Our predictions for Tony Awards! A refreshed look for the La Brea Tar Pits! PoMo in SoCal and crazy malls in Japan!
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Arts & Culture
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Itâs the end of another week, and the end of my supply of Japanese gummy candies. Iâm Carolina A. Miranda, staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, with the weekâs essential culture news:
Essential Guide to the Tony Awards
The Tony Awards are on Sunday! Times theater critic Charles McNulty has been reading the tea leaves and offers his insights on whether âHadestown,â which has 14 nominations, should be crowned best musical. [He makes a strong case for why it should.](
Patrick Page and Amber Gray perform in "Hadestown." (Matthew Murphy)
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McNulty also has a broader opinionated guide on the awards, parsing the chances of shows such as âTootsie,â âThe Prom,â âNetworkâ and âThe Waverly Gallery.â But to find out what they are, youâre just gonna have to [click on the link](.
On the âHadestownâ front, Times contributor Barbara Isenberg interviews director Rachel Chavkin, who has [some choice things to say]( about the scarcity of women in directorial roles on Broadway. Isenberg also has an annotated guide to [Chavkinâs tattoos](.
"Hadestown" director Rachel Chavkin signs autographs for fans. (Emilio Madrid-Kuser)
Times culture reporter Ashley Lee has a profile of Anaïs Mitchell, the singer-songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics to the show. âI had no idea that it would have [as long a life as itâs had]( she says.
Plus, the story of how Dale Franzen, the former artistic director at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, [helped make the show a reality](. And a profile of ensemble cast member Timothy Hughes, [the viral hottie of âHadestown.â]( (Essential Arts is not above objectification.)
In non-âHadestownâ news, Isenberg also spoke with âOklahoma!â actress Ali Stroker, who could become the [first actress in a wheelchair to take home a Tony](.
Heidi Schreck, the creator and star of âWhat the Constitution Means to Meâ (two nominations), tells Ashley Lee that she will adapt her very personal play for the road, but is not planning to perform in the national tour: [âI need a little break.â](
Heidi Schreck, who wrote and stars in the Tony-nominated "What the Constitution Means to Me." (Christine House / Los Angeles Times)
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On the Stage
In non-Tony news, Lucas Hnathâs experimental play âDana H.â has landed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, which Charles McNulty describes as [âa profound contribution to the theater of trauma.â]( It is based on an audio recording of his mother describing a kidnapping that also explores the slippery nature of truth.
Actress Deirdre O'Connell recounts a kidnapping in "Dana H." (Craig Schwartz)
Rogue Machineâs âReady, Steady, Yeti, Go,â has no yeti, but a storyline that looks at âthe ugly truths behind [nostalgic idealizations of America in the 1960s]( writes Margaret Gray.
F. Kathleen Foley reviews âGather: Surprising Stories & Other Mischiefâ at the Pasadena Playhouse â in which John C. Reilly and Patrick Murphy fuse fairy tales and folk stories for a work that pays [âoverdue homageâ]( to âPaul Sillsâ Story Theatreâ of the 1970s.
Dead again?
Reprise 2.0 theater company, which was resuscitated after closing in 2013, [has run out of money after two productions]( â though it has sold tickets for three. Subscribers are angry, reports The Timesâ Jessica Gelt. But company founder Marcia Seligson, tells Gelt that she still plans to produce a third show.
Gussying up the tar pits
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County announced this week that [they have tapped three architectural firms]( to develop a master plan for the La Brea Tar Pits. The site hasnât revised its master plan since the â70s, when the George C. Page museum was built. I asked museum director Lori Bettison-Varga what would happen to the fiberglass mammoth clinging to life at the edge of the main tar lake. She tells me that the mammothâs iconic status has been âexpressed to the teams.â
My principal piece of advice to the architects: Do. Not. Touch. The. Mammoth.
I talk with The Timesâ Julia Wick, who writes the Essential California Newsletter ([subscribe!]( about [what this all means](.
A view of the George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)
A tale of two Isozakis
During my recent trip to Japan I visited to Arata Isozakiâs Kyoto Concert Hall. Isozaki is the Pritzker Prize-winning architect who designed the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles. The concert hall, with its incredible artisanry and graceful transition spaces, is [âa testament to the promise that Los Angeles squandered.â](
Can this Jerde be saved?
Sort of related: Alissa Walker wrote [a must-read]( in Curbed this week about the remodel of the San Diegoâs once-dominant shopping mall Horton Plaza designed by L.A. architect Jon Jerde. Tech offices are going in and retail is being cut way back as the mall transforms into the Campus at Horton. The developmentâs whimsical Postmodern designs, with a riot of colors and stripes, are to be partly replaced [with sleek glass facades]( (because we donât have enough of those).
L.A.âs Westside Pavilion, another Jerde structure, is also set to go tech, having been leased by Google as [office space](. These cases speak to [the endangered status of Postmodernism]( and how cities seem hellbent on eradicating any vestige of its wry wit.
