Metropolitan Opera musicians vote to wield strike threat in talks by Mike Boehm

The labor and financial drama that has become a discordant leitmotif in the opera and symphonic world could be building for the Metropolitan Opera, America's biggest-budgeted performing arts…

Shakespeare OC gets new lease on life with old hand John Walcutt by Mike Boehm

Among the untold thousands of actors who’ve tackled the title role of “Macbeth,” John Walcutt may have been the first whose director instructed him to think of himself as a legitimate …

Blair Underwood, Vanessa Williams join L.A. cast of 'Bountiful' by Mike Boehm

In a symmetrical bit of casting for a show that first won acclaim as a television play in 1953, the Ahmanson Theatre’s fall production of “The Trip to Bountiful” will add V…

Blair Underwood, Vanessa Williams join L.A. cast of 'Bountiful' by Mike Boehm

In a symmetrical bit of casting for a show that first won acclaim as a television play in 1953, the Ahmanson Theatre’s fall production of “The Trip to Bountiful” will add Vanessa Willi…

Theater critic Terry Teachout wins a $250,000 Bradley Prize by Mike Boehm

Sure it pays for a theater critic to be right, but for Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal, coming from the right has paid off to the tune of $250,000 -- the amount of a prize he'll …

San Diego Opera's crowdfunding campaign has strong start by Mike Boehm

San Diego Opera announced Tuesday that its bid to make crowdfunding a key to its survival had brought in $328,475 since last Friday, nearly a third of the online and telephone campaign's goa…

Shakespeare's 450th birthday: Inner-city Bard, 'Chickspeare' and more by Mike Boehm

William Shakespeare's 450th birthday falls on Wednesday, per historians' best reckoning in the absence of ironclad documentation. It’s time to remember that “in delay there lies …

Paul Robeson, times two, speaks to L.A. by Mike Boehm

Two prominent theater productions are focusing on the actor-singer and political figure. The actors playing him, Keith David and Daniel Beaty, meet over a meal to talk about a man they've lo…

Questions roil San Diego Opera in aftermath of its decision to close by David Ng and Mike Boehm

San Diego Opera's leaders acknowledge a 'tough' road to keep the company open as calls for new leadership grow after abrupt closure vote.There's nothing opera buffs like better than a climac…

SoCal playwrights score at Kennedy Center college theater festival by Mike Boehm

William Petersen among friends at Geffen Playhouse's 'Slowgirl' by Mike Boehm

'CSI' alum William Petersen, making his L.A. stage debut in 'Slowgirl,' and Geffen Playhouse's Randall Arney recount a shared theatrical history.From David Mamet's first expletive-laced succ…

Kansas City's Jane Chu is Obama's pick to chair the NEA by Mike Boehm

President Obama is set to nominate the low-profile Jane Chu, CEO of Missouri's Kauffman Center, as the next National Endowment for the Arts chairman.Opting for arts-administration and fundra…

Lieu urges big budget hike to $25 million for state arts grants by Mike Boehm

State Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) said Wednesday that he would submit a bill that would commit at least $25 million a year from state tax coffers to California’s government arts grant m…

Anonymous donor helps keep Colony Theatre in Burbank going by Mike Boehm

With apologies to Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, the title of this theater tale could be "Out of the Woods."

Geffen Playhouse pinch-hits for Pinter with drama by Neil LaBute by Mike Boehm

Forced to jettison a master of disquieting stage menace, Harold Pinter, when its revival of “The Birthday Party” broke an axel or two during rehearsals last month, the Geffen Pla…

Anaheim's Chance Theater opens new home, gets $250,000 gift by Mike Boehm

California arts companies can only dream of getting a $250,000 grant from the budgetarily challenged California Arts Council.

'An Iliad' aims to make the Trojan War relevant to today's world by Mike Boehm

Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson toiled for years to adapt Homer's 'The Iliad' into a modern play, and O'Hare will face its challenges in 'An Iliad' on the Broad Stage starting this week.Denis…

Alec Baldwin remains a go-to guy for Arts Advocacy Day in D.C. by Mike Boehm

Alec Baldwin has taken his lumps as a verbal loose cannon, but Americans for the Arts, a leading national advocacy group for nonprofit arts organizations, still trusts Baldwin as one of its …

Arts funding at risk in Brown's budget proposal by Mike Boehm

The governor would reduce funds for the state arts council and the California Science Center. Arts advocates hope to offset cuts with a higher allocation from the general fund.Advocates of b…

Brian Dennehy to do benefit show for L.A. County Arts High School by Mike Boehm

Brian Dennehy will be extending his current L.A. run by one performance -- not in Sebastian Barry’s “The Steward of Christendom” at the Mark Taper Forum, which closes Jan. …

Kennedy Center picks L.A.-trained Deborah Rutter as next president by Mike Boehm

Deborah Rutter, who grew up in Encino and began her career as an orchestra executive in Los Angeles, will be the next president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washi…

Paul Robeson is the subject of dueling 2014 L.A. stage productions by Mike Boehm

Paul Robeson was one of the most widely accomplished Americans who ever lived -- All-American football player, lawyer, concert singer and recording artist, star actor on stage and screen in …

'12 Angry Men' are more than just mad at Pasadena Playhouse by Mike Boehm

They're also racially divided in a take devised by Sheldon Epps and starring Jason George. Epps discusses how it came about.One of Barack Obama's most heartfelt moments as president and the …

Brian Dennehy: The big man's biggest role by Mike Boehm

Brian Dennehy confronts an almost-impossible part at the Taper in 'The Steward of Christendom,' a green monster of a play set in post-revolutionary Ireland.Brian Dennehy sat cross-legged on …

Bette Midler $400 seats a record high, Geffen Playhouse confirms by Mike Boehm

The Geffen Playhouse confirmed Monday that the $397 it’s currently charging for the best seats to Bette Midler’s upcoming one-woman show have set a house record, blowing beyond t…

Bette Midler tickets top $400 for best seats at Geffen Playhouse by Mike Boehm

Want to see Bette Midler’s upcoming run at the Geffen Playhouse in her one-woman show, “I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers?” It’ll cost you. The best …

L.A. drama ace Dakin Matthews has singing gig in Broadway 'Rocky' by Mike Boehm

Here’s the thing about having a long, busy acting career: one moment a performer finds himself at the extreme margin of agony, trudging the stage with Cordelia in his arms, and the nex…

Mayor won't rehire L.A. cultural affairs head Olga Garay-English by Mike Boehm

Olga Garay-English will step down Jan. 4 after 6 1/2 years as head of Los Angeles’ Department of Cultural Affairs, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Monday.

Top 400 fundraisers: 13 arts and culture groups make the list by Mike Boehm

Thirteen arts and cultural institutions have made the most recent top 400 list of American charities, ranked by the donations they took in.

Report: U.S. operas and orchestras premiered fewer new works in 2011 by Mike Boehm

L.A. vs. Boston: Which has the largest orchestra operation? by Mike Boehm

Culture Monster tried to get a little orchestral dust-up going this week but didn't get far.