Bradley Whitford, Roger Bart and Michael O'Keefe in "Art" at The Pasadena Playhouse / Photo by Jim Cox

“Art,” the 1998 Tony Award winner for Best Drama, gets a smooth polish from nine-time Emmy Award-winning director David Lee in The Pasadena Playhouse’s current re-mount.

Playwright Yasmina Reza’s (who also wrote the 2009 Tony Award-winning “God of Carnage”) fast and witty repartee flows with ease from the mouths of the talented trio on stage — Roger Bart as the “spineless amoeba” best friend Yvan; Michael O’Keefe as Serge, the initiator of the drama; and Bradley Whitford as Marc, the antagonist of the ensuing debate.

The friendships and relationships of these three become examined and analyzed when Serge buys a white-on-white painting for 200,000 Euros.  Marc laughs outright upon seeing the blank canvas and being told of the price. Serge is appalled at Marc’s blatant outburst with no attempt to even pretend to like his new acquisition. Both try to get Yvan to side with their opposing opinions, and both succeed, much to their frustration.

As smooth as Reza’s words coming trippingly off Whitford’s talented tongue, Bart gradually steals the show, especially with his non-stop, oft-times rambling but still rational monologue lasting minutes during which he doesn’t seem to take a breath. And then O’Keefe appropriately deadpans, “And then?” Bravo!

Tom Buderwitz designed the gorgeous modern and classically simple apartment set of Serge. The program notes that this set represents the three characters’ individual apartments and that the locale is Paris, France. With no change of set pieces, Buderwitz’s set is realistically only Serge’s living room.  And with no references, audio or visual, to the apartment being in Paris, why Paris instead of New York, and why Euros instead of dollars?

—Gil Kaan

Performances continue through Feb. 19, at The Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena 91101. Showtimes are Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m. For tickets, visit www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org or call the box office at (626) 356-7529.

Gustavo Dudamel

On Thursday night, Gustavo Dudamel continued his Mahler marathon by conducting his hometown band, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (SBSOV) (formerly the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra), in a rousing, impassioned performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Mahler began writing the first two movements of his fifth symphony (which he designated in the score as Part I) in 1901 after he almost died from an illness, but then completed the work the following year when he was fully recovered. And without knowing the details, one can tell which movements were written when. In the first movement, marked Trauermarsch (Funeral march), whether unconsciously or consciously, Mahler uses the same four-note motif used by Beethoven in the second movement (Marcia funebre) of his Symphony No. 3, and also in the opening movement of his fifth symphony. The theme is first presented by the solo trumpet and was played with power and precision by principal trumpeter Tomás Medina. After an emotional rollercoaster ride (which pretty much can be said about the entire symphony), the movement ends with an increasingly softer roll on the bass drum punctuated at the end by pizzicato violas, cellos and basses.

Mahler designated the second movement (also Part I), which Dudamel appropriately played without interruption, as Stürmisch bewegt, mit größter vehemenz (Moving stormily, with the greatest vehemence), in which one can also hear the same four-note motif although less conspicuously. If the first movement reflects Mahler’s resignation, the second reflects his anger. However, like the first movement, the second ends with a whimper with quiet glissandos in the violas, cellos and bases followed by two final pizzicato eighth notes and one final pianissimo eighth note by the timpani.

Things change with the third movement (Scherzo), marked Kräftig, nicht zu schnell (strongly, not too fast), which alone constitutes Part II. Not only does the key change from C^# minor (in the first movement) and A minor (in the second movement) to D major, but the mood is joyous and dancelike. However, echoes of foreboding reappear, reminding us of the tragic, stormy first two movements, with markings of Sehr wild (very wild). There was also some first-rate playing by principal horn player Daniel Graterol leading up to the conclusion of the movement, which resembles that of Mahler’s first symphony.

Mahler wrote the famous fourth movement, Adagietto (Part III), also in a major key (F major) for strings and harp; and the strings of the SBSOV, sounding like more mature musicians, played it with the intense feeling that Mahler obviously felt and wanted to convey. The strings-only movement was a stark contrast to the previous brass, woodwind and percussion-heavy first three movements, and Dudamel was able to stretch out the last note, as Mahler wrote it, diminishing from quiet to very quiet followed by a pause that Dudamel kept (with the audience breathless) by very slowly lowering his arms.

The last movement, Rondo-Finale: Allegreo giocoso, in D major, begins with the single E played by the horn, answered by a low A in the violins and then the horn, and answered this time by the bassoon and then the oboe and clarinet, all of which play back and forth until the horn leads into the entire orchestra joining in what can be best described as a bucolic and joyful melody. The horn part was played with sensitivity but confidence by the second principal horn, Rafael Payare. The movement rushes to a joyous climactic ending, again resembling the conclusion of Mahler first symphony, and making the listener almost forget the intense woefulness of the first two movements.

