L.A. Weekly
PLATINUM OASIS
Curated by Ron Athey and Vaginal Davis for Outfest's experimental wing, the second annual Platinum Oasis returns to the Coral Sands Motel. This year's 18-hour performance-art extravaganza is loosely based on the life and work of filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. Artists from around the United States and Europe will take over the motel complex, with individual rooms featuring videography, experimental sound, salon-style interaction or installation art — in some cases, all of the above. Davis will emcee a poolside stage for music, spoken word and performance art. Don't miss Catherine Opie's lesbian-separatist tea party, Ann Shelton's women's-prison film installation or Nicole Blackman's performance “The Courtesan's Tales.”
Coral Sands Motel, 1750 N. Western Ave., Hollywood; Saturday-Sunday, July 13-14, 4 p.m.10 a.m.; (213) 480-7088.
–Sandra Ross
THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL
Fuss all you want about the noisy crowd two seats over, or the LAPD 'copters overhead; there's nothing like the Hollywood Bowl, and hasn't been since the music began up in Cahuenga Pass in 1922. Highlights this summer: John Mauceri conducting a semi-staged La Bohème (July 21); Howard Shore's big choral cantata drawn from his Lord of the Rings score (Aug. 9 & 10); Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting Beethoven's Ninth (Aug. 8) and Mahler songs with fabulous basso Thomas Quasthoff (Aug. 13); Elmer Bernstein's brand-new Guitar Concerto, with Christopher Parkening (Aug. 27).
Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. Season runs July 7September 14; (323) 850-2000.
LONG BEACH OPERA
For two decades Michael Milenski has produced shoestring conceptualized productions of opera fare both known and little known, with mostly exhilarating results. Leos Janacek's romantic folk-tragedy Jenufa is this summer's offering, with Lisa Willson as the put-upon heroine and Andreas Mitisek conducting.
Carpenter Center, Cal State Long Beach; Sunday, June 9, 4 p.m.; Saturday, June 15, 8 p.m.; (562) 439-2580.
JOHN CAGE
At architect Rudolf Schindler's house, where John Cage lived for a time, pianist/composer James Tenney performs Cage's Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano and a recently discovered 1934 score dedicated by Cage to Schindler's wife, Pauline. This is part of the revived musical activities at the house, in collaboration with the MAK Center for Arts and Architecture.
Schindler House, 835 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood; Friday-Saturday, June 28-29, 7:30 p.m.; (323) 651-1510.
LOS ANGELES OPERA
Superconductor Kent Nagano conducts the season's final productions — both in their company premieres — a week apart: Puccini's Turandot (with the composer's abandoned final pages in a new completion by Luciano Berio) and a double bill of Bartók's psychodrama Duke Bluebeard's Castle and Puccini's one-act satire Gianni Schicchi. Hollywood's William Friedkin comes aboard to stage the double bill.
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Turandot starts May 25 at 7:30 p.m.; Bluebeard/Schicchi starts May 31 at 7:30 p.m.; the two offerings run in repertory thru June 16; (213) 972-800.
–Alan Rich
THEATRICUM BOTANICUM
Against a backdrop of chaparral and stately oaks in the hills of Topanga Canyon, the region's most venerable leftie theater company, Theatricum Botanicum, enters its 23rd season of outdoor repertory. It starts June 2 with Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and winds up in late October with A Midsummer Night's Dream. Woven in throughout the summer are also Sunday-morning kids' shows, Peter Hall's musical adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm (lyrics by Adrian Mitchell, music by Richard Peaslee) and the triple-tiered plot of Jean Giraudoux's stylish comedy The Madwoman of Chaillot.
Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga; June 2October 19; perfs in rep, call for schedule, (310) 455-3723.
SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL/L.A.: ROMEO AND JULIET
Also in the open air, underground rock band Lava Diva scores the plot as the Capulets and Montagues feud on a music-industry battlefield. Downtown's skyscrapers take in the action as it unfolds below, in Pershing Square. Then the production goes floral at South Coast Botanic Garden, later in the summer.
Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive St., downtown, TuesdaySunday, July 520, 8 p.m.; South Coast Botanic Garden, 26300 Crenshaw Blvd., Palos Verdes Peninsula, WednesdaySunday, July 25August 4, 8:15 p.m.; (213) 481-2273.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
East L.A. Classics transfers Shakespeare's comedy of dreams to Mesoamerica, with Aztec spirits and Spanish conquistadors playing out some regional history in the morning air. The costumes are as colorful as tropical plumage and the action as slapstick as Abbott and Costello.
Ford Amphitheater, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood; May 28, 30 & 31, June 5 & 6, 9:30 a.m.; (323) 461-3673.
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THE 10th ANNUAL BLANK
THEATER COMPANY
NATIONWIDE YOUNG
PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
Among the few local troupes that give fully professional productions to teenage playwrights, Blank Theater Company presents the winners of its 10th national competition, opening a window to emerging theatrical voices.
Hudson Mainstage Theater, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; opens Thursday, June 6, 8 p.m.; ThursdaySaturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m.; through June 30; (323) 661-9827.
