Theater

When I think of actress Lupe Ontiveros, who passed away from liver cancer at 69 Thursday night, what stays with me most is her strength. Her women tended to be strong and resilient, no-nonsense types, whether they were running a theater company as she did in "Chuck & Buck," dealing with a rebellious daughter in "Real Women Have Curves," or picking up after some well-heeled white family, as she did in"The Goonies. "There was a "I have seen it all" quality that danced in her eyes, more bemused by the frailties of the human race than bitter about them.

Sherry Tedeschi is an avid moviegoer, typically hitting a film a week, sometimes two or three. The Beverly Hills resident usually patronizes the AMC Century City 15 multiplex so she can poke around the Westfield mall after the show. She buys packets of discounted AMC tickets at Costco. So it was with more than a little dismay that Tedeschi, 69, learned recently that, beginning July 8, her discounted AMC tickets will be slapped with a $2 "location surcharge. " Such fees are a sneaky way that ticket prices are being jacked up at a time when audiences are shrinking and average costs to catch a flick already are near a record high.

A million free theater tickets to people younger than 26? American producers will no doubt be green with envy over the British government's largesse. But reports about the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's initiative, designed to spark a love affair between Shakespeare, Shaw and Stoppard and a generation that has spent its youth blankly gazing at screens, made me wonder if there might not be another, less politically correct reason for the program. For years, there have been whispered complaints among unpensioned theatergoers about the "gray menace" -- you know, the invasion of cumbersome canes and aisle-blocking walkers at matinees, the crinkling of lozenge wrappers during pivotal plot points and that unignorable combination of listening devices and hearing aids that tend to explode just as opening numbers start getting good.

The big screen is getting bigger - and bigger. The industry's largest theater chains are bulking up with extra-wide screens in the latest push by exhibitors to distinguish themselves from other forms of entertainment. This fall, the former Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood will unveil one of the largest screens in the country: a 94-foot-wide Imax screen that no doubt would have impressed showman Sid Grauman himself. PHOTOS: Billion-dollar movie club Not to be outdone, Cinemark Holdings Inc., the third-largest U.S. chain, plans to bring its own Extreme Digital Cinema brand to its new multiplex at the South Bay Pavilion in Carson, which will include a 72-foot-wide, wall-to-wall XD screen.

Long before the digital revolution -- I believe it might have been the Neolithic period -- theater criticism was actually published in book form. Anthologies of reviews, monographs on artists and essays on theatrical developments would sit proudly in stores that carried such not-yet-antiquated things as poetry, histories and novels. "The American Theatre Reader: Essays and Conversations From American Theatre Magazine" is a refreshingly unexpected throwback to such a literate age. Defiantly unglossy in its look and flagrantly retro in its defense of intelligent theater discussion, the collection is also a reassurance that, despite all the countervailing economic and cultural forces, there continues to exist a small battalion of theater writers fighting the good fight.

By any sound byte, 1993 has been the year of theatrical rectitude when it comes to political correctness. The changing climate of Los Angeles was reflected in the changing climate of its theater: From Anna Deavere Smith's noncommittal (and non-controversial) piece on the Los Angeles riots, "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992," commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum, to Culture Clash's raucously politicized "Carpa Clash." Like the city, L.A.'s theater continues to be eclectic, scattershot and full of creative surprise.

The Bixby Park Bandshell in Long Beach was renovated more than a year ago to serve as a venue for concerts, celebrations and picnics, but it's mostly been used as a makeshift homeless shelter and a skateboarding haven for teens. The next two weekends, however, will see it transformed into a free children's theater, part of the Long Beach Sea Festival, a summer series of beach events. On Saturday, the Long Beach Shakespeare Company will perform a condensed version of William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" for kids of all ages at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The 45-minute story revolves around magical sorcerers and sea monsters on a deserted island.

Lighting up for dramatic effect is a no-no on Colorado theater stages. The Denver Post reports that the Colorado Department of Public Health is taking a hard line against the smoking of tobacco products or tobacco substitutes on indoor stages, following legislation enacted in 2006, now under appeal. "You simply cannot make unprotected conduct protected by dumping it into a theater context," the paper quotes assistant attorney general Lisa Brenner Freimann as saying.

Vietnam veteran John Otte did his best to forget the war. He got married, raised two sons and made a career working at credit unions. But as Otte neared retirement, memories of combat flooded back. Starting in 2005, he filed a series of claims with Veterans Affairs for disability compensation, contending that many of his health problems stemmed from the war. The VA agreed, and now the 65-year-old with two Purple Hearts receives $1,900 a month for post-traumatic stress disorder and diabetes - and for having shrapnel scars on his arms.

By now, everybody knows what to expect from your standard-issue ho-hum water park: body and tube slide complexes with funnels and bowls, deluge-inducing water play towers for the little ones, undulating wave pools and relaxing lazy rivers. Photos: 20 best water parks in the world Pretty much everything you typically find at a Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, a Great Wolf Lodge resort or any Wet 'n Wild. The best water parks in the world, however, have been busy adding the latest cutting-edge attractions, such as magnetically propelled water coasters, inverted looping slides, stationary wave machines and interactive water games.