The individual musicianship of the SBSOV is obviously not of the same caliber as, say, the LA Phil, although there are some definite standouts. But what they lack in their playing, which is admittedly not that much, they more than make up for in their passion for the music and their obvious love and respect for Dudamel, which they showed by stomping their feet during the curtain calls and then refusing to stand when he asked them to. These young musicians, many of whom were born poor and with little to no music in their lives before becoming a part of Fundación Musical (the Venezuelan orchestral academic program), now find themselves playing on the great concert stages of the world for enthusiastically appreciative audiences. They take nothing for granted and, on Thursday night, left it all on the stage, putting not only their hearts and souls into it, but their bodies as well. Each section swayed together with the music; the total effect was a sea of movement. It was a performance from the gut as well as the head, and with a smiling and ecstatic Dudamel, they offered a performance of the 75-minute Mahler that flew by and brought the audience to their feet screaming.

It must be said that if it weren’t for his unabashed modesty and humbleness, Dudamel might be considered to be superhuman. He is conducting all the Mahler symphonies, plus some other works by the composer, all from memory and in less than a month. That’s no small accomplishment. There are many, more seasoned conductors, who haven’t even memorized one of Mahler’s symphonies. And one can tell that Dudamel has learned every part; he cues most of the accents in the music. Finally, one can tell how much he loves this music — indeed, all music he conducts — and it’s also apparent that the SBSOV would do anything for him; and they did on Thursday night, leaving the audience in a state of frenzy. All one can say is “Wow,” and hooray for the Fundación Musical!

— Henry Schlinger, Culture Spot LA

See the full Mahler Project schedule here: http://www.laphil.com/tickets/mahler/index.cfm.

Immerse yourself in full concert performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by dynamic Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, live from both Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and this season, Dudamel’s home turf of Caracas, Venezuela, with LA Phil LIVE at movie theaters. Learn more at: http://www.laphil.com/laphillive/.

J. Michael Feldman as Narrator Percy Rutherford in “Fairy Tale Theatre – 18 & Over” at the Matrix Theatre / Photo by Lew Abramson

Ree-dic-u-lousss!!! So over the top, “Fairy Tale Theatre – 18 & Over” really works at keeping the audience entertained — alternately howling, enchanted, and grossed out for 85 intermission-less minutes! Never heard fairy tales like these as a kid! The show, presented by the Inkwell Theater, is onstage at the Matrix Theatre through Feb. 11.

“Fairy Tale’s” author J. Michael Feldman is also onstage as the Narrator when not seamlessly inhabiting various non-human creatures of his seven fables garbed in Stephen Rowan’s hysterically ingenious costumes — sight gags in themselves. Rowan also gets credit for the many clever puppets and props this troupe of non-humans interacts with.

The rest of the attractive and very able cast (puppeteers/performers Jess McKay, Matt Cook, and Tina Huang; and featured performers Courtney Pauroso and Eileen Mulanee) also inhabit their non-human roles with the utmost commitment and talent. This gifted company succeeds in getting the audience to suspend disbelief that they, actors on stage wearing furry outfits, are spiders or squirrels or termites, even when they’re in plain sight working the various puppets. Very nice!

The Narrator frequently breaks the fourth wall talking to the audience, prepping us for the fables to come, and then at the end of each, reciting the moral of each fable in this smoothly paced outing directed by Annie McVey. The first involves a pair of squirrels (Pauroso and Feldman) who find they really like each other because of all their similarities.  The second pits a bi-polar polar bear (Feldman) against an Eskimo puppet. In the third piece, Feldman’s a bee that’s not trying to hurt anyone but keeps being attacked by everyone.

The fourth revolves around a gay termite couple (Cook and McKay) who finally meet their girl spider friend’s husband. Here, Feldman is costumed as a black spider with eight long legs. (Brilliant costume and brilliant maneuvering of these legs by Feldman!)  The gay couple debate how to tell their spider friend (Huang) that she’s married to a “Gasp!” gay spider.  Gay stereotypes are displayed, discussed, and turned inside out and upside down in this sketch to funny, funny results.

The fifth fable illustrates how a centipede (consisting of Feldman as the head and Cook as its rear) carries his groceries, dry cleaning, baby centipede in a basket and Starbucks from his car to his home. No words, just centipede sounds, and, oh yeah, the frequent laughter from the audience.

