Best of 2009 - Culture Monster

Fanatical fandom reared its ugly head in August when devotees of Liza Minnelli voiced their displeasure over Times theater critic Charles McNulty’s review of her Hollywood Bowl concert. Apparently, most Liza fans weren’t happy with anything less than a rave.  (Stefano Paltera / For The Times)

The art world’s most followed legal case of the year took a bizarre turn in October when L.A. artist Shepard Fairey admitted to using an Associated Press photograph for his Obama HOPE poster. Culture Monster was first with the story. As with most scandals, the cover-up has turned out to be as bad, if not worse, than the actual act in question.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne offered his analysis of Switzerland’s recent decision to ban the construction of minarets. The essay, in which he called the decision “disheartening” and “a misdirected burst of electoral pique,” generated reader comments from around the globe.  (Laurent Gillieron / Associated Press)

In an open letter, the Oscar-winning director took the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to task for deciding to shut down its beloved weekend film program -- a mainstay of cinephilia in L.A. for close to 40 years. Scorsese’s letter prompted donations to the program, which has received a stay of execution until mid 2010.  (Maneesh Bakshi / Associated Press)

Few gallery shows elicited such strong reader responses as the comeback of Chaka, the ‘80s underground graffiti artist who some prefer to call a glorified vandal. In an interview with The Times, the artist, whose real name is Daniel Ramos, talked about his mysterious and prolonged absence from the L.A. art scene.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Not long after we reported on the growing popularity on pole dancing as an art form and competitive sport, teen pop star Miley Cyrus demonstrated her facility with a stripper pole on Fox’s Teen Choice Awards. The ensuing debate saw words like “trashy” and “inappropriate” (and other things we can’t repeat here) thrown around with chaotic abandon.  (Jason Merritt / Getty Images)

The hottest classical ticket this summer was Gustavo Dudamel’s free concert at the Hollywood Bowl. But something went wrong -- very wrong -- with the ticket distribution. Of those who stood in line at the box office for the giveaway, only 246 (or 247) walked away with tickets. The Bowl seats close to 18,000. The fail rate was also high for those trying online or by phone. Readers blamed scalpers, Ticketmaster and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Before he hit it big on “American Idol,” Lambert played the role of Joshua in the critically panned stage musical “The Ten Commandments,” which ran at the Kodak Theatre in 2004. Culture Monster unearthed video footage featuring a singing Lambert in costume as the hunky Biblical hero.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Speaking of the “Ring” cycle: few stage productions this year generated such strong reader complaints as Achim Freyer’s avant-garde staging of the first production of L.A. Opera’s coming cycle: “Das Rheingold” in February. Bizarre, tacky, insulting -- and those were some of the gentler comments.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Times critic Charles McNulty stirred the passion of local theater artists with his essay defending the city against one of the oldest stereotypes in the book -- that L.A. is a movie-obsessed town that doesn’t give a whit about the live theater. Readers weighed in with passion and vehemence.  (Ringo H. W. Chiu / For The Times)