Culture-Loving Monica

Had a super-duper cultural couple of days.

Sunday, I went to the Walt Disney Concert Hall for the first time ever. Bizarre as the place may seem on the outside, the inside is marvelous. It is designed to feel intimate (indeed some classrooms at my University felt larger than the hall), but still seats nearly 2,500 people. Tremendous, really.

Inside sources tell me that the wood used to construct the theatre is the same wood that cellos are made of.

Personally, I give the concert itself mixed reviews. It had kind of a funky program, ranging from very popular music (think "Singing in the Rain") to more obscure works by Strauss and Dvorak. I don't mind either, but found it odd that they would share a playbill.

I did particulary enjoy the piece by Leonard Bernstein called "A Young Person's Guide to Television" which featured a medley of works from many favorite TV shows and commercials, including such favs as Pink Panther, Plop Plop Fizz Fizz, The Brady Bunch, NBC Nightly News, and many, many others. What wasn't so fun was the dipstick guy sitting beside me, who insisted on saying the name of each piece he recognized at more than just a whisper.

After the concert, I walked across the street to see the Basquiat Exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art. That is one weird exhibition. I know it is very popular, and people are lining up to get in, but maybe that work was just a little too contemporary for my taste.

Monday morning, my art-filled life continued, and I went with some friends to go see the King Tut exhibit at LACMA. Now this display is quite a spectacle. A lot of time and money went into the creation of this exhibit. If you are a fan of the legends of Tut, I recommend you go, but don't be too disappointed when you learn that the main coffin, sarcophagus and other big pieces from the tomb didn't leave Egypt.

By the way, there is TYPO on one of the historical exhibits in the display, which I find very upsetting, especially considering how much money went into producing this show. However, since this may be one of the last time this show gets to L.A., if you are interested, you probably should take a look. I recommend you go early in the morning to avoid the larger crowds. Our reservation was at 10 am, and while there were a lot of people there, it was manageable.