‘Ug’ Doesn’t Mean What You Think — Go See It

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“Ug: The Caveman Musical” plays Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8 at the Attic Theatre and Film Center, 5924 W. Washington Blvd., just east of Fairfax. Reservations: 323.525.0600, ext. 2.

Many concepts are associated with the term “Caveman.” Shining black monoliths. Cave paintings. Car insurance. But rarely, if ever, does one associate cavemen with musical theatre. And yet, that’s exactly what “Ug: The Caveman Musical,” written by Jim Geoghan and now playing at the Attic Theatre on Washington Boulevard, is premised around.

This musical comedy follows Ug, a caveman of moderate intelligence, and his small tribe of misfits as they discover the wonders of theatre for the first time. The plot comes complete with all the theatrical stereotypes we’ve come to know (and love?).

Identity and Pathos

Frédérik SisaA&E

The title of the play at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, of course, is the demeaning epithet (bestowed by American GIs, we are told) associated with impoverished Filipinos. They’re so poor, so uncultured, so primitive — the stereotype goes — they eat (gasp) dogs. But while no dogs are eaten throughout the play, the significance of the title, “Dogeaters,” summarizes well the attempt playwright Jessica Hagedorn — herself born in the Philippines, moving to the U.S. in her early teens — to dig into the pathos of the Filipino identity and its projection abroad.

‘Judy and Frank’ Headline Tonight at the Frost

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During three nights of cabaret-style performances, students and faculty from the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts will give sometimes heart-rending, sometimes hilarious renditions of the greatest songs from America’s golden age of music. Performances will be for 3 nights, tonight through Saturday,at 7 p.m

An additional matinee performance will be held on Saturday at 2 p.m. The stage of Culver City High School’s Robert Frost Auditorium, at 4401 Elenda Ave., will be transformed into a cozy cabaret setting for the production. Tickets are $15, $10 for ASB, children, seniors and faculty. Reservations can be made online at www.avpa.org.

Westside Calendar/1.18

Ross HawkinsA&E

Thursday, Jan. 18

7 p.m.  —  "Cabaret Night- An Evening With Judy and Frank," presented by the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts at Culver City High School, Robert Frost Auditorium, 4401 Elenda Ave. Performances on Friday and Saturday at 7, and  a matinee show on Saturday at 2. 310.842.4200, ext. 6094.

8 p.m.  —  "Drums In The Night," featuring The Actors’ Gang, Culver City’s resident theatrical troupe. at the Ivy Substation, 9070 Venice Blvd. Performances on Friday and Saturday at 8, Sunday at 2. Fee. Reservations, 310. 838.4264. Closes  Saturday, Jan. 27.


 Friday, Jan. 19

10 a.m.  —  Empowerment Conference and the swearing-in of Culver City’s new state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, Council Chambers, City Hall, 9770 Culver Blvd. Reception to follow.

8 p.m.  —  Opening Night for “Ug,” a caveman musical, at the Attic Theatre and Film Center, 5924 W. Washington Blvd.  Plays Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8, through Saturday, Feb. 24. Fee. 323.525.0600, ext. 2.

8 p.m.  —  Steve Allan’s "The Wake," presented by the Kentwood Players, 8301 Hindry Ave., Westchester. Saturdays at 8, Sundays at 2, through Saturday, Feb. 17. Box office: 310.645.5156.

Sunday, Jan. 21

8 p.m.  —  "Dog Eaters," Jessica Hagedorn’s play based on her best selling novel premieres at the Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre 9820 Washington Blvd. Performances are Tuesdays through Friday at 8, Saturdays at 2 and 8, and Sundays at 2 and 7. Through Sunday, Feb. 11. Tickets: 213. 628.2772.
 

Monday, Jan 22

7 p.m.  —  City Council meeting, Council Chambers, 9770 Culver Blvd. Free underground parking.

Children, Darkly

Frédérik SisaA&E

Children of Men

We never get to find out why humanity suddenly becomes infertile, which makes Alfonso Cuaron’s “Children of Men” science fiction only in the way “A Scanner Darkly” is science fiction. That is, each film has a premise that involves a fictional scientific scenario – global infertility for “Children of Men” and a hyper-addictive brain-scrambling drug in “A Scanner Darkly.” But neither really deals with the science itself. Instead, the goal is to extrapolate how society is affected by each of these scenarios. Unsurprisingly, the speculation is bleak indeed.

Set in London, 2027, we find a world driven all but mad by the inability to have children. If we believe an in-film piece of propaganda shown to the British population, the world has collapsed into chaos while Britain tenuously holds itself together – through a fascist, anti-immigrant police state. Amidst all of this is Theo, world-weary and quietly despairing as only Clive Owen can play it. When his ex-wife Julian (Moore) turns out to be the leader of the terrorist/freedom-fighting Fishes, he becomes involved in a plan to get the world’s only pregnant girl to a secretive group of sea-roving scientists called the Human Project.

