L.A. WeeklyFrom a chance to eat your way through Little Tokyo to live film scoring and the Moth’s storytelling contest grand finale, here are the 12 best things to do in Los Angeles.
(Courtesy of Go Little Tokyo)
fri 7/19
FOOD&DRINK
Eat Little Tokyo
Previously, only giant monsters were able to say that Tokyo was a delicious little place — but now we humans can take part in all the consumption and contentment involved in Delicious Little Tokyo 2019. You’ll get two days of gustatory delights, including but not limited to free stuff, cooking demonstrations and workshops. From the 13th Annual Saké and Food Tasting Extravaganza to the Little Tokyo Society’s Food Walking Tour to Miso Ball Making 101, you’ll be sure to come away with a greater appreciation of this constantly unfolding culinary blossom prospering in the heart of the city. Little Tokyo; Fri., July 19, 7 p.m. & Sat. July 20, 9 a.m.; prices vary. (213) 365-0605, golittletokyo.com/delicious. —David Cotner
DRAG
Everybody Loves Connie
If you don’t “love Connie” after seeing the androgynous artist and performer in action at the Cavern Club, we don’t want to know you. Connie is dance. Connie is comedy. Connie is love. Connie is life! The vivacious character created by John Cantwell (formerly of the improv group The Nellie Olesons) worked it out for an exercise challenge on RuPaul’s Drag Race last season, but she has been mesmerizing L.A.’s small theater stages for years, starting with her first all-dance, no dialogue drag spectacular co-starring local queen dream Kelly Mantle as Connie’s nemesis Bambi. The stars re-unite for Love Connie 2: Electric Boogaloo, set in a Turkish jail and concerning the lingerie’d ladies’ dreams to form the ultimate girl group. With thematic nods to ’70s and ’80s exploitation prison films, the show — which ends its July run this weekend — features song, dance and drag meshed together with love, lust and lulzy good times. The Cavern Club Celebrity Theater, 1920 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake; Fri., July 19, 9 p.m. & Sun., July 21, 7 p.m., $25. cavernclubtheater.com. —Lina Lecaro
sat 7/20
ART
Independent Radio Renegades
Modern mainstream radio is a vast wasteland of corporate music programming and empty-headed talk-radio partisans preaching to the converted, but there’s a secret universe of local underground radio stations that supply the actual soundtracks to our lives. At Zebulon’s Open Transmission, the focus is on four independent radio stations — KXLU, Dublab, KCHUNG and Orange Radio — that champion “the most unique, obscure, diverse and at-times bizarre artists [who] shift the cultural landscape of the city.” Turn on, tune in and drop out as DJs, musicians and artists TBA celebrate college station KXLU, the sampling experimentalists at Dublab, arty Chinatown radio station KCHUNG and rap-minded Orange Radio. Zebulon, 2478 Fletcher Drive, Elysian Valley; Sat., July 20, 7 p.m.; free. (323) 663-6927, zebulon.la.—Falling James
BOOKS/ART
Explore L.A.’s Literary Landscape
