Tony Awards, the graceful images of Roy DeCarava and an opera that features actors who were once incarcerated.
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Arts & Culture
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Stirring photography, music inspired by the Silk Road and everything you needed to know about the Tony Award nominations but were afraid to ask. Iâm Carolina A. Miranda, staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, with the weekâs essential culture news, plus some words about the unexpected death of former art and music reporter Mike Boehm.
Poetry in ordinary life
At the Underground Museum, a new exhibition by the late Roy DeCarava, writes Times contributor Leah Ollman, dwells in [photography as âany everyday act]( ⦠a ritual not that different from prayer in its assertion of purposeful connect between individual and wider world.â
Ollman also reviews Arlene Shechetâs recent sculptures at Susanne Vielmetterâs new downtown L.A. space â â[an absolute jawbreaker of a show]( she reports â and the stark photos of Simon Norfolk at Gallery Luisotti, which show [the feeble ways]( humans are attempting to keep Switzerlandâs Rhône Glacier from melting.
A detail from Simon Norfolk's "Shroud" (8), 2018, at Gallery Luisotti. (Simon Norfolk)
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Tony, Tony, Tony!
The Tony Award nominations have landed! Musicals âHadestown,â âAinât Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptationsâ and âTootsieâ are in first, second and third place respectively, with 14, 12 and 11 nominations. Times culture reporter Ashley Lee [breaks down who got what]( who got snubbed (a lot of high-profile names) and what industry peeps have to say about it.
Times theater critic Charles McNulty [analyzes what the nominations mean]( in an eclectic and erratic season. âOld formulas proved unreliable and a few long-shot experiments yielded unexpected rewards,â he writes. The nominations âsent a message of support to artists with fresh and forward-leaning sensibilities, no matter if these endorsements occasionally came at the expense of recognizing worthier work.â
André De Shields in a memorable, Tony-nominated performance in "Hadestown." (Matthew Murphy / DKC O&M Co.)
Contributor Josh Getlin looks at how âTootsieâ [adapted a 1982 movie for the post-#MeToo age](. Reporter Ashley Lee [talked with featured actress nominee]( Amber Gray about her âHadestownâ âaudition from hell.â And contributor Stuart Miller chatted with Laurie Metcalf, who nabbed her sixth nomination for playing Hillary Clinton in Lucas Hnathâs âHillary and Clinton.â âI have no interest, frankly, in doing Shakespeare,â she tells him. [âI'm interested in contemporary pieces.â](
Plus, McNulty sat down with Aaron Sorkin, whose adaptation of âTo Kill a Mockingbirdâ was conspicuously snubbed in the best play category, but nevertheless received nine Tony nominations, including one for star Jeff Daniels. McNulty [turned his Sorkin conversation into a screenplay]( âZoom out as Critic asks how our divisive political environment has affected the cultural reception of this new âMockingbird.â Sorkin, squinting at the hazy question, says he could write a 5,000 word essay on the subject.â Paging CAA. I think Charlie is ready to optionâ¦
Aaron Sorkin, writer of the adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird." (Marc J. Franklin)
Because we are handy that way, The Times has [the full list]( of Tony noms.
And if youâre looking for some local Tonys action, Jessica Gelt reports that Heidi Schreckâs âWhat the Constitution Means to Meâ â nominated for best play and lead actress for Schreck â will land at the Mark Taper Forum, as part of the [2019-20 season](.
Elsewhere on the Stage
F. Kathleey Foley reviews Gay Walshâs âThe End of Sexâ â a [ânuanced comedy-drama about the battle between the sexesâ]( â at the Big Victory Theatre in Burbank.
Contributor Lisa Fung looks at the ways in which the public setting of theater can instigate [the private act of crying]( in connection with Nia Vardalosâs âTiny Beautiful Things,â currently at the Pasadena Playhouse.
At REDCAT, Margaret Gray checked out performance artist John Kellyâs autobiographical one-man show âTime No Line,â rich in biographical detail â a bit too rich, she notes. But as âa survivor of the AIDS pandemic, he has taken on the responsibility of [representing his lost generation](
John Kelly in "Time No Line" at REDCAT. (Steve Gunther)
Your support helps us deliver the news on the culture stories that matter most. [Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times](.
Classical notes
Yo-Yo Maâs Silkroad Ensemble performed at Santa Barbaraâs Granada Theatre, the Soraya in Northridge and Costa Mesaâs Segerstrom. After 20 years, the cross-cultural ensemble [is at a thematic and professional crossroads]( writes Times classical music critic Mark Swed. Yet there were seductive moments, like âthe natural way of using instruments and musical techniques from one culture to express something about another one.â
Silkroad Ensemble performs Kayhan Kalhor and Hamid Rahmanian's "The Prince of Sorrows." (David Bazemore / UCSB Arts & Lectures)
Swed also checks in with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, soon to be led by Spanish conductor Jaime MartÃn. Swed says a ârousing programâ at UCLAâs Royce Hall [bodes well for the orchestraâs future](.
