AUX Architecture designed a new performing arts center; the L.A. youth orchestra is going to the Super Bowl; my SoFi Stadium obsession; and galleries to see before Frieze.
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[Essential Arts] PRESENTED BY The Odyssey Theatre* It is unseasonably warm and the Super Bowl is about to turn a vast swath of L.A. into an impenetrable fortress, but Iâm obsessing over the wasabi fries at [Far Bar]( in Little Tokyo and [the stylish ruanas]( worn by the Colombian Olympic team in Beijing. Iâm Carolina A. Miranda, arts and urban design columnist at the Los Angeles Times, and Iâm here with all the essential culture news: Dance theater Los Angeles has some terrific performing arts venues: There is the curvilinear intimacy of the Music Centerâs Mark Taper Auditorium, with its thrust stage surrounded by 700-plus seats, the 500-seat Bram Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis in Beverly Hills, whose thoughtfully stacked seating tiers make it possible for a shorty like me to see over peopleâs heads, and the similarly scaled 538-seat auditorium of the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. Fewer in number are more intimately scaled performance venues that are geared primarily for dance. Enter the new 300-seat Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center, on the campus of Vista del Mar Child and Family Services in Cheviot Hills. [An empty hall is seen with a dancer doing a lunge on stage illuminated by a blue spotlight]
The 300-seat performance hall at the Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center on the campus of Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services in Cheviot Hills. (Nic Lehoux) [The projectâs design]( was conceived by AUX Architecture, led by the firmâs founding partner, Brian Wickersham. The firmâs team took a rather drab 1950s Modernist structure that was used for Jewish religious services and as a gathering space for Vista Del Marâs clients and residents, and reimagined and expanded it into a 10,550-square-foot theater and rehearsal space. This includes a contemporary redo of the buildingâs silhouette, replacing the structureâs pitched-roof profile with a pair of horizontal geometric volumes that rest one atop the other. Instead of stucco, much of the building is now wrapped in translucent polycarbonate panels that allow the sun to drench some of the interior areas in light during the day and give the building a warm glow at night â effectively transforming it into a lantern. The northern facade now bears an irregular pattern of windows that gives the ground floor a dynamic feel. (The pattern was inspired by Martha Grahamâs âLamentation,â with its positions of compression and expansion.) [A building facade shows two white horizontal volumes stacked one on the other, with windows set in an irregular pattern]
The window pattern on the northern facade of the Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center pays tribute to Martha Graham. (Nic Lehoux) But perhaps most remarkable are the thoughtfully designed spaces the public isnât always liable to see: a green room area just off the stage that is bathed in light and a comfortable rehearsal and classroom space that works to bring the outdoors in. Also worth a nod: the bright red and yellow tile in the restrooms. (I appreciate a design that can turn a bathroom into a pleasing experience of color and geometry.) The building, which was completed last year, is intriguing for the ways in which it reimagined an average-looking structure on a difficult site â it inhabits a relatively steep grade â into something that feels open and beckoning. âIt was about taking this square footage,â says Wickersham, âand creating something felt totally new.â Most intriguing will be the buildingâs purpose. [Vista Del Mar]( provides a range of educational, counseling and mental health services for minors who live both on and off the site. The idea for the new Kaufman center (funded by one L.A.'s [most dedicated dance patrons]( is to create a space that will serve Vistaâs clients as much as it will the larger dance community. The building will, of course, be used for movement classes and other events for members of Vistaâs community. (The day I toured the building, a teacher was leading a group of teens through some steps set to blazing bachata grooves.) It will also be rented to outside dance companies and other cultural organizations for rehearsals and performances. The goal is cross-pollination, says the centerâs artistic director Sara Silkin (who is also a dancer). In addition to simply employing the venue as a location, a visiting dance troupe might lead a workshop for Vista residents, or allow the kids to participate in rehearsals, then see the finished work â a way for them to visualize and be exposed to working professionals in the arts. The venue will also serve an important purpose in the dance community. âItâs an important stepping stone for small dance companies,â says Silkin. âBefore a booking agent will book you in the bigger venues, you have to sell out smaller stages.â [An overhead view shows people ascending and descending a set of gracefully designed stairs.]