Los Angeles remains well-known as a constantly amazing haven for independent bookstores, and now the independent booksellers and publishers that fill those bookstores have an event that joins all literary forces. Hosted by the Los Angeles Review of Books, LitLit: The Little Literary Fair gathers booksellers and publishers in one place so that the literary landscape of Los Angeles unveils itself like never before. You’ll also see authors and art book makers in conversation with local publishers such as Angel City Press, LARB/USC Publishing Workshop, Not A Cult, Red Hen Press, Tia Chucha, and many, many others. Hauser & Wirth, 901-909 E. 3rd St., downtown; Sat.-Sun., July 20-21, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; free. (213) 943-1620, hauserwirth.com/events/25139-litlit-little-literary-fair. —David Cotner
(Courtesy of New York Film Academy)
MUSIC/FILM
Setting the Score
The L.A. Live Score Film Festival is an annual event that aims to pair short films with original music scores, which are performed live during screenings by Helix Collective, which presents the fest with the Academy of Scoring Arts. This year, Ion Legarda’s film about free diving, A Deep Breath, is matched with music by Cali Wang. Director Vaibhav Arora’s Enigma (which involves a man “suffering from the illusion that he transcends space and time”) is soundtracked by composer Philip Timofeyev. Other directors include Meaghan Hellmers, Marco Martínez, Devaughn Hooper, Jonathan Samukange and Vionna Lam, with music by such composers as Lasse Elkjaer, Sergei Stern, and Isabelle Engman & Gerardo Garcia Jr. Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., East Hollywood; Sat., July 20, 6 p.m.; $25. eventbrite.com/e/los-angeles-live-score-film-festival-2019-tickets-61911072685. —Falling James
sun 7/21
BOOKS
Spiritual Connection
Rob Zabrecky’s new memoir Strange Cures, explores a life full of miraculous situations and eccentric role models, starting with a delusional uncle who almost almost killed him as a youngster and later, delving into his life as musician surrounded by the colorful characters of the L.A.’s alternative music scene (centered around the legendary coffeehouse and music hub called Jabberjaw). Though his band Possum Dixon was a fave in rock circles, Zabrecky is best known today as a magician and web host (Other Side With Zabrecky features one-on-one seances with famous figures and the spirit of their choice). For this book event moderated by L.A. historian Chris Nichols, “a unique presentation” is promised. With Zabrecky (who grew up in the San Fernando Valley before succumbing to Hollywood and Silver Lake’s subversive charms) and Nichols coming together at a venue like the Valley Relics Museum, expect history, hilarity and maybe a ’lil hocus pocus too. Valley Relics Museum, 7900 Balboa Blvd., Hangar C3 & C4, Van Nuys; Sun., July 21, 5-7 p.m. $12. (818) 616-4083, valleyrelicsmuseum.org. —Lina Lecaro
Brooke Sauer, Untitled. Unique hand cut collage, 12 x 12 inches (Courtesy of Hot Shop)
ART
Creative Cash and Carry
Part open studio, part fine art and artisanal design market, painter Renée Fox’s Hot Shop series turns your Sunday afternoon into an art acquisition adventure and creative patio party. The curated offerings include small-scale, affordable, original works ranging from wearables to wood sculpture, drawings, prints, miniature paintings, mixed media and plush sculptures, functional design and mural maquettes, collage, and jewelry by a panoply of local favorites like China Adams, Doug Harvey, Kent Twitchell and Fox herself. Hot Shop, 1133 N. La Brea Ave., West Hollywood; Sun., July 21, 2-6 p.m.; free (enter from the alley behind the building). facebook.com/events/1917612498339999. —Shana Nys Dambrot
mon 7/22
CULTURE
Who’s the Best Storyteller?