Who Holds the Watcher’s Leash?

Frédérik SisaA&E

The Good Shepherd

It’s a reliable story reliably told. Spy Edward Wilson, played with tortured, introspective gravity by Matt Damon, juggles the demands of secrecy with a steadily eroding family life. But while the family drama – the film’s spine – may bring to mind the trials of a spook in any competent espionage drama, it comes tantalizingly wrapped in the birth of the CIA. From the depths of the notorious Yale secret society Skull & Bones, and the ashes of the legendary Office of Strategic Services, the murky circumstances that led to the formation of the Central Intelligence Agency elevates the drama to the epic quality of a history lesson.

Yet, thankfully, it’s not one of those university lectures filled with dry facts and a chronology of events that suggest there will be a pop-quiz at the end of the movie. Eric Roth’s script does a deft job of weaving together the character drama with the political intrigue of an era that spans from World War II to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. However, that we get an inkling of how the highly secretive and elitist Skull & Bones relates to the complex realities of wartime intelligence gathering and, later, the conduct of clandestine CIA operations, without getting mired in an overabundance of plot, is Roth’s most accomplished feat. Even when you add in a plot involving the cat-and-mouse rivalry between Wilson and his Soviet counterpart, code-named Ulysses, the film still doesn’t suffer from bloat. Wilson – a brilliant spy, according to other characters in the film – remains at the front and center. His journey from accomplished Yale student to key counter-intelligence agent is the filter by which we get everything else. And by the film’s end, we gain a surprisingly rich portrait of a man whose personal and professional choices lead him down a tragic path.

Behind the Maze’s Curtain

Frédérik SisaA&E

We all know the “Wizard of Oz”: big on spectacle, but behind the curtain, he’s nothing more than a little man pushing buttons and pulling levers. This example of how fraudulent glittering dog-and-pony shows can be has entered the collective pop culture consciousness in the form of a cliché analogy. Yet, however clichéd and overused it may be, the “Wizard of Oz” is a useful analogy that applies quite nicely to “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

Oh, it’s not because this latest from wunderkind Guillermo Del Toro is a bad movie. Del Toro is a fine, fine director who brings a robust vision and a steady hand to his projects. He has an excellent sense of pacing and timing, enough so that even gruesome acts of violence are properly horrific instead of glamourous. His cast is, overall, very muscular. Although if their characters formed an orchestra, they’d admittedly be single-note instruments (which reduces the demands on the actors), they nonetheless play strongly into the archetypal struggle of Good vs. Evil set in 1994 fascist Spain. Finally, the story – about a little girl who encounters a fantasy world amidst her harrowing life in a military outpost – is generally well-written and just the kind of archetype-driven material that lets Del Toro reach for the human elements in the story’s dark and despairing corners. All in all, with more than a few moments of chilling tension and tender drama, “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a far cry from boring. But here’s where the “Wizard of Oz” analogy comes in: how “Pan’s Labyrinth” postures is far more spectacular than what it is, which is disappointing.

An Evening with ‘Judy and Frank’ Is Coming to the Frost

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During three nights of cabaret-style performances, Jan. 18-20, Culver City High School students and faculty, through their acclaimed Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, will be giving sometimes-heartrending, sometimes-hilarious renditions of songs from America’s golden age of music.

Focusing on two of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century, the show will revolve around the songs made famous by Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra. Video clips from their stellar stage and film careers will highlight songs by the Culver High students and faculty. The AVPA Chamber Singers also will perform.

Hopefully, the community will not want to miss many of the old favorites. Everything from “You Made Me Love You” to “The Man That Got Away,” from “Witchcraft” to “New York, New York.” There may even be a special appearance by the Rat Pack.

This will be a wonderful opportunity to enjoy these classics, starting at 7 p.m., on the evenings of Thursday, Jan. 18, Friday, Jan. 19, and Saturday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. in the Robert Frost Auditorium on campus on Elenda Street. Tickets are priced at $15, $10 for ASB, children, seniors and faculty. Tickets may be reserved at www.avpa.org.

Sex: Another Reason Americans Need To Be Vigilant

Ben Edward AkerleyA&E

America’s War on Sex: The Attack on Law, Lust, and Liberty, by Marty Klein, Ph.D. Praeger, 8/06, ( ISBN 0-275-98785-X) . $29.95.

Adding to his already impressive roster of works on human sexuality, renowned author, sex educator and therapist Marty Klein has surpassed all previous efforts with this incisive exploration of the sexual battleground that our country has become. He shows us how most effectively to combat sexual ignorance with Sexual Intelligence, the very title of his electronic newsletter. Every war involves two opposing factions. The battle lines here clearly demarcated into erotophobes vs. erotophiles. This descriptive dichotomy parallels other historical bifurcations like madonnas vs. whores and the sex-positive slogan from the 1960s, Make Love, Not War.