The gracefully designed stairwell area in the Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center. (Nic Lehoux) COVID-19 has delayed an official opening, but the hope is that if Omicron continues to subside, the Glorya Kaufman Center could soon be hosting its first public dance performances. In the meantime, the kids at Vista Del Mar are giving the building a vigorous workout. ADVERTISEMENT BY The Odyssey Theatre
[The Odyssey Theatre](
DAUGHTER OF THE WICKED Written and Performed by Shanit Keter Schwartz In this new play at the Odyssey Theatre, Shanit Keter Schwartz returns to her homeland in search of her missing sister, a victim of the Yemenite Children Affair. She looks back at her upbringing as a Yemenite Jewish girl in the newly formed country of Israel, paying special tribute to her Kabbalistic mystical Rabbi father, as she comes to terms with her tumultuous past. Daughter of the Wicked features original music by nine-time Academy Award-nominee James Newton Howard and is directed by NAACP-winner Zeke Rettman. Runs March 4 â April 10. [BUY TICKETS]( End of advertisement Friday night lights Thereâs a football game happening in Inglewood this week between a team named for cats and the other for sheep. I hear that it will be very big. Super, in fact. Letâs start with the good news around Super Bowl LVI â not to be confused with the Oscars (the Super Bowl of acting) or Frieze (the Super Bowl of arty merch). Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. [Become a subscriber](. Times culture writer Jessica Gelt reports on how L.A.âs Inner City Youth Orchestra ended up on the performance slate for the âNFL Honorsâ program, which was broadcast live Thursday night on ABC. âThere are many youth orchestras,â says founder Charles Dickerson, âbut ours is the only one that [lives and breathes in the heart of a Black community]( in the United States.â [Youth orchestra members, wearing masks, rehearse in a practice room.]
The Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles practices for the âNFL Honorsâ show, among festivities leading up to Super Bowl LVI. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) I have been on the SoFi Stadium design beat over the last few weeks and have made many visits to the site, including a pilgrimage to an IRL Rams-49ers game in early January to get a sense of how this behemoth $5-billion stadium works. Most hopeless job at SoFi? The folks who have to hold up signs asking spectators to [wear their masks](. The good news: The stadiumâs innovative, indoor-outdoor architectural design, which takes full advantage of the views all around, makes it a pretty incredible place to be â with cheap seats that make the most of the SoCal landscape. Leading the architectural team was Lance Evans at HKS, which has also designed stadiums for the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings. As I write in [my review of the building]( âThis is a stadium that looks out as much as it looks in. And you donât have to be a VIP to experience it.â One of the stadiumâs most well-executed elements is the landscape design, which comes courtesy of the team at Studio-MLA. [I profile the firmâs founder]( Salvadoran-born designer Mia Lehrer, who over the decades has consistently chipped away at L.A.'s love of concrete â transforming parking lots and brownfield sites into wild gardens. At SoFi, she and associate principal Kush Parekh have turned what could have been âa blistering expanse of concrete into something that is much more pastoral.â Formative to her work at SoFi? Her decades of labor rethinking the L.A. River. [Mia Lehrer and Kush Parekh sit on a concrete rail on the banks of the L.A. River, downtown behind them]
Mia Lehrer, founder of Studio-MLA, and associate Kush Parekh worked on the terrific landscape design at SoFi Stadium. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Plus, my guide to the [five best best places]( architecturally speaking, at SoFi. And our food teamâs guide to [the best places to drink]( around the stadium, as well as [the best places to eat]( â with a contribution by my food-conscious editor Laurie Ochoa! Because letâs face it â this is the only type of Super Bowl outing most of us are going to be able to afford. Bonus: Football stadium design is an intersection of the industrial, the fantastical and the bizarre. My colleague Chuck Shilken gathers [the designs of L.A. football stadiums that never happened](. That Mission Revival extravaganza known as the Carson Hacienda is ... ð Not so Super? Because we are reporters, The Timesâ team has been picking through the fine print. Late last month, Jessica Gelt reported that the Super Bowlâs extravagant halftime show produced by Roc Nation would feature a field cast consisting of [hundreds of unpaid performers](. At the time, the showâs choreographer, Fatima Robinson, said the field cast was meant to represent concertgoers, âto fill up the space,â and that the only qualification was that they be able to âwalk and chew gum.â [Performers in bright red jackets and white face masks march into a football field for a halftime show]