When it comes to story-telling events, The Moth reigns on stages across the country for a reason — the participants and audiences’ shared passion for the narratives of life. Established in 1997 by poet George Dawes Green on his moth-filled Atlanta, Georgia, porch, the event found its wings in New York and has grown into a phenomena as its spread in other cities. Angelenos have quite possibly the most unique tales to tell so it’s no surprise that Moth “Slam” nights — which bring writers, poets and performers together to share stories (no notes) and compete — have flourished here. The Moth GrandSLAM is its biggest and best gathering of talent, featuring the winners of 10 Moth Slams going against each other for the ultimate victory. Hosted by Brian Finkelstein, the championship event is themed “off the rails” this year and promises “unexpected detours” and “willful disregard of the beaten path,” two ideas that should yield L.A. Moth masterpieces. Regent Theater, 448 S Main St., downtown; Mon., July 22, 7 p.m.; $25. themoth.org. —Lina Lecaro
tue 7/23
FOOD&DRINK
Meet a Firefighter
For once, the food you eat can have a positive effect that lasts longer than 24 hours at the 11th Annual Taste Of Farmers Market, a soirée benefitting the First-In Fire Foundation and the firefighters from nearby Station 61 (just around the corner, on 3rd Street) and Station 58 (a little further south, on Fairfax). You’ll be able to sample dishes from over 50 market restaurants, eat firehouse chili made by people who actually live in firehouses, and have a chance to get your photograph taken with a fire truck, so you know that the dream was real all along. Original Farmers Market, 6333 W. 3rd St., Fairfax; Tue., July 23, 5 p.m.; $50/$10 for kids. (323) 954-4230, farmersmarketla.com/cart/product/84. —David Cotner
Rembrandt’s “A Sailing Boat on a Wide Expanse of Water” (Courtesy of Celebrating Rembrandt)
wed 7/24
ART
L.A.’s Love Affair With Rembrandt
Last month, the Getty announced the redesign of RembrandtinSoCal.org, a website originally launched in 2008 that showcases 14 Rembrandt paintings housed at the Getty, LACMA, Norton Simon, Hammer and San Diego’s Timken Museum, the third largest collection in the country behind New York and Washington, D.C. Complete with video and audio portions, the online resource illustrates the Dutch master’s artwork amassed in L.A. over the past 80 years, dating back to J. Paul Getty’s 1938 acquisition of Portrait of Marten Looten. To mark the 350th anniversary of the painter’s death, the Getty hosts Celebrating Rembrandt, a discussion that looks at Rembrandt’s “impact in three different media: drawings, paintings, and prints,” and features Getty and Hammer curators Stephanie Schrader, Anne Woollett and Cynthia Burlingham, as well as UCLA lecturer and printmaker Jacob Samuel. The lecture is followed by a reception hosted the consulate general of the Netherlands. The Getty, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Bel-Air; Wed., July 24, 7 p.m.; free, RSVP required. (310) 440-7300, getty.edu. —Siran Babayan
Mike Sonksen (Courtesy of Yay LA! magazine)
BOOKS
The Never-Ending Story
Unheard L.A. is a peripatetic story hour featuring a rotating extended family of local writers who periodically gather at locations around town to explore and illuminate the experience of being alive in Los Angeles. Tonight, Unheard L.A. presents “Letters to Our City,” a special all-stars type thing in which beloved poet, tour guide, city historian and author Mike Sonksen, whose new book of the same name collects his own insights on the metropolis. “We all belong to the city.” he writes. “The dialogue is a never-ending story… the city is ours!” With that spirit in mind, the night includes the work of more than a dozen poets, essayists, journalists, and storytellers including Lee Boek, Sara Borjas, Rocío Carlos and Natashia Deón — and of course, Sonsken himself, who will share his writings even as he acts as host for the evening. The Crawford Family Forum, 474 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena; Wed., July 24, 7:30-9 p.m.; $12. scpr.org/events. —Shana Nys Dambrot
thu 7/25
DANCE
Experience the Vanguard of Art
A known incubator for cutting edge dance and other performing arts, REDCAT’s New Original Works (NOW) Festival opens the first of three weekends, each offering an early look at three artists or groups. This initial week includes performance art from Sola Bamis considering skincare routines and “womanist” survival, zach dorn and Danielle Dahl manipulating table top dioramas and a train set, and choreographer Katherine Helen Fisher and artist Andrew Ondrejcak celebrating the divine feminine. Week 2 finds Paul Outlaw’s horror movie nod to Franz Kafka, while choreographer Kate Watson-Wallace, composer Hprizm and visual artist Verónica Casado Hernandez collaborate on a live collage, plus interdisciplinary artists Alexandro Segade and Amy Ruhl demonstrate their “socialism app.” Week 3 concludes the fest with a musical theater work from Source Material, Austyn Rich considers front-lined black and brown troops, and Poor Dog Group’s co-founder Jesse Bonnell goes solo. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown; Thu.-Sat., 8:30 p.m., through Aug. 10; $20/$16 students. redcat.org/now19. —Ann Haskins
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