Shakespeare by the Sea’s 2008 production of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream;" photo credit: Marilyn Edwards

Shakespeare by the Sea (SBTS) announces its 14th season of bringing free Shakespeare performances to the masses in Southern California, opening with the romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing on June 9, 2011 followed one week later, on June 16, with the opening of the ultimate family drama The Tragedy of King Lear. SBTS performances run for 10 weeks throughout Los Angeles and Orange County – over 40 performances in all – beginning with shows in San Pedro at Point Fermin Park from June 9th through July 2nd.  Starting July 6th the troupe hits the road on a tour that will reach a total of 21 public parks in 19 towns – from Pasadena to Laguna Niguel – into August.  The production wraps up back in San Pedro for two grand finale performances on August 12 and 13, 2011.  All performances are in the evening starting at either 7:00pm or 8:00pm.  Audiences are encouraged to gather with friends and family early to dine picnic-style under the stars to make the most of this classic entertainment experience.  Admission is always free!

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Beacon Arts Building 2nd Floor Studios (photo credit: David Teel Photography)

Highwood Properties announces completion of renovations at Beacon Arts Building, an artists community with warehouse-style studio spaces available for lease to working art professionals. The Modernist cast concrete building, which features stunning 11’6” ceilings and “open capital” columns, first opened its doors to the local art community in October 2010 with the Beacon Arts contemporary art gallery on the ground floor of the facility. Open house events, when studio spaces will be open for viewing, will be held on Thursday April 28, Saturday May 7, and Sunday May 15, 2011 from 1:00 to 4:00pm.  Studios may also be viewed by appointment. The Beacon Arts Building is located at 808 N. La Brea Ave., Inglewood, CA 90302. The property sits prominently on La Brea Avenue, located just 11 minutes south of the 10 Freeway (I-10). Ample on-site parking is available as well as on the adjacent streets.

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The Beacon Arts Building is an iconic, four-story, solid reinforced concrete monolith in Inglewood, California representative of classic 1950s architecture. Cast in-place, the structure is as much a singular sculpture as an inhabitable building. Outside and inside of the building, signs of its creation are evident – from the wood grain impression made by the plywood that was used to build the forms to the air bubbles in the concrete. The massive 32,400 square foot structure is self-supporting by design, with strong, “open capital” columns – a modern reference to the columns found in early Egyptian ceremonial temples.

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"Flock" by Michael Arata

Beacon Arts continues its Critics-as-Curators series with Arataland! A Mid-Career Survey of Artworks by Michael Arata curated by art critic Doug Harvey, opening Saturday, March 26, 2011. Arataland! will be the first museum-scale retrospective devoted exclusively to the work of this important Los Angeles artist, and the first monographic exhibit hosted by the Beacon Arts Building during its inaugural Critics-as-Curators series.  Drawing on three decades of sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, installation and performance work, Arataland! will transform the Beacon Arts Building into a theme park exploring the complex and idiosyncratic vision – darkly humorous, playfully erotic, conceptually quirky, and often confrontational – that animates Arata’s oeuvre. The exhibit will run for eight weeks closing on Sunday, May 22, 2011 with a Critics-as-Curators panel discussion from 1:00 to 4:00pm.
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Dance Camera West (DCW), recognized internationally for its annual presentation and celebration of dance on screen, announces its 10th Anniversary Dance Media Film Festival & Conference.  This year’s festival, entitled Dance Media: An Active Spectrum, which will also include a conference component, takes place at several venues around Los Angeles from Thursday, June 16 to Sunday, June 19, 2011. In addition to a full program of provocative screenings, this year’s special anniversary event will also include a unique series of educational events, guest speakers, and networking opportunities for the international dance media community.  DCW once again partners with the city’s most prominent venues to offer this year’s screenings, installations, and panel discussions with visiting international artists.