The sixth skit features a dog-loving monkey couple (Mulanee and Feldman) who invite their non-dog-loving monkey friend (Cook) over. Howling you hear is not just from the menagerie of dog puppets/puppeteers on the stage, but the audience howling, or groaning, at the gross-out sections of this skit.  Trust me, you will groan when you see this!

The final fable centers around a cloud (Feldman) flirting with another cloud (Pauroso).  Double entendres abound in sensual overload with bolts of lightning, splattering of rain, and wetness of fog.  These are some sexy clouds!

What a way to learn morals!

–Gil Kaan, Culture Spot LA

Performances continue through Feb. 11 at the Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Ave., LA 90046. Showtimes are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. For tickets, visit http://www.inkwelltheater.com/ or call (323) 852-1445.

Kathleen Turner as Molly Ivins in "Red Hot Patriot: The Kick Ass Wit of Molly Ivins" / Photo by Mark Garvin from Philadelphia Theatre Company’s world premiere production

Kathleen Turner is currently onstage at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles for the West Coast premiere of “Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins.” David Esbjornson directs the one-woman show about the famous columnist and political commentator from Texas, which continues through Feb. 19.

“Red Hot Patriot” is a roaring salute to Ivins’ sharp-tongued humor and a fitting tribute to her work as a voice of the people and a crusader for American rights. She authored bestselling books and worked on staff at such newspapers as the Houston Chronicle, Texas Observer, Dallas Times Herald, Fort Worth Star Telegram and The New York Times, where, among other things, she wrote Elvis’ obituary.

It’s perhaps no surprise that “Red Hot Patriot” is getting rave reviews, since it has a powerhouse creative team. Turner, of course, is the award-winning actress famous for her roles in such movies as “Body Heat” and “Romancing the Stone” and equally lauded for her work in theater. Esbjornson has directed world premieres of plays by the likes of Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, Arther Miller and Neil Simon. And how appropriate is it that playwrights Margaret and Allison Engel are also journalists?

Margaret is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist who was a reporter at The Washington Post and now directs the Alicia Patterson Journalism Foundation. Her twin sister Allison has been a reporter, columnist and editor and is currently the associate director of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities at the University of Southern California.

Allison Engel talked with Culture Spot about Ivins, Turner and women in theater.

Culture Spot: Why Molly Ivins, and why a play?

Allison Engel: The day that Molly Ivins died — and we’re coming up on the fifth-year anniversary of her death — my twin sister Margaret, whom we all call Peggy, called me and said, “We should do a one-woman play about Molly Ivins.” What we were thinking about is “Mark Twain Tonight” that Hal Holbrook has been performing for 40 years, and also there have been other one-person plays about writers.

Peggy and I felt that Molly was taken from us way too soon — she died at age 62. She had so many years of brilliant writing and it just seemed inconceivable that we would not hear her voice anymore. That said, there were still a lot of people that didn’t know Molly Ivins, even though at her height she was syndicated in nearly 400 newspapers.

So we had this idea that we would model it on “Mark Twain Tonight,” which is basically Hal Holbrook standing  in front of a curtain and giving different anecdotes of Mark Twain, but as we got into it further, theater professionals told us that … we really needed to make it more of a play about Molly’s life.

CS: Why was Kathleen Turner the right actress to play her, and how did she get onboard?

AE: From the very beginning, we thought Kathleen Turner would be perfect because she can play that brassy, bold, fearless person. We had no idea how perfect she was for it until this happened: I told a friend of mine, Jim Autry from Iowa, that we were working on this play, and he had met Molly several times and he asked, “Who are you thinking of playing her?” We said, “Kathleen Turner,” and he said, “You know I sit on a board with Kathleen.” I said, “No, I didn’t know that.” And it was People for the American Way, which is the progressive organization that Norman Lear began. Both Jim and Kathleen had been on the board for decades. He said, “I’m going to tell her about this,” and I said, “Oh, no, Jim, you can’t do that yet because we don’t have the permission.” We just wrote it before we got permission because we knew we’d have to have something to show whoever handled her estate to see whether they’d want to go with the idea since we didn’t have a track record as playwrights. He said he wouldn’t tell her, and then of course two weeks later he did tell her, and she said to him, “I want that script.”

As it turns out, Kathleen lives in New York, and Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas who was a very close friend of Molly’s, lived in New York for a while after she was governor, and she lived in the same building as Kathleen — coincidence of all coincidences. And when Molly would come to visit Ann, if Kathleen was around, they’d invite her up. Not only did she know Molly, but she and Molly had many of the same philosophies and were fighting for the same things: first amendment rights, the rights of women and all those progressive issues. So Kathleen … said she was interested in it, and that really helped when we went to Molly’s longtime agent who held the rights to her writing.

