LA WeeklyFrom nocturnal art exhibitions to a seaside dance festival, a record fair and cardboard art, a throwback 1920s party and a one-man show about the End of Days, here are the 14 best things to do in L.A. this week.
fri 4/6
MUSIC
Disco After Dark
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is usually the site of such highfalutin art forms as ballet and opera, but every once in a while the grand old dame of the Music Center lets down her hair and transforms herself into a glittery late-night disco. The doors to the Chandler's chandelier-bedecked lobby and private chambers alike open wide this weekend for the return of Sleepless: The Music Center After Hours, this time a two-night event. Dublab DJs spin records as the backdrop to roller-skating demonstrations, film screenings, art installations, a fashion show, “pop-up dance happenings” from Invertigo Dance Theatre, creative typewriter exercises from Melrose Poetry Bureau and a drag revue helmed by DJ Lady Bunny. Local disco-funk band Luxxury perform on Friday, followed by a set from post-disco acolytes De Lux on Saturday. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown; Fri.-Sat., April 6-7, 11:30 p.m.-3 a.m.; $30. (213) 972-0711, musiccenter.org/sleepless. —Falling James
BOOKS/FOOD
Fighting for Food
The oldest wisdom often comes in handy when cataclysm looms large and we realize what clods we've been all along about preserving our most precious resources. From Garden Warriors to Good Seeds: Indigenous Food Sovereignty is a book project of Dr. Elizabeth Hoover of Brown University, and she'll tell you about modern developments in local food movements. Other highlights: nationwide Native American farming projects that continue to forge their own paths when it comes to taking care of their own food stores, and the importance of heritage seeds, which could become a watershed of radical self-reliance. UCLA La Kretz Garden Pavilion, 707 Tiverton Drive, Westwood; Fri., April 6, 4-5 p.m.; free, RSVP requested. (310) 825-1260, eventbrite.com/e/from-garden-warriors-to-good-seeds-indigenous-food-sovereignty-community-gardens-tickets-43480173369. —David Cotner
sat 4/7
SHOPPING
On the Record
Vinyl collectors, mark your calendars. The Los Angeles Record Fair returns today with the first of four scheduled events this year. Approximately two dozen vendors will offer for sale records, cassettes, CDs, music collectibles, apparel and music equipment. DJs will perform for your entertainment and food trucks will be on-site should you work up a fierce appetite crate-digging. The venue is located just a short walk from the Expo/Crenshaw Metro station. Ali's Banquet Halls, 3420 W. Jefferson Blvd., Jefferson Park; Sat., April 7, noon-6 p.m.; $5. (213) 926- 8220, larecordfair.com. —Matt Miner
ART/SHOPPING
Artapalooza
Twice a year, the L.A. Brewery Art Colony transforms into a party where the public can amble through its 16-acre industrial campus, meeting artists and artisans where they live and buying work directly off the walls of the lofts where it was created. A former Edison plant turned PBR brewery, the historic site began its transformation to the “world's largest art complex” in the early '80s, and still only rents to artists. This weekend, Spring Art Walk at the L.A. Brewery will include more than 100 studios — artists making everything from jewelry and ceramics to furniture, fashion, sculpture, installation, printmaking and every manner of painted canvas. There will be a serious food truck lineup, a beer garden and limited free parking (at adjacent UPS building, none on-site) — so consider ridesharing. Dogs not allowed. The Brewery Arts Complex, 2100 N. Main St., Lincoln Heights; Fri.-Sat., April 7-8, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; free. (323) 638-9382, breweryartwalk.com. —Beige Luciano-Adams
“Paper-Thin Hotel”; Credit: Courtesy of Dosshaus
ART
Cardboard-Thin Walls
“People are defined by the things they surround themselves with,” David Connelly told the Weekly earlier this year about the strangely mundane assortment of monochromatic painted-cardboard objects — a couch, vintage turntable, suitcase, beer cans, lipstick, typewriter, chessboard and even an elevator — he and fellow artist Zoey Taylor have assembled for their new exhibition, “Paper-Thin Hotel.” Better known as the art collective Dosshaus, the duo are transforming Corey Helford Gallery into a virtual flophouse replete with its own lobby and series of seedily noirish motel rooms through which they'll wander as living-art characters inspired by Arthur Miller and Bonnie & Clyde. Dosshaus' elaborate cardboard costumes and sculptures are simultaneously playful and surreally distinctive. Corey Helford Gallery, 517 S. Anderson St., Boyle Heights; opening reception, Sat., April 7, 7-11 p.m.; through May 5; free. (310) 287-2340, coreyhelfordgallery.com. —Falling James
sun 4/8
OUTDOORS
Party Like It's 1920!
