about how to use art to create access and make change in the community. Tonight's panel features five artists — moderator Favianna Rodriguez, Linda Vallejo, Malaquias Montoya, Ernesto Yerena and Luis Genaro Garcia — who know first-hand about the social, economic and political power that a place like SHG supports and amplifies. Cal State University L.A. Fine Arts Gallery, 5151 State University Drive, East L.A.; Thu., Sept. 13, 6-7:15 p.m.; free. Exhibition runs thru Fri., Sept. 29. (323) 343-3901, selfhelpgraphics.com/calendar/2018/9/13/cultural-significance-social-justice-panel. —Shana Nys Dambrot
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