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| Photo copyright 2008, White Stallion Productions. |
Ukuleles, Equine Ballet and a Musical Return - Thankfully Not All in One Event
by Kristin Friedrich
The Lipizzaner Stallions trot out for two shows at the Staples Center Saturday, July 12 (2 and 7:30 p.m.). The white horses, trained in the "airs above the ground" style, have been dancing since the 16th century. They're the calling card of Vienna's Spanish Riding School (Austrian location, Spanish riding style), and their lore includes a perilous brush with horse-eating Russian soldiers in WWII - horse lover George S. Patton intervened - and a weird shout-out in the movie Crimson Tide. They make for good, clean, synchronized family fun, and they're the reason the seldom-uttered phrase "equine ballet" even exists. 1201 S. Figueroa St., (213) 480-3232 or ticketmaster.com.
Glorious Excess (Born) features paintings and digital work by Linkin Park rapper, keyboardist and guitarist Mike Shinoda. The engagement opens at the Japanese American National Museum Saturday, July 12, and runs through Aug. 3; there is a first-come, first-served no-RSVP party on Friday, July 11, from 8-10 p.m. Born in Agoura Hills, Shinoda started the band that became Linkin Park while he was a student at Pasadena's Art Center College of Design, and he's long been involved with JANM. (A visit there inspired him to interview family members who had been incarcerated in internment camps during WWII, snippets of which he'd later weave into the song "Kenji.") 369 E. First St., (213) 625-0414 or janm.org.
In its new Old Bank District home, the Museum of Neon Art opens Text: Style and Content with a reception on Saturday, July 12, from 7-10 p.m. ($10, free for members). One part of the exhibit is basically the story of the city's shifting aesthetic, told through fonts. There's an Art Deco camera shop sign rescued from a Mid-Wilshire building, a 6-foot S from a 1950s Sears sign and a Crenshaw Bowl sign with classic '60s, Fred Flintstone-style Googie font. And in the spirit of the museum's scrappy, collaborative perseverance, the pieces come from both its own collection and the private caches of three enthusiasts - writer, historian and wisecracking neon bus tour host Eric Lynxwiler; Googie guru John English; and neon artist James McDemas. A group neon and kinetic exhibit, with Jim Jenkins' bouncing "Yes" and lawnmower-driven "No" among other moving works of art, runs concurrently through Nov. 2. 136 W. Fourth St., (213) 489-9918 or neonmona.org.
Back in 2005, the Ahmanson Theatre was the site of the world premiere of the musical The Drowsy Chaperone. It was a hit and soon moved to Broadway, where it captured five Tony Awards. Now, it comes back to where it began, albeit for a very short run. From July 9-20 (with a July 8 preview), Downtown Los Angeles audiences can follow the story of a man in a chair known as, well, the Man in Chair, who drops a needle on a 1928 record called The Drowsy Chaperone and is whisked away into a musical fantasy land that concerns a Broadway starlet, a producer, a pair of gangster/pastry chefs and a few others. 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 628-2772 or centertheatregroup.org.
The nickname for the ukulele is "uke." The world of its players and fans is called "ukulelia." For them, and for you, there's the second annual Southern California Ukulele Showcase on Thursday, July 10, at 6 p.m., part of the Japanese American National Museum's First and Central summer concert series. On deck are uke prodigies, old hands, traditionalists and the NYC-based Moonlighters, who perform '20s- and '30s-era Hawaiian swing. And this one-way ticket to ukulelia is free. 369 E. First St., (213) 625-0414 or janm.org.
page 27, 7/7/2008
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