2013 OCRarts Archive Stories

Why is Jim Steinmeyer, one of the world's most respected and talented illusionists, working on South Coast Repertory's production of "The Fantasticks"? This is the guy who made the Statue of Liberty disappear in David Copperfield's famous TV special. Why would his outsized talents be needed for a scrupulously modest, stripped-down musical that,

Deborah Aschheim was in fourth grade when the Watergate scandal rocked the nation.It was her first exposure to a world outside her family, her house and her street. In a way, it was her coming of age.President Richard Nixon was "not like a family member, but he's complicated to me in the way that he has always been an emotional pre

Fullerton's Magoski Arts Colony, a collective of art galleries and artists' studios in a warehouse complex downtown, tackles yet another controversial and impactful topic through art – marriage equality. With help from Art with an Agenda, a nonprofit organization that supports local visual art communities with a common purpose of furtherin

Betty Buckley's nearly half-century career in musical theater reads like a list of Broadways's biggest titles since the late 1960s. She played Martha Jefferson in "1776," Catherine in "Pippin," Grizabella in "Cats" (a Tony-winning portrayal that made her famous), Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard," Betty in "Promises, Promises." Buckley'

Mission Lutheran Church in Laguna Niguel hosted Arts 4 a Cause on Saturday, featuring works by artists from Mission Fine Art Gallery, chalk artists, a smash artist and live music. There also were activities for children, murals from Wyland Galleries, sand art, wax painting and a graffiti wall. Proceeds from the event will support

The people who live at Seth Holly's Pittsburgh boarding house in the summer of 1911 are a microcosm of African-American humanity a century ago: a deacon who has lost his faith, a young man supremely confident in his charms and skills, an old man with haunting visions, two single women of contrasting temperaments aiming to better their lot.

He was a multi-disciplinarian artist whose career spanned from early 1900s expressionism to the New American Cinema of the 1960s.Hans Richter, born in Berlin in 1888, would play a key role in European and American modernism during his life. Although his name is familiar, his work is not widely known among art enthusiasts, scholars and the

Say you could ask Shirley MacLaine anything. Just think of the possibilities ... Did Alfred Hitchcock torture you? What was the most outrageous thing you ever did while hanging out with Frank Sinatra and the Brat Pack? What did you and Maggie Smith talk about on the set of "Downton Abbey" between takes? How often did you want to kill Jack

"She's a maniac, maaaaniac on the _____."If you can complete that sentence, then you're part of the coveted demographic that "Flashdance the Musical" is aiming for. It's been 30 years since the hit movie about a blue-collar girl named Alex with big dancing dreams turned baggy sweatshirts, fuzzy leg warmers, wild hair and welding into the

More than 25 years after its first performance, "Steel Magnolias" seems like a charming old aunt you haven't seen in years: a little long-winded and showing her age but still able to make you smile, and full of half-forgotten zingers that retain their zest.At the Laguna Playhouse, a solid cast distinguished by a couple of talented veteran

The work that Russian choreographer Boris Eifman has been producing for the last four decades is easy for certain critics and audiences to dismiss. Hyper-expressive, prone to spectacle and filled with grand theatrical gestures, it will never appeal to those who like their ballet abstract and traditional or their dancers to be models of B

Who knew that August Strindberg and Neil LaBute were soul mates?Well, not exactly. LaBute's adaptation of Strindberg's withering examination of class conflict and sexual power politics, "Miss Julie," hits a few snags in its world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse.Despite changing locales from late 19th-century Sweden to 1929 Long Is

The sun has set on the 2013 Newport Beach Film Festival. The 14th annual gathering concluded Thursday night with record-matching attendance, the West Coast premiere of "The Way, Way Back," and a festive closing-night party. Award winners chosen by a jury and audience members were announced Friday. "Fly Me to the Moon (Un Plan Par

SANTA ANA – You're invited to look, and to decide for yourself what you see in a massive mural in downtown Santa Ana. Two artists from Texas, known in the art world as Werc Alvarez and Isaias Crow, started last Saturday on a 30-foot-high mural on the rear of a building in the 300 block of East Fourth Street, working in a narrow all

"Flashdance" was one of those movies that critics loved to hate. When it came out in the spring of 1983, the poison-pen reviews seemed to compete with each other in their vindictiveness."('Flashdance') is so loaded down with artificial screenplay contrivances and flashy production numbers that it's waterlogged," Roger Ebert wrote. "This i

Phylicia Rashad was moved to tears recently when she watched Ken Burns' documentary, "The Central Park Five." It tells the story of five black and Hispanic teenagers who were convicted of raping a Central Park jogger in the late 1980s. They were exonerated years later after a serial rapist confessed to the crime in prison. His admission was supp

Stephanie Zimbalist, Teri Ralston and other cast members from the Laguna Playhouse production of "Steel Magnolias" were kicking back at Ralston's seafront Baja condo last week, just days before the show was scheduled to open in previews. There was laughter in the background as I chatted with the two veteran performers, and did I perhaps hear the

The Cyndi Lauper-scored "Kinky Boots" has earned a leading 13 Tony Award nominations, with the British import "Matilda: The Musical" close behind with 12.Both will compete for the best musical prize with the acrobatic "Bring It On: The Musical" and "A Christmas Story, The Musical," adapted from the beloved holiday movie.Amon

Like the recent Boston Marathon bombings and Newtown, Conn., shootings, the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo., was the kind of sudden explosion of violence that can shake our faith in the goodness of human nature.Shepard, a 21-year-old gay man, was kidnapped and robbed, then tied to a fence in a remote area, pistol whipped,

Five San Clemente street corners have a fresh splash of color, thanks to the city's 2013 public-art program. On Sunday, artists selected by a jury from the city and the San Clemente Art Association put finishing touches on traffic-signal controller boxes. The public artworks are in addition to five boxes dressed up a year ago in the city

Four Orange County arts organizations have been awarded Art Works grants totaling $140,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts, the federal government agency has announced.Pacific Symphony of Santa Ana will receive $50,000 to support "Rite of Spring Turns 100," a performance and outreach project celebrating the landmark work by Igor

A new art gallery in San Juan Capistrano boasts an unusual offering: an in-house husband-and-wife team who supply all the material. Theodore and Anne Marie deJony opened Galerie deJony at Franciscan Plaza on Camino Capistrano after years of exhibits that included VIII Biennale Internazionale D'Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy.

During the Belle Epoque ("the beautiful era"), French playwright Georges Feydeau became famous in the genre of the farce. While his many plays were later hailed as key precursors to the surrealist and absurdist movements, his typical farce is as light as a soufflé and nowhere as portentous as the works of his successors. Of his 60

The second annual Art for Kids' Sake auction Sunday at Casino San Clemente featured 20 area artists and their works, three vocalists providing music, plus wine and appetizers. The event, presented by the Exchange Club of San Clemente, was a fundraiser for the San Clemente-based Boys & Girls Club of the South Coast Area.

Beau Willimon has quickly found fame and fortune by combining his life experience with his unique strengths as a writer.Willimon has a background in politics that culminated with his work on Howard Dean's 2004 Presidential campaign. Since then he has made an impressive mark as a playwright and screenwriter, concentrating on hard-edged pol