Toba SingerDanceSan Francisco,
Christopher Wheeldon gives us a complex “Cinderella,” absent even a soupçon of “The Cinderella Complex” that feminist therapists pride themselves in vanquishing, but which others of their profession reluctantly accommodate to. Wheeldon sidelines the Charles Perrault version of the story in favor of the Grimm. He subs a squadron ...
Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
August Wilson’s Pulitzer-winning drama, Jitney, covers so much territory it’s sometimes difficult to keep track. Struggle, work, gossip, respect, loyalty, race and deep, deep regret. But mostly, Jitney is about pride and the lengths people will go to maintain it. The play is set in a ...
Karen WeinsteinTheaterLos Angeles,
The title is personal, the play is personal, and so is this review. “What the Constitution Means to Me,” is the autobiographical story of author Heidi Schreck. It is particularly timely with the senate impeachment trial filling the airways, competing with Harvey Weinstein’s trial for media coverage. What are ...
Lynne FriedmannTheaterSan Diego,
Should they? Could they? Would they? These questions resonate in a bittersweet story of an extraordinary day that offers love a second chance in “Bloomsday,” at the North Coast Rep. No surprise to English lit majors, the tale takes place in Dublin, where Bloomsday has ...
SInger & SonDanceSan Francisco,
Two elements in the gala’s ceremonial intro nearly upstaged the nativist spit and polish of “Men’s Regiment from Stars and Stripes.” First was Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson’s paradoxical pitch to set aside our points of view in the service of affirming that “We are all Americans,” (which all present ...
David E. MorenoDanceSan Francisco,
“Astrology is not about astrology. It is about what is already happening. Astrology isn’t about us, but the way we are sewn into the weave of all we belong to. Right now, you are not dead, but you will die. What kind of ancestor will you be?” Larry Arrington ...
Paula FarmerBooks & CDs
In 2019, two Korean siblings, Miriam and Grace Park who are both in their twenties, and like many others their age, they are grappling on a social level of the shooting of a black teen by a Los Angeles police officer. This is not new for Miriam, who is ...
Paula FarmerFilm
Real-life hero lawyer Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), and an advocate for death row inmates and others unfairly incarcerated, comes to life on the big screen in “Just Mercy.” Adapted from Stevenson’s memoir of the same title, it is a depiction of one of the ...
Asher LubertoFilm
A crew member of the Poseidon, a drilling rig seven miles under the sea, plops a creature on the dining table. It squirms about aimlessly, leaving a trail of blood where the surrounding crowd usually eats. Yet no one reacts. They stare at the creature as if ...
Asher LubertoFilm
115 priests wander the Vatican as the Gregorian chant drowns out their conversations. What they are discussing is obvious: A new pope must be picked by the end of the day. But what's less obvious is a tune being whistled in the bathroom. "What is that hymn?" Benedict (Anthony ...
