A near decade of ‘Hamilton’; Dudamel is in fine form at the Bowl: L.A. arts and culture this week

“Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?” is not only one of the best songs in the hit musical, “Hamilton,” it’s also the core question informing the creation of the show — which is on the cusp of celebrating its 10-year anniversary, and plays the Hollywood Pantages Theatre through Oct. 13. That Lin-Manuel Miranda, an irrepressibly talented New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent born 204 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, would grow up to tell one of the most compelling stories ever written about the Founding Fathers, is among theater’s proudest achievements. That he did it by writing catchy hip-hop songs about the Federalist Papers, and reimagined the era’s major players as people of color, was revolutionary. Ten years later — even after the culture’s total “Hamilton” saturation — the show still feels like a revelation. I’ve seen, and covered, “Hamilton” numerous times over the years — in San Francisco and L.A. in 2017; and in Puerto Rico in 2019 with Miranda once again in the titular role — but I still sat in awe of the show and its new touring cast on opening night last week. Time and mileage have not dimmed its power or sway. If anything, “Hamilton” is settling into the steady rhythm of its own propulsive locomotion. I now know the words to every song — so I was pleasantly surprised by how much the show still has to give. Looking around at the joyful faces in the audience, I could tell I wasn’t alone.
I’m Times arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt and I was in the room where it happened. My colleague Ashley Lee was too.
1. ‘Olafur Eliasson: Open’Times staff writer Jessica Gelt plugs this site-specific exhibition in our PST guide. “The Icelandic-Danish artist is known for his monumental installation art, which often harnesses natural elements to striking effect,” she writes. “[It] has been tailor-made for MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary using large-scale optical devices that will reflect the architecture of the building in relation to the atmosphere of the city. Light, air, color and geometry will combine for a unique sensory experience.” Through July 6, 2025. Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, 152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo. moca.org
2. Future Islands at the Shrine AuditoriumTimes deputy editor Nate Jackson is amped for the indie-synth pop band’s L.A. stop, in support of its seventh album, “People Who Aren’t There Anymore.” “Since forming nearly two decades ago, the Baltimore quartet continue to challenge themselves and each other,” says Jackson. “Where they’ve pursued ever-higher energy anthems in the past, they’ve turned inward this time and unlocked a new level of ferocity — and dance moves in the case of lead singer Samuel T. Herring. The result is some of their most inspiring and heartbreaking tracks yet, best observed in the center of a packed crowd that’s guaranteed to escalate into a full-on dance party, fueled by all the feels the band can muster.” 8 p.m. Wednesday Shrine Auditorium, 665 W. Jefferson Blvd. future-islands.com
3. ‘In My Living Room: Jessica Vosk Celebrates Broadway, Film, and the Ladies of the Laurel Canyon’The Broadway boldface name lands in Malibu for an intimate cabaret evening at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre. I got a peek at her setlist and, accompanied by music director Matthew Antonio Perri on piano and Rich Mercurio on percussion, she’ll be covering Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” and Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou,” plus beloved numbers from “A Star Is Born,” “Beaches” and “Waitress.” And, of course, she’ll be belting a song or two from “Wicked,” in which she famously played Elphaba for two years. 7:30 p.m. Thursday Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu. arts.pepperdine.edu
4. A conversation with Katherine BucknellTimes deputy editor Matt Brennan hosts a Q&A with Katherine Bucknell to celebrate “Christopher Isherwood Inside Out,” her recently released book about the writer and gay cultural icon and his lifelong search for authenticity. Bucknell previously edited four volumes of Isherwood’s diaries as well as “The Animals,” a volume of letters between Isherwood and his partner, Don Bachardy; she is also the executive director of the Christopher Isherwood Foundation. The book signing event is free to attend; reserved seating requires a purchased copy of the book. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Diesel, a Bookstore, 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica. dieselbookstore.com
— Ashley Lee
MONDAY“Mi Vida Loca” Join writer-director Allison Anders and actors Angel Aviles and Seidy López for a discussion and screening of their 1993 drama about two young women navigating gang life in Echo Park.7:30 p.m. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
TUESDAY“Penguin in Your Ear” In a new solo work, Eliza Bent uses jokes, puns and uncanny accents to spin philosophical stories and anecdotes.7:30 p.m. The Elysian, 1944 Riverside Drive. elysiantheater.com
“Wolves” Photographs and video by Ronan Donovan illustrate the human-wolf conflict by contrasting wild wolves living in the Yellowstone area with those in the Canadian Arctic. Through June 22. Natural History Museum, 900 Exposition Blvd. nhm.org
