Another reason to visit the Beverly Hills Public Library: As of this month, the Rexford Drive destination is the new home of the Paley Archive, which includes over 160,000 television and radio programs and advertisements, as preserved by The Paley Center for Media.
The archive spans more than a century of programming, across the genres of comedy, drama, news, public affairs, performing arts, sports, reality, animation, documentary and more. Visitors can experience everything from the oldest offering — a 1918 speech by labor leader Samuel Gompers — to countless historic moments in media like Orson Welles’ infamous “War of the Worlds” broadcast, Jacqueline Kennedy’s tour of the White House and the first broadcast hour of MTV.
Also available are recordings of past Paley Center-produced events and star-studded discussions like PaleyFest L.A. — this year’s edition of which starts tonight at the Dolby Theatre and runs through next Saturday.
The archive is open during the library’s hours of operation and is managed by the knowledgeable Paley staff. Plus, the Paley will present screenings, conversations and family-friendly events at the library. Until then, I’m Ashley Lee, here with my fellow Times staff writer Jessica Gelt with more arts and culture headlines and happenings.
Best bets: On our radar this week
“The Calling,” 2003, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, diptych of Polaroid Polacolor Pro photographs, framed: approx. 61 × 111.8 cm 68.6 × 53.3 cm (27 24 × 21 44 in.) overall. Collection of Jonathan and Barbara Lee.
(Image courtesy of and © María Magdalena Campos-Pons)
‘María Magdalena Campos-Pons: Behold’
The Cuban-born artist’s vivid and activism-driven work reflects global histories of enslavement, indentured labor, motherhood, and migration. The exhibition, on view through May 4, brings together more than 50 pieces, including large-scale photographic grids and immersive installations, videos, paintings and performance art documentation. This weekend at the museum, Campos-Pons performs with composer and multi-instrumentalist Kamaal Malak (Saturday, 5 p.m.), and discusses her artistic practice with the exhibition‘s curators (Sunday, 4:30 p.m.). Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Dr, Brentwood. getty.edu
‘Little Tokyo Goes Nuclear: Three Decades at the Atomic Café’
Center Theatre Group’s latest commissioned community play reading is a love story, set amid the racial tensions of the ‘60s, the emerging reparations movement for Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII and the titular café’s ‘80s punk rock heyday. Alison Minami’s piece will be presented for free at two Boyle Heights libraries; first on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Malabar Library (2801 Wabash Ave.) and again on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Robert Louis Stevenson Library (803 Spence St.). Both readings, directed by Fran de Leon, feature CJ Cruz, Mika Dyo, Janet Song, Tamlyn Tomita and Thomas Winter in the cast. centertheatregroup.org
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‘Il Nuovo Orfeo: The Legacy of Arcangelo Corelli’
“Baroque music may not strike the average casual music fan but the 17th- and early 18th-century style of music has certainly struck a chord with a group of young musicians,” wrote TimesOC staff writer Sarah Mosqueda of the chamber ensemble Kontrapunktus. The group‘s current concert pays homage to the Italian composer, as well as those who either studied under him or composed opuses in his honor: George Frideric Handel, Jean-Baptiste Barrière, Francesco Geminiani and Jean-Marie Leclair. This program will be performed Sunday at 7 p.m. at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (555 W. Temple St., downtown L.A.) and again in Long Beach (March 28), Laguna Beach (March 29) and Pasadena (March 30). kontrapunktusmusic.org
— Ashley Lee
The week ahead: A curated calendar
Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles performs “Rhinestone Cowboys” Saturday at the Saban Theatre.
(Gregory Zabilski / Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles)
FRIDAY
🎹 According to Ray: Ray Charles’ Message to America
In its season opener, MUSE/IQUE celebrates the work of the genre-defying musician and singer,
⏰ 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2:30 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. March 23. Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. muse-ique.com
🎼 Haïm Leads Handel & Bach
Conductor Emmanuelle Haïm and her ensemble Le Concert d’Astrée join the L.A. Phil for Handel’s “Dixit Dominus” and Bach’s “Magnificat.”
⏰ 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
🎼 Beyond Neoclassical
A magical journey beyond space and time with cellist, composer and multilingual vocalist Ian Maksin singing in nearly 40 languages.
⏰ 7 p.m. Anaheim First Presbyterian Church, 310 W. Broadway. eventbrite.com
🎵 Tarta Relena
The Catalan folk duo sing a capella, wielding influences that span the Mediterranean.
⏰ 8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu
🎵 Intuition Festival
An eclectic two-night event inspired by the current exhibition “Joseph Beuys: In Defense of Nature” features live music and short films.
⏰ 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Broad Museum, 221 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. thebroad.org
🎭 Unreconciled
Written by Jay Sefton and Mark Basquill and directed by Geraldine Hughes, the play is based on a true story about a teenager cast as Jesus in a school play directed by a Catholic priest.
⏰ 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Monday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, through March 31. Moving Arts, 3191 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village. movingarts.org
SATURDAY
🎞️ Director’s Inspiration: Bong Joon Ho
On the eve of an exhibition focusing on the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s creative process, filmography and cinematic influences, Bong Joon Ho discusses the 1982 sci-fi classic “The Thing” with its director John Carpenter; Bong will also appear Sunday for 4K screenings of “Okja” and “Parasite.”
⏰ 7:30 p.m. Saturday. “The Thing. 2 p.m. Sunday. “Okja”; 7:30 p.m. Sunday. “Parasite”; exhibition runs Sunday through Jan. 10. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
🎻 Pasadena Pops
Brett Mitchell leads violinist Stefan Jackiw and the ensemble through Mozart’s “Turkish” Violin Concerto No. 5, plus works by Adolphus Hailstork, Prokofiev and Stravinsky.
