Helen

My recent trip to the Getty Villa included watching Nick Salamone's "Helen," a semi-musical, with a semi-modern take on Euripides' story about Helen of Troy. 


The actors were superb - especially Rachel Sorsa (Helen) and Maxwell Caulfield (Menelaos). The singing, however, left much to be desired, with the exception of the chorus.

Hurry, Sept. 29th is the last night.

 Tickets available from Getty.edu/visit

Getty Villa

I finally made it to the Getty Villa! It's worth the drive to see this beautiful villa built to resemble the Via dei Papiri in Herculaneum, Italy. 

The grounds and garden are gorgeous and quite calming. And the current Pompeii exhibit is almost better than the real thing. 

Admission is free, but you must obtain a ticket in advance. 

Parking is $15.

Getty.edu/visit

Bonus: Check out the 12 min video in the theatre (or below) for a quick history of the Getty museums.

Don Giovanni

Womanizer/Heartbreaker known to have seduced over 2,000 women finally gets his just deserts.

Don Giovanni - playing now through Oct. 14th at LA Opera. 

Tickets at LAOpera.com

Speaking of LACMA

Check out what happened the last time I went to LACMA at My Life as a Sitcom.

Levitated Mass

Have you heard about that giant rock that's coming?

For months I would ask people this question, referring to the 340-ton granite boulder that was slowly making its way to LACMA. And after explaining what it was, I would later text them updates and pictures of it as it made its journey to the museum - as if they cared! I even tweeted a sneak peak of it thinking someone else might be excited like me.

After explaining it a few times, I noticed 3 common questions and have listed them, and my answers below. Hopefully now when I ask you if you've seen it, I won't get a blank stare.

Why are they bringing a giant boulder here?

- It was found fully intact, in one piece and it's, well, a piece of nature, I guess. It might be inspiring, like being out on a hike or in the woods or at the Grand Canyon. And a man named Michael Heizer made an place for it to sit on outside, so it will seem like its hanging in the air. They're calling it "Levitated Mass."

Who is paying for it?

-Private donors are paying for it, which is a relief at least. No one wants their tax money going towards a big rock. I still don't know how I feel about so much money (10 million) being spent on, well basically a rock. Why so expensive? The rock was around 70,000 and then to transport it to LACMA involved clearing a path, moving telephone wires...and then there were other expenses...


What is LACMA?

(Sigh) Is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I'm sure you've seen it on Wilshire. It has all those lightbulbs outside.

So, it opened publicly June 24, 2012 and I saw it about two weeks after its debut. I have to say, it was really stunning. I'm surprised at how much time I took staring at it, walking around it, touching it... and I wasn't the only one. I was there on a slow day, in the late afternoon and there were at least 60 people mesmerized by it and taking pictures just like me. Even Jesus turned up.


Anywho, do take a moment to stop by LACMA (park on the street behind it to save some cash) and see this giant boulder. It's inexplicably inspiring.

CRESCENT CITY

a hyperopera

In May, two friends of mine were generous enough to give me a ticket to see the last performance of an innovative new opera in Atwater Village put on by a company called The Industry. The opera was staged "in the square" inside a giant warehouse, with the action taking place all over the space as opposed to a traditional opera house with seats looking up at a stage. Pre-recorded video played on the many large screens in the room, along with live footage from stationary cameras and hand-held cameras carried around by the performers.

The audience had a choice of four ticket types:

Pedestrian/Standing Room - Standing the whole time, but with the option to move around the room to follow the action.

Seated Perimeter - Sitting along the outside of the warehouse. (This is where I sat) 

Dive Bar Bean Bags - Sitting on bean bags in the middle of all the action. (My two friends sat there.)

Eye of the Hurricane - Sitting above the warehouse, looking down on all the action.

Admittedly,  I kept hearing about Crescent City, but was quite skeptical and would have missed out on this wonderful night without the free ticket. There was such a buzz of expectancy and excitement before the show started, which added to the energy of the show. Not only were there some talented voices, namely Ashley Faatoalia, but I found it to be very imaginative and kind of fun. It was definitely different, but I really enjoyed it. 

Click here more info on Crescent City and The Industry. 

Tweet Seats

This year I've been fortunate enough to be a Tweet Seater for LA Opera. I go to the final dress rehearsals (which are ticketed..it's basically a bonus performance) and tweet about the show along with 8 or 9 other tweeters.

It's been an absolute pleasure. Not only have I been able to have an inside scoop on the show, tour the sets and meet the casts, but I've made some really lovely new friends. My iphone had to be wiped a few months ago, and took some of my pictures with it, but check out the pictures on my twitter feed to re-live my Tweet-Seating experience so far. You can also check out reviews for the LA Opera shows at All Is Yar by fellow tweeter @MrCKDH. His blog is one of my favorites to stay informed about musical events in LA. 

I PROMISE!!

I PROMISE!!

Okay, I know I haven't been updating this blog, or my other one, My Life as a Sitcom. 

It's ridiculous. I have been to an insane amount of performances and events in the last um, several years and to not have posted ANYTHING, every now and then, is a shame. There are lots of excuses I could cite, but let's face it, they're excuses. As penance, I submit the embarrassing picture below. 

Moving forward, I promise to do better! And you know what, I'm going to take a friend's suggestion and try to catch you up on some of the things you missed. Oh yeah...here goes.