Students whose appetites for anti-war protest were not whetted by Wednesday’s walk-out will have the opportunity to shout out their best stanzas at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz tonight. Hosted by Poets Against the War, a coalition of like-minded writers and organizations such as Poets for Peace and United Poets, the poetry reading […]
Author Archives: Sommer Mathis
Film refutes suburbia stereotype
The new film “The Safety of Objects” asserts what filmmakers have been saying about suburban life since the advent of the carpool: underneath its lily-white exterior, suburbia is boiling over with misplaced rage. Opening in limited release this Friday, the film tells the story of four suburban families tied together by a tragic accident. Nearly […]
Bringing "Death" to life
English Professor Frederick Burwick kept a secret during the casting process of “Death’s Jest Book,” the Thomas Lovell Beddoes play he is currently directing: he had already been invited to bring the performance to New York’s Lincoln Center. “If he had told them that they were auditioning for a Broadway show, some people would have […]
Local plan not picked for WTC
The competition to redesign New York City’s skyline has given birth to something new out of the ashes. UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design professor Greg Lynn received word this month that the proposal on which he collaborated for a memorial at the World Trade Center site was not selected as one of two […]
Experience, humor make Chappelle stand out
Dave Chappelle used to bring his mother with him to nightclubs when he first began performing stand-up comedy, and not just for moral support. At the time, he was only 14-years-old. Getting such an early start has helped place Chappelle, now 28, on a very short list of young comedians who have achieved success in […]
V-Day
Recent UCLA graduate Eileen Reardon isn’t worried about having her boyfriend’s parents see her perform a monologue this weekend. Considering the topic of her performance is vaginas, this might seem like an awfully plucky attitude. However, these days, it seems talking about vaginas no longer carries the same shock value it once did. Since its […]
Queer performer found start in drag
One day in 1971, a New York City social worker Peggy Shaw stumbled upon a drag queen singing a blues song by a lamppost, and Peggy knew she was destined to become a performer. She soon learned that the drag queen, along with other performers stationed at different locations across the city, were members of […]