WEDNESDAYGeorge Washington Carver The exhibition “World Without End” showcases the groundbreaking agricultural scientist and inventor’s art and sustainable paint samples alongside his laboratory equipment. Through March 2. California African American Museum, 600 State Drive, Exposition Park. caamuseum.org
Thom Mayne The L.A.-based architect and artist explores the philosophical intersections of impermanence and materiality in an exhibit of new work, “Shaping Accident.”Through Oct. 26. L.A. Louver, 45 N. Venice Blvd., Venice. lalouver.com
Pulp The OG Britpop act hasn’t played in the U.S. since performing at Coachella in 2012 — itself a reunion gig that brought the band back here after more than a decade away.7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood; 7 p.m. Saturday. Hollywood Forever, 5970 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. welovepulp.info
THURSDAY“A Going Away Party Play” Friends gather to play games, talk politics and discover the truth behind a love story born out of the Iranian revolution in a new play by Keyanna Khatiblou. Through Oct. 27. Boston Court, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. bostoncourtpasadena.org
Joaquina Kalukango The Tony-winning star of “Paradise Square” plays a cabaret engagement in the O.C. Through Saturday. Samueli Theater, Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org
The opening of the new David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles Museum of Art has been pushed to 2026, Times art critic Christopher Knight reports. After pandemic-related delays, the plan had been to complete construction on the $750-million Peter Zumthor-designed building this December, but a recent staff memo obtained by The Times provided a new timeline. It also introduced the idea of public programming in the building before the art is installed. “Once the building is turned over, we are imagining a short period (10-14 days) that will be reserved for programming that takes advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity to work with the empty building,” the memo read.
A “true 21st century Cyrano de Bergerac,” has opened at Pasadena Playhouse, writes Times theater critic Charles McNulty. The modern adaptation by Martin Crimp, directed by Mike Donahue, is a “colorful, gender-fluid, fourth wall-crashing production [that] gives the language the lift of hip-hop.” Read McNulty’s full review, here.
Los Angeles Philharmonic music director and conductor Gustavo Dudamel is closing out the last 15 days of summer at the Hollywood Bowl in grand style, writes Times classical music critic Mark Swed. The young man who made his first tentative appearance on the Bowl’s stage in 2005 has now become a legend — and is strutting his stuff “with six wildly different programs.” Underlying it all is the knowledge that Dudamel is set to leave the L.A. Phil, and the Bowl in 2026, when he heads to Manhattan to lead the New York Philharmonic.
The nonprofit theater community hub PlayGround is celebrating its 30-year anniversary Monday. Founded in the Bay Area in 1994 by Jim Kleinmann, Brighde Mullins and Denise Shama, PlayGround calls itself a “playwright incubator,” and has helped to nurture the work and careers of more than 300 early-career playwrights, and has developed and staged more than 1,000 original short plays. PlayGround expanded to L.A. in 2012 and has also opened satellites in New York City and Chicago. “We regularly see artists moving between our San Francisco and Los Angeles communities now and it’s been nice to have this way to maintain our connections. For the last 12 years, many LA playwrights have been featured in our Bay Area-based Festival of New Works, including Diana Burbano (Sapience), Julianne Jigour (Bright Shining Sea), Lauren Gorski (The Bramford), and Vincent Terrell Durham,” wrote artistic director Kleinmann in an email.
Applications are now open for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2025 National Playwrights Conference. If you’re a hard-working playwright — or a hard-working aspiring playwright — this is worth looking into. Applicants don’t need a professional rep or agent, and can submit plays that have never been staged. According to the announcement soliciting submissions, selected playwrights “receive a week-long workshop with a team of professional directors, dramaturgs, actors, and designers to aid in the exploration of the piece. Each workshop includes two script-in-hand public readings, which provide audience feedback as writers experiment and revise their plays. Writers also receive a multi-week residency on the O’Neill campus to use however they see fit.”
L.A. Dance Project has announced its 2024 Launch LA 4 artists. They are Charissa Kroeger, Evan Sagadencky, Kevin Zambrano and Julia Eichten. The Launch LA residency program recognizes and supports emerging artists in the creation of new work, which then gets presented at the end of the program. In this case, beginning on Oct. 25 as part of LADP Presents at 2255. Each Launch LA dancer receives three weeks of rehearsal space, financial support and the resources to stage their production.
PST Art is officially upon us. I went to the opening press conference at the Getty last week — where I ate lots of overnight oats with berries—and got to listen to a fascinating panel discussion featuring Cannupa Hanska Luger and Refik Anadol. I also checked out the Getty’s PST offerings, and was particularly taken by the exhibit “Sculpting With Light: Contemporary Artists and Holography,” where I stared for far too long at a series of eerie self-portraits of Chuck Close. I swear he was looking at me too. Holograms are unsettling and edgy. I like them.