Stories can be passed around a campfire, be told across generations and unite communities, said Irvin Mason Jr. It was this notion that led him to direct the musical “Once on This Island.” Based on a 1985 novel by Rosa Guy, the story takes place in the Caribbean Islands and follows Ti Moune, a girl […]
Category Archives: Theater & Fine Arts
Theater review: Webber’s ‘Cats’ displays visual excellence mired in plot confusion
It’s pitch black. Not a sound can be heard when flickering lights suddenly illuminate the historical Hollywood Pantages Theatre. The mysterious dots grow across the auditorium. Performers donning frighteningly realistic cat costumes appear in the aisles, creeping slowly onto the stage. The theater is flooded in a technicolor splendor of neon lights, revealing a once […]
Kitchen setting in play serves to replicate tension during post-World War II
Fried fish and post-World War II cultures will collide onstage to brew trouble in Macgowan Hall this weekend. UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television’s production of “The Kitchen” will run from Friday to Saturday and from March 5 to 9. at the Freud Playhouse. The story is set over the course of one day […]
Alumna’s architecture integrates aesthetics with practical design
Architect Alice Fung doesn’t just design buildings; she tries to make life better for others through her work. The UCLA alumna is a practicing architect at Fung+Blatt Architects, a firm she founded with her husband, Michael Blatt. She said the business pushes the boundaries of structural architecture by combining artwork and machines to enhance aesthetic […]
MOCA curates annual student art exhibit featuring diverse subjects and styles
Personal reflection and contemporary conversation inspired 19 art students to give a physical form to societal debates. Bennett Simpson, the senior curator at The Museum of Contemporary Art, chose works from a pool of nearly 100 applicants for the UCLA Department of Art’s annual undergraduate exhibition. The exhibition, located in the Broad Art Center’s New […]
Drama of human connection, cultural divides to play out in theater production
A woman’s relationships with her mother and girlfriend show that those closest to you are not always the most understanding. The effects of war on personal relationships is the focus of “Unseen,” which runs from Thursday until March 2 in Macgowan Hall. The play follows war photographer Mia and her girlfriend Derya in Istanbul after […]
Graduate student explores concept of framing and perception in art exhibition
Thinking outside the box, Dalena Tran will place her audience inside one, she said. Tran, a graduate student, said the idea of framing – or putting things into focus – is at the center of her solo art exhibition, titled “mornal : stasis – slowing down a mis-ordering of normal.” The exhibition will be open […]