There’s so much going on in the City of Angels, it can be hard to keep track of it all. Thanks to the new Flavorpill, we’re inviting the entire community to make suggestions with its gorgeous 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, please enjoy our weekly list of hand-picked event suggestions here on Flavorwire, and in the meantime, be sure to check out the new Flavorpill. We’ll see you there.
Monday, June 10
BOOKS: Jeffery Deaver: The Kill Room
Tuesday, June 11
FILM: The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964) One can’t deny there’s a talent to being a talentless actor, as James Franco has proven in Oz: The Great and Powerful. But while Franco is an actor of limited range appearing in an animated feature, the late Don Knotts is a talented (though typecast) actor playing a cartoon fish in a live-action sea of grown-up confusion. Or is it the other way around? Either way, watching the man we later knew and loved as Ralph Furley on Three’s Company splash around on the big screen is surreal, to say the least; The Incredible Mr. Limpet is passively entertaining at best, but as a cinematic trip back to 1964, it’s a fun form of afternoon diversion at the Skirball. — Tanja M. Laden
Wednesday, June 12
Thursday, June 13
FESTIVAL: Hollywood Fringe Festival A festival as ambitious and eclectic as this can be hard to get your arms around. The Hollywood Fringe Fest’s website is actually very easy to navigate by date, venue, or genre; but to get you started, here are some of the shows we’re looking forward to, which cover everything from cabaret, variety and ensemble theater to musicals, operas, and solo performances: Tales of a Jaguar Magician at Complex Theatres; The Other F Word at the Lounge Theatre; and The Real Housekeepers of Studio City and Not Another Teen Solo Show at Theatre Asylum. There are also a host of other special events and workshops, including free family-friendly programming on Sundays and the documentary feature film premiere of Psychological Antidotes . Check back to see more Flavorpill recommendations here. — Lola T.
BOOKS: Jeffery Self: Straight People: A Spotter’s Guide to the Fascinating World of Heterosexuals
Friday, June 14
FILM: Twenty Feet From Stardom Backup singers are regarded similarly to stunt people in the entertainment industry: if they do their job well, no one notices. But it’s sassy sisters like Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, and the Voice’s Judith Hill who have provided harmony to music’s biggest legends. This well-crafted documentary takes back-up singers out of the shadows and into the spotlight. With so many depressing docs out there, it’s refreshingly fun and cathartic, thanks to its focus on musicians like Lou Reed and Talking Heads. Featuring interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Sting, Bette Midler, and Stevie Wonder, Twenty Feet From Stardom focuses on the industry’s so-called unsung heroes, and these preacher’s daughters have remained silent far too long. — Cassie Carpenter
Saturday, June 15
“Tightrope” (Acrylic and Spray Paint on Canvas, 59″ x 60″)
ART: Ghettogloss Ghettogloss has been one of the most innovative and adventurous art and culture spots in Los Angeles for years. Film projects, off-site events like the Silver Lake Art, Craft & Vintage Flea Market, indie-music nights, and a cocktail-party series — the remarkable art gallery and cultural-sundry boutique is at the heart of it. Now that same independent outsider romance — not to mention home to forward-thinking music, fashion, and legendary opening parties — has a new lease on life at a good-times-friendly location in Eagle Rock. — Shana Nys Dambrot
WORKSHOP/CLASS: Perfume-Making Workshop
Sunday, June 16
FOOD/WINE: Father’s Day Collabrewtive Brunch
Ongoing
Photo credit: Craig Schwartz
PERFORMING ARTS: The Scottsboro Boys The balmy South, 1931 is the setting for The Scottsboro Boys, a powerful musical about nine African American men accused of a rape they didn’t commit. Based on a true story, The Scottsboro Boys sets a shameful American moment to music and challenges audiences with a case full of clever theatre tricks: black actors are cast as white defendants and Jewish lawyers, and Kander & Ebb’s numbers about electric chairs and lynchings (some even performed in blackface) should feel gratuitous, yet they don’t. At the Ahmanson’s impressive adaptation of The Scottsboro Boys (which picked up 12 Tony nominations in 2010), they’re important illustrations in a book about a long fight for freedom. — Julian Hooper