Last yearâs Super Bowl in Tampa featured paid and unpaid performers working alongside one another. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images) But in a follow-up report, Gelt [revealed]( that at last yearâs Super Bowl, the field cast performed alongside professional dancers â an inequitable two-tier structure in which some were paid union rates while others went unremunerated. This week, Gelt reported that the halftime show [had agreed to pay the performers]( a minimum-wage rate of $15 an hour. Itâs an improvement, but dancer and activist Taja Riley says any performer in one of the costliest extravaganzas of the year should be earning a professional rate. Her suggestion: âAbide by SAG-AFTRA protocols.â Meanwhile, Iâve been digging into SoFi Stadiumâs art program, which is incomplete. Work is still being installed, but âwith the Super Bowl upon us, in a stadium that sits at the heart of a city indelibly linked to Black culture in the 20th century, there are no completed works by a Black artist.â In limbo are a pair of large-scale installations by L.A.-born-and-raised sculptor Maren Hassinger and Afro-Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea. Also missing in action is Albert Stewartâs 1950s historic sculpture of the Derby-winning thoroughbred Swaps. Why is this happening? Well, a good deal of it has to do with [the squishy development contract]( that the city of Inglewood signed with the stadiumâs developer. [A rendering shows a circular architectonic structure in sea foam green on a pedestrian bridge before SoFi Stadium]
A concept rendering of Alexandre Arrecheaâs âRiverâ for SoFi Stadium. It it is one of several public works of art at the Hollywood Park site whose status remains in limbo. (Alexandre Arrechea) Oh, and go figure: SoFi Stadium has sent Inglewood rents [skyrocketing](. And, as Grist reports, some of [the developerâs urban initiatives]( havenât worked out quite as promised. ADVERTISEMENT
On and off the stage In non-Super Bowl news: Times theater critic Charles McNulty reviews Mike Lewâs âTeenage Dickâ at the Pasadena Playhouse, a work inspired by Shakespeareâs âRichard IIIâ that tackles [disability in a high school setting](. The playâs most daring move, writes McNulty, isnât casting an actor with cerebral palsy as âa surrogate for Shakespeareâs hunchback tyrant who hacks his way to the throne.â Instead, âthe most audacious aspect of this dark comedy ... is that it allows this adolescent character whoâs mocked for his disability to be as dastardly as he desires.â [A boy stands talking to a girl in a wheelchair in a high school hallway ]
Gregg Mozgala and Shannon DeVido in âTeenage Dick,â which was inspired by Richard III. (Teresa Castracane)
Classical notes Composer George Crumb, known for pushing instrumentation to its limits, and for experimental works such as the haunting 1970 composition âAncient Voices of Children,â [died last Sunday at the age of 92](. Times classical music critic Mark Swed [penned an appreciation for Crumb]( âHe embraced multiple sides of our contradictory national character through music ethereal yet startling, otherworldly yet stylistically wide-ranging, mysteriously impenetrable yet politically uncompromising, darkly death-obsessed yet marvelously life-affirming.â The Huntington Libraryâs relatively new Chinese Garden will be hosting a work of opera: âOn Gold Mountain,â based on Lisa Seeâs bestselling book about her Chinese American familyâs experiences in the U.S. See tells Jessica Gelt that [the location is very meaningful]( âAfter all, Henry Huntington, as a railroad and real estate businessman in the late 19th and early 20th century, had a complicated history with the Chinese.â Kris Bowers, the pianist and composer behind scores for âKing Richardâ and the Netflix series âBridgertonâ has become [a go-to composer for the film industry](. Last November, his music was performed by the L.A. Phil. âI feel like any time people are emotionally moved,â he tells contributor Tim Greiving, âthen it was successful on some level.â [Kris Bowers, wearing a sand-colored shirt, is seen sitting at a black baby grand piano]
