Bowl’s ‘Open House’ Offers Multiethnic Program

A Brazilian martial arts dance, a simulated ‘30s radio broadcast and a satirical tweak at “Little Red Riding Hood”--those are a few of the eclectic offerings in store at this year’s “Open House at the Hollywood Bowl,” the entertainment and arts festival for young children.

The 24-year-old Los Angeles Philharmonic event will be in the Bowl’s Box Office circle area weekday mornings from July 6 to Aug. 14, featuring performances and workshops by a wide range of professional artists, aimed at ages 3 to 12. The bill changes weekly.

“We have anything from classical orchestral music to classical ballet to Afro-Caribbean dance, modern dance, vocal groups, theater and puppet theater,” said Linda Muggeridge, Philharmonic education adviser. “In our workshops, which follow the performances, there are a variety of ethnically authentic arts and crafts as well as movement activities. We try really hard to represent as many of L.A.’s own ethnicities as possible.”

Hosted for the 19th year by John and Pam Wood of the J.P. Nightingale musical company, the festival begins July 6-10 with South American rhythms from the Lula and Afro Brazil dance troupe, followed by Afro-Brazilian crafts with Riua Akinsheguin.

Over the next five weeks, performers include Northern California-based storyteller Diane Ferlatte, dance duo Blue Palm, the Jim Gamble Marionettes, the Korean Classical Music and Dance Company, the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Ensemble, Vocalworks, the Magical Moonshine puppet theater, the Viji Prakash Dancers, San Andreas Brass and South Bay Ballet.

Post-show workshops will be conducted by mime Judi Garratt, artist Alfredo Calderon, musical instrument maker Craig Woodson, puppeteer Kelly Saunders and South Bay Ballet instructors.

Admission is $3 per show, with an additional $1 materials charge for children who participate in the workshops. Children 2 and younger are admitted free.

“What we were looking for were multicultural, authentic artists who can relate well to very young age audience groups,” Muggeridge said. “Our stated age level is 3 to 12, but we definitely have younger children.

“The ideal ages to enjoy open house are 6 to 9. They’re old enough to sit still and they have a frame of reference to enjoy the programs,” she said.

“Quite a few of our 10 a.m. shows are sold out. The best ticket availability is at the 11:15 shows.”

Muggeridge hopes that the event can “provide a little connective tissue between the various constituencies of Los Angeles on a child’s level, so that a multiethnic audience can enjoy arts experiences from all ethnicities.”

Hollywood Bowl, Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. (Mondays are signed for the hearing-impaired) , July 6-Aug. 14, Tickets: $3; (213) 850-2000.

New ‘Goldilocks’: Reaching out to young children of color, Los Angeles-based Inter Image Video offers a gentle retelling of the “Goldilocks” tale, featuring a heroine called Dreadlocks, a “little cinnamon brown girl” with “curly, curly, kinky, curly, nappy, curly twists and locks” of hair.

Dreadlocks goes to visit her beloved Auntie Samella, a teddy bear maker and woodworker who lives in Teddy Bear Forest. When Dreadlocks calls on a neighboring Teddy Bear family, she finds them gone--they’re taking a walk while their cheese grits cool.

The story then follows familiar lines, but the ending is refreshing: Unlike Goldilocks, who runs away when the bears discover her misdeeds, Dreadlocks makes amends by whipping up another pot of cheese grits and asking her aunt to fix the broken chair. They all become good friends.

The positive, upbeat messages of friendship, family and self-worth are accessible to any young child. The fabric collage illustrations by Alile Sharon Larkin are a clever, homemade touch. Larkin, a filmmaker and teacher, also wrote, produced and narrated the 13-minute video.

It is available for $14.95 at Blockbuster Video in Compton and in the Baldwin Hills Mall, Esowon Books in Inglewood, the Black & Latino Bookstore in Pasadena and the Brothers & Sisters Gallery and Gift Shop in Los Angeles. Information: (213) 756-7789.