So... art & culture! I've been a bit busy taking in the ballet, the circus, a few nights out & some movies. Not bad, not bad at all.
First thing's first. Ballet Preljocaj's Snow White at The Music Center in DTLA. The costumes were designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, which was an added draw into wanting to see this. I really loved this ballet, although I would cut down time on a couple of the scenes. In particular the first court scene goes on forever. Yes, it was wonderful to watch, but it was just too long. I thought this a couple times here & there, but overall it was lovely. They open with a quite stunning scene of Snow White's mother dying in child birth. It was dark & haunting & brilliantly done. I think we lost out a bit by being in the balcony as far as being able to take real notice of the costume detail. It is modern ballet so it felt a bit like watching performance dance, which in a way I guess is modern ballet. The sets were interesting & overall it was a lot of fun to see.
www.preljocaj.org
©JC Carbonne
©JC Carbonne
Speaking of Snow White, I did go see Mirror, Mirror and boy was that a disappointment. It's odd b/c the actors were good, the costumes & sets were pretty good... but the writing. Oh god, it was just awful. It was so hoaky. I'm not sure what their goal was, but I just kept shaking my head. I didn't expect it to be as disappointing as it was. I thought it would be lighthearted & funny, nothing special but a cute movie & it really missed the mark. So, I do have very high expectations for Snow White and the Huntsmen, which I have been extremely excited to see, not only b/c it looks dark & haunting but also b/c Charlize Theron is in it & I love her. I mean, it looks seriously fucking awesome.
www.snowwhiteandthehuntsman.com
I have also recently been to Cirque du Soleil's Iris at The Kodak Theatre. It was super fun although it too had it's imperfections. I thought perhaps there would be an overall story to it, and they tried to have one, but it seemed a bit all over the place & not coherent, which I can forgive given the extraordinary acrobatics. There were times there were so many performers on stage that I didn't know where to look & felt I was missing out. It was a bit much & perhaps unnecessary at times. However, where it was lacking, it more than made up for in spectacle of set & costume design and especially in performance. We sat in box seats, which was quite fun but couldn't see inside one of the side set pieces.
©CirqueDuSoleil
Some of the performers were out mingling & messing about with the audience before the show. One performer had a giant Zoetrope around her waist & when it spun you saw two men boxing. The atmosphere was wonderful. There were twins who performed a stunning display of strength & acrobatics as they soared above & out over the audience. There were two large groups of men & women performing impressive acts & a lady whose flexibility is almost doll like as she balanced on one hand while moving from pose to pose. The incorporation of film was fun to watch, especially in the set piece designed like a strip of film & the rooftop setting for the film noir. I could go on & on about it, so I just highly recommend it.
www.cirquedusoleil.com
©Kayte Deioma
©CirqueDuSoleil
©CirqueDuSoleil
©Mark Dulong
My friends and I also went to The Cicada Club, which is a prewar (WWII) styled dinner & dancing club. We went on their Sunday night, which has bands & lots of people showing up in style. It was pretty awesome. Plus, you can get your picture taken on the moon.
www.cicadaclub.com
And finally, the book club I'm in read The Princess Bride this time around, and happenstance would also have the Arclight showing the film that very night. So we gathered the girls together and went to the movies! What surprises awaited us were, not only were they going to show it on film & not digital projection as we thought, but Cary Elwes would be there for a Q&A session afterward. Very cool! One of our dear friends practically lost her mind with this knowledge since she loves both those things very very much and really got the evening topped off nicely when we got to meet & take a picture with him. He was very funny & charming during the Q&A, and certainly did not have to let a huge crowd of people take pictures with him, but he did. What a good sport.
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