The Timesâ Makeda Easter reports on the Long Beach Operaâs adaptation of Philip Glassâs 2000 opera, âIn the Penal Colony,â featuring formerly incarcerated Cal State Long Beach students in starring roles. For some of the actors, it was a ârole so deeply familiar,â writes Easter, that [things got surreal](.
"In the Penal Colony" director Jeff Janisheski, center, with Irene Sotelo and John Pizzini. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Essential Image
When the late Paul R. Williams designed a botany building for UCLA in the 1950s, it included plans for a 285-square foot mosaic lobby mural echoing the banana leaf print wallpaper the architect had installed at the Beverly Hills Hotel. When L.A.-based firm CO Architects undertook a remodel of the La Kretz Botany Buildingâs lobby last year, they came across Williamsâ remarkable drawing (see below) for the never-built mural and decided to install it. See the final results on the firmâs [online journal](.
A 1957 drawing of a mosaic mural for UCLA's Botany Hall by architect Paul R. Williams. (UCLA)
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Egg-cellent
Little Tokyo is home to a gallery in a kiosk: the artist-run 123 Astronaut has been around for five months. I spent some quality time with the current exhibition, which features a hypnotic video about [a cultish, corporate egg]( courtesy of the mysterious Wong Group.
Spectators check out "The Auspicious Egg," by the Wong Group at 123 Astronaut (Collin LaFleche)
Ready for the Weekend
Margaret Gray rounds up [whatâs doing in L.A.âs 99-Seat theaters]( including Nilo Cruzâs Pulitzer Prize-winning play, âAnna in the Tropics.â
Iâve got [all the latest art happenings]( in my weekly Datebook, including a show by Daniel Gerwin that puts parenting on canvas.
Plus, Matt Cooper has the week ahead in [art]( [dance]( [theater]( and [classical music]( as well as [his weekend picks]( including the Los Angeles Master Choraleâs âGreat Opera & Film Choruses.â
The Los Angeles Master Chorale, led by Grant Gershon. (Marie Noorbergen / Tao Ruspoli)
In other news…
— San Diego’s Cassirer family has spent a decade trying to secure the return of a Nazi-looted painting that once belonged to their family. On Tuesday, a Los Angeles judge [ruled against them](.
— Venice Beach [may lose a landmark sculpture]( by Mark di Suvero.
— ArtCenter College of Design is [taking over the downtown L.A. space]( once occupied by the Main Museum, which shut down abruptly last year.
— Why can’t we have passports [as cool as Norway’s]( Or currency [as cool as Canada’s](
— A trove of historic assessors’ photos of San Francisco has been [made available to the public](.
— [A new documentary]( examines how and why, in the ‘70s, the Bronx burned.
— Union Station is [turning 80](. There is reason to celebrate, but the building’s history — well, [it’s complicated,]( writes David Ulin.
— A great long read: Sam Bloch on how Los Angeles [isn't providing equitable access to shade](.
— The Instagram aesthetic is [getting messier](.
— As Sarah Whiting becomes the first woman to lead Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, Mimi Zeiger examines [women’s expanding role in architectural academia](.
Last but not least...
This week, I got the news that former Times art and music reporter Mike Boehm had died unexpectedly from a cardiac condition.
Mike and I only intersected for two years, but in that short time, he was a tremendously generous and good-natured colleague. He was also a dogged reporter, writing up major stories about [MOCAâs financial troubles]( in 2008, and turning [the 990 tax forms]( of various L.A. nonprofits into his bedtime reading. (There probably isnât a culture publicist in SoCal who hasnât been on the receiving end of a late-deadline call from Mike, asking about finances.)
Former Los Angeles Times reporter Mike Boehm in 2013. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Even after he left The Times in 2015, Mike remained engaged, sending me notes about some of my stories and offering tips on others he thought I should be pursuing. He remained engaged with other subjects too. Last month, he took issue with The Timesâ criticism of rock music (which he loved) and [fired off a tart letter to the editor]( on the subject: âIf your critics think rock is a pox on todayâs musical landscape, and needs to be ignored and forgotten, it would be far more interesting and useful to see them argue the case in full-length commentaries backed by examples and evidence.â
The world will be a less-informed place without Mike. In his honor, I may have to download some 990s ⦠and start making calls.
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