Native Intelligence

Wooster Group production exposes something profound about the life and lives of Shaker women.

I understand Mayor Garcetti's desire to create more pedestrian-friendly development in Hollywood, but that's not what happened.

One of two musicals that opened over the weekend lives up to the expression "gotta sing, gotta dance."

Take My Picture Gary Leonard is a regular weekly feature of LA Observed.

The water conservation battle is joined! Santa Monica has pledged to reduce citywide water use 20 percent by December 31, 2016. As you may recall, Mayor Garcetti has already set a Los Angeles goal for a 20 percent reduction by January 2017.

Take My Picture Gary Leonard is a regular weekly feature of LA Observed. Gary's archive....

Take My Picture Gary Leonard runs weekly at LA Observed.

'Veronica Street' is a novel of Los Angeles by Jenny Burman, serialized here at LA Observed.

Some people celebrate the new year with a bellowing Rose Bowl crowd. We prefer the sound of the waves.

The ephemeral art of theater deserves an annual recap of the year's highlights. Of the 225 productions in greater LA I saw this year, here are 25 of the best.

Donna Perlmutter's year-end roundup of some of the notable performances she saw in 2014.

Take My Picture Gary Leonard is a regular weekly feature of LA Observed.

At the beginning of 2014, we took "a sober look at the environment" in LA and California, made 10 predictions, and promised to hold ourselves accountable to you, our readers, at the end of the year. So here we go: what really happened in 2014 and what we can look forward to in 2015 and beyond.

The plaza, like Boyle Heights itself, is in a fragile moment in time. Was the shopkeeper being rude, or did she just not understand?

On the 40th anniversary of Heyday--an independent, nonprofit publisher dedicated to promoting California's many cultures, landscapes, and boundary-breaking ideas--Jon Christensen asks publisher Malcolm Margolin what he would pack for the future of California.

Take My Picture Gary Leonard is a regular weekly feature of LA Observed.

He was lucky to be white.

Steve Harvey collects signs and observations from around Southern California.

Outside City Hall, friends and family of California inmates identified as innocent by the California Innocence Project pleaded for Governor Brown to commute their sentences for the holidays.

More than once, I've asked publicly how Center Theatre Group can possibly justify branding itself as 'LA's Theatre Company.' So I was fascinated when Diane Rodriguez, one of CTG's three associate artistic directors, raised the subject in an interview. Plus: Current stage reviews.