CS: I could tell Kathleen had a deep connection with Molly. It was beyond incredible acting, and at the end when she took her bows before a standing ovation, she looked like she was in tears.

AE: That’s exactly right. Kathleen is an extraordinary actress in any role, but in this role she really has a personal connection to Molly as far as the things Molly fought for and believed in and tried to bring to the public’s attention in her feeling that you are a citizen no matter what else and that you have an obligation to get involved in politics, even as rotten and awful as it is now. So it’s not just words on a stage. Kathleen really believes in those issues and admires Molly for how she was such a fighter all her life, and Kathleen has a long, long history of activism.

[In the play,] Molly talks about how she went around once a month at her own expense and spoke in small towns — we didn’t put this little factoid in the play, but Molly’s only caveat on going around and speaking to groups was that she not go to San Francisco or New York or places where there are a lot of liberals where she would just be preaching to the choir — she went to these little towns and continued speechifying as John Henry Faulk had done in his lifetime. And Kathleen also has spoken on behalf of Planned Parenthood and People for the American Way — I think she’s been on the board for 25 years, so this is not just a one-time or dilettante effort; she is very committed and has given generously of her time over the years — so it had real resonance for her.

CS: What was it like working with Kathleen and putting the piece together?

AE: It really made us appreciate how hard actors in the theater work. When a play gets on its feet, it’s eight performances a week. And Kathleen does not use understudies. On Saturdays and Sundays, there are two performances each day. … When it’s a one-woman show and you’re on stage the entire time, the stamina and the concentration that takes is remarkable. Kathleen’s powers of memorization are just jaw-dropping. She was in another play before this, and when this ends she is going to go back to that play where she’s on stage for two hours — it’s not a one-woman play but she’s the main character. So she came back to our production and had to relearn the whole thing because we had made some changes and it had been nine months or so since we had done it, and within four or five days she was off book and had it memorized. That is just amazing.

She is also incredibly punctual and she never missed a performance for illness in Philadelphia when the play premiered [at the Philadelphia Theatre Company in March 2010]. She is truly an incredibly hard worker, and then also those moments of brilliance that you can’t really write in, she just does it. It’s been such a treat to work with her, and she’s also been very helpful. As she says herself, “I’m not a writer, but I’m a great re-writer,” so in the rehearsal room first time around if there were lines that were just too long or seemed clunky or redundant or didn’t belong here, we totally respected her opinion on that. So she was involved in shaping the play absolutely.

CS: As journalists, you and your sister must have done a lot of research, and everything sounded so authentic that I wanted to know how much of the script was quoted material?

AE: It started out being primarily quoted material, about 80 percent, because we had so much wonderful material to work with. Molly had written columns for years and years, and she’d written books, and there had been interviews with her, and she’d been on “60 Minutes,” so there was a lot of material. But as the play progressed in putting it together, we realized as we moved away from just anecdote after anecdote, there had to be some connective tissue and that wouldn’t necessarily be in something she had written.  So it became closer to 50-50. It’s interesting, sometimes in reviews they’ll quote a line [thinking it was] Molly’s and it really wasn’t a line of Molly’s. We tried to make it sound like something she would say in her voice.

CS: What is an example of something we would think, “Oh, she must have said that or written that,” but you actually created it in her voice?

AE: One example would be when she says, “Alcohol may lead nowhere, but it sure is the scenic route.” It sounds like something she’d say and it made sense because she was talking about her problems with alcohol, but that is not her line.

CS: How did you find or decide on the drama of her relationship with her father to drive the piece?

AE: That actually was true in real life. It was well documented that she had this drama with her father. And that was absolutely true about that column. She finally was writing a column about him, and the day she was writing it he  committed suicide. That really happened. It sounds like you couldn’t make it up; it’s such a dramatic thing. … It’s hard to get anything more gripping or compelling than that. … We did not have to embellish that at all.

CS: What has the reaction been in Philadelphia, Austin and Los Angeles so far?

AE: It’s been incredibly gratifying. At first in Philadelphia we were a little concerned because Molly had connections with many cities across the country. She had connections with many cities in Texas, connections with [Northampton, Massachusetts, where she attended] Smith College, Boulder, Colorado, Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she was a reporter; but she really didn’t have a connection with Philadelphia. So when it did so well in Philadelphia, that was such a positive thing for us.

