Art Spiegelman, Janinah Burnett and more: L.A. arts and culture this weekend
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“Art Spiegelman is one of the most important cartoonists in the world working today. He tackled a subject that was enormous, and he established the medium as a serious literary form.”
That’s what Joe Sacco says of his fellow cartoonist in “Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse,” a new documentary that explores the career and legacy of the artist, editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the acclaimed graphic novel “Maus.”
The “American Masters” title, which won the Metropolis Grand Jury Prize at the DOC NYC Festival in November, features archival footage and stills, illustrations and new interviews with Spiegelman, as well as insights from his family and contemporaries, including cartoonists Robert Crumb, Emil Ferris, Jerry Craft and Bill Griffith, writer-artist Molly Crabapple and author J. Hoberman.
A portion of the film sees Spiegelman deconstructing “Maus” — which was based on his father’s experiences as a Jewish immigrant and Holocaust survivor, as well as his own struggle to visualize it as an artist — and discussing its creation and impact alongside his wife, designer Françoise Mouly. Other sections recap his chapter as co-editor of comic magazines Arcade and Raw and revisit his most notable New Yorker covers.
The film premiered earlier this week on PBS and is streaming online and available via the PBS app through May 14. It is a galvanizing watch about the power of art as a medium for processing humanity’s most horrific events , and the lasting influence such brave creations will have for generations to come. I’m Ashley Lee, here with my fellow Times staff writer Jessica Gelt with more things to do and news to peruse.
Best bets: On our radar this week
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‘What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843–1999’
The Getty Center‘s interactive pop-up reading room highlights more than 100 photobooks and encourages visitors to hold the books, read and flip through pages. The exhibition includes a selection of contemporary photobooks by female Southern California photographers, including Catherine Opie, Uta Barth, Jo Ann Callis, Elena Dorfman, Rose-Lynn Fisher, Judy Fiskin and Soo Kim. It is on view through May 11; the Getty’s Central Garden will feature poetry inspired by the exhibition from Camae Ayewa (April 23) and Solange Aguilar (April 30). Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood. getty.edu
‘The Totality of All Things’
Erik Gernand‘s play, which debuted in Chicago last year, explores the country’s growing divide through the lens of a hate crime at a small-town Indiana high school. The Road Theatre Company production is part of Reflections on Art and Democracy, a citywide celebration of plays, salons, lectures, and concerts that raise awareness about the rise of fascism and antisemitism, as well as the power of art and design to resist them. Directed by Taylor Nichols, this West Coast premiere runs through May 25; Saturday’s performance includes a talkback with the playwright. Road Theatre,10747 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. roadtheatre.org
Janinah Burnett
Boston Court Pasadena continues its Just Jazz Foundation Series with this one-night-only concert, featuring songs from the artist’s debut album, “Love the Color of Your Butterfly,” as well as hidden gems from various eras of American musical history. Of course, this set list will be delivered with “clazz” — her signature combination of numerous genres of music, including classical and jazz. Saturday, 8 p.m. Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. bostoncourtpasadena.org
— Ashley Lee
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
🎸 AC/DC at the Rose Bowl
The stalwart Australian rockers electrify the Arroyo Seco with their Power Up tour and opening act the Pretty Reckless.
7 p.m. Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena. rosebowlstadium.com
📖 🎭 Dark Library: Paris 1925
Visit Gertude Stein’s apartment and mingle with such notable expats as Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, via this intersection of multisensory mediums, including cocktails, dance and movement, and experiential design.
7 and 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, through April 26. New Musicals Inc., 5628 Vineland Ave., North Hollywood. eventbrite.com
🎸 Graham Nash
The singer-songwriter with the light tenor voice performs “More Evenings of Songs & Stories 2025,” including his solo work and as a member of the Hollies and Crosby, Stills & Nash (and sometimes Young).
8 p.m. Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 E. Atherton St., Long Beach. carpenterarts.org
🎵 🎭 Shrek the Musical Jr.
A benefit performance by middle school students with all donations going to help rebuild the Altadena Arts Magnet and Eliot Arts Magnet arts programs, which were severely affected by the Eaton fire. Admission is free but reservations are required.