⏰ 2 and 8 p.m. Ambassador Auditorium, 131 S. St. John Ave., Pasadena. pasadenasymphony-pops.org
🎤 Rhinestone Cowboys
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles belts out country classics by Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and Johnny Cash, plus countrified contemporary tunes by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Brandi Carlile, Shaboozey, Lil Nas and Chappell Roan.
⏰ 8 p.m. Saturday; 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Saban Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. gmcla.org
🎵 🎭 Shipping: A Musical
A fantastical whale tale about a 19th-century Nantucket woman and an interspecies friendship, with a book by Jen Jackson and Louisa Kellogg, music by Brian Heveron-Smith, directed by Cassie Ahiers.
⏰ 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The Elysian Theater, 1944 Riverside Drive. elysiantheater.com
🥁 Yamato: Drummers of Japan
The Taiko group performs “Hito no chikara/The Power of Human Strength.”
⏰ 3:30 p.m. The Soraya, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. thesoraya.org
SUNDAY
🎞️ 🤡 The Big Whoop to Benefit LA Fire Relief A benefit screening for LA Fire Relief of the new indie comedy about three washed-up party clowns stars Jim Turner, Mark Fite, Dave “Gruber” Allen, Sandra Oh and Penn Jillette; the event includes a live performance by Puddles Pity Party and a cast Q&A.
⏰ 3 p.m. Dynasty Typewriter, 2511 Wilshire Blvd. dynastytypewriter.com
🎼 🎭 La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’Isola di Alcina
The UCLA Early Music Ensemble and L.A. Camerata mark the 400th anniversary of the first opera composed by a woman with an outdoor performance.
⏰ 10 a.m. grounds open; 11 a.m. performance. UCLA William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron St., West Adams. 1718.ucla.edu
🎻 Theotime Langlois De Swarte & Les Arts Florissants
The acclaimed French violinist is joined by the early music ensemble for a program featuring Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.”
⏰ 2 p.m. Samueli Theater, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org
🎨 Zheng Chongbin: Golden State
The artist’s largest U.S. solo exhibition highlights his explorations of water, light and movement, and connection to California’s natural landscape.
⏰ Through Jan. 4. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. lacma.org
Dispatch: Wind storm takes down Desert X installation
An installation sculpture by Swiss artist Raphael Hefti at Desert X in Palm Desert.
(Lance Gerber / Desert X)
Monday night’s severe Coachella Valley windstorm, clocking in at 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph, took down at least one Desert X sculpture installation, just over a week after the outdoor show’s opening.
In Palm Desert, Swiss artist Raphael Hefti had stretched an impossibly long strip of reinforced fire-hose material, jet black on one side and mirror-bright silver on the other, between a high rocky cliff at one end and a tall steel support drilled into the flat desert at the other. Swaying overhead, the aerial strip was roughly 1,300 feet long — more than 3 ½ football fields.
Monday night’s fierce winds took it down, damaging the support structures in the process. According to workmen at the site, repairs are expected to take a week to 10 days. Here are “before” (above) and “after” (below) photos of the work, titled “Five things you can’t wear on TV,” a sly reference to cautions against wearing pinstripes on camera, lest moiré patterns interfere with a television monitor’s crisp electronic imagery.
— Christopher Knight
To read Knight’s full review of Desert X, click here.
Culture news and the SoCal scene
The Getty Villa sign during the Palisades fires.
(LA Times Today)
After fire came perilously close to the Getty Villa during January’s devastating Palisades fire, Times art critic Christopher Knight asked a question: Should the Getty and Getty Villa move? Acknowledging that both structures are well protected by state-of-the-art building infrastructure, Knight pointed out that, “Urban fire — explosive structure-to-structure conflagrations, rather than ordinary ignition of wildland vegetation — had arrived at astounding scale.” But where would the collections go? Knight suggested the soon-to-be-vacant Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in downtown L.A.
Needless to say, readers had many thoughts on Knight’s column and suggestions, so we compiled their letters in a separate story. “Absolutely not! The venue is a big part of both the Center and the Villa. That is what makes the Getty Museums so ‘special.’” wrote one reader. “Yes, definitely. The move to downtown Los Angeles would expose thousands more people to the incredible art of this priceless collection,” wrote another.
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Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich’s play, “Here There Are Blueberries,” was a 2024 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for drama, and is being performed at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts through March 30. Times theater critic Charles McNulty sat down for an interview with Kaufman and Gronich in New York a few days before their trip to L.A. The main topic of conversation was how the duo turned a photo album featuring the banal daily activities of workers at Auschwitz-Birkenau into a searing play.
Joe Ngo, Abraham Kim, Kelsey Angel Baehrens, Jane Lui and Tim Liu in “Cambodian Rock Band” at East West Players.
(Teolindo)
East West Players, in collaboration with Outside In Theatre, announced a fundraising campaign to make a professional video recording of Lauren Yee’s play, “Cambodian Rock Band,” setting a goal of $15,000. The company reached that goal in under 20 hours and expanded the goal to $25,000. The hope is to preserve the historic work for posterity, and to make it globally accessible. The fundraising campaign will be active through March 31.
In his first visit to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since taking over as chairman, President Trump suggested that he was interested in hosting the annual awards gala and suggested giving a posthumous award to Elvis Presley. He also made sure to announce that he had never liked “Hamilton.”
— Jessica Gelt
And last but not least
A delightful gathering of Willy Lomans (including Joe Cortese, who led Colony Theatre’s wonderful production of “Death of a Salesman” earlier this year).