–Steven Leigh Morris
LOS ANGELES DANCE
INVITATIONAL
This year's Los Angeles Dance Invitational, at the Doolittle Theater, will look both back and forward at the local dance scene. Choreographer Dee Dee Wood (The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins) will present a lifetime-achievement award to Chita Rivera, renowned as Anita in West Side Story, Rosie Grant in Bye Bye Birdie and Velma Kelly in Chicago. Joe Cassini will be honored for distinguished teaching, including a tribute performance choreographed by Raymond G. del Barrio. In all, 12 choreographers and dance companies will be featured, including the Ballet Folklorico del Pacifico, TONGUE, Robert Gilliam, Lisa K. Lock and two hip-hop troupes. The Jazz Tap Ensemble's Caravan Project adds its own teen dancers to the forward-looking mix, which also showcases the young ballerina Diane Booth and the flamenco dancer Timo Nuñez-Bellamy, who won Music Center Spotlight Awards. Proceeds benefit GLASS, a nonprofit that helps homeless, abandoned and abused gay and lesbian youth. Gilmore Girls' Liz Torres will emcee.
The Doolittle Theater, 1615 N. Vine St., Hollywood; Saturday, June 15, 8 p.m.; (323) 655-TKTS.
–Howard Blume
C.O.L.A. 2002 PERFORMING
ARTS FELLOWS
Four premieres over two weekends by four of the city's finest — queer performance artist Tim Miller, postmodern choreographer Victoria Marks, Korean minimalist Hae Kyung Lee and classical Cambodian dancer Sophaline Cheam Shapiro — show just how diverse and topnotch performance in L.A. can be.
Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 S. Spring St., downtown; Miller & Lee: Friday-Saturday, June 7-8, 8 & 9 p.m.; Marks & Shapiro: Friday-Saturday, June 14-15, 8 & 9 p.m.; (213) 485-1681.
ATERBALLETTO:
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
Celebrated rocker and musical chameleon Elvis Costello breaks yet another genre stereotype with a symphonic score for Mauro Bigonzetti's take on Shakespeare's spirited tale of mistaken desire. Costello reportedly had never attended a live dance concert before the commission, but it's a good match, with Italy's ultracontemporary troupe similarly expanding our notions about ballet in this U.S. premiere.
Segerstrom Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa; Friday-Saturday, July 19-20, 8 p.m.; Sunday, July 21, 2 p.m.; (714) 556-ARTS.
NEW WORLD FLAMENCO
FESTIVAL
Whether you like your flamenco puro (traditional) or nuevo (contemporary), NWFF is the place to see the latest trends and innovations. With a mission to bring renowned dance artists who are at the top of their field in Spain but relatively unknown to U.S. audiences, the festival is fast becoming the hot-ticket item of the summer. This year's lineup features Madrid's Compañía Juana Amaya, Sevilla's Compañía Flamenca Andrés Marín, and the San Francisco-based Yaelisa & Caminos Flamencos.
Irvine Barclay Theater, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine, August 918; (949) 854-4646, (714) 740-7478; www.thebarclay.org.
–Sara Wolf
FIGHTING WELFARE REFORM
Hoping to help put an end to President Bush's welfare-reform plans, more than 1,000 low-income families are expected to attend a ä Town Hall meeting, One People, One Crisis, One Safety Net, at Immanuel Presbyterian Church. Hosted by the National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support, the meeting will include County Federation of Labor President Miguel Contreras and AFL-CIO vice president Linda Chavez Thompson. Community leaders and families will unveil a consolidated plan to fight for immigrant, welfare and worker rights. Key issues such as child care, living-wage jobs, welfare benefits, education and training will be discussed.
Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 3300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles; Saturday, June 15, 9 a.m.noon; (213) 743-3940, Ext. 42.
–Joseph Treviño
THE FESTS, THE SERIES, THE REST
The Eighth Annual IFP/WestLos Angeles Film Festival, with 57 features from 22 countries and almost twice that many shorts, opens June 20, and closes June 29 with the premiere of Miguel “Chuck & Buck” Arteta's The Good Girl, with Jennifer Aniston in the title role. The following month, July 1122, Outfest 2002 will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival with more than 225 films from all over the omniverse. The program hasn't been announced yet, so make a point of checking up on this one. Finally, from July 25 to August 24, the UCLA Film and Television Archive presents its 11th annual Festival of Preservation, kicking off with a restored print of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa, and featuring restored prints of Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter, John Cassavetes' Shadows and John Sayles' Matewan.
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LAIFF: (323) 951-7090 or www.lafilmfest.com. Outfest: (213) 480-7090 or www.outfest.org. UCLA: (310) 206-8013 or www.cinema.ucla.edu.
American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theater is hosting everything from “The Haunted World of [Italian horror master] Mario Bava,” “Japanese Outlaw Masters” and “Mods & Rockers 2002” in June, to a big Andy Warhol retrospective and a Sci-Fi/Horror Fest in August. Meanwhile, down at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, there are comprehensive programs at the rate of one per month: “Double Exposure: Photography, Film and the Cinema” in June, a 21-film William Wyler retrospective in July, and a 22-film Harold Lloyd retrospective in August. Then there's the Los Angeles Conservancy's 16th annual Last Remaining Seats program, featuring six classic films (among them the Bette Davis weepie Now, Voyager, the Stanley Donen musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Fred Zinnemann's adaptation of James Jones' From Here to Eternity), plus live entertainment at the historic, ornately appointed theaters of Broadway downtown.