7 p.m. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. centertheatregroup.org
SATURDAY
🎤 Krush Groove Festival
The Game, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Redman and Method Man are among the performers at the annual hip-hop festival presented by 93.5 KDAY.
Kia Forum, 3900 W Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. 935kday.com
SUNDAY
📖 An Evening With Mark Hoppus
The Blink-182 singer discusses his new memoir, “Fahrenheit-182.”
4 p.m. The Wiltern, 3790 Wilshire Blvd. wiltern.com
🎭 God’s Favorite
James Rice directs Neil Simon’s 1974 comedy, loosely based on the biblical book of Job.
Through May 3. Long Beach Playhouse Theatres, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach. lbplayhouse.org
🎞️ Something Mysterious: The Art of Philip Seymour Hoffman
The Academy Museum’s tribute series to the late Oscar-winning actor continues this week with “Magnolia” (1999, 7:30 p.m. Sunday) and “The Savages” (2007, 7:30 p.m. Monday).
Series continues through May 29. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
Culture news and the SoCal scene
An art project called “The Goodbye Line” has been gaining steam — and users — in Southern California. Created by Adam Trunell and partner Alexis Wood, the interactive project consists of stickers placed on working payphones around the city, inviting passersby to call a free recorded line in order to say goodbye to something or someone. Trunell and Wood are posting these recordings online. The results are wildly varied, but almost always poignant.
Beloved Devo frontman and all-around uber creator Mark Mothersbaugh has finally opened his MutMuz Gallery to the public. For years Mothersbaugh had used the space on Chung King Road in Chinatown, but he never invited guests inside. First up: his debut solo show of paintings and screenprints, “Why Are We Here? No. 01.”
“Regency Girls,” a new musical comedy set in the era of Jane Austen, is making its pre-Broadway debut at the Old Globe in San Diego. Penned by TV writers Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan, and directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes, the show is “both genuinely funny and unabashedly silly,” writes Times theater critic Charles McNulty. Fans of “Pride and Prejudice” will likely savor the nonstop action, he speculates.
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Heidi Zuckerman will step down from her role as CEO and director of the Orange County Museum of Art in December, the museum announced this week. Zuckerman has overseen an extraordinary period of growth during her tenure, including the 2022 grand opening of the museum’s new Thom Mayne, Morphosis Architects-designed home. Zuckerman is OCMA’s 13th director since its 1962 founding and will help the executive committee search for a successor. The museum noted that in the two years since opening its new building, more than 500,000 visitors have stepped through its doors — a number 12 times greater than attendance in the old location.
OCMA is not the only regional museum announcing a change in leadership. Adam Lerner, the executive director and CEO of Palm Springs Art Museum, announced this week that he decided not to renew his contract after four years at the helm of the institution. “The museum is now stronger, more inclusive, and more engaged than ever — and I’m especially proud of the outstanding executive team we’ve built to carry that momentum forward,” Lerner wrote in a message about his decision to museum members.
The 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows was announced this week and 16 L.A.-area honorees are among the 198 artists, scientists and more — across 53 disciplines — selected for the program. Writer-director-actor Miranda July is among the 2025 fellows, as is playwright Larissa Fasthorse, who is receiving funding in a new category for Indigenous Studies. “At a time when intellectual life is under attack, the Guggenheim Fellowship celebrates a century of support for the lives and work of visionary scientists, scholars, writers, and artists,” Edward Hirsch, poet and president of the Guggenheim Foundation, said in a news release. “We believe that these creative thinkers can take on the challenges we all face today and guide our society towards a better and more hopeful future.” The additional L.A.-area residents selected are Coleman Collins, UC Irvine, fine arts; Kyungmi Shin, fine arts; Raven Jackson, film/video; Mona Jarrahi, UCLA, engineering; Suk-Young Kim, UCLA, theater arts; Jingyi Jessica Li, UCLA, data science; Park Williams, UCLA, earth science; Mungo Thomson, film/video; Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni, UCLA, earth science; Julie Tolentino, CalArts, fine arts; Carolyn Castaño, fine arts; Lauren Bon, Metabolic Studio, fine arts; Kerry Howley, general nonfiction; Emily Barker, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, fine arts.
— Jessica Gelt
And last but not least
Introducing Jesse Eisenberg — composer, lyricist and movie-musical director.
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