Author Archives: Andrew Lee

Harry Shearer might best be known by today’s generation as the voice of Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders and God, among others, on “The Simpsons.” But he’s done far more than that, traversing genres, professions and audiences with the greatest ease. “I’ve been acting since I was 7 years old,” Shearer said. “The dirty little secret […]

Though the El Capitan Theater was flooded with laughter not screams Friday night, the three Tim Burton films that were shown and will continue to be through Halloween were perfectly suited for the season. Cult favorite “Frankenweenie” opened the lineup, and the twisted comedy quickly established the night’s tone. A 30-minute featurette originally intended to […]

For the aging audience members who probably still remember a relevant Woodstock, and younger converts seeing him in the flesh for the first time, the last of Bob Dylan’s three shows at the Wiltern felt more like a reunion between old friends than a rock concert with a larger-than-life cultural icon. Thank, for one, the […]

Just like many rockers who grew up in the ’80s, singer John Schmersal of the exuberant and eclectic rock group “Enon” enjoys waxing nostalgically about the music of the past. “Only in the ’80s would a band like “˜Talking Heads’ become popular,” he said in a phone interview from Seattle. Anyone who has heard Schmersal’s […]

German composer and director Heiner Goebbels is something of a mad scientist of theater. His new production, which comes to the Freud Playhouse tomorrow, is a dreamy, visionary piece that incorporates the writings of Gertrude Stein, Japanese folk music and Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds.” When asked about the tone of “Hashirigaki,” he has a simple […]

“Mr. Show’s” Bob Odenkirk and David Cross are full of brilliant ideas, and now they’re taking them on the road. “You’re gonna get to see a solution to the problem of the mentally handicapped on death row,” he said of Friday’s performance at Royce Hall. “We came up with a solution to the Mideast crisis, […]

“And I hope you haven’t forgotten me,” said the beaming Ravi Shankar after introducing his accompanying musicians on stage. And, of course, the audience hadn’t. Playing at Royce Hall Thursday night to a multiethnic crowd of elderly folk, hippies, college students and children, Shankar’s music proved its lasting power, unlike the acid trips that his […]