There was a planeload of Texans, friends of Molly’s, who came to Philadelphia to see the play, and again we were concerned and hopeful that they would feel that we had captured Molly. They were very kind and generous about letting us know and people were crying, people who knew her. And that’s been the case everywhere, certainly in Austin, and just the other night in Los Angeles at one of the previews there was a woman afterwards crying who had known Molly and thought that it had captured her so well. [Molly’s] brother and sister went to Philadelphia and then went afterwards separately to Kathleen thanking her for her portrayal. And Lou Dubose, who was her co-writer on her two books on [President George W. Bush], who had worked with her for years and had known her so well, and [her co-editor at the Texas Observer] Kaye Northcutt — those were people we were very anxious to hear what they thought, and they did tell us that it very fairly captured the Molly they knew.

CS: That’s high praise.

AE: Molly has a lot of very close friends in Austin, and a lot of people are protective of her memory and they want her to be remembered in the right way. We were careful; we did not want to turn her into a standup comedian. She was very funny; we could have just done one-liners one after another, but that was really not what Molly was about. As she said, she used humor to make a point and to get people to listen. She was a very diligent reporter who researched her stories thoroughly. She wrote about the savings and loan crisis and a lot about government finance and topics where she did a lot of research. She wasn’t one of those people that just commented with one zinger after another; she put in her time covering the legislature and was really a student of government.

I think one of the most remarkable things about her was that she had a nationwide audience and was such a prescient commentator on the national political scene from Austin, Texas. She could have stayed in New York, she could have gone to Washington, D. C., but she didn’t want to be part of the pack and was very independent, and I think the fact that she was able to do that from Austin really says a lot about her skill and her intelligence, and it also put the lie to the fact that you have to be in New York or Washington, D. C., to be a national political commentator. Since Peggy and I have both been reporters both in large cities and also out of the corridors of power, that really resonated with us, because I don’t think you have to be in New York or Washington, D. C., to be able to have an informed opinion or comment on the national scene.

CS: Is there anything about this play that the media are not asking you about that you think is an interesting point that’s not being touched on?

AE: Another reason why we wanted to do the play is that there aren’t that many roles for actresses over 50. My twin went to a women’s conference before we even started writing the play, and Jane Fonda and Sally Field were there and they made a plea to these women writers saying, “We’ve aged out of most of the good roles, so please write things for women our age.” So we had that in the back of our minds also. I don’t think there’s a surplus of roles either in film or theater for women once they get past 40, so that was another reason why we wanted to do that.

CS: That’s true. There are a lot of great actresses that you never see anymore and wonder, “Where have they been?”

AE: At USC at the Annenberg School, Professor Stacy Smith does a survey once a year about the number of women in films and television versus men, and it’s just shocking, every year, it doesn’t get any better. They go to studio executives with hard data, and not only do they count numbers, but they also look at the number of times women are dressed in suggestive outfits. I can’t remember the exact numbers, but it’s seriously out of whack. [For more on this topic, visit http://annenberg.usc.edu/Faculty/Communication%20and%20Journalism/SmithS.aspx]

CS: Where is the show headed next?

AE: It’s going to two cities in Texas this spring. It’s going to the Allied Theatre Group at Stage West in Fort Worth in May, and Houston’s Main Street Theater in June. Kathleen will not be in those productions because, as I said, she is going back to this other play. So they will have Texas actresses. In Austin, there was a great Texas actress named Barbara Chisholm…. She was amazing and fabulous too. There are a lot of wonderful actresses who are over 50 in theaters all over America and, as I said, they don’t have enough roles written for them.

Liz Casebolt and Joel Smith in "O(h)" at the Actors Company Theatre / Photo by Jeff Larson

For a compelling hour, performance duo Liz Casebolt and Joel Smith entertain and inform as they deconstruct their creative choreography process in “O(h),” currently onstage at the Actors Company Theatre. Cleverly written by this pair, the show simultaneously pays homage to and skewers the art form of dance.

Casebolt and Smith deftly demonstrate various modern dance moves and gestures while explaining their meanings and purposes to the audience. Through the course of their show, these same sequences of gestures and movement will repeat themselves accompanying two other totally different scenarios. Very impressive!

The evening begins with Casebolt and Smith showing the audience just exactly what they won’t be performing, all the while expounding on every arm thrust, every handclap, every chassé.  After laundry-listing the limitations of “just being a duet,” they dance everything they can as a duet. Their hilarious “Proud Mary” parody starts off nice and easy and then unleashes Smith’s wild Superman briefs-clad bumps and grinds.

Then they split to perform their solos. Smith begs the audience to let him catch his breath first, which he does — literally — reaching out for it, jumping up for it, chasing after it for minutes, until he finally does catch it and plops it back into his mouth. Smith teases the audience with promising to perform his next dance sans Superman briefs, but, alas, doesn’t drop trous.

For her solo turn in the spotlight, Casebolt sings “I Feel Pretty,” hysterically commenting on each line. And she’s got a good, strong voice!

