‘Waiting for Godot’s’ opening-night bash at Geffen Playhouse: L.A. arts and culture this week

The crowd was jubilant on the opening night of “Waiting for Godot” at the Geffen Playhouse last Thursday. Starring Aasif Mandvi and Rainn Wilson, Samuel Beckett’s classic tragicomedy attracted its fair share of celebrity guests, including Annette Bening and Christine Lahti, who mingled alongside season-ticket holders. There were whoops and hollers at key moments of action during the show and a standing ovation at the end, followed by an afterparty where attendees sipped whiskey-and-apple-cider cocktails — called Fall-ing for Godot — and noshed on deconstructed Reuben sandwiches.

I recently sat down with Wilson and Mandvi to discuss their interest in the show. The men are both well-known screen actors, with Wilson inextricably tied to the role of officious employee Dwight Schrute on the long-running NBC comedy “The Office” and Mandvi having made a name for himself as a correspondent on “The Daily Show” before gaining a new slew of fans as skeptical tech expert Ben Shakir in the Paramount+ supernatural series “Evil.” In an often hilarious and wide-ranging conversation, the actors recounted their early stage experiences and confirmed that despite their success on TV, they remain committed to live theater.

I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, waiting patiently for something — anything — to happen. My colleague Ashley Lee and I are working out our place in the universe by rounding up your arts news this week.

Best bets: On our radar this week

Faniswa Yisa, left, Billy Edward, Craig Leo, Carlo Daniels, Sandra Pinsloo and Andrew Buckland in “Life & Times of Michael K.”

(Fiona McPherson)

‘Life & Times of Michael K’
Times theater critic Charles McNulty has been eyeing this collaboration between Handspring Puppet Company (“War Horse”) and Cape Town’s Baxter Theatre. “The production aims for multimedia splendor,” he wrote in our Fall preview. “Anyone who has ever been dazzled by Handspring’s brand of simple yet astonishing enchantment will be eager to see the company work its magic on this modern fable about a humble man and his relationship to his South African homeland.” Director Lara Foot adapted J.M. Coetzee’s Booker Prize-winning novel with Basil Jones and Adrian P. Kohler. Five performances run Thursday through Sunday. Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. thewallis.org

‘Star Wars in Concert’
Alongside the recent news that Simon Kinberg has been tapped to write a new trilogy of “Star Wars” movies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic happens to be celebrating John Williams’ iconic scores for the beloved franchise with four concerts accompanied by specially edited clips from all nine films. These tuneful look-backs will be conducted by Sarah Hicks and hosted by Anthony Daniels, the actor who has played C-3PO since the first movie’s release. Thursday through Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown. laphil.com

“Teresa Tolliver: Sitting on the Edge of Reality” at Parrasch Heijnen Gallery.

(Ed Mumford)

‘Teresa Tolliver: Sitting on the Edge of Reality’
“Assemblages by Teresa Tolliver build fantastic chimeras from trophy-like lion sculptures cobbled together from scavenged elements,” wrote Times art critic Christopher Knight in his review of the Hammer Museum’s biennial “Made in L.A. 2023: Acts of Living.” The South L.A.-based artist now has a solo exhibition at Parrasch Heijnen Gallery, with three decades of work that explores her practice across a variety of mediums, from ceramics to painting to sculpture. The exhibition is on view through Dec. 7. Parrasch Heijnen Gallery, 1326 S. Boyle Ave., Los Angeles. parraschheijnen.com

And for anyone who’s still celebrating spooky season: On Thursday, I’m moderating a postscreening conversation with director Dolly Li about Hulu’s “Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal” — specifically, the docuseries’ episode “Ghosts of Chinatown,” which takes audiences on a journey from America’s oldest Chinatown all the way to Hong Kong. RSVP required.

— Ashley Lee

The week ahead: A curated calendar

Usher plays the Honda Center in Anaheim Monday and Tuesday.

