When Ateez first arrived in Los Angeles from South Korea in 2018, they were aspiring K-pop idols who were still only learning their craft and unsure what the future had in store for them.
From humble beginnings training at Movement Lifestyle and Millennium Dance Complex, Ateez have gone on to headline arenas and stadiums across the city and established themselves as one of the biggest K-pop groups in the world.
The eight-member K-pop unit — made up of Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho — have headlined festivals, accumulated billions of streams and transcended the genre with viral songs and dances such as “Bad” and “Bouncy (K-Hot Chilli Peppers).”
Marking another milestone in their careers, Ateez headlined their first outdoor festival in L.A. with the inaugural two-day K-pop music festival 82 World at Los Angeles State Historic Park in October.
Following their performance, Hongjoong, San, Mingi and Jongho of Ateez sat down with The Times to discuss their comeback with their 15th mini-album, “Golden Hour: Part.6,” out Friday.
The excitement about the album was palpable, as San and Jongho couldn’t hold back their dance moves while discussing songs like “Up” and “Drip.” The album sees Ateez experiment with genres, such as heavy trap, while incorporating familiar elements that have made them so popular over the years.
How was the performance at 82 World?
San: It’d been over a year since our last show in L.A., so it was special, and the fans were full of energy as we hadn’t seen them for so long.
How have these big performances, like 82 World or headlining at BMO Stadium, helped you grow as performers?
San: I think the most important thing that we’ve gained from these big performances is confidence. We have been performing on bigger stages and meeting more Atiny — the fandom name — and this made us enjoy performing more.
Did this feel like a full-circle moment, as you’re headlining a festival in the city you trained in?
Hongjoong: We have been to L.A. a lot of times, but this is the first time we’ve had a big outdoor performance in L.A. This felt like a full-circle moment. Also, the fact that we got to perform “From” at the end of the show, which is a song that we made in L.A., made it even more special.
What are your memories of recording “From”?
Hongjoong: When we recorded “From,” it was our pre-debut song, so it was before all of this happened. So getting the chance to perform this in front of the fans who we thought about whilst writing the song made it even more special.
What did you learn from training in L.A. that perhaps you couldn’t have just picked up in Seoul?
Mingi: The thing that I learned the most in L.A. is about showmanship. There’s a lot of freedom and happiness on stage.
How did you feel that freedom in the studio when recording in L.A.?
Mingi: Rather than in the studio, it was something I learned to express whilst on stage. But as we travel to different countries and cities, I picked up bits and pieces from each place, so it wasn’t just from L.A.
What energy does L.A. bring you?
Jongho: It’s not just the concerts; it’s the fact we have beautiful weather in L.A., too, and that gives me a lot of energy. Also, on my way to the concerts, I love looking at the beautiful scenery, and everything here is a little bit brighter.
Did you have any favorite places you liked to go while training?
Hongjoong: When we first came to L.A., we were just there to train, so we didn’t really go to any special places. We would just go to places near the dance studio to get sandwiches during our break. We would just try anything during that time.
How will “Golden Hour: Part.6”show a new side of Ateez from what we’ve seen recently?
Hongjoong: Of all the “Golden Hour” installments, this feels like the most Ateez and the most representative of what we want to express. We’ve also tried a lot of different genres throughout the “Golden Hour” and “Treasure” series, so we’re bringing them together for this mini-album.
What was that like, experimenting in the studio and bringing all these sounds together?
San: We’re thankful that we have the freedom to try all of these different genres. There was an opportunity to explore the different music tastes of Atiny and what sounds they liked, and that helped us grow as artists. It was a good challenge to experiment.
Congratulations on the eighth anniversary. How does this album celebrate your anniversary, and why is this a special milestone?
Mingi: The fact that we’ve stayed together for eight years is a gift in itself, and we’re thankful for that. Also, we were able to grow together and share these experiences in such a short time, which is a blessing. We are looking forward to our ninth, 10th and 20th anniversaries.
Is there any moment in your eight years that you wish you could relive?
Jongho: Rather than one specific moment, every moment that we’ve been able to live through these eight years has been special. We just want to enjoy every moment and connect with the fans for a long time.
One of the biggest moments must have been your first show, which was at the Globe Theatre in L.A. in 2019. How did that feel?
