Over in Ojai: Paging Dr. Brown, More Entertainment Matters

Phil Burgers, the L.A.-based writer, comedian, clown, actor, director and clown teacher, is best known for performing as Dr. Brown, with stand-up comedy that blends absurdity, precision, and audience interaction. His show BEFRDFGTH centers on spontaneity, physicality, and the unpredictable dynamic between performer and audience. Perhaps most importantly, his performance leans into what may be charitably called “non-verbal communication.” Words take a back seat to highly physical, prop-driven antics that escalate over time, and BEFRDFGTH has been heralded on the international festival circuit, earning the Barry Award for Best Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. EFRDFGTH  has been praised as a surreal, subversive blend of mime and absurd humor that relies entirely on body language, suspense, and deep audience interaction. Burgers as Brown brings BEFRDFGTH to the Ojai Playhouse, the recently revitalized historic 200-seat theater in the mountain village, on June 9, 10 & 13. 

Visit www.OjaiPlayhouse.com

1st Thursday Addenda: Festivities, Film and Far from State

The Grand on State had its originally scheduled grand opening last Saturday night with more than a dozen musicians taking to the piano-dominated stage for some six hours of music over the course of the night, not to mention scrumptious courses from the new jazz club-restaurant’s French chef. Now comes word that The Grand will join the June 1st Thursday celebration with the official Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening on June 4. Doors and dinner seating begin at 5 pm, with music from 6:30-10 pm featuring Lois Mahalia, Brian Mann, and special guests. Friday brings Santa Barbara-based percussionist Matt Perko’s Birthday Bash with a quartet of his L.A. jazz greats joining in for original music, new jazz standards, and more. 

Montecitan Kerrilee Gore’sshort films in this year’s SBIFF represented two almost polar extremes in style and tone. While Stand by Mother was a whimsical, fantastic voyage into the imagination as a call to environmental action by and for children, Memory Experiment is a much more harrowing narrative film. The story is about a traumatic kidnapping and carjacking that Gore and her friend experienced a generation ago in their early 20s, an ordeal that began outside a nightclub in Los Angeles. Using their wits and inner wisdom the two managed to survive what could have ended as tragedy. The movie dramatically reenacts the event from their two vastly different perspectives. Their separate individual recollections – committed to tape more than 20 years after the event – provide both the film’s audio and a lot of food for thought about the workings of the mind. Memory Experiment screens for free at SBIFF’s new Film Center downtown every half hour from 5:30 to 7 pm as part of 1st Thursday. 

A little off the main drag, SBCAST (513 Garden Street) will once again host UCSB’s Media Arts & Technology (MAT) End-of-Year show. Titled this year, re:agency, the range of multimedia pieces answer the question: “Where does agency reside when power is concentrated in the hands of a few, who unilaterally define what is possible and what will not be tolerated?”

Since moving to La Cumbre Plaza, the VOICE Gallery may not exactly be walkable from the rest of the State Street haunts, but it’s worth checking out the new exhibition at the gallery for the season titled SummerDance (yes, the same as the late and lamented choreographer and company residence program at the Lobero in years gone by) as the show features works by local artists, and in media ranging from metals to photos, prints, and paintings based on the theme. The opening artist reception not only boasts free treats but also a sing-along with the estimable local pianist Harold Kono. 

For more 1st Thursday picks, see the Entertainment Calendar. 

Classical Corner: Goodbye Gustavo 

The end is here. Gustavo Dudamel concludes his tenure as music and artistic director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall with a final series of concerts titled “Gracias Gustavo: Celebrating 17 Years.” The final weekend starts June 4 with Celebrating the Musicians of the L.A. Phil as the orchestra’s principals in every section take a turn in the spotlight in a program boasting 14 different pieces and movements. The June 5-7 grand finale concerts find Dudamel honoring his Venezuelan and American identities by presiding over two poetry-inspired choral symphonic works in John Adams’ “Harmonium” and Antonio Estévez’s “Cantata Criolla.” The Cantata brings Dudamel’s tenure full circle, as the dynamo selected the work as one of the first pieces he wanted to bring to Los Angeles in his inaugural season to illustrate his belief that music can build bridges between cultures. 

As part of the Classical California series, Sunday’s concert will broadcast live locally at 93.7 FM. Despite heading east to take on the same positions at the New York Philharmonic, Dudamel will no doubt be back with the L.A. Phil as a guest, hopefully also a few times in their annual CAMA program at
the Granada.  

Visit www.laphil.com