Art 'Hybrid,' Jazz Piano, Good 'Company'

Art ‘Hybrid,’ Jazz Piano, Good ‘Company’

L.A. Times Archives

Oct. 18, 1996 12 AM PT

* MOVIES: “Michael Collins,” Neal Jordan’s film based on the epic true story of the creation of modern Ireland, opens today at selected theaters in Orange County. Liam Neeson stars as the man who made it possible for Ireland to break free of the British empire. See the Orange County Movie Guide, F33, for screens and times . . . Director Charles Matthau has transformed Truman Capote’s famous novella “The Grass Harp” into a beguiling film (also at selected theaters here) starring Piper Laurie as a loving but shy and diffident woman who at last stands up to her dominating, humorless sister (Sissy Spacek). With Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Roddy McDowall and many others . . . Spike Lee’s “Get on the Bus” (countywide), an account of 18 men who share a ride to the “Million Man March,” could have been schematic. But instead it has a firm grounding with characters who feel real and whose stories often are quite affecting . . . In Los Angeles, the AFI Filmfest gets underway today at six venues with more than 90 features plus special events.

* ART: Young artists working with some surprising materials, or recombining familiar ones in unusual ways, make “TRANS/INTER/POST: HYBRID SPACES” at the UC Irvine Art Gallery a lively window on the smart yet seductive art of the ‘90s . . . The Downtown Arts Development Assn. in Los Angeles is presenting the final weekend of “Downtown Lives! ‘96,” a semiannual exhibition and arts festival featuring painting, sculpture, music, photography and installation by downtown artists. A 50,000-square-foot warehouse at 720 S. Alameda St. is where it’s all happening, including a late-night dance party fund-raiser on Saturday and a closing night party with Cutting Edge Fashion Show on Sunday. The festival hours are noon to midnight Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

* JAZZ: Pianist Jon Mayer, whose recording “Round Up the Usual Suspects” includes bassist Ron Carter and drummer Billy Higgins, plays Sunday at Spaghettini in Seal Beach . . . Another fine pianist, Cecilia Coleman, makes two appearances this weekend at Steamers in Fullerton: Saturday with her quintet and Sunday leading an open jam session.

* MUSIC: Opera hopefuls will gather Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Memorial Hall at Chapman University in Orange to compete in this year’s Orange County Metropolitan Opera auditions. Admission: free . . . The Philharmonic Society of Orange County will present the State Symphony of Russia (previously the USSR State Symphony), conducted by Yevgeny Svetlanov, Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. The Tchaikovsky program will include the “Marche Slave,” Suite No. 3 and the seldom-played Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, with soloist Vladimir Ovchinikov . . . The Harmonia Baroque Players will play an “All the Telemann You Can Take” program Sunday at 3 p.m. at Christ Church By the Sea United Methodist in Newport Beach . . . Veteran American baritone Sherrill Milnes returns in recital, this time to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center at Cal State Long Beach, Saturday night at 8.

* POP MUSIC: Brit folk-rock icon Fairport Convention plays tonight, and melodic-rock classicists Dada headline Saturday (on a program with Psychic Rain and Five Ton Mary) at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.

* THEATER: The Laguna Playhouse’s resonant, superbly accomplished production of “Company,” the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical, has been extended at the Moulton Theater in Laguna Beach, through Oct. 27.

* FAMILY: Kathy Bates, Jennifer Grey, James McDaniel, Joanna Kerns and other film and TV celebrities will perform readings of spooky stories for families in “Silly Shivers,” Sunday at 1 and 4 p.m. at Every Picture Tells a Story in Los Angeles.

Art ‘Hybrid,’ Jazz Piano, Good ‘Company’

More to Read

More From the Los Angeles Times