Monthly Archives: September 2011

Cirque du Shekels

By Victoria Looseleaf There’s been so much written on this multi-billion dollar operation, that we really don’t wish to spill any more ink on the subject. (Is it even a publicly traded company, and if so, we should definitely have bought … Continue reading

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Feeding Flamenco Flames

By Victoria Looseleaf Our readers know that we absolutely love flamenco. What’s not to love, with its Gypsy roots, sultry moves, soulful singing and fabulous music, especially the guitar stuff. (OK, the clothes can be pretty cool, too, as seen … Continue reading

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Goodbye To All That: Villella and Miami City Ballet

By Victoria Looseleaf While he is hopefully enjoying a marvelous and happy 75th birthday (October 1), Edward Villella, founding artistic director of Miami City Ballet, had recently announced that he’s stepping down from his post at the end of the … Continue reading

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Eugene Onegin: Living Unhappily Ever After

By Victoria Looseleaf Audience fashion faux pas abounded, and the curtain came clunking down – not once, but twice – on opening night of Los Angeles Opera’s 26th season. Funny that, as the curtain also “lurched” when Plácido Domingo sang Otello … Continue reading

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Willkommen To Cabaret

By Victoria Looseleaf Talk about a long shelf life: Cabaret originally began its theatrical run as a play, I Am a Camera, by John Van Druten. Penned in 1951, this work, in turn, had been based on several short stories by … Continue reading

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Restless: Replete With Rigor (Mortis)

By Victoria Looseleaf There’s a slew of reasons why Harold and Maude is not only a cult classic, but an all-purpose, bona-fide classic. One: Directed by Hal Ashby with an original screenplay by Colin Higgins, it was startlingly fresh. Two: … Continue reading

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Grief: Remembering September 11, 2001

By Victoria Looseleaf The phone rang at a few minutes before 7 a.m., Los Angeles time.  I was in the shower and hadn’t heard it. As usual, my radio had been tuned to KUSC-FM, which only broadcasts classical music and … Continue reading

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Love’s Labor (Day) Lost

By Victoria Looseleaf Being a freelance, er, human, and never having had what one would rightly call ‘gainful employment’ (a steady job with benefits, retirement fund, any kind of security), The Leaf’s concept of Labor Day has always been a … Continue reading

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Being Ben…Whishaw

By Victoria Looseleaf This Just In: If the name Ben Whishaw doesn’t quite ring a bell yet, it will. And in a big way. Though we wrote this original post several months ago, it has come to our attention that … Continue reading

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Cocaine & Cabrioles

By Victoria Looseleaf We all know that dancers, ballerinas in particular, occasionally go to extremes for their art: Being rail-thin is the ideal, with chain smoking and drinking diet pop one way to stave off hunger pangs. So is binging … Continue reading

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