Though not mentioned in either “bio(h)graphies,” the audience can easily see formal dance training, especially with Smith’s high leg extensions and very pointed toes. Only someone who can really dance can really know how to (and has the right to) lovingly make fun of dancing.

Kudos to Casebolt and Smith for bridging the vast divide of modern dance aficionados and a non-dance audience.

–Gil Kaan, Culture Spot LA

Performances continue through Feb. 19 at the Actors Company Theatre, 916a N. Formosa Ave., West Hollywood 90046. Showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 5 p.m. For tickets, call (800) 838-3006, or visit www.caseboltandsmith.com.

Gustavo Dudamel’s much-anticipated Mahler Project opened in grand style at Walt Disney Concert Hall this weekend.  Culture Spot LA attended the Jan. 14 concert, and clearly Gustavo and Gustav have a kinship that is special.

The Mahler Project is an international collaboration between the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela.  The two orchestras will present Mahler’s entire symphonic corpus over an intense few weeks here in LA, and then repeat the cycle in Caracas to honor the 100th anniversary of Mahler’s death.

This first program featured the LA Phil with internationally acclaimed American baritone Thomas Hampson singing Songs of a Wayfarer (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen) and Symphony No. 4 with Swedish soprano Miah Persson joining in the final movement.  The pairing made for a great introduction to the Project.  Arguably these two compositions frame the early period of Mahler’s development and are perhaps the most tuneful and approachable of his works.  Both compositions were based loosely on the popular German folk poetry of The Youth’s Magic Horn (Des Knaben Wunderhorn), although Mahler composed the text himself.

Dudamel, without score, led us through Mahler’s all-too-personal sentiments of love, rejection, grief and aimless wandering.  His style this evening was a bit more subtle than usual, perhaps saving his energy for the immense journey on which he has embarked.  His left hand produced significant direction; I found myself mesmerized by its fluid expression.  The tonus of each muscle was informed by the innate soul of this magnificent music.

Large in stature with an even larger voice, Hampson, who spent much of the past year celebrating Mahler, was a commanding presence in persona and sound.  His voice filled the entirety of the Hall, and his expressions and gestures bespoke the affect of love and youth.  His range of expression was extraordinary.

Hampson found the character in each movement and realized them masterfully.  The opening song, When My Sweetheart Is Married, featured upbeat winds juxtaposed against his dark, sullen vocals.

I Went Over the Field This Morning sported an energetic melody and pastoral feel with the flute and voice.  The sound was delicate with brilliant combinations of winds and high strings, punctuated with subtle percussion effects.

As you may expect, I Have a Gleaming Knife was highly charged, relatively dissonant and loud.  Dudamel allowed the smallish ensemble to play unbound.  The despair and angst were palpable in both Hampson and the musicians.

The concluding song of the cycle, The Two Blue Eyes of My Beloved, was beautifully lyrical and evoked a connotation of chorale.  The ending produced a sweet reverie that left the audience somewhat stilled, and Dudamel heightened the effect with his lingering gestures.  The delayed applause increased in its intensity over a period of minutes.

After a short intermission, we heard Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, perhaps the most often performed of his compositions, and the last of his delightful Wunderhorn-inspired works.  Persson’s final song was preceded by three symphonic movements that were significantly weighted with woodwinds. Curiously, there were no low brass instruments, their role artfully subsumed by bass-clarinet, contrabassoon, seven contrabasses and percussion.

The first movement, in traditional sonata form, was lightly warmed by the cheery sound of gentle sleigh bells and high, chirping winds.  The second movement scherzo, featured Principal Concertmaster Martin Chalifour with devilishly alluring fiddle-style passages.  The adagio was wonderfully serene and peaceful, and the Phil players executed Mahler’s orchestration flawlessly. Every detail in the combination of individual instruments was exquisite, and easily perceived in our magnificent Disney Hall.

Persson produced a heavenly song that soared high with the saints she referenced.  Her silken voice gave meaning to the melodies that Mahler had so skillfully crafted.  Her artistry was astonishingly affective.

Bravo to Dudamel and his vision for this Project!  Place him in league with Bernstein and Boulez among Mahler enthusiasts.  Bravo to Hampson and Persson for their unforgettable performances!  Don’t miss the unique opportunity to experience this epic musical adventure as we move into the deeper realm of Mahler’s psyche in the coming weeks.

