The “Madame Butterfly” effect: L.A. Arts and culture this week

The art of the selfie is nothing new. Nor it is noteworthy that many, if not most, people use their phone screens as a near permanent intermediary between their eyes and the experience they are having — whether it be a rock concert, a child’s choir performance or an exceptional painting. But with PST ART upon us, and with it a self-imposed mandate that I try to see as much of it as possible — I am encountering fresh proof of this mediated existence everywhere I turn. To the point that I am left wondering if anyone is actually ever really looking at anything at all. To wit: I was recently sitting quietly in Helen Pashgian’s immersive light installation at the Getty when two women came in and stared for a moment at the wall. “What is it?” one asked. “I don’t know,” said the other. “What does it do?” asked the first. “Nothing,” said the other. The pair then turned their backs to the wall, raised a phone, smiled, snapped a picture and exited.
I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt and if this is how we’re experiencing art these days, I’ll go get a sandwich instead. In the meantime, my colleague Ashley Lee and I have got you covered for the week to come.
1. “American Idiot”After a yearlong pause in programming, Center Theatre Group is reopening the Mark Taper Forum with a revival of the bold Green Day musical — a collaboration with Deaf West Theatre that will be performed simultaneously in spoken English and American Sign Language. Back in July, I got a sneak peek of the exciting staging, which also marks the CTG directorial debut of Artistic Director Snehal Desai, and have been looking forward to experiencing the full production ever since. Performances begin Wednesday and run through Nov. 10. Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. centertheatregroup.org
2. “Jibade-Khalil Huffman: Control”Anat Ebgi Gallery has expanded its Wilshire location by taking over the space next door (previously the Praz-Delavallade gallery), and is celebrating the development with a solo, site-specific exhibition by Jibade-Khalil Huffman. These works continue the visual artist’s longtime fascination with “the double,” changing identities and reinvention in the social space, especially amid global chaos (which is why the exhibition title riffs on Janet Jackson’s “Control” and SZA’s “CTRL”). The exhibition runs through Nov. 16. Anat Ebgi Gallery, 6150 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. anatebgi.com
3. “Is It Thursday Yet?”This performance piece combines dance, live music and home video footage to delve inside the mind of dancer and choreographer Jenn Freeman, following her autism spectrum disorder diagnosis at age 33. The presentation, which made its world premiere last summer at La Jolla Playhouse, was co-created and directed by Sonya Tayeh and and is scored with original live music from composer and vocalist Holland Andrews. Thursday through Saturday, 7:30 p.m. The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage, 1310 11th St. Santa Monica. broadstage.org
— Ashley Lee
MONDAYShort Plays on Environmental Justice Leimert Park Cultural Hub Festival of New Works presents staged readings of “Climate Café” by Allison M Keating and “Deadly Gangs” by Stephan Collins-Stepney.7 p.m. Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 W. Washington Blvd. culture.lacity.gov
TUESDAYHarawi Julia Bullock and the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*) perform Olivier Messiaen’s reimagining of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde as exotic Peruvian lovers. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org; 8 p.m. Friday. UC Santa Barbara, Campbell Hall. artsandlectures.ucsb.edu
Imagi-Ne’er-Do-Wells An immersive meet-up/game and creative social club where people pitch crazy theme park ideas with a “venerable celebrity guest judge.”First Tuesday of every month. The Obscure, 1356 Palmetto St., Arts District. liveactionattractions.ticketspice.com
Tems This Nigerian singer, whose “Born in the Wild” might be the most alluring album of the year, hits town on her first world tour.8:30 p.m. Greek Theatre. 2700 N. Vermont Ave. lagreektheatre.com
THURSDAYA Midsummer Night’s Dream Gustavo Dudamel conducts the L.A. Phil in Mendelssohn’s score narrated in Spanish by Maria Valverde and staged by Alberto Alvero, and Alisa Weilerstein performs the world premiere of Gabriela Ortiz’s Cello Concerto.8 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m. Friday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Kacey Musgraves The pop-leaning country star comes to town behind this year’s beguiling “Deeper Well” with opening sets by Father John Misty and Nickel Creek.7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Kia Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. thekiaforum.com
LA Opera’s “Madame Butterfly” opened at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Times classical music critic Mark Swed thinks the company may have another “hot ticket on its hands.” Swed, however, isn’t sure exactly how to feel about the production — ”an import from Madrid, where it was created 24 years ago by Uruguayan-born Spanish director Mario Gas for Teatro Real.” This production takes place on a 1930s Hollywood soundstage where a film of the opera is being made. Where to look, Swed asks in his review, the stage or the screens? The answer is complicated.
The exterior walls of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Wilshire Boulevard and the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study on Vine Street, along with the ArcLight Cinema, off Sunset Boulevard, served as canvases for protest against the Israel-Hamas war early last week. Graphic images of injured Palestinian children and grieving parents were projected onto the buildings by an activist art collective called Indecline, with the goal calling for an immediate cease-fire. Staff writer Josh Rottenberg gathered the details.
Washington D.C.’s National Symphony Orchestra has gone on strike for the first time since 1978. The decision to strike was reached unanimously by the union after negotiations with the Kennedy Center on wage increases fell through. The strike has so far resulted in the cancellation of the orchestra’s season-opening gala and threatens to derail the organization’s 94th season.
New York City’s Roundabout Theatre Company has nabbed longtime La Jolla Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley to be its next artistic director, beginning in July 2026. Ashley, a Tony Award winner, spent 17 years in La Jolla cultivating a reputation for premiering new works, including “The Outsiders” and “Here There Are Blueberries.” He also staged work by artists such as Tina Landau, Lisa Sanaye Dring, Joe Iconis, Sonya Tayeh and Anna Deavere Smith. Ashley will replace Roundabout’s interim artistic director, Scott Ellis. Roundabout is among NYC’s most important theater companies and presents work on five stages, including three venues on Broadway.
Six California-based artists and entities have been selected for grants awarded through the Doris Duke Foundation’s Performing Arts Technology Lab. Twenty artists, technologists and arts organizations will receive the grants, which recognize an innovative use of technology in the performing arts. Selected projects will receive funding for various aspects of the creative process and its ultimate manifestation, including feasibility testing and network-building opportunities. The California winners include L.A.-based multidisciplinary artist Guillermo E. Brown and Altadena-based avant-rap collective Sélébéyone.
More than 100 works by L.A.-based artist Don Bachardy will go on view at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens from April 12 through Aug. 4, 2025, as part of a retrospective exhibition, “Don Bachardy: A Life in Portraits.” Bachardy, 90 — the longtime partner of writer Christopher Isherwood — is known for his raw and honest celebrity portraits, often of writers, actors and artists who ran in the same circles as the couple. The exhibit will also include letters, photographs and other ephemera that help contextualize Bachardy’s life and work, and will be drawn from Bachardy’s archive at the Huntington.
Deep thoughts from my 8-year-old: “It’s terrible, there are only two times in life when you don’t have to work. When you’re a kid and when you’re old. Middle age is a rough ride.” Indeed.