No one really expected the L.A. production of “The Producers” to eclipse or even match the original Broadway show that nabbed 12 Tonys, breaking “Hello Dolly’s” 1964 all-time record. After all, this is Los Angeles ““ the only Great White Way we have is the motto spoken by Beverly Hills debutantes. And naturally, this production, […]
Author Archives: Amber Noizumi
Identity Crisis
A lot of people live their lives according to what they call the “American way.” They champion First Amendment rights, spit on communism and tyranny, and can’t get enough of that life, liberty and warm apple pie. But what if you were forced to leave your country? Or what if you left and then came […]
Dual Identity
Going to meet writer Susan Orlean at the Avalon Hotel, I don’t know if I was subconsciously expecting to find Meryl Streep donning a straw hat and clutching a potted orchid. Streep, whose portrayal of Orlean in “Adaptation” garnered her an Oscar nod and the Golden Globe, is known for her ability to not only […]
Book Reviews
“The Orchid Thief” By Susan Orlean Ballantine Books Those expecting to read an extended version of “Adaptation” when picking up “The Orchid Thief” will be in for quite a surprise. But for cinephiles looking for insight into just what was going on in Charlie Kaufman’s twistedly imaginative mind when he took on the book will […]
Deck the walls
It may be three months after Christmas, but the Associated Students of UCLA is decking the halls of the student union with student-created artwork. The ASUCLA Student Commissioned Art Program formally introduced four additional art pieces Wednesday to grace the walls of Ackerman Student Union and Kerckhoff Hall. The final selected pieces of the annual […]
More than a muse
Many have deemed Lee Miller a “muse” for her mysterious, sexual beauty and her status as inspiring lover, wife or object of desire to prominent artists such as Man Ray, Roland Penrose and Pablo Picasso. Even though half of the works in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s current exhibition “Surrealist Muse: Lee Miller, Roland Penrose, […]
Weak performances mar charm of “˜Rose and Walsh’
It’s so fashionable for merlot-sipping theater snobs to dismiss Neil Simon’s plays as sappy comic drivel, especially with his last two endeavors, “45 Seconds from Broadway” and “The Dinner Party,” which theater critics welcomed like open mouth sores. Simon’s newest work “Rose and Walsh,” which opened Feb. 5 at the Geffen Playhouse, will definitely not […]