“Warriors,” Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis’ concept album inspired by the 1979 cult hit movie and Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel of the same name, debuts today from Atlantic Records. It features a starry voice cast, including actors Billy Porter, Colman Domingo, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Utkarsh Ambudkar, and hip-hop royalty such as Busta Rhymes, RZA, Ghostface Killah and Nas. But this time around, the central gang of the New York City thriller is women, played by Amber Gray, Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Sasha Hutchings and others .
I’m staff writer Ashley Lee, pausing my personal “Warriors” listening party — and continuous wishing for a full production in the future — to bring you a fresh weekend edition of Essential Arts with my colleague Jessica Gelt.
Best bets: On our radar this week
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Grand Ave Arts: All Access
Fifteen of the city’s arts and cultural institutions take over downtown’s Grand Avenue for the city’s eighth annual open-air open house. Create a Jasper Johns-inspired painting via the Broad, watch an L.A. Opera recital, tour Walt Disney Concert Hall, learn how to perform sound effects from a Foley artist with the L.A. Phil, sample musical instruments at the Colburn School’s Instrument Petting Zoo — all activities are family-friendly and free (online RSVPs are encouraged). The day’s programming also includes performances by DJ Kita, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, harpist-composer Alfonso Rolando Ortiz, Peruvian dance troupe INCA, Chinese chamber ensemble Melody of China and a cappella doo-wop group the Alley Cats. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Grand Avenue, from Temple to 5th Street. grandavearts.org
‘Symphony of Rats’
“Two titans of the theatrical avant-garde come together in this Wooster Group deconstruction of a Richard Foreman play,” wrote Times theater critic Charles McNulty of this sold-out seven -show run, about a U.S. president who receives questionable messages from otherworldly beings. Directed by Elizabeth LeCompte and Kate Valk, “This surreal production reimagines the work of a playwright who developed a trademark aesthetic that’s every bit as daringly unconventional as the Wooster Group’s own.” Friday-Sunday and Tuesday-Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org
‘Genevieve Gaignard: Thinking Out Loud’
“Gaignard makes serious playthings of the building blocks of culture, race, religion and gender,” wrote Times contributor Leah Ollman in 2017. The biracial artist is back at Vielmetter with a third solo exhibition: mixed-media collages, displayed amid clouds strung whimsically overhead and altars situated throughout the space. Gaignard will be in conversation with writer-producer Mara Brock Akil at the contemporary art gallery on Saturday at 2 p.m. The exhibition is on view through Nov. 9. Vielmetter Los Angeles, 1700 S. Santa Fe Ave., #101. vielmetter.com
— Ashley Lee
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
Ain’t Misbehavin’ Winner of three Tony Awards, this jumpin’ musical features the music of Fats Waller and the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and ’30s.
Through Nov. 3. Musical Theatre West, 4350 E. 7th St., Long Beach. musical.org
Crump’s: The Lost Exhibition The Midcentury Modern artwork of Rolly Crump, the animator turned theme park designer who was instrumental in the early design of Disneyland, will be on display, curated by his son, Christopher.
5-10 p.m. Friday; 1-9 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Song Word Art House, 8912 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. song-word.com
Humans 2.0 The next chapter of Circa’s internationally acclaimed “Humans” (presented at the Wallis in 2019), a tightly woven choreography of bodies created by circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz.
7:30 p.m. Friday. 2 p.m. Saturday. The Wallis, Bram Goldsmith Theater, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
SATURDAY
Art & Science Family Festival
Can’t get enough of PST? Curious minds can engage in this free daylong event where you can make your own suncatcher, experience the medieval view of the cosmos, create your own piece of wearable art based on your astrological sign, hear music, indulge in nature and more.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. getty.edu
Black Lodge CAP UCLA presents the skin-crawlingly creepy ultra-weird sort-of-opera, brilliantly performed by Timur and the Dime Museum; preceded by the leave-your-skin-behind immersive experience “Bardo,” created and directed by Sandra Powers.
