The best of 2002: Theater & Arts

8. Frank Gehry Conversation – UCLA
Gehry’s brave new Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los
Angeles (opening in the fall) demands equally adventurous music
within. Gehry also showed UCLA how excitingly unpretentious his art
could be when he gave a funny, self-deprecating talk last
October.

7. Wooster Group’s "To You The Birdie! (Phedre)" –
UCLA
This reworking of a classic Greek play with Willem Dafoe lampooned
the vanity of Hollywood and celebrity as well as anything else this
year. With an excess of set design and commanding performances to
match, this was a play to be seen, and don’t forget about the
badminton. This photography exhibit that includes pieces taken
during and around the time of the Great Depression captures the
emotional depths of humanity. Originally taken as documents for the
government, the pictures are nonetheless extremely artful.

5. "The Exonerated" – The Actors’ Gang
This winner of the 2002 Ovation Award (L.A. theater award) for Best
New Play shook Los Angeles with a hard-hitting script based on
actual interviews with former death row inmates. Local
writers/directors Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen presented six
inmates’ stories with moving dialogue and precise staging.
Few plays provoke thought and pathos so poignantly.

4. Culberg Ballet’s "Swan Lake" – UCLA
UCLA Live’s David Sefton was able to lure Sweden’s
internationally renowned Cullberg Ballet to Royce Hall for their
first-ever West Coast appearance. Choreographer Mats Ek’s
gender-bending “Swan Lake” broke all preconceived
notions of the ballet staple and featured a brilliantly nuanced
performance by white swan/black swan portrayer Julie Guibert.

3. "Where the Wild Things Are" – Skirball
Center
This wild rumpus through the mind and work of children’s book
author/illustrator Maurice Sendak wins the award for most fun
exhibit of the year. Complete with life-size re-creations from
scenes from your favorite childhood books as well as insightful
information about Sendak’s life, it was a perfect place to
learn as an adult as well as let your inner child go wild.

2. "The Guys" – The Actors’ Gang
Anne Nelson’s riveting play, which is about a journalist who
must work with a fire captain to write eulogies for his lost men,
made its L.A. debut with Tim Robbins and Helen Hunt. The no-frills
staged reading was a perfect forum for the somber, thoughtful
script. Though the $40 ticket price was a bit off-putting (although
$5 was donated to assist Sept. 11, 2001 firefighters),
Robbins’ and Hunt’s performances proved worth the
pocketbook dent.

1. Andy Warhol Retrospective – Museum of Contemporary
Art
The first comprehensive Warhol exhibition to hit Los Angeles in 30
years was a huge triumph. Not only was the three-month show an
artistic triumph displaying key works, but it also made $55.8
million for the L.A. economy. Charging the general public $17.50
for admission to the MOCA instead of $3 was not enough to deter the
195,000 visitors.