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LDTP “The Slumber of Reason” – Photo Credit: Dorit Thies

Innovative performance group the Latina Dance Theater Project (LDTP) announces the return of their critically acclaimed piece, The Slumber of Reason (El Sueño de la Razon), to Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles for one weekend only, Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26, 2011. Directed by Tim Perez, The Slumber of Reason is a series of ten dark and humorous vignettes that depict various follies and foibles of mankind.  The creative springboard for this interdisciplinary work is Spanish artist Francisco de Goya’s tour-de-force prints, Los Caprichos (The Caprices), considered one of the most profound indictments of human vice ever set on paper.  The Slumber of Reason show times are at 8:00pm on both nights.

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David Watson

Beacon Arts and the Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS) present Ad Hoc #2: David Watson & David Grubbs, a site-specific sonic exploration of the Beacon Arts Building’s fourth floor on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 8:00 pm. This free event features a unique aural experience that encourages interplay between the musicians and the listening audience.  In realizing these new works, New Yorkers Watson and Grubbs will be working with several experimental sound artists and musicians from Los Angeles including Joe Potts, Steve Roden, and William Roper.

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"Mine Eternal" by Laura Krifka

Beacon Arts continues its Critics-as-Curators series with Pieceable Kingdom curated by art critic David Pagel, opening Saturday, February 5, 2011. The exhibition features works in a range of media by seven artists – Erin Cosgrove, Asad Faulwell, Maxwell Hendler, Laura Krifka, Mimi Lauter, Devin Troy Strother, and Matt Wedel –  who capture the complexity of everyday life by giving form to its down-to-earth beauty and uplifting ordinariness, its tribulations and triumphs, its pleasures and pains. As a group, they piece things together, sometimes literally and sometimes figuratively, creating singular pieces that are complete unto themselves yet also openly invite all sorts of stories, from other times and places, to echo across their sensuous surfaces. Pieceable Kingdom runs until Sunday, March 20, 2011.  Exhibition special events include an opening reception on Saturday February 5, 6:00 – 9:00pm, an artists’ panel discussion on Sunday, March 6, which starts at 2:00pm, and a closing reception on Sunday, March 20, which will include a catered brunch and a critics’ panel discussion. Read the rest of this entry »

Bootleg Theater is excited to announce the brand new Ken Roht’s Same-O, A 99¢ Only Electric Ballad – once again bringing together the award-winning creative team of Roht, John Ballinger and Ann Closs-Farley for an outrageous holiday production. Previous 99¢ Only shows have been critically acclaimed as a “bedazzlement of theater action and peanut gallery voyeurism” (LA Times) and “mix of heady surrealism, marvelously inventive choreography, unabashed camp, and delightful whimsy” (Backstage West).  Costumes, sets and moving sculptures in this progressive multimedia music event will once again incorporate traditional 99¢ Only Store fare, with the addition of recycled and sustainable materials this year. The interdisciplinary extravaganza, with a cast of 18 diverse performers, runs from December 4 to 19, 2010 on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00pm nightly with Sunday matinees only at 3:00pm.  Performances have been extended, now running January 6 to 30, 2011 on the same schedule. Read the rest of this entry »

Paradox Media and Vau de Vire present the highly anticipated return of The Edwardian Ball to Los Angeles on Saturday, March 5, 2011 at The Music Box.  Once again, the splendid San Francisco tradition flies south for the winter, presenting an elegant, turn of the century celebration of music, theatre, circus arts, DJs, ballroom dance, fashion, technology and, of course, the ominous art and stories of beloved author Edward Gorey. Hosted by Edwardian Ball co-creators Rosin Coven and Vau de Vire Society, the night promises an unforgettable blend of audience participation and performance with darkness, humor, and style in a stunning historic venue. The event also features “Belle of the Ball” Jill Tracy, DJ Xian, Miz Margo, Dark Garden Corsetry, and many special guests. Costumed attire is highly encouraged — all in attendance are invited to return to a time of gentility by creating characters for the occasion. Read the rest of this entry »