miss cultural happenings.
Becoming a City: July brings the year’s biggest museum show, as the Natural History Museum unveils the permanent exhibit Becoming Los Angeles. The 14,000-square-foot attraction will look at 500 years of local cultural and ecological history, using artifacts, audio and video components to trace Los Angeles’ evolution from pre-European times to the 21st century. Highlights will include an inscribed sword from the Mexican War of Independence, a restored Tourist automobile produced by the Auto Vehicle Company in Downtown in 1902 and a U.S. Works Progress Administration model of 1930s Downtown. The exhibit will open a month after the debut of the North Campus, a 3.5-acre project that will create a new “front yard” for the NHM, with outdoor exhibits in 11 zones.
Rite to Dance: The Music Center goes gaga for Igor in 2013 with L.A. Rite: Stravinsky, Innovation, and Dance, a festival that pays homage to Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) on the 100th anniversary of the radical ballet. The festival will take place over nine months, starting with a Feb. 1-3 Joffrey Ballet performance of the work at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The show will be accompanied by a Feb. 1-17 exhibition about Stravinsky and early L.A. dance innovators; it will be on display at the Eva and Marc Stern Grand Hall at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Other February happenings include a symposium with dance experts, scholars and student performances. In August, the digital installation Re-Rite will fill the Chandler with audio and video projections of musicians performing The Rite of Spring.
Sing, Sing a Song: Staples Center has been holding the biggest concerts in the region since it opened in 1999, and this year is no different. Coming Jan. 20-21 is Lady Gaga. Her “Born This Way Ball Tour” will feature hits like the title track of her recent record as well as “Judas” and “The Edge of Glory.” On April 8, the Barbadian beauty and former Matt Kemp girlfriend Rihanna will take the stage. The multi-Grammy winner will be in the midst of her “Diamonds World Tour.” For something far sadder, hit the arena March 1, when Steven Patrick Morrissey performs. The former Smiths frontman will open his melancholy heart with songs like “Everyday Is Like Sunday” and “Suedehead.” Oh, and Patti Smith will open the show. She’s kind of a legend.
The Fab Five: Before the lads from Liverpool wanted to hold your hand, they were rocking out eight days a week in seedy clubs and red light district dives. The story of their early years will be told at the Ahmanson Theater in the musical Backbeat. Based on the 1994 film of the same name, the musical will run Jan. 20-March 1 and will focus on the years before Ringo joined, when there were five members. Expect to hear songs such as “Twist and Shout,” “Love Me Do” and “I Saw Her Standing There.”
Mas Rock: By this summer, another Downtown theater may be open for rock shows. Mitchell Frank, who owns the concert promoter Spaceland Productions and is a partner in the restaurant Mas Malo, is working on a plan to reactivate the Regent Theatre at 448 S. Main St. The project will include a restaurant that will front Main Street. Frank hopes to host the first Regent event by the summer.
Say Yes to a Triple Header: Prog rockers Yes will hit the Orpheum Theatre March 6. The performance is part of the band’s triple-header tour where they will perform three albums in their entirety. Fans will want to pull out the 1971 The Yes Album, as well as the 1972 release Close to the Edge and Going for the One, from 1977. It’s the first time the band has performed an entire album, or two or three, on stage.
Nokia Sleepover: No one will actually (hopefully) spend the night at Club Nokia, but there’ll be plenty of PJs when the Pajanimals occupy the venue. The cuddly nightclothes-clad creatures were created by the Jim Henson Company. On May 18 they’ll take part in a live musical and dance show for the pre-school age crowd. Parents can come too.
The Big Screen: Expect lights, camera and action when the Los Angeles Film Festival returns to Downtown June 13-23. The two-week event will again be headquartered at L.A. Live’s Regal Cinemas, although films will also be screened at venues such as The Grammy Museum and the FIGat7th Plaza. The schedule will be announced in May. Expect a couple hundred shorts, features, documentaries and videos, as well as plenty of parties.
Bless This Lizard: The Blessing of the Animals returns to Olvera Street in April. The 83rd annual event will draw hundreds of pets that will be paraded through the plaza and then blessed by Archbishop Jose Gomez. In addition to dogs and cats look for the horses, lizards, goats and even fish.
Fun Fridays: The popular First Fridays returns to the Natural History Museum with events on, you guessed it, the First Friday of every month through June. The happenings combine live indie music, a scientific talk, museum tours, dancing and drinking. In honor of the NHM’s 100th anniversary, the series will explore the greatest discoveries of the past century in physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, medicine and technology — and what can be expected in the next 100. Coming Feb. 1 is author Mary Roach, whose books include Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. She’ll be joined by DJ The Gaslamp Killer.
Living Stage: Mix spoken word with a hip-hop vibe, toss in some dance, sprinkle in music, video and theater, and what do you have? No, we’re not sure either, but Marc Bamuthi Joseph will reveal his version of the mix during his Jan. 31-Feb. 3 run at REDCAT. Marc Bamuthi Joseph/The Living World Project: red, black and GREEN: a blueslooks at notions of “living green” in underprivileged communities. Bamuthi Joseph gathered the stories that shaped his piece during urban eco-festivals he organized in cities across the country.
Sculpting a City: Architecture that has set Los Angeles apart will be the focus of MOCA’s exhibitA New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture From Southern California. The April 21-July 29 show will look at radical forms of architecture that have become prolific in the city since the mid 1980s, when postmodernism was waning and buildings by architects including Frank Gehry, Thom Mayne and Michael Rotondi began redefining the field. The exhibit will also look at the influence of the city’s geography and politics on architecture and highlight work from firms such as AC Martin Partners, Michael Maltzan Architecture and Morphosis.
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