San: We went in not knowing much. We didn’t know how many people would turn up, but from the first moment we were able to hit the stage and connect with Atiny, we started to feel more confident. Our first show was in L.A., and people from all different cultures and backgrounds were coming from different places. The fact that they were able to sing with us as one and sing in Korean and all our songs from the beginning to the end was a beautiful memory that I still cherish.
You go through lots of training, but what did you learn from that first show that you couldn’t have prepared for?
Mingi: The thing I learned the most was how to connect with the fans and get them as excited as us. It’s like a symbiotic energy. With every concert and every moment, I’m always learning how to get fans more excited, how to communicate with them and make sure they enjoy it from the start until the very end.
Is there anything you wish you had known before debuting that would have helped you prepare differently?
Jongho: We always used to beat ourselves up when things didn’t go as planned, even if it was just a little mistake or it wasn’t as perfect as we had imagined. It meant that we couldn’t always enjoy the moment. Now, we try to enjoy the moment, and then we review our performances afterward and we can adjust that for the next show or project.
How does “Up” reflect the sound and energy of the new mini-album?
Hongjoong: One of the reasons that we were able to get a lot of attention early in our careers was that we had a signature energy in our songs and performances. We think that “Up” carries this same energy, but as we’ve been on this road for eight years, it has a more mature sound. It’s something that people have missed from Ateez, but it is also a culmination of our eight years of experience.
In a similar way, what did you want to express with “Drip”?
Hongjoong: “Drip” has a heavy trap sound that we’ve never really explored before. As we’ve mentioned, “Golden Hour” is all about bringing new sounds and energies.
How did that new heavy trap sound feel in the studio?
Jongho: At first, when I heard the song, I thought, “Oh, my God! How am I going to make my voice match with this rhythm?” But from the moment I hit the studio and started recording, I was taken by the rhythm and started moving along to the beat, and it was a really fun recording experience.
Congratulations on the success of “Bad.” What has it been like to see a song transcend the genre and become so popular?
San: We received a lot of love from “Bad.” With all of that love, we want to give back with better performances. … We want to give back all of the love, support and attention.
There was a great music video with Chase Infiniti. What was it like to work with her on that?
Hongjoong: When we were in the early stages of planning for the music video, we knew that her role was going to be really important for this video, so we were really eager to have her involved. She was very professional and dedicated to always doing her best. She also brought a great energy to the set and gave each one of us really positive vibes. We are really grateful that she was with us and she is a big part of why “Bad” was such a great success.
Collaborating and working with Chase, what new perspective did you learn about Atiny and your fandom?
Hongjoong: Chase was actually the first Atiny to hear the song, as she needed to hear it for the music video. Also, since she had a dancing part, she also needed to look at the performance. She was really excited about it, so we knew the reaction from Atiny would be the same. She was really proud of being an Atiny and was talking about it and happy about being part of the fandom. We are very proud of her and the way that she has been able to grow that much as a great actress. We are really looking forward to what she’s going to do in the future.
Children in Need viewers are calling on Rylan Clark to take on a new role after watching him perform.
Rylan Clark is one of the hosts this year (Image: BBC)
Children in Need viewers have been left issuing the same demand after watching Rylan Clark perform.
The former X Factor star and beloved TV presenter joined Alex Jones, Sara Cox, Tyler West and Mel Giedroyc as host of Children in Need 2026.
As part of the performances over Friday evening, the presenters took part in a Strictly Come Dancing routine, that saw Rylan partnered with Strictly icon Amy Dowden.
Watching him dance, viewers rushed to social media to urge for Rylan to join the next series of Strictly Come Dancing. One person said: “GET RYLAN ON THE MAIN SERIES PRONTO!” Another wrote: “Rylan for Strictly 2027!”
“Rylan was very good. We always suspected he could dance. Loved that,” another said. Someone else said: “OH MY GODDDD @Rylan and Amy!!! It’s a 10 from me.”
Yet another echoed: “Why is @Rylan not on #StrictlyComeDancing he would be amazing!” as someone else said: “Rylan has some moves.”
Another viewer added: “NEED RYLAN ON NEXT YEARS MAIN SERIES PLEASE.” Someone else said: “They should definitely get Rylan as a celebrity on a future series of Strictly. He did so well with that dance.”
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Amy had announced her new dance partner for the Children in Need special earlier this week, sending fans wild as she confirmed she’d be dancing with Rylan.
