ENTERTAINMENT
January 25, 2002 | CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT, TIMES ART CRITIC
It's hard to pinpoint the cause of the immediate allure of Morgan Fisher's monochrome paintings at China Art Objects Gallery, except perhaps to say that they seem instantly like puzzles solved. Lots of monochrome paintings start out seeming like inscrutable puzzles, but these work backward to that point. If technology indeed demands the most elegant solution to a specific problem, then Fisher is a technological whiz. The show includes two types of paintings.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 16, 2011 | Susan King
If the 1960 drama "The World of Suzie Wong" -- about the relationship between an American painter and a Hong Kong prostitute -- had been made five years earlier, Hong Kong native Nancy Kwan would never have been cast in the lead role. Hollywood's Motion Picture Production Code didn't allow portrayals of interracial romance, stating that "miscegenation is forbidden. " Miscegenation laws were on the books in some states until the late 1960s. That hadn't been the case before the code was written in 1930.
ENTERTAINMENT
October 15, 2004 | Don Shirley, Times Staff Writer
Nancy Kwan sat behind a desk on the stage of the David Henry Hwang Theatre, gazing at James Shigeta to her right. He kept his eyes on the script as he read from A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters." But Kwan didn't look away from Shigeta as they prepared for two readings of the play Saturday, benefiting East West Players. There was a logical explanation for why she looked at him but he didn't look at her. He was reading words of love from his character to Kwan's -- after Kwan's character has died.
ENTERTAINMENT
July 1, 1990
. . . Co-producer Don Simpson--who has, at most, two lines in "Days of Thunder"--gives himself fourth billing, ahead of much busier players. . . . The "winner" of the summer movie body count tally would seem to be Fox's upcoming "Die Hard 2." Along with the usual bloody mayhem, it has a passenger-filled jet liner going down in flames. . . .
NEWS
January 2, 1994 | ROBERT J. LOPEZ
East West Players, the nation's foremost Asian Pacific American theater, explores the symbiotic relationship between two antagonistic siblings who come to terms with their differences in "Arthur and Leila," a complex psychological play. The Los Angeles premiere of Cherylene Lee's new play, a bittersweet comedy set amid the backdrop of family strife, is the East West Players' second production during a 28th season that has been dedicated to plays written by or about women.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 13, 2002 | RICHARD CROMELIN, TIMES STAFF WRITER
B.J. Baker, a backup singer on dozens of recordings from the 1950s and '60s, including hits by Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke and Bobby Darin, died April 2 in Rancho Mirage of complications from a stroke. She was 74. In addition to her work at the microphone, Baker was a highly regarded vocal contractor--a person who selects and directs background singers for recording sessions.