American Cinematheque, 6712 Hollywood Blvd.: (323) 461-2020 or www.americancinematheque.com. LACMA: (323) 857-6000 or www.lacma.org. L.A. Conservancy: (213) 430-4219 or www.laconservancy.org.
Last — and far be it for us to say least — come the thrill and theme-park rides: There's Scooby-Doo and John Woo, too (that would be Windtalkers, finally!), both on June 14; Spielberg's sci-fi Minority Report on June 21; the giant-spiders movie Eight Legged Freaks on July 19; Austin Powers in Goldmember — and, coincidentally enough, The Cockettes documentary — on July 26; and Rob Cohen's The Fast and the Furious follow-up XXX, also starring Vin Diesel, on August 2. Department of Delayed Gratification: As to Scorsese's Gangs of New York, starring street-smart street tough Leonardo DiCaprio, Mr. Miramax put the release off again, this time till Christmas, for sure — or so we devoutly pray.
–Ron Stringer
SCUTTERFEST MUSIC & FILM FESTIVAL
A wicked mix of riot grrrl, queercore, hardcore and punk rock, Scutterfest spawned last year from the fanzine Scutter. The bootstrap DIY festival offers five days of edgy alternative sound with dozens of acts ranging from beloved bands (Radio Vago, Pansy Division) to some of the underground outfits just beginning to blip on the independent-music radar (Gravy Train, the Blood Arm). Mink Stole kicks off the fun on the 19th, emceeing a party at the Gauntlet. A film series of indie/queer film follows up the following day (location TBA). Then it's three days of gnarly and raw rock & roll (plus DJ sets) at the Smell, the O.C. Drop-In Center and Fais Do-Do.
WednesdaySunday, June 1923. www.scutter. hypermart.net/scutterfest.htm.
–Nathan Ihara
SUMMER NIGHTS AT MOCA
The Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra, Russell Gunn & Ethnomusicology, the artful vocal flights of Dwight Trible, and Hadda Brooks and Linda Hopkins in a tribute to Nellie Lutcher are among the highlights at this stellar series of free concerts, where the art-viewing is also free. (There's brews 'n' barbecue, too.)
MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary, 152 N. Central Ave., downtown; every Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m., June 6 to August 29; (213) 626-6222.
LONG BEACH BAYOU FESTIVAL
Party hearty at this celebration of traditional and contemporary Louisiana French culchah, featuring three hours of Cajun and three hours of zydeco music each day, including Zydeco Joe & Laissez Bon Temps Rouler Band, Paul Daigle & Savoir Faire, the Magnolia Sisters featuring Ann Savoy and the Louisiana Old Timers, mon cher; there'll be a lotta tasty gumbo, jambalaya 'n' 'cue, and the whole shebang benefits Comprehensive Child Development, a nonprofit organization that provides care, education and nutrition for more than 500 children.
Queen Mary Events Park, Long Beach; Saturday-Sunday, June 22-23; (562) 427-8834, www.LongBeach Festival.com
OZZFEST
Ozzy Osbourne, System of a Down, Rob Zombie, POD, Drowning Pool, Adema, Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society, Down, Hatebreed, Apex Theory and about a jillion other purveyors of that heathen hair-tossin', fist-pumpin', lip-studs-'n'-big-ol'-shorts-wearin', HEAVY, hellish sound (it's a way of life) grace the stages at Devore. The faithful will flock, and the bravely curious, if they tough it out, will witness spectacular variations on the mutating metal form. It's, like, a party, man, a really big, gnarly party.
Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion, Devore; Saturday, August 31; (213) 480-3232.
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–John Payne
LOCALS ONLY IN PASADENA
If all the carpetbagger brouhaha over this summer's Warhol Retrospective at MOCA leaves you craving more local color, look no further than Pasadena (where Andy, in 1970, had his first North American museum retrospective — there's no escape! Ha ha ha ha!). Armory Center curator Jay Belloli's ambitious inaugural show at the revamped Old Town location features site-specific commissioned works by L.A. faves Lynn Aldrich, Michael McMillen, Tamara Fites, Steve Roden and others. The militantly provincial Pasadena Museum of California Art, funded by collectors Robert and Arlene Oltman, opens this summer with “On-Ramps.” The exhibit promises to be everything LACMA's Made in California was not: at once concise and comprehensive, and organized along four distinct curatorial foci — provided by Thomas Solomon, Michael Duncan, Nancy Moure and L.A. Weekly's own Peter Frank.
“New Works New Spaces,” the Armory Center for the Arts, 145 N. Raymond Ave.; through June 23; (626) 792-5101.
“On-Ramps,” Pasadena Museum of California Art, 490 E. Union St.; June 1September 1; (626) 568-3665.
–Doug Harvey
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