Coronavirus is wreaking havoc on schools, stores, businesses and events. With in-person concerts, talks, comedy shows, food festivals and other gatherings cancelled, we have turned our events column into a "nonevents" column. It will remain this way as long as social distancing and stay-at-home orders are in effect.
During this difficult time, please consider contributing to your local arts organizations or to individual artists and performers.
Listen to electronic music artists rave the vote this weekend. Catch yacht rockers performing live by the sea in Ventura. Watch a documentary that examines bias in facial recognition software. Wake up to Wagner's marathon Ring cycle on Saturday. And don't forget to look up and catch the NEOWISE comet while you still can.
Helmut Newton
A documentary from director Gero von Boehm explores the life and work of the provocative photographer, best known for his erotic images of women and the female form. Exploring whether Newton empowered his subjects or objectified them, it features interviews with Grace Jones, Isabella Rossellini, Anna Wintour, Charlotte Rampling, Marianne Faithfull, Claudia Schiffer and Nadja Auermann. Opens in virtual cinemas nationally.
COST: Varies; MORE INFO
Radioactive
Amazon Studios releases this biopic which stars Rosamund Pike as scientist Marie Sklodowska Curie. Directed by Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis), the film follows an imperfect heroine with a passion for science and partnerships.
COST: Varies; MORE INFO
Digital Dance DTLA
The Music Center's popular summer dance series returns online this week for line dancing with instructor Rick Dominguez. Learn heel/toe splits and fancy footwork from the comfort of your own home. Stream the dance lesson on the Music Center's site or on its YouTube channel. Closed captioning will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Rave The Vote
The digital streaming channel Lost Resort TV debuts a Twitch livestream series (of four, 12-hour episodes) that aim to increase voter registration and raise funds for organizations focused on change and unity. Listen to a slate of electronic music artists perform live or spin sets along with educational programming. This week's lineup includes Seth Troxler, The Blessed Madonna, The Illustrious Blacks (live), Ash Lauryn, Deon Cole and Yaeji. Additional events are scheduled for Aug. 14, Sep. 11 and Oct. 2.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO
Room 104
The Duplass Brothers' anthology series begins its fourth and final season on HBO services and its streaming partners. Each of the 12 new episodes tells a story about an infamous room at a nondescript American motel. Everything but the setting changes. Season 4 directors include Mark Duplass, Karan Soni, Ross Partridge, Jenée LaMarque, Mel Eslyn, Lauren Budd, Natalie Morales, Patrick Brice, Julian Wass and Sydney Fleischmann.
COST: Varies; MORE INFO
Yächtley Crëw
Ventura County Fairgrounds
10 W. Harbor Blvd., Ventura
The "titans of soft rock" play pop hits and power ballads from the '70s and '80s. Think Toto, Christopher Cross and Hall & Oates. The drive-in concert features a tall, 360-degree stage, a light show, video screens and sound piped through FM radio. You must wear a mask anytime you are out of your vehicle.
COST: Tickets start at $19; MORE INFO
Quarantined: Nite at the Puppet Asylum
Watch a virtual puppet slam featuring adult puppetry performances. Artists will perform live as well as screen puppet videos. Expect hilarious, provocative and experimental work.
COST: $7; MORE INFO
Coded Bias Official Trailer from Shalini Kantayya on Vimeo.
Cinema Orange: Coded Bias
The Orange County Museum of Art presents a virtual screening of a documentary about bias in facial-recognition software. MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini's discovery that programs and software fail to identify dark skin and women's faces begins an investigation that leads to proof of widespread bias inherent in AI and algorithms. Watch the film on your own time through Saturday night. RSVP for the screening link.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Summer Nights at Home
The Natural History Museum presents a program that includes a talk on "The Private Life of Pleistocene Plants" followed by a DJ set by Rani de Leon. Grab yourself a DIY botanical cocktail or another refreshing beverage to celebrate nature, music and summer.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO
NFMLA Film Festival
New FilmmakersLA presents a weekend of panel discussions and film screenings. On Friday, watch panels "Walt Disney Television Creative Talent Development & Inclusion: Opportunities in Directing"; "NBCUniversal Talent Infusion Programs: Writers on the Verge"; and "Documentary Filmmaking: A Conversation With the Oscar Nominated St. Louis Superman Team." On Saturday, watch a program that focuses on Canadian cinema.