Which brings me back to Japan: I had the opportunity to see another Jerde-designed mall, Namba Parks, in Osaka, which was [completed in 2003](. The design is singular (and totally extra): Shaped like a slot canyon, it features several levels of ascending roofs draped in park.
A view of Jon Jerde's Namba Parks in Osaka. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)
The visit provided occasion to think about how vibrant Japanese malls are. Easy access to public transit is a prime reason. (Namba Parks sits over a rail line.) But also the mix of activities these spaces often provide: quiet zones, performance sites, highbrow chain stores as well as lots of mom and pop shops, not to mention bustling food courts with great take-out. Namba Parks even has a wedding chapel. In Japan, malls do not exist apart from the everyday life of a city â instead, they engage it. Something to consider as we try to resuscitate our own dead shopping centers.
A rooftop park at the Jon Jerde-designed Namba Parks in Osaka. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)
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A magical debut & more
Times classical music critic Mark Swed reviews Mirga Grazinyte-Tylaâs first major recording, which features a pair of somber symphonies by Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Though the music mournful, the performances, writes Swed, are âa uniquely resplendent, life affirming recording, far and away [the most impressive conductor debut](
Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla records two symphonies by Mieczyslaw Weinberg. (Andreas Hechenberger / Deutsche Grammophon)
The Los Angeles Philharmonic recently performed Mahlerâs Symphony No. 8, a piece written for a full orchestra, a large chorus and eight vocal soloists. And it was âexultant,â writes Swed: âGustavo Dudamel made the symphony [the inevitable apogee of nine monthsâ worth of near quotidian historic big moments](
Swed also hung out at the latest âNoon to Midnightâ concert series at Walt Disney Concert Hall and says that itâs [the best classical music bargain around]( â$10 bought 12 hours of nonstop new music.â
Jason Treuting, left, and Josh Quillen of So Percussion during "Noon to Midnight." (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Because heâs relentless, Swed also caught [the opening show]( at the Ojai Music Festival, which this year is directed by the âdazzlingly daftâ Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan. A semi-staged performance of Stravinskyâs opera âThe Rakeâs Progressâ kicked things off. Her conducting, Swed notes, displayed, âprecision, rhythmic alacrity, a high level of theatricality and, of course, her remarkable versatility.â
Classical notes
Los Angeles Opera is currently staging a 1920s version of Verdiâs âLa Traviataâ (which was originally set in 19th century Paris), directed by Marta Domingo. The sets are luxurious and the fashions, gorgeous, reports contributor Timothy Mangan. âThe trouble is [thereâs not much of a deep connection between the two eras.](
Adela Zaharia, center, stars as Violetta in Los Angeles Opera's flapper-era "La Traviata." (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Passages
Stanley Tigerman, an architect known for witty Postmodern designs â such as [a two-story Arbyâs encased in glass]( â has [died at 88.](
Tony DeLap, an artist who helped define West Coast minimalism, has died at the age of 91. DeLap was part of the influential âFinish Fetishâ artists and was the first art professor to be hired at UC Irvine. Jessica Gelt has [the full obit](.
Incidentally, there is [a terrific work]( by DeLap that stands right outside of Inglewood City Hall.
"Skedans," 1975, by Tony DeLap, in Inglewood. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)
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Ready for the Weekend
Margaret Gray has [everything in the 99-seat theaters]( including an Orson Wellesâ adaptation of Herman Melvilleâs âMoby Dick.â
My weekly Datebook has [the latest art happenings]( â such as British artist Sarah Lucasâs cheeky survey at the Hammer Museum.
And Matt Cooper has [his weekend picks]( which features a redo of 19th century Russian ballet by American Contemporary Ballet.
American Contemporary Ballet explores a classic dance work in “Variations on Raymonda.” (American Contemporary Ballet)
In other news…
â The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Garden will [enter a float]( the Rose Parade for the first time in 50 years.
â New Yorkâs Museum of Modern Art is about to close for renovations. Critic Holland Cotter asks [if it will ever let folk art back in](.
â Catherine Wagley examines [the quick rise and fall]( of L.A.âs Main Museum.
â With an exhibition of art by Native American women, the Minneapolis Institute of Art reconsiders [the nature of curation](.
â San Francisco Ballet names Kelly Tweeddale, who has run opera and symphony companies in Seattle and Vancouver, [its new director](.
â The future of opera, writes critic Anne Midgette, [is small](.
â In France, the construction of a castle [using medieval building techniques]( may help with the reconstruction of Notre Dame.
â Architecture critic Alexandra Lange is [revisiting classic design books]( starting with Virginia Savage McAlesterâs âA Field Guide to American Houses.â
â John Lautnerâs Bob Hope House in Palm Springs has been renovated in keeping with the architectâs [original vision for the home](.
And last but not least…
The Baby Trump blimp made [a comeback]( â then got [stabbed by a Trump supporter](.
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