Kris Bowers at his Pasadena home. The pianist has composed scores for films including âKing Richardâ (2021) and TV shows such as Netflixâs âBridgerton.â (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Visual arts The New York Timesâ Jori Finkel has [a report]( on how Cameron Shaw is steering L.A.âs California African American Museum amid a pandemic and a sexual harassment lawsuit that led to the quiet resignation of director George Davis. Among the coming initiatives: a new five-year partnership with Mark Bradfordâs Art+Practice. Times art critic Christopher Knight has been doing the gallery thing. In fact, last week [he hit a dozen of them]( â covering works by the late British painter Leon Kossoff at L.A. Louver, as well as Ed Templetonâs âclosely observedâ paintings, drawings and photographs at Roberts Projects and Samara Goldenâs illusionistic installation at Night Gallery, an âindoor skyscraperâ that becomes âa convulsive landscape of psychic disorder, ruin piled atop chaos.â [An artwork that makes it seem like youre peering down into a skyscraper]
Samara Goldenâs âGuts,â 2022, creates the illusion of a skyscraper within the walls of Night Gallery in downtown L.A. (Nik Massey / Night Gallery) Plus, Frieze is rolling into town next week â the Super Bowl of air kissing! But if youâre jonesing for art right now, the galleries are open, and they donât charge admission. Deborah Vankin has [an essential guide]( on how to see 10 artists who will be featured at the fair in art spaces around L.A., including L.A. Louver, Luis De Jesus Los Angeles and Château Shatto. Plus, to keep things interesting, she throws a couple of museums into the mix. Essential happenings Weâve got Esa-Pekka Salonen and the L.A. Phil. Weâve got the musical âWickedâ on stage in the O.C. Weâve got theatrical lucha libre courtesy of Lucha VaVoom. Times listings guru Matt Cooper rounds up all the best happenings that have [absolutely nothing to do with football](. [A man conducts an orchestra]
Esa-Pekka Salonen, seen here leading the L.A. Phil in 2020, is back for more engagements. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Passages Richard Christiansen, an influential Chicago theater critic who for decades served as critic at the Chicago Tribune and championed the work of figures such as David Mamet, Gary Sinise, Amy Morton and Brian Dennehy, is [dead at 90](. John Wesley, a painter of cartoonish figures whose work seemed extruded from a surreal American subconscious [has died at 93](. In other news â Where surveillance, labor and the performing arts intersect: [that ick phenomenon]( known as the Amazon Ring dance.
â Brad Pittâs Make It Right Foundation built 109 homes in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. A comprehensive report by geographer Judith Keller shows that the vast majority of the units are [riddled with construction-related problems]( six are boarded up, and two have been demolished.
â How Korean pop culture became [a global force](.
â Oscars season [officially kicked off this week]( with the announcement of the nominees! Hereâs [the full list](. [Do we care?]( Let me put it this way: Iâll be tuning in to check out the awardsâ set design.
â The Guardianâs Charlotte Higgins on [the impasse]( over returning the Elgin marbles to Greece: âThe sculptures, though more ancient than either concept, are embroiled in the history of the nation state and of museums, and tangled in a knot of legal trusteeship and ownership.â
â An arbitrator has ordered Harper Leeâs estate to pay $2.5 million in [a dispute]( over the production of plays inspired by âTo Kill a Mockingbird.â
â Baltimore Museum of Art director Christopher Bedford [will take over as director]( at SFMOMA.
â The Dallas Museum of Art is [planning an expansion]( â raising the question, as Mark Lamster writes, for whom, exactly, is this expansion intended?
â [A nuanced piece of criticism]( from New York Times TV critic James Poniewozik on the case of Bill Cosby and separating art from the artist.
â Why did Pancho Villa raid a New Mexican village in 1916? Among the rumors: He was seeking revenge (for unknown reasons) against a merchant named Sam Ravel. In [a documentary]( and [a story for Smithsonian Magazine]( one of his granddaughters, L.A.-based Stacey Ravel Abarbanel, investigates. And last but not least ... From the annals of artistic defacement: [The case of the âboredâ security guard]( who drew eyes on the blank faces of a painting by Anna Leporskaya at Russiaâs Yeltsin Center. Get the lowdown on L.A. politics In this pivotal election year, weâre launching a new newsletter. The focus: Los Angeles politics and the people who run this town. With deep dives and insider tidbits, weâll let you know what matters and why.
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