KRIS KRISTOFFERSON – courtesy photo
SO LONG KRIS
Kristofferson struggled to get into the business – landing a chopper on Johnny Cash's front lawn helped (he was an Army ranger and helicopter pilot) – but he wound up recognized as one of the great songwriters. "Help Me Make It Through the Night," "Sunday Morning Comin’ Down," "Me and Bobby McGee." He went from Pomona College to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar (English Lit), won three Grammys (including Lifetime Achievement), was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for Best Actor. His death at 88 leaves Willie as the sole surviving member of The Highwaymen (Cash, Waylon Jennings) who thumbed their noses at Nashville’s then soul-less sound and created the Outlaw genre. He changed country music, and songwriting. He famously "rescued" Sinead O’Connor from being booed off the stage by striding over and giving her a hug and telling her, don’t you pay any attention to those stupid bastards – they’re wrong and you’re right (for tearing up a photo of the Pope).
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Tonight - THEATRICUM BOTANICUM: OMGosh, I apologize! For not having gotten myself earlier to "Tartuffe - Born Again," Molière’s masterpiece of social satire that has endured 360 years. Brought forward four centuries and right into today’s headlines. How do you rid yourself of a persistent and clever con man? The original French was brilliantly, hilariously adapted by Freyda Thomas into rhyming couplets in English, keeping the original story line but leaving lots of room for fresh comedy, and they maximize it with superb acting by all and perfect direction from Melora Marshall. The laughs are literally non-stop, the physical comedy as good as I’ve ever seen. It is playing only once more after this, 10/13 – you must go. New political thought provoker "Hispanic" – don’t be scared! They are always entertaining. A few laughs too, I’m sure. It is another thing they are known for, one of their strengths. I have it on good authority that this one is especially worthwhile. Blacklisted Will Geer (Grandpa Walton) would be proud. "Wendy’s Peter Pan" is typical of how TB takes a fresh look at things, and by title alone sounds like a lot of fun. Thurs 7:30 p.m., Sun 7:30 p.m. "Hispanic,’ Fri 7:30 p.m. "Wendy," Sat 7:30 p.m. "Tartuffe," $15-60.
Tonight - "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" with DUDAMEL – A dream indeed, realized. Starts with a newly-commissioned cello concerto by Gabriela Ortiz, who Dudamel believes is "the most important composer in the world." Well. Then, after intermission, it all goes a little nuts (in a good way), with the Disney Hall stage transformed into a sylvan setting ala Shakespeare’s famous play, for which Mendelssohn wrote this incidental music. We’ve got a soprano, a mezzo, the LA Master Chorale, a video art editor, a dress designer, two lighting designers, a VFX artist, and narration in Spanish with English titles. Seems like the Dude is trying to close it out in such style we will be left stunned. OK by me. Thurs 8 p.m., Fri 11 a.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, $77-259.
Tonight! - "HAMILTON" – Not often, but sometimes in life you do get second chances. I never saw the groundbreaking historical musical when it first came to LA in 2017 with its touring original Broadway cast, and I never saw the film version. I wasn’t trying to wait, but it was well worth it. Any concern you won’t like a "rap" musical? Fuggedaboutit. It fits everything else perfectly, and is not "extreme." The singing was superb, their staging spectacular, and the lyrics still riveting. Thurs 7:30 p.m., Fri 8 p.m., Sat 2 p.m., 8 p.m., Sun 1 p.m., 6:30 p.m., Tues 7:30 p.m., Wed 7:30 p.m., next Thurs 7:30 p.m., Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, $122-626.
LA OPERA, Puccini’s "MADAME BUTTERFLY" – What a way to start the new season! Staging as though it takes place on a 1930s movie set, filming the opera in black and white, with a screen showing it as it takes place on stage. Intriguing? Confusing? Reliable LA Times critic Mark Swed expressed some misgivings, but said the screen was impossible to take your eyes off of. People do like screens and close-ups, he posited, and said the applause was deafening. Does LA Opera have another hit on its hands? With Korean soprano Karah Son in her signature role. A tragic drama of modern import, with "Butterfly" taking on a very male dominated world. Sat 7:30 p.m., Wed 7:30 p.m., Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA, $49-450
TOM JONES – I’ve been saying this for decades, and people who don’t follow music closely sometimes snicker, but Tom Jones has been a groundbreaking and consummate performer for nearly 70 years. I can think of no one else who has traversed such wide territory so artistically. Always, always worth seeing Tom Jones. Mon 8 p.m., Greek Theatre, LA, $41-695.
HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES — You can go to the Cinema Bar any Monday night, 9-11:30, for more than a decade now, and hear these hot players run through Django Reinhart-style ‘30s jazz. This amazing ensemble is a treasure. Mon 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, free.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" with DUDAMEL, Disney Hall, 10/3, 4; "HAMILTON," Pantages Theatre, 10/3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13; Theatricum Botanicum – "The Hispanic/ Latino/ Latina/ Latinx/Latine Vote" 10/3, 6, 12, 20, "Wendy’s Peter Pan" 10/4, "Tartuffe-Born Again" 10/5, 13; NESTOR TORRES, Jazz Bakery, 10/6; TOM JONES, Greek Theatre, 10/7; LIBRARY GIRL, Ruskin Theatre, 10/13; JEREMY PELT, Jazz Bakery, 10/13; JONI MITCHELL and the Joni Jam, Hollywood Bowl, 10/19, 20; "KOOZA," CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, Santa Monica Pier, 10/19-1/5/25; DELFEAYO MARSALIS, Jazz Bakery, 10/20; JEFF LYNNE’S E.L.O., Kia Forum, 10/25, 26; RICK HOLMSTROM BAND, DAVID HIDALGO, McCabe’s, 10/27; TERRY GIBBS, SHORTY ROGERS, Jazz Bakery, 10/27; DAVID GILMOUR, Hollywood Bowl, 10/29, 30, 31; Halloween Organ, Film & Music: "Nosferatu," Disney Hall, 10/31; LA SANTA CECILIA, Wiltern, 10/31.
Charles Andrews has listened to a lot of music of all kinds, including more than 3,000 live shows. He has lived in Santa Monica for 38 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or hate mail to: mailto:therealmrmusic@gmail.com