6:30 p.m. The opera begins at 8 p.m. Saturday. The United Theater on Broadway, 929 S. Broadway, downtown L.A. cap.ucla.edu
Kooza Under the big top, Cirque du Soleil unveils a story written and directed by David Shiner involving a naive clown, an enigmatic trickster and a bizarre and exotic world.
Through Jan. 5. Santa Monica Pier. cirquedusoleil.com
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Music director Jaime Martín opens LACO’s season with “Morning,” as Haydn’s Sixth Symphony is known, as well as a mourning traveler in Schoenberg’s arrangement of Mahler’s “Songs of a Wayfarer” and Brahms’ lullaby-rich Second Symphony.
7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale; 4 p.m. Sunday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. laco.org
Joni Mitchell and the Joni Jam The Canadian singer’s comeback as a live performer (after she suffered a debilitating brain aneurysm in 2015) reaches her adopted hometown with two shows for which she’ll be joined by any number of famous local admirers.
7 p.m. Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. hollywoodbowl.com
The Piano Lesson Director Gregg T. Daniel continues working his way through August Wilson’s 20th century cycle with one of its pillars, a 1930s Pittsburgh-set drama revolving around a dispute between a brother and sister over a family heirloom.
Through Nov. 10. A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. anoisewithin.org
SUNDAY
Mapping the Infinite: Cosmologies Across Cultures The exhibition, a collaboration with scientists at the Carnegie Observatories and Griffith Observatory, poses the questions “Who are we and how did we get here?” while examining the ways artists, artisans, scientists and others have sought answers.
Through March 2. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Resnick Pavilion, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. lacma.org
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Legendary designer Diane von Furstenberg is 77 and says she’s focusing on her legacy, yet shows no signs of slowing down. She recently came to Los Angeles in support of an exhibit about her life and work called “Diane von Furstenberg: Woman Before Fashion” at the Skirball Cultural Center. The show features examples of Von Furstenberg’s famous wrap dress throughout the years. “It’s always the young who rediscover it,” Von Furstenberg told The Times in an interview.
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Times art critic Christopher Knight is diligently making the rounds at various PST Art exhibits around town. He recently went to the Brick (an exhibition space formerly known as LAXArt) to take in “Life on Earth: Art & Ecofeminism.” Knight says that although the subject matter is more vast than the modest exhibit can grab hold of, there is still plenty to chew on. Particularly when climate change is ravaging Earth in unprecedented ways.
“Insistence on the supremacy of people over the natural world is cited as the primary source of environmental destruction. Furthermore, the practice is tightly bound to the seemingly intransigent social marginalization of women. Remember Mother Nature?” writes Knight.
Broadway is rallying theater fans to vote with a new short film called “Newsies” from Broadway Votes, a nonpartisan get-out-the-vote initiative. The piece is directed by Kenny Ortega, who also directed the 1992 movie musical, and features the songs “Carrying the Banner” and “Seize the Day,” both of which were revised and updated by the original composer Alan Menken, along with lyricist Jack Feldman, and Harvey Fierstein, who wrote the book for the 2012 Broadway show. The Times’ Ashley Leehas the behind-the-scenes scoop.
The National Gallery of Art is getting a new president in Darren Walker, who arrives at the institution after 11 years heading up the Ford Foundation. Walker has been a trustee at the National Gallery since 2019, and succeeds Mitchell P. Rales.
L.A. is in the midst of the 17th annual Disability Art Exhibition, presented by the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability, in collaboration with Councilmembers Imelda Padilla and Kevin de León and the Department of Cultural Affairs. Taking place through Oct. 25 at the Henry P. Rio Bridge Gallery in L.A. City Hall, the exhibition features work by 50 artists with disabilities and is presented with full inclusion in mind. The museum labels feature image descriptions and Braille, and there is a web component for those unable to attend in person.
And last but not least
Bravo to Charli XCX, who revealed another brilliant motivation for that combination of fluorescent green and blurry lowercase text.