Today marks July's first Wednesday. Celebrate by getting out and experiencing something new. If you know who Inigo Montoya is, your decision for this evening is made. Head to Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade for an outdoor screening of The Princess Bride. If you prefer to stay indoors, choose one of two entertaining performances, or make the trek to Glendale for an exhibition dedicated to artist David Edward Byrd. more ›

L.A.'s master of puppets officially became a part of history as the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre was declared an historic cultural monument by the city of Los Angeles yesterday. "At age 85, he’s still the star of his company," Steve Meltzer, president of the L.A. Guild of Puppetry, told the LA Times. "There are performances where his presence is requested.” more ›

Returning to the Irvine Barclay Theater for another of its quasi-regular appearances there, the Joe Goode Performance Group will present the southern California premiere of Wonderboy this Friday for one show only! more ›

For those of us who would prefer to have cheap drinks at a happier hour than early evening, The Mint has the answer: Midnight Happy Hour. Finlandia drinks are only a $1. more ›

One of the great things about living in L.A. is the profusion of movie choices available. You can see everything from Beowulf in 3-D at the Bridge's IMAX theater to Into the Wild in one of the Landmark's Living Rooms to a revival screening of Bananas at the New Beverly. One of the best choices for more eclectic fare is the Silent Movie Theater. Every month they program several series, any of which is... more ›

Fridays at 7:30 pm: THE PERVERSE PUPPETRY OF JAN SVANKMAJER Unsurpassed in his tactile, uncanny approach to experimental animation, surrealist Czech master Jan Svankmajer's films have inspired a generation of directors, including Tim Burton and The Brothers Quay, to expand their confidence in what is visually and conceptually possible in cinema. Whether concerned with sexual taboos or blatant political satire, Svankmajer's vision is always off-kilter, mordantly funny, and oddly sincere. - The Silent Movie Theater... more ›

Avenue Q, the Broadway sensation now playing at the Ahmanson Theatre, simply put, is Sesame Street and The Muppets for adults. Actually, it's any go-lucky humpty-dory family/neighborhood TV sitcom with overly crude humor. It's a tight production with abrupt segues, hints of metatheatrical jabs and extremely catchy tunes. Everything's very un-PC, but that's okay, cause a puppet said it, right? They're just telling it like it is, as they see it, no qualms about... more ›

There's just something so beautiful about puppetry in art. The intimate intricacies of movement and its relation to the music and text of the performance feels uncanny and magical. Continuing tonight and tomorrow, The Saint Plays is an original puppet drama by Erik Ehn (Adapted and Directed by Alison Heimstead) examining the lives of five saints, whose narratives meld with modern human stories that become broad­sided by ecstatic truths. Using masks, puppets, live music,... more ›

There's a new performance space in Silver Lake hidden among a smog shop and an immigration service center on Sunset Blvd. Inside the 300 square ft. space, deemed a "micro theater," are a few rows of displaced church pews that seats 20 people total for each performance. Welcome to the Manual Archives, a space devoted to the newly invented folklore of Los Angeles. Lead Feet And Nothing Upstairs: A History of the Lifelike is... more ›

Be glad not to see this play during holiday season "because the disappointments of our families last all year long... This ain't no X-mas story," as the slogan goes. The Los Angeles premiere of The Long Christmas Ride Home by Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive) is an intense and visually beautiful production that combines Thornton Wilder story telling, with bunraku puppet theater and noh dance. Puppetry, when done well,... more ›

Recommended Dixie Chicks - Shut Up & Sing - Remember when rugged individualism was the hallmark of the "American character"? Remember when that individualism was defined by a willingness to speak your mind? Remember when criticizing your governmental overlords was a patriotic duty? Yeah, me neither. But maybe country music trio The Dixie Chicks were trying to recall that mythologized frontier spirit when lead singer Nathalie Maines criticized President Bush for launching the Iraq... more ›

Ventriloquism has a controversial and sordid history. Besides the daily Dick
Cheney/George Bush routine, the Oracles of Delphi are suspected of being ventriloquists.
It was considered spiritual, but mostly condemned as demonism throughout history.
Within the 20th century, it transformed into performance.
Jay Johnson:
The Two & Only! is an autobiography that includes the biography ventriloquism
itself. Johnson goes far beyond the traditional stick control puppet and applies
puppetry to everyday objects. It is quick wit and laugh-out-loud the whole way
through.
However, L.A. Times theatre critic, Charles McNulty, was not
impressed at all. The newly appointed critic, an OBIES
judge himself, brought on an abundance
of reader reviews telling him he was dead wrong. Cadre or not, their comments
most likely led to another
article four days later - a very neutral story by another staff writer. more ›

• The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash will be performing tonight at the Viper Room, with West Coast Grand and Merle Jagger. Doors open at 8 PM. more ›