REVIEW: Oedipus the King, Mama

The Getty Villa in the Pacific Palisades (not to be confused with its sister Getty Center museum in Brentwood) offers each year a summer series of classical theater at an outdoor venue that is modeled after ancient Greek and Roman amphitheaters.

Though they usually present classics, we opted to see a production called "Oedipus the King, Mama," put on by a local L.A. based commedia dell'arte acting company called the Troubador Theater—a mashup between the classic tragedy, Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, and the music of Elvis Presley.

It was very entertaining and funny, including interactions with the audience that occasionally became running gags, as well as plenty of topical jokes and shout outs to nearby Malibu and other California towns and cities (a reference to the “Oedipus files” got a good laugh).

That said, even with the laughs and crowd-pleasing music (with Oedipus dressed as fat Elvis in his iconic Vegas jumpsuit), it says much about the power of the original play that the horror of the tragedy still comes through and lands with the audience.

One other interesting tidbit—because the Getty is located in a residential area and these are evening shows, it’s clear they accommodate that by somewhat muting the sound and music. In fact, the production made an amusing reference to it during the performance, and in the introduction before the play, the venue did explicitly ask the audience to be respectful of the neighborhood by keeping voices and music low when departing at the end of the evening.

New Digs for Stuart Ng Books

Birthday Celebration

Falconry at the Getty

Visit to Capitol Records

For the first time since moving to L.A. more than 40 years ago, I visited the storied Capitol Records building in Hollywood, located on Vine Street, near the intersection of Hollywood Blvd. and Vine.

Late last year, while I happened to be driving past the iconic structure in the middle of the work day, on a sudden impulse, I decided to stop and check it out up close. It helped that I immediately found a metered parking spot across the street, making the visit pretty easy and straightforward.

Although I learned there's no public street entrance into the building—access appears to be through a private garage with a security entrance—I was thrilled to discover the Hollywood Walk of Fame Stars for the individual Beatles all in a row, appropriately placed near the building's base, as seen in the video at the bottom of this post. Nearby were stars for Joan Crawford, Bob Dylan and Buddy Holly.

I reside less than 10 miles from Hollywood (and only need to take local streets), but going there sometimes feels like a big production and hassle due to traffic, parking, and because it's so touristy.

That said, I've visited Hollywood many times for shows (such as at the Pantages and Kodak Theaters), dinner (including Musso and Frank's), movies (the original Graumann's Chinese Theater), and drinks (with my wife); and shopped at Amoeba Records. In all those years, however, it never really registered with me how close I'd often been to the building, since it's just around the corner from the Pantages and a block from Amoeba. So I'm glad I finally swung by!