Cast your mind back to those thrilling days of yesteryear — before the horrors of the stock market crash, the Great Mississippi Flood of '27 and the suicide of surrealist Jacques Rigaut — when you enjoy today's Roaring '20s Lawn Party. Situated by that beautiful, grand old 1926 Griffith Park merry-go-round, this rollicking sockdollager comes replete with snappy Charleston dancers, vintage photo ops, games of croquet and horseshoes, contests for the best-dressed men, women and children, and live music from the '20s played on period instruments. Make sure to holler “Bank's closed!” when you see people making out on the lawn. Griffith Park, 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Griffith Park; Sun., April 8, noon-6:30 p.m.; $22. (323) 913-4688, roaringtwentiesstreetjam.com. —David Cotner
mon 4/9
ACTIVISM
Cruel and Unusual
In 1971, Robert King, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace were sent to Angola Louisiana State Penitentiary for armed robbery. Each spent decades in solitary confinement following the stabbing murder of a prison guard in 1972, despite the lack of physical evidence linking them to the crime: Woodfox spent 43 years in solitary, Wallace 41 and King 29. Known as the Angola Three, they served the longest sentences in solitary confinement in American history. While incarcerated, the three were members of the Black Panther Party and protested the prison's racist and cruel conditions for inmates. All of their convictions were overturned, and King and Woodfox were released from prison in 2001 and 2016, respectively. (Wallace was released in 2013 and died of cancer that same year.) In Unbreakable Spirit: The Freed Angola Three, hosted by Central Library's ALOUD lecture series, King and Woodfox discuss their experiences as activists for prison reform with Bryonn Bain, director of UCLA's Prison Education Program. Central Library, 630 W. Fifth St., downtown; Mon., April 9, 7:30 p.m.; free, reservation required. (213) 228-7500, lfla.org. —Siran Babayan
FOOD
Better With Age
Doing a simple thing well can be paradoxically difficult — case in point: steak. In today's Aged Steak Tasting symposium, Belcampo CEO Anya Fernald unveils the complexities just waiting to be discovered in pricier cuts of dry-aged beef. Pairing these steaks with charcuterie, wine and salad, Fernald will demonstrate how to cook a piece of steak so you can make it just as perfectly at home. You'll also see how various ages of steak compare against one another — an opportunity almost as rare as the care Belcampo exercises as they take you into the very heart of meat consciousness. Belcampo Restaurant & Butcher Shop, 1026 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica; Mon., April 9, 7-8:30 p.m.; $90. (424) 744-8008, eventbrite.com/e/aged-steak-tasting-with-belcampos-co-founder-ceo-anya-fernald-tickets-44263484273?aff=efbeventtix. —David Cotner
tue 4/10
BOOK
Finding Your Moment
Just imagine the forces of the universe that have worked against you and/or helped bring you to the point in your life that you're reading these words. That's timing, baby. Live Talks L.A. presents Daniel H. Pink discussing his book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing ($28, Riverhead). Pink, who'll expound on the subject with neurologist Daniel J. Levitin, has distilled developments in scientific fields including psychology and economics to give you a brief history of timing and reveal how to succeed in all aspects of your life by showing you when to zig — and when to zag. Ann & Jerry Moss Theater, 3131 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica; Tue., April 10, 8 p.m. (reception 6:30-7:30 p.m.); $20-$95. (310) 855-0005, livetalksla.org/events/daniel-pink/. —David Cotner
ART/CULTURE
Viva La Raza
Pacific Standard Time LA/LA is the gift that keeps on giving, a catalyst for collaboration and dialogue still ricocheting across the city — like the Autry's dynamic “La Raza” exhibition (through Feb. 10), culled from more than 25,000 archival photographs documenting the height of the Chicano Rights Movement. Experience it in a celebratory atmosphere at Autry After Hours, where local poets, artists, DJs and performers converge for a “compelling cultural encounter.” Global bass/vintage tropical beats by Subsuelo, crafts with Self-Help Graphics and something from performance artist Artemisa Clark. While you're there, check out “Chicano Male Unbonded,” Harry Gamboa Jr.'s striking photo series of the city's Chicano avant-garde, presented in conjunction with LA RAZA. Autry Museum of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park; Wed., April 11, 6:30-9 p.m.; $5 nonmembers, free for Autry members; (323) 667-2000, theautry.org/events/special-events/autry-after-hours. —Beige Luciano-Adams
