10 SECTION ONE
Larchmont Chronicle
JUNE 2024
Immigrants and the American Dream live on; opera of the season An article in The Christian Science Monitor (2/7/24) notes a 239 percent increase, since 2017, of U.S. expats moving to Portugal, one of Europe’s “hottest destinations.” Fifty years ago, however, Portugal was among the most repressive dicatorships in the world. The “Carnation Revolution,” a bloodless coup, set the country free in 1974. Helder Guimarães’ The Hope Theory, at the Geffen through June 30, tells the tale of a child of that revolution who comes to Hollywood for a better life. What makes the
evening so extraordinary is not only the humanity that Mr. Guimarães (a professional magician) shares in his tale, but also the absolutely amazing magic tricks he performs. (No spoilers here — sorry!) Mr. Guimarães is not the first immigrant to realize that America’s streets are not paved with gold, or that the American Dream has its nightmare moments, but hope for a better life is what led his countrymen to revolt, and others, like himself, to a new life. Caringly directed by filmmaker Frank Marshall,
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Louis Fantasia “The Hope Theory” is a quiet rebuke to much of the noise we hear about immigrants today. (boxoffice@geffenplayhouse.org) ••• José Cruz González’s American Mariachi at LATC (through June 9) is another American Dream tale, with music rather than magic at its center. Set in the 1970s, Mr. González’s sprawling play combines a “getting-the-band-together” format with a female empowerment story (plus a dash of Catholic mysticism) as the women in the play overcome macho misogyny and patriarchy to form the first all-female mariachi band. Director José Luis Valenzuela puts the emphasis on the music (which is terrific) and the play’s heart (which is enormous) in overcoming the script’s narrative clichés. (tickets@thelatc.org) Bill Bushnell, the stage impresario and founder of the Los Angeles Theater Center, died in January at the age of 86. Bushnell ran the four-theater complex from 1985 to 1991, when LATC was second only to the Taper in quality programming. There were many complicated reasons for LATC’s collapse, but its
The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum opens its season June 1. Despite the landslide that fell on Topanga Canyon Blvd., the theater and local shops are open, but struggling. Access from the 101 Freeway is open and safe. Climate change is devasting summer theaters and festivals with intense storms and heat. The Theatricum has eliminated nearly all matinees because of heat, and it has stretched its season into cooler October. Many of the plants in its Shakespeare Garden have been replaced with hardier stock. Still, it continues — and should be supported! (theatricum.com/buy-tickets). revival by groups such as Mr. Valenzuela’s Latino Theater Company would make Mr. Bushnell proud. ••• The Independent Shakespeare Company is known for its Shakespeare in Griffith Park (As You Like It opens July 10), but it has established its second space as a venue for adventurous programming. Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days, starring Monica Horan (“Everybody Loves Raymond”), continues the adventure (through June 8). Beckett’s 90-minute near monodrama features Winnie, buried up to her waist in Act I and to her neck in Act II. In spite of loss, defeat and disappointment, Beckett argues that we must go on. Ms. Horan’s Winnie (directed by Melissa Chalsma) is the pluckiest and most optimistic Beckettian character ever. It’s a choice that takes the sting out of Winnie’s nostalgia and removes the terror from Beckett’s landscape, but Ms. Horan and company are to be commended for reviving this challenging, and all too rarely seen, work. (818-7106306) ••• Los Angeles Opera bills its production of Puccini’s Turandot (through June 8) as “the opera event of the cen-
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tury.” Er…no. But it is the opera event of the season. The production features sets by David Hockney (originally for the Chicago Lyric Opera), massive forces and Puccini’s last score, which had to be completed by other hands after his death. Set in a fairytale China, the opera is full of racial stereotypes, which, for the most part, this production handles sensitively. Tenor Russell Thomas is an impressive Calaf, the lover who solves fire-and-ice Turandot’s life-and-death riddles. Angela Meade was more ice than fire in the title role, while Guanqun Yu’s singing stole the show as the lovestruck servant, Liu. Garnett Bruce’s no-nonsense direction is a breath of fresh air, and Maestro James Conlon led the combined forces with stylish aplomb. Truly a grand night at the opera!
Comedy night at Hollywood Improv
Bill Devlin’s Comedy & Cocktails is Sat., June 15 at 8:30 p.m. at the Hollywood Improv Lab, 8162 Melrose Ave. Special guests and live music will join Devlin in his long-running show. Visit improv.com for ticket and information.
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