Ricardo Chavez / photo by Bruce Bisenz, courtesy of Fountain Theatre

Sitting a few rows back from the stage at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre watching the Fountain Theatre’s monthly showcase of “Forever Flamenco!” this past Sunday, I was reminded of krump dancing. Let me explain. Since September I have been attending a krump session — a circle of dancers who congregate every Wednesday at midnight in a parking lot in North Hollywood — observing a style of dance that has its roots in South Central Los Angeles. If you saw Dave LaChapelle’s 2005 documentary Rize, you know what I’m talking about. If not, what brought me back to the after-hours dancing at the parking lot was the foot stomping (obviously), but more overwhelmingly, the emotional release the dancers wear on their faces and exhibit in their movements.

Without knowing much about flamenco, I have gleaned enough to offer that the histories of the people who created both art forms are similar in enough ways to inspire movement of such emotional magnitude. Both African Americans and Gypsies are historically oppressed groups of people who have expressed their experience via their bodies. Every foot slam, hand clap and outstretch of an arm delivers you to a different memory. The feelings that overcome you may not be the same ones the dancers express, but they serve the same purpose: They make you feel alive and connect you with humanity.

A flamenco show is an all-over-body experience. The dancers’ faces contort with feeling, their arms gracefully strike controlled poses in the air, and their feet pound the stage like tap dancers. Even the costumes — with ruffles, wraps, polka dots, lace, hot pink flowers and long trains — get in on the dramatic action. Illuminating it all is the music, which preceded the dance.

Singer Jesus Montoya’s classically scruffy, aching, heart-wrenching vocals powered the night of flamenco. Accompanied by guitarist Juan Antonio Gomez and percussionist Gerardo Morales, the trio had a jolly good time throughout the performances, laughing and calling out to the dancers and each other. It was almost as if Montoya were trying to get the dancers to crack a smile.

But that’s one of the beauties of a flamenco show — the audience and band interaction. (Another wonder is the constant hand clapping, which seems to be an unspoken code I can’t figure out.) Not only do the musicians yell out encouraging words (most often, “Olé!”); audience members yell out snippets in Spanish whenever it strikes their fancy. After an especially emotional stomp, or long and fast footwork set, the audience and musicians erupt with pleasure.

The climax of the night came after Lakshmi Basile finished her solo, “Fondo del Mar (Depth of the Ocean) Solea.” Her performance appeared cathartic — for her and the audience — as if there were no end to her emotional release, or ours. Just when you thought a flamenco dancer has finished a performance, they rev back up for a little bit more. Basile’s exertion was so complete, one of her clips went flying out of her hair. Olé!

While at times the Barnsdall Gallery stage was swirling with somber, it was mostly a festive atmosphere. Ricardo Chavez, the long male dancer, looked like he stepped out of the pages of GQ. I wasn’t surprised to hear that the woman sitting behind me takes his class in Santa Ana.

At the end of the night, the performers invited anyone who wished to come up on stage and dance in a circle they had formed. Much like the krump session I attend weekly, this is a space that encourages improvisation and freestyle, where the dancers share moves and challenge and inspire each other. I’ve seen this done at tap shows too, and this spirit exemplifies dance communities at their best.

For more information about the next “Forever Flamenco!” show, visit fountaintheatre.com.

Leslie Jordan / Photo by Matthew Brian Denman

Leslie Jordan’s latest autobiographical piece, “Fruit Fly,” currently onstage at the Celebration Theatre, provides 80 minutes of what he does best — storytelling. Those familiar with Jordan’s previous solo pieces (including “Like a Dog on Linoleum” and “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet”) will not be disappointed.  Those new to the Emmy winner (for “Will & Grace”) will easily enjoy “Fruit Fly” as a stand-alone piece.

As ably directed by David Galligan, Jordan’s growing-up-gay tales keeps you alternately howling and tearing up at a breakneck pace.  Delightful vintage family photos projected upstage capture various important moments of Jordan’s upbringing in Tennessee in this, his attempt to answer the all-important, age-old question: “Do gay men become their mothers?” Jordan’s childhood photos obviously reveal the young Jordan’s more artistic bent.  Realizing this, his mother and one of his grandmothers built him a “secret garden” where he could freely do all the non-boyish activities he preferred doing. “But don’t mention this to your father,” they warned.

Jordan thankfully talks a lot, but unlike one of his younger twin sisters, as he says in an aside, he has something to say. Jordan animates, impersonates, lives out each character of his story for the audience—be it his mother Peggy Ann who has a bout of hysterial blindness; his trying-to-be-supportive father Alan who patiently attempts to teach him how to play sports—any sport; his loving nanny Roberta who reluctantly gives him his first cud of chewing tobacco; Miss Odessa, a black speakeasy proprietress who encourages his Tina Turner impersonation; or various drag queen cohorts he hung with. This one-man show’s not so much a standard monologue as scenes of dialogue with the people populating Jordan’s narrative. And what a narrative he has!

