The Rock Bottom Remainders, the all-author rock band with Stephen King, Dave Barry, Amy Tan and Matt Groening among its members, will hold their last public concert, after performing together for 20 years, at the El Rey Theatre on Friday, June 22, 2012 at 8:30pm. The show is part of the band’s final two-city The Past Our Bedtime Tour, which also includes an appearance not open to the public at the American Library Association Conference in Anaheim on the same weekend.  The entire band is together for the first time since 2007.  Roger McGuinn, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for The Byrds, will also join as a musical guest.  Proceeds will benefit literary causes.
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Dance Camera West, in association with Grand Performances and the Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF), presents the Dirty Dancing Dance-A-Long at California Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles on Friday, June 22, 2012 at 7:45pm.  In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Dirty Dancing, this free event will feature a pre-show salsa lesson led by members of the Los Angeles urban Latin dance troupe CONTRA-TIEMPO, followed by a screening of the classic coming of age tale, widely considered one of the best dance films of all time.  Simultaneously onstage, CONTRA-TIEMPO will also act as a “shadow cast” during the film’s key dance sequences.  This pre-festival event ushers in the 11th annual Dance Camera West Dance Media Film Festival, which takes place from Thursday, June 28 to Saturday, June 30, 2012 in Los Angeles at LACMA and the Hammer Museum.

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Live Talks Los Angeles, which produces talks with great speakers, will once again bring a roster of A-list personalities to the Aero Theatre, Track 16, and UCLA’s Fowler Museum in the coming months.  The schedule includes Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Gregg Allman, of the Allman Brothers Band, who will speak about the highs and lows of his legendary life (5/15, Aero), Hollywood Creative Force Garry Marshall, who will discuss My Happy Days in Hollywood (5/23, Aero), and National Book Award and Oscar-Winning Writer John Irving, who will talk about his upcoming novel, In One Person (6/21, Aero).  Most events start at 8:00pm with receptions preceding the talks.  Ticket prices range from $20 to $95.

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Angel City Chorale, L.A.’s hometown choir, presents the voices and music of Los Angeles in two not-to-be missed performances on Saturday, June 2 and Sunday, June 3, 2012.  Angels Over L.A.: An L.A. Story features local composers and sounds, from the acknowledged mastery of Morten Lauridsen to a world premiere from up-and-coming young composer Philip White.  The award-winning songwriting of T Bone Burnett, the acclaimed eclecticism of David O, and even the classic sounds of the Beach Boys find their way into the story.  Inspired by everything from Hollywood soundtracks and videogame scores to the Bhagavad Gita, Angels Over L.A. is a unique Los Angeles story with something for everyone, as inclusive and vibrant as the city we love.  The concerts, starting at 7:00pm on both nights, will take place at Wilshire United Methodist Church, which is located at 4350 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010.

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Dance Camera West’s (DCW) 11th annual Dance Media Film Festival opens at LACMA with the screening of its highly anticipated shorts program, which will include special guests (TBD) on Thursday, June 28, 2012. The next day, Friday, June 29, also at LACMA, DCW pays tribute to Soul Train with a screening of the 90-minute documentary Soul Train: The Hippest Trip In America with special guest Jody Watley, as well as a longer shorts program.  The festival closes on Saturday, June 30, 2012 with a documentary program at The Hammer Museum.

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U-N-M-A-R-K-E-D and Highways Performance Space present the world premiere of PATTY!, a PoP! Music Religious Revival inspired by the mythic histories of Patty Duke and Patty Hearst, with seven performances running May 18 to 20 and May 23 to 26, 2012.  In conjunction with a full album release, the project includes a two-week run of live, 360-degree, outerdisciplinary performances (equal parts dance-pop concert, fashion show and new media installation), created, produced and directed by Patrick Kennelly.  PATTY! features 15 female performers and choreography by Marina Magalhães (of Contra-Tiempo) with additional choreography by Jmy James Kidd (of MGM) and Kennelly.  Opening music acts for the run include Actually Huizenga, IE, Bai Ling, Kristin “Kevin Blechdom” Erickson and the M.T. Brain, Wet Mango, Maxi Wild, and more.
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Earlier this month, Re-Animator™ The Musical won six LA Weekly Theater Awards including “Musical Of The Year.” It also won: “Original Music” – Mark Nutter, “Direction of a Musical” – Stuart Gordon, “Musical Ensemble” – The Cast, “Adaptation” – Dennis Paoli/William J. Norris/Stuart Gordon, and “Blood Effects” – Stuart Gordon! Now Re-Animator The Musical re-opens at a new location – The Hayworth Theatre – for a limited ten-week engagement, prior to its performance dates in New York and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  http://www.reanimatorthemusical.com/

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Arts organization Create:Fixate (C:F) is proud to participate in MOPLA (Month of Photography – Los Angeles hosted by the Lucie Foundation) with its all photography exhibit Snap Flash on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at the Premiere Events Center in Downtown Los Angeles. C:F’s signature blend features vibrant artwork and music produced by over forty local artists, DJs, and musicians. The excitement begins at 4:00pm with a three-hour gallery preview.  The main event starts at 7:00pm and closes at 2:00am.  Admission is $15.00 before 9:00pm and $20.00 for the remainder of the night. Premiere Events Center is located at 613 Imperial St., Los Angeles, CA 90021. For more information, including an image gallery of participating artists works, please visit www.createfixate.com.

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Twenty-years after LA’s 1992 civil unrest, the City turns its attention to South Los Angeles, where a photography exhibition in the heart of the community is taking a personalized approach to telling the history of one of LA’s storied neighborhoods. Central Avenue: A Community Album, premiering on Saturday, April 14, 2012 from 7:00 to 10:00pm, is a curated collection of previously unseen vernacular photographs submitted by neighborhood residents exhibited alongside a series of new portraits made in the same community by documentary photographer Sam Comen.  The exhibition of over 150 photographs contributed by residents and business owners portraying their lives in the neighborhood will be displayed in an immersive series of multiple projections in a new 3,000 square-foot retail space in the heart of the Central-Adams neighborhood.  The exhibit will present a retrospective of the rich cultural heritage of the area and a contemporary view into the state of that community today. Nearby youth center A Place Called Home will provide a jazz quintet.  Local small business owners will serve complimentary light food and beverages. Sapporo will provide complimentary beer. The projected installation will be up through Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 2515 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90011 at the corner of Adams Blvd. Central Avenue: A Community Album is part of Month of Photography – Los Angeles’ (MOPLA) citywide annual initiative that showcases the enormous photography community, inclusive of commercial, fine art and photojournalism.

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The Industry presents the world premiere of Crescent City, a hyperopera by composer Anne LeBaron and librettist Douglas Kearney, under the direction of Yuval Sharon, from Thursday, May 10 to Sunday, May 27, 2012 at Atwater Crossing in Los Angeles.  The massive new site-specific production, which audiences will experience in 360-degrees, is set in a mythical cityscape with abstract sets by an extraordinary group of six installation artists.  Collaborating visual artists include Mason Cooley, Brianna Gorton, Katie Grinnan, Alice Könitz, Jeff Kopp, and Olga Koumoundouros – all notable members of the vibrant Los Angeles art scene.  The installations will be on view on select days for the run of the production, then transformed in the evening with performances of the opera.

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