Alyssa Barron hits all the notes

Ballads to blues, rock and cabaret Tuning in to local singer-songwriter Alyssa Barron by Bondo Wyszpolski Alyssa Barron has been rolling out new songs in advance of an album that may, the singer-songwriter says, be released in the spring. But who is Alyssa Barron, and why should we care about her and her music? Well,…

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Who’s in? This haunted movie palace awaits your presence

Seraphic serenade “Angel of Light” with a demonic twist by Bondo Wyszpolski One of the keys to a successful Halloween haunt is the location, and therefore atmosphere, in which it is set. The Queen Mary (1934) is one such place, and the Los Angeles Theatre (built in 1931) is another. “Angel of Light” takes place…

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Black soul and Greek legends

Oedipus sings the blues “The Gospel at Colonus” at the Getty Villa by Bondo Wyszpolski Whatever else one may think about “The Gospel at Colonus,” the reinterpretation of “Oedipus at Colonus,” it’s hard to deny that this is an innovative production. Furthermore — and it’s being performed through Sept. 30 at the outdoor amphitheater in…

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The man who spent his life promoting Venezuelan art

From Caracas with love “Alfredo Boulton: Looking at Venezuela, 1928-1978,” ed. by Idurre Alonso (Getty Publications, $275 pp, $60), in connection with the exhibition of the same name on view through Jan. 24 at the Getty Research Institute by Bondo Wyszpolski Not very well known outside of his own country, Alfredo Boulton (1908-1995) was a…

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Insight and discovery, and our place in the universe

Reality check by Bondo Wyszpolski “The Rigor of Angels: Borges, Heisenberg, Kant, and the Ultimate Nature of Reality,” by William Egginton (Pantheon, 338 pp, $32) The subtitle should immediately clear the house, but those who remain are in for a ride. William Egginton has corralled three pilgrims from different disciplines, and shows how each of…

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Uncanny events in middle-class suburbia

“Disruptions,” by Steven Millhauser (Alfred A. Knopf, 270 pp, $28) by Bondo Wyszpolski Back in 2002, Jennifer Howard of the Washington Post Book Club wrote that “In another age, [Steven] Millhauser would probably have been an Andrew Lang or one of the Brothers Grimm.” Lang’s Fairy Books, published between 1889 and 1913, are still in…

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Little robots of centuries past

Were these the first robots? “Miracles and Machines: A Sixteenth-Century Automaton and Its Legend,” by Elizabeth King and W. David Todd (Getty Publications, 245 pp., $45) by Bondo Wyszpolski The automaton of the subtitle is a walking and gesticulating figure of a friar, referred to, however, as “the monk,” and it dates back to mid-sixteenth-century…

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Bells & whistles, and Charles Bukowski

“Pinball Wizard,” by Michael D. Meloan (IF SF Publishing, 132 pp, $15) by Bondo Wyszpolski Michael Meloan’s short novel doesn’t have anything to do with either Elton John or The Who’s “Tommy,” but early on the protagonist, Ralph Hargraves, is asked this question: Are you the Pinball Wizard or the pinball? The book sort of…

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Where the ends never quite meet

Destitution row “Giacomo Ceruti: A Compassionate Eye” at the Getty by Bondo Wyszpolski I’ve never seen so much tattered clothing in one place. Giacomo Ceruti (1698-1767), who was active in Northern Italy, seems to have been a fairly prolific and highly-regarded painter, but like most people, artists or otherwise, he slipped through the trapdoor of…

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Tim Walker’s wild, fantastic world

Strange Brew “Tim Walker: Wonderful Things” on view at the Getty by Bondo Wyszpolski The title of this splashy and colorful exhibition was taken from the diary of Howard Carter, the archeologist who in 1922 uncovered the tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Asked what he was seeing as he peered inside, he replied,…

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Leviathans on film, and in the Great Hall

Swimming with the fishes and the whales Where? At the California Science Center and the Aquarium of the Pacific by Bondo Wyszpolski There’s little quite as thrilling as a big subject on a big screen, and it doesn’t get any larger than “Blue Whales: Return of the Giants” on an IMAX screen over at the…

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Danish landscapes, portraits at the Getty

Less gold, but still aglow Beyond the Light: Identity and Place in 19th-Century Danish Art by Bondo Wyszpolski Don’t let the subtitle (identity and place?) keep you from this modest but solid exhibition of drawings and oil sketches, most of the work created during the 1820s-1840s with the notable exception of Vilhelm Hammershøi, who came…

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The elegant photography of Rodney Smith

A man who loved beautiful things Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith, by Paul Martineau (Getty Publications, 248 pp; $65) by Bondo Wyszpolski This is as much a luxury item as it is a volume of elegant, bewitching photographs, and it complements similarly-related books that Getty curator of photographs Paul Martineau has written for the…

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The day they found the Peninsula

The way we were, and the way we are In a new exhibition, Rick Humphrey merges art and local history by Bondo Wyszpolski In the early 1920s, a grand vision for the Palos Verdes Peninsula began taking shape, promoted by its founding fathers. But by the end of that same decade something nasty came along…

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Tea time and time travel at the Huntington

Steeped, and ready to pour Tea service returns to the Huntington by Bondo Wyszpolski The historic Rose Garden Tea Room folded up its petals for the duration of the pandemic, but the closure also allowed for extensive renovations. Located in San Marino, on the grounds of the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, the…

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