Lee Melville, a fierce champion of theater in Los Angeles who was founding editor of the online LA Stage Times magazine and its predecessor, LA Stage, has died. He was 74. Melville was found dead May 21 in West Hollywood. He took his own life, according to Scott Barton, spokesman for his estate. In his more than 50-year theater career, Melville held multiple roles that included actor, stage manager, producer and critic. Terence McFarland, chief executive of the nonprofit organization LA Stage Alliance, called him "a huge advocate for the entire theater community.

"I'm home," a group of actors chanted on Sunday to beats hammered out on plastic buckets at a Metro Blue Line station in South-Central. For many members of the Watts Village Theater Company, the location was indeed home. Actors recited poems about growing up in nearby neighborhoods. The performance at the Willowbrook station marked the fourth straight year the theater company has appeared under a Metro program called Meet Me @Metro, which promotes the use of light rail. The first three years, the group appeared at Union Station downtown and near Long Beach and Pasadena.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - With the stakes for their client literally life or death, defense attorneys for James E. Holmes on Thursday again challenged the constitutionality of Colorado's law governing insanity pleas. Holmes, 25, is accused in the July 20 massacre that killed 12 people and injured 70 others in a packed Aurora movie theater. He is charged with 166 counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges, and faces the death penalty if convicted. By law he cannot be put to death if found not guilty by reason of insanity - a plea his lawyers this month asked the court to accept.

The numbers on United Talent Agency's new 130,000-square-foot Beverly Hills digs are notable. The Civic Center Drive property includes a 158-piece art collection, 11 conference rooms and a private plaza that can accommodate as many as 500 people. But the standout figure is 275. That's the number of screenings UTA has held at its new screening room since the company's new headquarters opened last September. The new theater was christened with a showing of longtime client Judd Apatow's "This Is 40," which was screened for the filmmaker's friends and family, along with UTA agents.

James Dock was treating a friend to a movie Monday afternoon to celebrate the friend's 21st birthday. In the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, Dock, 25, splurged on tickets for "Star Trek Into Darkness" at the Warren Theatre's more expensive balcony seats, for those 21 and older. The movie had just begun when phones started buzzing with weather alerts, Dock told the Los Angeles Times via text message. He said it was difficult to communicate because cellphone signals and Internet were down.

Two years ago Stephen Sachs began working on a play about the philosophy and practice of flamenco. He figured he had all the material he needed, having spent years in close proximity to flamenco dancers as the co-artistic director of the Fountain Theatre, home of the long-running performance series "Forever Flamenco!" But after further research, he realized that the Spanish art form intertwined deeply with certain existential preoccupations that also inhabited his writer's mind. "The older I get, the more aware I have become of the loss of loved ones, the time in front of me and how I'm spending it. You start to wrestle more with these things," observes the 53-year-old playwright and director.

The semiautomatic weapon used in the Santa Monica shooting rampage appears to have been put together from various parts, possibly in an attempt to circumvent the state's restrictions on such guns, law enforcement sources said Wednesday. While certain types of AR-15-style rifles are banned in California, it's legal to purchase parts that can be used to assemble and customize the guns. Santa Monica police have said John Zawahri, 23, used an AR-15-style gun during the attack and was also carrying a .44-caliber handgun.

Alamo Drafthouse, the quirky Austin, Texas-based theater chain known for its special events, theme movie nights and in-seat food and drink service, is expected to plant its flag in downtown L.A. Saeed Farkhondehpour , developer of the Medallion mix-use project, said Alamo recently signed a letter of intent to open a 600-seat, eight-screen theater on a vacant lot near the corner of 4th and Main streets. The theater would include food and beverage service and would open in the next 18 to 20 months, he said.

Director Guillermo del Toro crowed about the enduring value of movie theaters this week, reminding television advertising executives gathered in New York that there is no substitute for the big screen. Speaking to a standing-room only crowd of more than 700 advertising and media professionals at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Wednesday, Del Toro presented footage from his upcoming science fiction film "Pacific Rim" and shared childhood memories about going to the cinema. “I think that it is very important for us to remember why we go to the theater - what makes the experience memorable," said Del Toro, a guest speaker at an upfront ad sales event hosted by NCM Media Networks.

Cinemark Holdings Inc., the nation's third-largest theater chain, is bulking up in Los Angeles County with plans to open a multiplex at the SouthBay Pavilion shopping mall in Carson. Vintage Real Estate, which owns and manages SouthBay Pavilion, said it had recently signed a lease with Cinemark to bring a 14-screen theater to the mall. Set to open in December 2014, the multiplex will be among the highest-profile locations for Cinemark in the Los Angeles region. PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times The Plano, Texas, circuit, which has 5,259 movie screens in the U.S. and Latin America, already has a dozen cinemas in the Los Angeles area and is expanding its footprint in Southern California.