(Steve Luciano / AP)

MONDAY
Usher The Grammy-winning R&B star performs on his Past Present Future tour.
8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. Honda Center, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim. usherworld.com

Yes, and Laughter Lab A comedy show featuring Aparna Nancherla, Chike Robinson, Leah Bonnema, Lynn Maleh, Nthenya Ndunda and host Biniam Bizuneh.
7:30 p.m. Monday. Dynasty Typewriter, 2511 Wilshire Blvd. squadup.com

TUESDAY
Celebrating 30 Years With Martin Chalifour A special evening of music commemorating the principal concertmaster’s three decades with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
8 p.m. Tuesday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

They Came Together Director David Wain and cast members Amy Poehler, Cobie Smulders, Melanie Lynskey and Ed Helms gather for a pair of 10th-anniversary screenings of the rom-com spoof.
7:30 and 10 p.m Tuesday. Eagle Theatre, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. vidiotsfoundation.org

THURSDAY
Mother Sisters A one-woman docu-play written and directed by and starring Makaela Vogel chronicles the experiences of her eight aunts as they left home for the first time.
8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. MoYork, 4959 York Blvd., Highland Park. echotheatercompany.com

Culture news and the SoCal scene

Nicole Scherzinger as Norma Desmond and Hannah Yun Chamberlain as Young Norma, projected on a screen, with Tom Francis, seated, as Joe Gillis in “Sunset Blvd.” on Broadway at the St. James Theatre.

(Marc Brenner)

A trio of directors are reimagining classic works for the modern Broadway stage, writes Times theater critic Charles McNulty. “Jamie Lloyd, Sam Gold and Kenny Leon, three directors who don’t have all that much in common, conjure unexpected sounds from revivals that upend audience expectations. Newness is found in some very familiar places,” writes McNulty. He goes on to discuss the strengths and unexpected twists in the shows: Lloyd’s “sensational” take on “Sunset Blvd.”; Gold’s “Romeo + Juliet,” which is delivered “in the form of a rave,” and Leon’s “Our Town,” which turns the Thornton Wilder classic into “a reflection of today’s multicultural America.”

Ashley En-fu Matthews as Fencing Master’s Daughter performing “Pretty Lady” in “Pacific Overtures” at East West Players.

(Teolindo)

McNulty gives a rave review to East West Players’ new production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s 1976 musical “Pacific Overtures,” running through Dec. 1. The show is directed by former EWP artistic director Tim Dang — who led the company for more than 20 years and shepherded the 1998 revival of the show that opened the David Henry Hwang Theater. “Dang’s return to EWP to direct another production of this hugely ambitious musical turns out to be one of the best things to have happened in 2024, at least from a theater perspective. The new revival of ‘Pacific Overtures’ may be the most impressive production I’ve seen anywhere all year,” writes McNulty. Click here to find out why.

Artist Doug Aitken’s 65-minute film “Lightscape” premiered this weekend at Walt Disney Concert Hall with live accompaniment by the Los Angeles Master Chorale and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic as part of the daylong Noon to Midnight festival of new music. Writer Tim Greiving checked in with Aitken and other collaborators, including actress Natasha Lyonne, to discuss the “hard-to-explain” creation. “Lightscape” “will then transmogrify into an exhibition opening Dec. 17 at the Marciano Art Foundation in L.A.’s Windsor Square neighborhood, where Aitken’s film will be ‘exploded’ onto seven screens and extended with physical artwork related to the film. Singers and musicians will regularly drop in on Saturdays and interact with the film in real time,” writes Greiving.

Artist Frank Auerbach in an undated photo.

(David Dawson / Associated Press)

German-British painter Frank Auerbach died Monday in London. He was 93. Auerbach was a leading figure in the British art world, best known for his dense, abstract portraits, which helped redefine a genre known for its clarity of purpose.

Late last week, the Fowler Museum hosted a ceremony to mark the return of the ancestral remains of 14 Indigenous Australians to their home country, where they were welcomed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese‘s labor government. The Fowler returned three ancestors, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County returned two, the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology in Berkeley returned five and the Oakland Museum of California returned four. “With this ceremony, we bear witness to the beginning of the return journey of people who never asked to be here in the first place,” said Silvia Forni, director of the Fowler Museum at UCLA, in a news release. “We are grateful to be able to assist in the effort to bring them as close to home as possible.”

—Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

If you are looking for a cost-effective night on the town that also includes a steak and a martini (before a great live performance), might I suggest a classic, well-worn bar and restaurant called the H.M.S. Bounty inside the historic 1924 Gaylord apartments on Wilshire in Koreatown. The nautically themed mainstay sat across the street from the now torn-down Ambassador Hotel and its famous Cocoanut Grove nightclub, and legend has it that singers. including Ella Fitzgerald, would tipple at the Bounty (which went by other names until 1962) to get away from the glitzy mayhem across the way. These days, a petite filet mignon will set you back only $21.99.