Famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles.” Of course, all this loose change makes for a great variety of cultural events (not to mention an interesting skyline), but it’s not always easy to know exactly what’s going on around town. Fortunately, Flavorpill invites the entire community to make suggestions with its new city-based culture guide — an open platform where our very own editors and curators meet and mingle with artists, gadabouts, and other tipsters for a limitless variety of both ongoing and one-off recommendations. With this in mind, enjoy our weekly list of hand-picked event suggestions here on Flavorwire, and be sure to check out the new Flavorpill. We hope to see you there!
Monday, April 1
THEATRE: S.O.E. S.O.E. is an acronym for “state of emergency,” an appropriate description of this play’s havoc of ambition and love set against the backdrop of a Boston snowstorm. The solid cast of characters holds together nuances of normal folk who are turning themselves inside out as their worlds slowly implode. An original drama with recognizable local theater fixtures, S.O.E. is a torrid little ditty worthy of sinking your teeth into. — Kenneth Hughes
Tuesday, April 2
FILM: Jurassic Park 3D Jurassic Park 3D is coming to theaters on Friday, but if you act fast, you can attend a free screening at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. This film — about an amusement park of cloned dinosaurs, a security breach, and the rampage that ensued — was the highest-grossing movie of 1993 and won Oscars for visual effects, sound, and sound effects. In honor of the 20th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s classic sci-fi adventure, the screening is followed by a discussion with members of Jurassic Park’s crew, including production designer Rick Carter and members of the visual effects team. If you found the original T-Rex and Velociraptors scary, imagine how terrifying they’ll be in 3D. — Karin E. Baker
FILM: David Lynch: Meditation, Creativity, Peace
Wednesday, April 3
FILM: Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film Since 1975, Los Angeles Filmforum has aimed to bring greater recognition to independent film as an art form, with a focus on documentaries, video art, animation, and other experimental treatments of the moving image. Given that it’s the longest-running experimental-film series in Los Angeles, it only makes sense that Filmforum should be involved in a presentation of Pip Chodorov’s 2011 documentary, Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film. Co-presented by the Associates of Brand Library and Art Center REEL ART film series, the free screening is followed by a discussion led by Filmforum’s own Adam Hyman. — Tanja M. Laden
PERFORMING ARTS: KCRW Night at the Opera: Cinderella
Thursday, April 4
FASHION/STYLE: Shopwalk DTLA Spring Edition No longer the neglected stepchild of Los Angeles, Downtown continues to come into its own through a true creative rebirth. Experience the booming retail scene through an evening of special sales, in-store events, music, and booze at all your favorite boutiques and restaurants along the core — for free. Meanwhile, check out some of the hottest spots in LA, such as Starry Kitchen Nights, Kapsoul, Round2, and the amazing vintage and modern designer resale boutique Buttons & Bows, owned by Karen Marley (Bob Marley’s daughter) and Mo (fashion blogger). Make sure you check out Shopwalk, as well as an exclusive interview with Buttons & Bows on Almanac of Style. — Almanac of Style
Friday, April 5
PERFORMING ARTS: Star Girls: The Original Burlesque Show For anyone who hasn’t thought of Jabba the Hut, C-3PO, a Storm Trooper, or Darth Vader as sexy, think again. The “fempire” strikes back with Devil’s Playground, brainchild of performer Courtney Cruz, with foxy reps of sci-fi camps. The must-see production at the Dragonfly takes a nostalgic lens to filter a futuristic subject in this brilliant reinterpretation of iconic characters by way of classic bump ‘n’ grind. — Tanja M. Laden
MUSIC: Fauxchella With Black Crystal Wolf Kids
Saturday, April 6
Robert Berman Gallery
ART: Month of Photography LA The visionary photography mavens behind the annual Lucie Awards are LA natives (though the awards are presented in NYC), and every April, they train their eyes on the charms of their hometown scene. With a full slate of exhibitions, lectures, parties, and panels at galleries and museums, LA’s Month of Photography runs the gamut from portraits and landscapes to iconic, eclectic masterpieces, and every possible kind of picture in between. – Shana Nys Dambrot
Sunday, April 7
CITY GEM: Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski’s Los Angeles Charles Bukowski documented the down-and-out literary landscape of Los Angeles, transforming everyday whores, gamblers, and alcoholics into dubious demigods and antiheroes. Once dubbed a “laureate of American lowlife” by Time magazine, Bukowski isolated himself from Beat-era contemporaries such as William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg, but his version of America’s downtrodden underbelly is a West-Coast iteration of the now-emblematic postwar-era subculture. LA’s own resident offbeat bus-tour company, Esotouric takes fans of Hank on a ride past the author’s favorite haunts, from the Pink Elephant liquor store to his former apartment in Hollywood. It’s a poetic journey full of rare insight into the life of a man who’s come to represent the ghettoized contingency of the City of Angels. — Tanja M. Laden