Brianna Haire placed first in Abby Lee Miller’s show, “Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition,” creating a reputation as the redhead who wowed the “Dance Moms” coach. The incoming first-year dance student pursued dance seriously after dancing her first competition piece at the age of six. She then practiced competition dance until she placed first in the […]
Category Archives: Theater & Fine Arts
Theater review: ‘Letters from a Nut’
Anyone who has worked in customer service has had an experience with someone like Barry Marder’s book character, the “nut.” Writing and performing under the pseudonym and alter ego Ted L. Nancy, Marder embraces the label of a “nut” and makes it his own in the live presentation of his book, “Letters from a Nut,” […]
UCLA lecturer directs dysfunctional family comedy ‘The Lyons’
The set of “The Lyons” has just 10 seconds to change from a private hospital room to an empty apartment. But the quick set changes are just one of the many challenges that the play presented, said UCLA lecturer and director Scott Alan Smith. The Road Theatre Company’s production of “The Lyons” will run at […]
Theater review: ‘Constellations’
Quantum physics collides with beekeeping in the Geffen Playhouse’s latest show. The stellar 2017 rendition of Nick Payne’s “Constellations” runs from June 6 to July 23. The production takes its audience across the universe, through multiple timelines that each represent a different outcome for the relationship between a playful cosmologist, Marianne (Ginnifer Goodwin), and a […]
Theater alumnus lands role in Hollywood Bowl’s ‘Mamma Mia!’ production
Rodd Farhadi plans on playing it cool when meeting one of his idols for the first time. The 2017 theater alumnus will perform as Eddie, the best friend of Corbin Bleu’s character Sky, in the Hollywood Bowl’s production of “Mamma Mia!” that will run July 28 to July 30. Farhadi said he saw the opportunity […]
UCLA alumna rediscovers love for creating visual art
Wings are typically made of feathers, but for Bethany Rennard’s high school senior showcase, she fashioned them entirely out of string. Rennard, a UCLA art history alumna, produces both digital and physical art through illustration and graphic design. After a relatively dormant period following her high school years, Rennard revitalized her interest in making art, […]
Student-formed Shakespeare theater company aims for audience engagement
Muse of Fire will perform “Henry IV” in a renovated liquor store in Koreatown. Muse of Fire, a classical theater company with a focus on Shakespeare’s works, was formed over the course of the 2016-2017 school year by fourth-year theater students Will Block, Margaret Starbuck and Renee MacDonald. By performing their play in the small […]