This comes after Amy and her Strictly celebrity partner Chris Appleton became the first pair eliminated from the BBC competition this year. Amy was also the first eliminated last year, when she was partnered with Thomas Skinner, btu has remained a firm favourite with fans.
Ahead of hosting Children in Need, Rylan said: “It’s amazing to be part of Children in Need’s appeal show, obviously it’s something that I have grown up watching and loved and have been involved in in the past, so to be asked to host this year is a real honour.”
He added: “People should get involved this year for the exact same reasons they should get involved every year! There are still children in need and all the money raised is going to help so many amazing people and projects.”
Children in Need is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
The Royal British Legion’s Festival of Remembrance 2026 was hosted by Clive Myrie
22:43, 07 Nov 2026Updated 22:46, 07 Nov 2026
Alfie Boe wowed BBC Festival of Remembrance viewers(Image: BBC)
BBC viewers were left divided on Saturday night by singer Alfie Boe’s performance.
The singer took to the stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall, where senior members of the Royal Family joined veterans, serving personnel and their families.
The BBC event, hosted by Clive Myrie, also left viewers in tears following performances by Alfie Boe, James Emmanuel, Mica Paris, Rita Wilson, and Tom Odell, alongside stirring sets from The Band of The Royal Air Force Regiment and The Bands of HM Royal Marines Portsmouth and Collingwood.
However, just minutes into Alfie’s rendition of Run, BBC viewers were left divided, and while some were moved, others felt the original version was better.
“Alfie Boe never fails to deliver exceptional,” one fan praised, as another agreed, “Alfie Boe is phenomenal. I don’t know a voice like his. That Run performance was beautiful. My favourite singer.”
Someone else added, “I was already struggling to hold back the tears, and then Alfie Boe sang Run. What a voice, what a performance. We are all united in thinking of those who never made it home and the families they left behind.”
However, not all viewers shared the same views, as one said, “No need to shout Alfie Boe.”
Another commented, “I like Alfie Boe…. But only Snow Patrol can sing this song sorry,” as another fan echoed, “Agreed 100%.”
The BBC will also continue its coverage on Sunday as Sophie Raworth and Petroc Trelawny present live coverage from London as members of the Royal Family lead the Remembrance Sunday commemorations at the Cenotaph.
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Senior members of the Royal Family will be joined on Whitehall by leading UK politicians, alongside representatives of the armed forces, the Commonwealth, and faith communities, for the two-minute silence at 11 o’clock and the National Service of Remembrance.
This is followed by the annual wreath-laying and the historic march past of 10 000 veterans as the nation remembers all those who have died serving their country.
The BBC’s Festival of Remembrance is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Édouard Manet’s “Execution of Maximilian” will go on view at Pasadena’s Norton Simon Museum next week, marking the first time the painting has been exhibited on the West Coast. The historic canvas, on loan from London’s National Gallery, has a fascinating backstory and represents a key moment in French political history, making its arrival shortly after this country’s stunning midterm election particularly auspicious.
The painting is the second of five versions Manet created (circa 1867-68) shortly after the shocking execution of Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, who briefly served as the emperor of Mexico after being encouraged to do so by the French emperor Napoleon III. In 1867, Maximilian — along with his generals Tomás Mejía and Miguel Miramón — faced a firing squad made up of soldiers loyal to former Mexican President Benito Juárez, who had been forced out of Mexico City in 1863 when French forces descended on the capital. Maximilian’s ouster and death stunned many Europeans, who blamed Napoleon III for the bloodshed.
Manet’s monumental canvas is cold and unyielding in its impersonal depiction of the violent episode, and in many ways helped birth the modern historical political painting. Through Manet’s eyes, political violence is not heroic, but pedestrian, benign even. It contains echoes of another famous political painting: Francisco de Goya’s “The Third of May, 1808,” which also depicts death by firing squad — this time the execution of civilians by French troops during Napoleon’s notorious occupation of Spain.
The canvas coming to the Norton Simon was long neglected and is thought to have been discarded by Manet when he became dissatisfied by discrepancies in the size of the figures he painted. His family cut the canvas into four pieces after his death and sold them separately. It was saved from oblivion by Manet’s friend Edgar Degas, who managed to get a hold of all the fragments. The painting was acquired by the National Gallery in 1918 at Degas’ studio sale, and the painting was pieced together again in the late 1970s.
