A review of Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz, on stage at the Long Beach International City Theatre. While the political tangles with the personal in the family dysfunction of the Long Beach ICT’s production of Other Desert Cities, the blurring of abstract ideology with human drama is ultimately tangential. The point is not that the Wyeth family parents Lyman Nicholas Horman) and Polly (Suzanne Ford), modeled after Ronald and Nancy Reagan, clash with liberal daughter Brooke (Ann Noble) about politics to the exasperation of the apolitical Hollywood son, Trip (Blake Anthony Edwards). Rather, the point is …
Less Stuff, More Happiness
A review of Everything That Remains by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. “Less is more” is the classic minimalist motto, an easily observed injunction to pare down ornamentation in favour of essential form. Hence, the interior décor that is either stylish or sparse depending on one’s preferences. The canvas graced with the fewest brushstrokes and pigments, about which more creativity is often expanded in the artwork’s interpretation than its composition. The music distinguished by a heightened awareness of order manifested in repetitive musical motifs. But when applied to the art of living, the familiar mantra benefits from …
Doodling By Any Other Name
Review of the “Joy of Zentangle,” featuring contributing artists Suzanne McNeill, CZT, Sandy Steen Bartholomew, CZT, and Marie Browning, CZT.
Is there any artistic hope for people like me, who can’t draw to save their lives and, more importantly, don’t have the time to take drawing classes? It’s somewhat of a trick question. Obviously, without devoting the time to learning drawing skills most of us don’t have the innate talent to create beautiful images. Yet that creative impulse still can be satisfied by the art of doodling or, as this book by Design Originals calls it, the “Joy of Zentangle.”
One Thing to Do to Help Yourself, Animals, and the Planet
What if you could do one thing that is good for animals, the environment, your health, and your pocketbook? What if I were to ask you to try it for just one week and see how it goes? Would you do it?
‘White Marriage’ Calls for a Divorce
A review of “White Marriage” on stage at the Odyssey Theatre. The French call it a mariage blanc, which translates to “white marriage,” although “blank marriage” would be equally appropriate. It’s an expression that refers to unconsummated nuptials. As the title of a play by noted Polish playwright and poet Tadeusz Różewicz, however, it takes on the unintended meaning of a play with unconsummated drama.
Coffee’s Cloud Nine at the Bar Nine Collective
An introduction to Culver City's newest coffee wonderland, Bar Nine Collective. Here’s a riddle for you: When is coffee like wine? Before I offer you the answer, take a moment to consider what kind of coffee drinker you are. Are you:
Flyin’ West, Soarin' Low
A review of Flyin' West, on stage at the International City Theatre in Long Beach until April 6, 2014. On the heels of the toe-tapping Cole Porter musical Let’s Misbehave, the International City Theatre’s season of “uniquely American stories” continues with the way-back machine set to the unsteady period after the Civil War in Pearl Cleage’s Flyin’ West. As the Author’s Notes helpfully inform us, tens of thousands of African-Americans left the South to escape racist violence and establish all-black settlements where they could live and work towards achieving their own dreams. It’s not a well-known chapter of American history, which makes it all the more important a story to tell.
Walk Me Home, Run to the Theatre
Review of Walk Me Home, on stage at Santa Monica's Promenade Playhouse until March 16th.In anticipation of Theatre by the Blind’s Walk Me Home, I was cautioned (twice!) to be gentle and keep in mind that this is not a professional acting troupe. Setting aside the implication, intentional or otherwise, that I might be an unusually tough critic, the warnings were unnecessary. Professionalism isn’t an indispensable hallmark of good theatre, rendering moot the …
Put Your Best (Bare)foot Forward
An interview with Steven Sashen of Xero Shoes.Walk into almost any practical shoe store, or pick up a catalog like Footsmart, and the number of shoes that purport to align, realign, support, strengthen, and otherwise correct will knock you off your feet. (Note: All puns intended, without apologies.) What if instead of helping our feet they are actually …
The ICT Ain’t Got No Behavior – And That’s How We Like It
Review of Let's Misbehave at Long Beach's International City Theatre.The ICT launches its 2014 season with a treat: A Cole Porter soufflé. You can hardly go wrong with a production founded on music by a hall of famer in the Great American Songbook. Just put a CD player (or MP3 player, if that’s your thing) on an empty stage, press play, and Porter’s music is enough by itself to keep an audience entertained. In Let’s Misbehave, the ICT thankfully goes beyond a recording with a spirited production that …