Achim Freyer's Rocky Horror Ring takes over Los Angeles!

Wotan consults Erda in the LA Opera's Siegfried. Wotan's sacrificed eye never leaves the stage and sometimes multiplies itself. Photo Monika Rittershaus.


Richard Wagner,

 Der Ring des Nibelungen

LA Opera, May 29, 30, June 3, 6 2010
Dressing up in a monkey suit is a time-honored profession in Hollywood. Many is the young actor or layabout who has earned a few dollars by dressing up as a gorilla  —  or Batman or Chewbacca — and going out into the streets with pamphlets to spread the good news about some new deli or used car lot or strip show. For a while, gorilla suits were popular in the studios as well. (That’s a whole genre that’s almost entirely forgotten today.) I reflected on this, as, on the eve of 
Das Rheingold,
 I drove along Sunset Boulevard, observing the crowds of tourists in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, along with a group of people dressed up as comic book heroes who were available to pose with the visitors. I wondered if any of them thought about the impoverishment of the imagination that these comic book figures have brought to the movies. Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Huston, and Bette Davis all created characters in their own way, even if they remained recognizable as themselves in their parts. We know what to expect from Batman and Darth Vader simply by their costume, their design, or merely the outline of their shadow on a fictitious pavement. Characterization and acting are superfluous, even though some of these characters have human vehicles, who are dutifully provided with origins, relationships, and dilemmas, by screenwriters who know that they can only sink so low.

Read the full article on the Berkshire Review for the Arts!

Michael Miller



Begin forwarded message:

From: Ring Festival LA <info@RingFestivalLA.com>

Date: April 8, 2010 6:40:14 PM EDT

To: editor@berkshirereview.net

Subject: An Evening with James Conlon at Hammer Museum

Reply-To: Ring Festival LA <cbabcock@RingFestivalLA.com>


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James Conlon is the Richard Seaver Music Director of LA Opera and a Grammy Award-winning conductor. Conlon has appeared as guest conductor with virtually every major North American and European orchestra and has been a frequent guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera for more than 30 years.

Ring Festival LA is a citywide series of special exhibitions, performances, symposia, and events centered on LA Opera's upcoming presentation of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle, the first time that the epic masterwork will be presented in its entirety in Los Angeles.

For more info, please visit: www.hammer.ucla.edu


UCLA Arts Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Blvd. at Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024 | 310-443-7000
Parking is available under the Museum for $3 for 3 hrs, or $3 after 6pm.


All Hammer Public Programs are Free
Tickets are free but required for programs that take place in the Billy Wilder Theater and are available at the Box Office one hour prior to start time. Limit one ticket per person on a first come, first served basis. Tickets are not required for programs that take place in Gallery 6, or other Museum venues. Seating is available on a first come, first served basis. Hammer members receive priority seating, subject to availability. Reservations not accepted, RSVPs not required.



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