COST: $10 per program of $30 for festival pass; MORE INFO
Der Ring des Nibelungen
The L.A. Opera's From the Vault series presents a marathon all-day audio stream of Wagner's epic Ring cycle, commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the company's first production of Wagner's work. Conducted by James Conlon, listen to all four operas: Das Rheingold at 8 a.m.; Die Walküre at 11 a.m.; Siegfried at 3 p.m.; and Götterdämmerung at 7 p.m. Watch on the L.A. Opera's website or on Facebook.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
These Uncertain Times
The 60-minute, digital performance piece stems from a group of artists wondering if COVID-19 is the death of theater as we know it. Directed by Samantha Shay, These Uncertain Times is a "tragicomic, Chekhovian Zoom performance" that honors theater's history while creating a new art form.
COST: $10 - $25 (suggested donations); MORE INFO
Ignite the MaTCH: Madrid Theatre Cultural Hub Virtual Artwalk
11:11 A Creative Collective presents a virtual artwalk that celebrates the upcoming multimillion dollar renovation of The Madrid Theater in Canoga Park and the eventual opening of the Canoga Park Stage Arts Lab. The event includes music, dance, spoken word, film and visual art displays from 10 virtual locations in the Canoga Park's Downtown Historic corridor.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO
Adult Swim Con
To coincide with virtual Comic-Con, Adult Swim presents its own online convention, with panels and contests dedicated to its shows, such as Rick & Morty, Robot Chicken, Samurai Jack and favs from the channel's Toonami programming.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Colin Dickey - The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained
Washington, D.C.-based bookstore Politics & Prose hosts its P&P Live! online series with Colin Dickey, whose latest book examines fringe beliefs. From flat earthers to Loch Ness monster hunters, Dickey investigates the origins of these theories and what they have in common. The author will talk with Michelle Legro, the features editor for Medium's GEN. RSVP for streaming link.
COST: By donation; MORE INFO
10:01 to 101
The monthly short screening festival -- created by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab -- offers a three-hour block of classic Channel 101 shows on Saturday mornings via Twitch.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
UnCabaZoom #9
Beth Lapides' unCabaret's online counterpart moves into a second season with the theme "for now." This week's guests include Abby McEnany (Work In Progress), Julia Sweeney (SNL, Work In Progress), Alex Edelman (Conan), Alec Mapa (Baby Daddy, Desperate Housewives), Judy Gold (Better Things, Conan), Jamie Bridgers, plus Mitch Kaplan and the band.
COST: FREE - $100; MORE INFO
2nd Live Street Circus
Our friends at The Comedy Bureau have listed a bunch of great streaming comedy shows, including Street Circus, broadcast on Facebook from a private street somewhere. The lineup includes music from Arianna DeSano, not-so-stupid puppy tricks from Kevin Krieger, sock puppetry by Lisa Laureta and tunes from The Muzika Clowiska Band.
COST: FREE, but donations encouraged; MORE INFO
NEOWISE
Don't forget to peel yourself away from Zoom and other screen activities to look up at the night sky. Look for the NEOWISE comet in the northwestern sky, near the Big Dipper, about 90 minutes after it gets dark. Catch it this time around because you'll have to wait at least another 6,000 years to see it again. The comet will have its closest encounter with Earth on July 23, when it will be around 64 million miles away.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Who doesn't miss going out to eat or stopping by a bar for a drink? Here are a few options from restaurants and bars as we work our way back toward normal.