Performances continue through Feb. 18 at the Celebration Theatre, 7051B Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Showtimes are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. For tickets, call (323) 957-1884, or visit www.celebrationtheatre.com.

Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Jean-Yves Thibaudet / Photo courtesy of LA Phil

The relatively young (he’s 43) Peruvian conductor of the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, returned to LA (where he was assistant and then associate conductor from 1998-2004) on Saturday, Jan. 7, to conduct an LA Phil, without many of its principals, in three works, the Hussite Overture by Dvorák, the Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major by Lizst (commemorating the composer’s 200^th birthday) with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist, and the Symphony No. 3 in C minor (“Organ”) by Saint-Saëns.

On the surface, the three works selected by Harth-Bedoya don’t seem to have much in common except that they were all composed within a 20-year period toward the end of the 19^th century and each in its own way represents the pinnacle of the Romantic period. However, whether it was his intent or not, these particular works share some subtler commonalities. First, each consists of numerous fluctuations in tempo, which Harth-Bedoya wasn’t shy about exposing. And second, each juxtaposes moments of quiet tenderness with moments of fierce energy.

The program began with Dvorák’s Hussite Overture, one of his early pieces in this genre and one of the most interesting, though not as refined as some of the later overtures. We should thank Harth-Bedoya for introducing us to such an interesting piece, which is pure Dvorák with all of its Czech melodies and rhythms. Dvorák’s Carnival Overture is frequently played, as it will be this season, but Dvorák wrote many exquisite overtures that deserve to be heard in the concert hall more often.

Reminding one a little of our own young South American conductor (although I prefer Gustavo Dudamel’s movements), Harth-Bedoya conducted the Dvorák and the Saint-Saëns scoreless and all three pieces with an energy and zeal that made the audience want to go along for the ride, and a wild ride it was.

The French piano virtuoso Jean-Yves Thibaudet didn’t do anything to slow things down in the Lizst, his fingers dancing across the keyboard and appearing to barely touch it. Both conductor and soloist were in the same groove and gave a wonderful performance of a piece that, because of its fluctuating rhythms and dynamics presented in one continuous movement, seems disjointed at times. And principal cellist for the night, Ben Hong, produced a beautifully rich sound in his solo with Thibaudet.

The Saint-Saëns is a piece that needs to be heard in Disney Hall with its magnificent organ. And Harth-Bedoya milked it for all it is worth — and it is worth a lot. Even though the organ part is not particularly demanding, Saint-Saëns, an organist himself, perfectly incorporated it into the fabric of the symphonic form. Principal keyboardist, Joanne Pearce Martin, was flawless in her playing, and Harth-Bedoya had her play it loudly so that it shook the rafters of Disney Hall.

Harth-Bedoya is also like Dudamel in his humbleness. He never ascended the podium to take his bows. Rather, he stood with and applauded the well-deserving orchestra. And, like Dudamel, he let Jean-Yves Thibaudet take the spotlight after the Lizst, even though Harth-Bedoya provided excellent accompaniment.

The concert repeats Sunday, Jan. 8, at 2 p.m. For more information, go to www.laphil.com.

In 1981, the exhibition “Multicultural Focus” was mounted at Los Angeles Municipal Gallery Barnsdall Park where Josine Starrels was Gallery Director. The exhibition was organized by Sheila Pinkel for the Los Angeles Center For Photographic Studies and curated by 12 artist/curators in the Los Angeles area, three each from the Asian, Black, Latino, and White communities, The show was one of two exhibitions selected to celebrate the Los Angeles Bicentennial, and it was the first cross‐cultural exhibition of photography in the Los Angeles area. Suzanne Muchnic, called it “the best contemporary show (of photography) of the year,” Los Angeles Times: Dec. 27, 1981.

“Refocus: Multicultural Focus” will include current work by 19 of the original artists in the exhibition. A catalogue will accompany the exhibition providing images from the original show juxtaposed to contemporary work and statements by participating artists. Catalogue essays by Deborah Bright, Carla Williams and Paul Von Blum will reflect the concept of and changes that have taken place in multiculturalism and photography during the last 30 years.

Participating artists are: Arden Alger, Don Anton, Stephen Axelrad, Carroll Parrott Blue, Elizabeth Bryant, Gillian Brown, Steve Berens, Dennis Callwood, Todd Gray, Robin Lasser and Adrienne Pao, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Willie Robert Middlebrook, Patrick Nagatani, Joan Salinger, Rick Tejeda‐Flores, Linda Wolf, Nancy Webber, Mihoko Yamagata and Bruce Yonemoto.

ARENA 1, 3026 Airport Ave., Santa Monica 90405. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For more information, call (310) 397-7456 or visit www.santamonicaartstudios.com.