“Manet’s Execution of Maximilian is not only an icon within the history of nineteenth-century art, but also a profound reflection on the ways in which images shape our understanding of political events and collective memory,” said Emily Talbot, vice president of collections and chief curator at the Norton Simon in a news release. “By bringing this extraordinary painting together with historical materials that document the French intervention in Mexico, we invite visitors to consider how history is constructed in visual form.”
The painting will be on view at the Norton Simon from Nov. 14 to March 1, 2027.
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt ready for a jubilant walk through a museum on the heels of a roller coaster of an election. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
[Update: A previous version of this story said Manet’s “Execution of Maximilian”had not been shown in the U.S. for 20 years. It has not been shown on the West Coast before, but was shown in New York in 2024.]
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The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
LA Phil’s incoming music director Daniel Harding conducting at the Hollywood Bowl in 2025.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
Daniel Harding Leads Bernstein & Brahms The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s incoming music director leads the orchestra for Leonard Bernstein’s “Symphony No. 1,” with mezzo-soprano Avery Amereau, and is joined by Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes for Johannes Brahms’ “Second Piano Concerto.” 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Idina Menzel The Broadway star joins with the Pacific Symphony, led by conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez, for a night of hits. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 300 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org
NOW 2026 REDCAT’s New Original Works Festival features a different program each week over three weekends. First up, Alfonso Abraham Cervera and Irvin Manuel Gonzalez’s “las cosas que enter(r)amos,” a mix of Latinx American social and folk dance, storytelling, and contemporary dance; Scottie Harvey’s “Hole Gazers,” a comedic satire about fantasy, surveillance and life online; and Jeonghyeon Joo’s “how to bathe properly,” a solo work for haegeum, a two-string instrument, performed in a staged Korean sauna. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, through Nov. 21. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org
Radio Galaxy Joey McIntyre, Lesli Margherita, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Meera Simhan, Rishi Golani and Jordyn Rahman star in a new play by Michèle Aldin Kushner about a New Jersey teen who dreams of becoming an astronomer. Directed by Kimberly Senior. Through Nov. 22. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
Sable Elyse Smith “Sky Fence Ground” features new woven works on paper, a recent video work and a monumental kinetic sculpture by the multimedia artist. Opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Friday, exhibit runs through Dec. 19. Regen Projects, 6750 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. regenprojects.com
SATURDAY
Angela Anh Nguyen Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND) presents the artist’s “Entropy,” a site-specific installation that addresses the collective experience of the 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires through social media, monitoring apps, and other forms of digital communication. Opening reception, 1-4 p.m., exhibit runs through Dec. 13. Old Fire Station No. 6, 534 E. Edgeware Road, Angelino Heights. nomadicdivision.org
Takes Care of Them Four large-scale prints by artist Dyani White Hawk (Sicangu Lakota) each depict a dress adorned differently to reflect on the roles of Lakota women in four areas: Wówahokuŋkiya (Lead); Wókaǧe (Create); Nakíčižiŋ (Protect); and Wačháŋtognaka (Nurture). Autry Museum of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park. theautry.org
SUNDAY
Billie Holiday and The Blues L.A.’s Marlonius Jazz Orchestra, led by virtuoso bassist and composer Marlon Martinez, is joined by Brooklyn vocalist Mara Kaye for this tribute to Holiday and deep blues cuts. 8 p.m. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. sierramadreplayhouse.org
Camerata Pacifica The November program includes a world premiere by Niloufar Nourbakhsh, Mozart’s “Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat Major,” alongside contemporary chamber works by Michael Daugherty, Missy Mazzoli and the late Sarah Gibson. 3 p.m. Sunday. Bank of America Performing Arts Center, Janet & Ray Scherr Forum Theatre, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Huntington, Rothenberg Hall, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino; 8 p.m. Thursday. The Colburn School, Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A.; and 7 p.m. Friday. Music Academy of the West, Hahn Hall, 1070 Fairway Road, Santa Barbara. cameratapacifica.org
Romeo and Juliet: Time Enough for Love Open Fist Theatre Company presents a new age-reversed adaptation conceived and directed by Christian Lebano. Previews, 7:30 Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday, play runs Nov. 13-Dec. 19. Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. openfist.org
Sage Ni’Ja Whitson: Revival_ _Revival A free processional performance across the once predominantly Black community of Santa Monica, visiting sacred historic sites lost to time and gentrification, with a live score of gospel, house, hip hop, and voice. Audience members are invited to wear white clothing and white masks, and the procession closes with a fellowship meal at Ocean Bay Beach. 2 p.m. First AME Church, 1823 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica. 18thstreet.org
WEDNESDAY
Destiny of Desire Karen Zacarías’ smart and fearless homage to telenovelas yields an epic, twisting yarn, full of coincidences and cliff-hangers, mistaken identities and gobsmacking revelations. It’s invigorating fun but also radiant with insight into the age-old debate between nature and nurture. When I first saw the play at South Coast Repertory in 2016, I was seduced by the production’s Brechtian energy. And I’m eager to see what fresh light director Marcela Lorca sheds on a play that my students at CalArts one year claimed as their favorite of the semester — and they have excellent taste. (Charles McNulty) Through Dec. 20. Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. centertheatregroup.org
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, from left, Kara Young, Glenn Davis and Jon Michael Hill in the Broadway/Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of “Purpose.”
