Whip ‘Um Good

Whip 'Um Good

REDCAT Season-Opener Jumps Into the Worlds of Performance and Amnesia

by Daria Benedict

The phrase “avant garde” gets applied fairly frequently in the 21st century, if not always accurately, as the tag is sometimes affixed to anything just slightly out of the mainstream. A production opening this week at the REDCAT theater, however, lives up to the name.

On Wednesday, Sept. 26, New York-based Cynthia Hopkins kicks off the 2007-2008 REDCAT season with Must Don’t Whip ‘Um. The Los Angeles premiere of the multimedia narrative spectacle will play a run of five shows through Sept. 30. It is a sequel/prequel to Accidental Nostalgia, the first in a trilogy exploring the pros and cons of amnesia. Hopkins is quick to point out that you do not have to know anything about the first installment to see or understand part two.

Must Don’t Whip ‘Um combines music, video, dance, set design, lighting and theater to tell two parallel and intermingling narratives about

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Howser Finds New York in Downtown

KCET Series Continues With the ‘Film Shoots’ Episode

by Jon Regardie

In the first few months of his “Downtown” series, KCET television host Huell Hoswer has discovered community treasures including the Eastern Columbia Building, the Los Angeles State Historic Park and the Downtown Art Walk. In an episode that airs this week, however, he encounters something that many in Downtown probably would not expect: New York City.

For the episode titled “Film Shoots,” Howser drops by the set of the TV show “CSI: NY,” much of which is actually shot in Downtown Los Angeles, not the Big Apple. It’s the latest in a long, long line of productions that have masked Downtown as New York, or many other cities (Baltimore, Washington, D.C., etc.), for that matter.

In the episode, Howser chats with some of the show’s actors, and explores one of Downtown’s most common sights – the film crews and their loads of trucks and production workers.

“Film Shoots” airs

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Little Radio’s Big Problem

Little Radio’s Big Problem

Royalty Rules Could Force a Change for Downtown Internet Pioneer

by Evan George

When Dave Conway founded Little Radio, a Downtown-based Internet radio station, he was sending out clandestine playlists to friends using illegal rooftop antennas.

Three years later, Little Radio is a multimedia company that deals in brand marketing, event planning, rock shows and even the sale of environmentally friendly electric cars. Its five employees work in two large rehabbed warehouses in the Industrial District.

But at heart – and by name – Little Radio remains centered around the web streaming of music that Conway calls the company’s “life blood and our heart and soul.” The free 24-hour radio station informs all of the other business endeavors, he said.

Not if the recording industry has anything to say about it.

In a ruling earlier this month, the Copyright Royalty Board, which manages fees that radio stations pay to the recording industry, upheld a decision to

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Downtown Flaunts A Fashion of Its Own

Culver City Has Smashbox, but the Los Angeles Theatre Knows How to Party

by Kathleen Nye Flynn

I’m no fashion expert, but in the last few years I’ve snuck into my fair share of catwalk events. I’ve wiggled into Culver City’s biannual Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios a few times, either through the front door or the back.

So I had an inkling of what I was getting into when I showed up (through the front door) at Downtown’s first Fashion Week event in years, which began March 16. The two nights of shows at Broadway’s Los Angeles Theatre, I knew, had the potential to be memorable.

I arrived at the Friday night show just in time for Jared Gold’s collection. The theater’s ornate ceiling swooped above a crowd glammed out in avant-garde dresses, handmade hats and vintage styles.

The lustrous, colonnaded walls and wide, tumbling staircases, combined with the artsy folks on the guest list and DJs spinning tunes,

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Seams From the Screen

Hollywood Comes Downtown for FIDM’s Annual Costume Party

by Lea Lion

On a Friday morning, a motley crew of reporters is clamoring to get the stars’ attention. Photographers are snapping pictures in rapid-fire succession and TV cameras are rolling.

These types of scenes are ubiquitous in Los Angeles. What sets this one apart is that the stars are not famous actors and actresses. They are the behind-the-scenes people who make it all happen.

It is the day before the opening of the annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) museum in South Park, and the media has been invited for a preview (hence those clicking cameras). Featuring more than 100 costumes from 25 films, including outfits from all five films nominated for this year’s Academy Award for Best Costume Design, the show is a whole other type of blockbuster. The Downtown Los Angeles exhibit runs through April 5.

Three kimonos

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Downtown’s Wonderland in Sales and Services


READERS’ CHOICE

  • Best Shopping Center:7+Fig
  • Best Local Florist: L.A. Flower Market
  • Best Local Grocery Store: Grand Central Market
  • Best Local Furniture Store: The Dock Downtown
  • Best Bargain Shopping: Santee Alley
  • Best Fitness Club: 24 Hour Fitness
  • Best Salon: Candolyn’s Salon & Day Spa
  • Best Spa: Bonaventure Club
  • Best Hotel for Your In-Laws: The Biltmore Hotel
  • Best Pharmacy: Rite Aid
  • Best Wi-Fi Hot Spot: Starbucks
  • Best Dentist: Dr. Don Mungcal, Downtown Dental
  • Best Residential/Loft Complex: Medici
  • Best Mom & Pop Shop: La Parrilla
  • Best Secret Parking Spot: Joe’s on Hope Street
  • Best Place to Blow $100: Nick & Stef’s Steakhouse
  • Best Medical Center: Good Samaritan Hospital
  • Best Carwash: Downtown Car Wash
  • Best Thing We Didn’t Think Of: Multiple WinnersEDITORS’ CHOICE
  • Best Acupuncture: Dr. Steven T. H. Chang
  • Best Florist: Unique Sarah Total Floral
  • Best Massage: Pho-Siam
  • Best Smoke Shop: Bloom’s General Store
  • Best New Market: Joe’s Downtown
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