BOOKS/FILM
Odyssey Into Space
Fifty years after it emerged into global consciousness, 2001: A Space Odyssey still maintains its power to thrill, enthrall and perplex its audience. To better understand the legacy of this constantly unfolding creative touchstone, Michael Benson unveils Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke and the Making of a Masterpiece ($30, Simon & Schuster). A triptych through the creative processes of both director Kubrick and author Clarke, it includes insightful interviews with Kubrick's widow, Christiane, visual effects sorcerer Douglas Trumbull and a wealth of others. The ads called the film “The Ultimate Trip” — and for once, they were right. Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; Wed., April 11, 7 p.m.; free. (310) 659-3110, booksoup.com/event/michael-benson-discusses-and-signs-space-odyssey-stanley-kubrick-arthur-c-clarke-and-making. —David Cotner
To the Sea: Dance Concerts on the Pier offers performances from local and visiting companies and film screenings.; Credit: Jacob Jonas
thu 4/12
DANCE/FILM
Seaside Soiree
Fans of live dance, dance on film and folks who just like to go to the beach will all find much to love as this year's Dance Camera West Film Festival adds To the Sea: Dance Concerts on the Pier, a live performance component curated by choreographer Jacob Jonas and his eponymous Jacob Jonas the Company. The film component begins Thursday with a screening of international short films at UCLA's Fowler Museum, then shifts to Santa Monica's Laemmle Theaters. The live dance performances Friday through Sunday are a short walk west at the Santa Monica Pier. Announced local and visiting companies including Pilobolus, L.A. Contemporary Dance, Rubberlegz, Emily Kikta from New York City Ballet, the aptly names Seaweed Sisters and Jonas' troupe. The pier performances are free; film screenings are ticketed. International short films at Fowler Museum, 308 Charles E. Young Drive N., Westwood; Thu., April 12, 8 p.m.; $25; and at Laemmle Film Center, 1332 Second St., Santa Monica; Fri., April 13, 8 p.m.; Sat., April 14, noon & 3 p.m.; Sun., April 15, noon, 1:30 p.m. & 3 p.m.; $12. To the Sea: Dance Concerts on the Pier, Santa Monica Pier, 200 Santa Monica Pier A, Santa Monica; Fri.-Sun., April 13-14, 6:30 p.m.; free. dancecamerawest.org. —Ann Haskins
FILM
World's Unfair
Whenever people bemoan the lack of jetpacks or flying cars as hallmarks of modern living, they're usually referring to the wonders and inventions that regularly graced various versions of the World's Fair during the last century. Modeled after the French Expositions of the 19th century, America had World's Fairs through 1984 — and today's screening of What Happened to the World's Fair? is followed by a Q&A with architect-director Mina Chow, who blows the lid off the controversy about U.S. involvement in the World's Fair, something that has led to isolationism and/or snobbery that just really doesn't need to exist. Ray Stark Family Theatre, George Lucas Bldg., SCA 108, USC, 900 W. 34th St., University Park; Thu., April 12, 7 p.m.; free, RSVP required. (213) 740-2804, cinema.usc.edu/events/event.cfm?id=23531. —David Cotner
Eddie Pepitone is a one man theater troupe acting out the apocalypse.; Credit: Mandee Johnson
COMEDY
It's the End of the World
In his 2014 Netflix stand-up special In Ruins, Eddie Pepitone riffed on everything from having five cats and one dog to how he prefers masturbating to hockey games because they're less predictable than porn. Pepitone also bemoaned the continued hipsterfication of his native Brooklyn — especially those gourmet grilled cheese shops — and called his adopted hometown of Los Angeles a “soulless, sunbaked landscape of apocalyptical proportions.” Tonight the “Bitter Buddha” performs Eddie Pepitone: In the End of Days, a one-man sketch show set entirely in an end-of-the-world L.A. Directed by fellow comedian-writer Sean Conroy, who with Pepitone co-hosted the podcast The Long Shot, the comic plays such characters as an overzealous theater usher, a motivational speaker and the last woman on the planet. Lyric Hyperion Theatre, 2106 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake; Thu., April 12, 8 p.m.; $10. (323) 928-2299, lyrichyperion.com. —Siran Babayan
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