(Marc J. Franklin)
Purpose The original Steppenwolf Theatre Company cast of the Broadway production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning drama reassembles at the Geffen Playhouse for the most anticipated dramatic event of the season. The play, about a prominent Black Chicago family headed by a civil rights icon with skeletons in his closet, has the scope, heft and flamboyant idiosyncrasy of the landmark American domestic dramas of the past. Under the assured direction of Phylicia Rashad, the actors brought the characters so richly to life in New York that I can’t wait to experience their ensemble alchemy in L.A. (Charles McNulty) Through Dec. 13. Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood. geffenplayhouse.org
THURSDAY The Heiress Theater 40 presents the classic American romantic drama, adapted by Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz from Henry James’ novel “Washington Square.” Directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky. Through Dec. 13. Beverly Hills High School, Mary Levin Cutler Theatre, 241 S. Moreno Drive. theatre40.org
Kafka’s Letter to His Father Keeping things in weird perspective, CAP UCLA, in collaboration with Brightwork Ensemble, presents a production of Czech composer Jiri Trtik’s opera “Letter to His Father.” About Kafka’s artistic liberation from paternal authority, it is produced by and stars the most transformative tenor of our time, Timur. (Mark Swed) 8 p.m. Thursday-Nov. 14. UCLA Nimoy 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu
Las Migas The Spanish Latin Grammy-winning all-women quartet melds traditional flamenco with contemporary stylings to reimagine the classic art form. 7:30 p.m. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with Isata Kanneh-Mason The New York-based classical ensemble is joined by the British pianist for a program featuring Mozart, Handel, Haydn and Welsh composer (and New York transplant) Katie Jenkins. 7:30 p.m. Broad Stage at Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica. broadstage.org
Dispatch: A harrowing exhibition of Iranian art in Chinatown
“Lunch,” by BSisters (Behnaz and Baharak Khaleghi), on view at the Fellows of Contemporary Art gallery in Chinatown.
(Fellows of Contemporary Art)
“Lunch,” a centerpiece installation at Fellows of Contemporary Art’s new exhibition centered on the works of Iranian-born women artists in California, is an upsetting sculpture that’s as soft and intimate as a pillow.
The piece, by the Bay Area duo BSisters (Behnaz and Baharak Khaleghi), riffs on the myth of Zahāk — a vain tyrant with snakes around his head that eat human brains to keep him alive. It’s a tale from the Shahnameh, a 1,000-year-old Persian epic poem. BSisters have rendered it here in cozy pastel fabrics and gauzy spilled cotton, materials that speak to how women activists in Iran have been brutalized and consumed by the fundamentalist regime there. The sculpture — very funny and unnerving at once — also evokes the strange mix of distance and intimacy of Iranian immigrants to the U.S., watching the current conflict curdle their hopes for change into deeper worry.
It’s one of several affecting pieces on display at FOCA’s Chinatown gallery as part of “I Saw a Woman, Pounding Light into Mortar,” an exhibition in which six California-based Iranian women artists grapple with distance and helplessness, amid a conflict where both governments seem driven by an almost cannibalistic consumption of people and resources.
“Growing up in Iran, political repression was never something distant from our everyday lives. It shaped our childhood, our experiences as women, and the ways we learned to express ourselves,” said Katayoun Bahrami, the exhibit’s curator. “Living in the United States now, I feel a constant tension between building a life here and remaining deeply connected to what is happening back home. This past year has been especially painful. After the deadly crackdown on protesters in January and the war that followed, hope and anger have been hard to separate. Watching from thousands of miles away, unable to do much, has brought a sense of helplessness that is difficult to describe.”
Much of the work here is quietly devastating in evoking absence, fear and exile. Shaghayegh Cyrous’s video installation “Reenacting the Future” is a mirror image of a mother and daughter, filmed over 12 years in the U.S. and Iran, a visual echo cleaved by exile. Narges Poursadeqi’s sculpture “Between Dots of Blindness” could fit in a desk drawer, but the braille poem it spools through a music box feels like the last thing you would shove in a suitcase, fleeing for a new country.
“This exhibition was born during the internet and phone shutdowns in Iran, when we had no way to reach our families or know whether they were safe. That silence was terrifying,” Bahrami said. “Bringing these artists together became deeply personal for me. I recognize parts of my own fears, memories, and longing in their work. Through their art and our conversations, I’ve found ways to process feelings that are difficult to carry alone. Curating this exhibition has helped me turn some of that helplessness into something meaningful. It has also reminded me how much we need one another, especially when we feel powerless to change what is happening.”
“I Saw a Woman, Pounding Light into Mortar” at FOCA-LA through Nov. 28; 970 N. Broadway, Suite 208, Los Angeles 90012.
— August Brown
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Director Zhailon Levingston sits outside before the rehersal of “Passing Strange” at the Pasadena Playhouse.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
“Passing Strange,” a 20-year-old musical that takes place in downtown L.A. and went to Broadway, has never been performed here — until now. Pasadena Playhouse hosts its SoCal premiere.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is shaking things up. This week it announced a slew of new leadership positions that will go into effect alongside incoming music director Daniel Harding. The orchestra’s post-Dudamel future is shaping up to be quite interesting.
The most anticipated play of the season is about to open as “Oh Mary!” heads for the Ahmanson. Ticket sales have been so brisk that Center Theatre Group has already booked the show again for next season.
A “Do Not Enter” sign hangs on the fence at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 25 in Washington.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP photo)
The Kennedy Center may be closed indefinitely for renovations, but that did not stop its Trump-anointed leaders from announcing who would be recognized at this year’s Kennedy Center Honors — to be held by necessity at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7. Honorees include singer-songwriter Paul Anka, music producer David Foster, actor Andy Garcia, playwright David Mamet and country singer Barbara Mandrell.
Match of the Day pundits Danny Murphy and Stephan Warnock analyse Lisandro Martinez’s performance in Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea, where the Argentinian defender was sent off.
Just in time for next week’s midterms, Brooklyn-based artist Phil Buehler has unveiled another one of his series of public art installations critiquing modern politics on a stretch of chain link fence between a coffee shop and a bar in Bushwick. The 50-foot-long, 10-foot-high piece, “Wall of Crazy,” features 1,516 of President Trump’s social media posts — selected from more than 70,000 — and arranged chronologically, with color-coded statement categories aligning with the American Psychiatric Assn.‘s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition.
These include: social-emotional incongruity (“Happy Thanksgiving to all including the racist and incompetent Attorney General of New York State”); divine favor/ magical thinking (an AI photo of Trump seated beside Jesus Christ in court); catastrophizing (“This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision”); contradictions and reversals (a 2019 post calling Atty. Gen. Bill Barr “fair and reasonable” vs. a 2023 post calling him “dumb, weak, slow moving, lethargic, gutless and lazy”); hostility, humiliation and threats (calling Tucker Carlson a “very low IQ individual. He could barely get out of college and maybe he didn’t.”); grandiosity (“I am far healthier than Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, but especially, Kamala”); extraordinary and implausible claims (“The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran at levels of military strength and power not seen since World War II”); persecution and victimhood (“Only 25 percent want the president impeached, which is pretty low considering the volume of fake news coverage, but pretty high considering the fact that I did nothing wrong”); and conspiracy thinking (“Wayne County (Detroit) Michigan is one of the most corrupt voting areas in the United States, if not the world”).
In a recent phone interview, Buehler said he made the wall over a period of months beginning in July, using his day-job background in market research and data analysis and statistics to search for patterns in large amounts of data in order to distill it down to something simple. Buehler’s first foray into making a wall of public art came in 2020 with the “Wall of Lies,” which documented more than 20,000 false or misleading claims made by Trump.
A detail shot of the “Wall of Crazy” by Brooklyn-based artist Phil Buehler, featuring 1,516 of Donald Trump’s social media posts.
(Photo from Phil Buehler)
At that time, he said, he was struck by the massive volume of falsehoods. “I wanted to dramatize that in a way that brought the sheer scale of it to life,” he said, noting that the same objective holds true for the “Wall of Crazy.” People have known that Trump tells lies since the 2020 presidential election, Buehler said, adding that it’s a story that is continuously told and has simply become part of the daily news cycle that people move on from.
“Making something into a public artwork brings it back into that cycle because I think it comes into people’s heads in a different way,” Buehler said. Plus, because it’s sandwiched between a coffee shop and a bar, it gets both the thinking morning crowd and the more raucous and celebratory evening crowd. The piece, which is being presented by the independent community radio station Radio Free Brooklyn, has been up for about two days, but will be officially unveiled during a modest neighborhood ceremony today at noon EDT.
“The scale of it is important,” Buehler said. “By attracting your eye and attention and then allowing you to walk up to it and read … Trump’s posts.”
In photos Buehler shared, people are doing just that. Some pass by quickly, others stay immersed for quite some time.
The “Wall of Crazy” is the fifth such collaboration between Buehler and Radio Free Brooklyn. After the “Wall of Lies” came the “Wall of Liars and Deniers” (2022), “featuring 381 Republican election-denying candidates”; then the “Wall of Shame” (2025), “documenting 1,575 January 6 defendants pardoned by Trump”; and “Wall of Tears” (2026), “memorializing 18,457 children documented killed in Gaza.”
The “Wall of Lies” was extensively vandalized by Proud Boy protesters, but the others have been mostly left alone, Buehler said.
“The Wall of Crazy shows how Buehler and Radio Free Brooklyn use public art to spotlight our political climate. Calling out the inflammatory, incoherent, divisive and obscene rhetoric under this administration is critical to democracy,” said Orie Givens, president of the Radio Free Brooklyn Board, in a news release. “Like earlier walls, it captures our political culture and urges action before Election Day: voters can change the country’s direction. And it shows why we must support free media — especially independent outlets — that expose this administration’s actions and impact nationwide.”
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt, wishing us all a peaceful and sane midterm election and a Happy Halloween. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
You’re reading Essential Arts
Our critics and reporters guide you through events and happenings in the SoCal arts scene. In your inbox every Friday.
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The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
Singer Lila Downs.
(Berenice Bautista / AP Photo)
Lila Downs The singer blends Mexican tradition with jazz, cumbia, folk and contemporary rhythms in a celebration of Día de Muertos, featuring Ballet Folklórico de Los Ángeles and songs from Downs’ new album “Cambias mi Mundo.” 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Hercules vs. Vampires LA Opera presents a musical reimagining of Mario Bava’s 1961 cult film “Hercules in the Haunted World,” starring Reg Park and Christopher Lee, with an original score by Patrick Morganelli, conducted by Blair Salter. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday. United Theater on Broadway, 929 S Broadway, downtown L.A. laopera.org
Kiki Smith “Untethered Journey,” the artist’s first solo show in L.A. in 30 years, includes historical and recent works. Opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Friday; exhibit continues through Jan. 23. Jeffrey Deitch, 925 N. Orange Drive. deitch.com
SATURDAY
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Organist Brett Valliant performs the score live with John S. Robertson’s 1920 silent horror film starring John Barrymore. 3 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Día de los Muertos Forest Lawn celebrates the Mexican holiday at four of its locations, with marigolds, handcrafted Catrina and alebrijes (spirit guide) artworks and brightly colored community ofrendas (altars), plus folklorico dance and mariachi music performances, arts & crafts, face painting, food and refreshments. A free family-friendly event. Noon-3 p.m. Sunday. Forest Lawn Covina Hills, 21300 Via Verde Drive, Covina, Forest Lawn Cypress, 4471 Lincoln Ave., and Forest Lawn Glendale, 1712 S. Glendale Ave.; 5-8 p.m. Monday. Forest Lawn Cathedral City, 69855 E. Ramon Road. forestlawn.com
Harriet Sansom Harris in “Werewolf by Night.”
(Marvel Studios)
Werewolf by Night & Headless Michael Giacchino hosts an evening featuring the premiere of “Headless,” a musical by the Academy Award-winning composer and collaborators Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson, based on “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” followed by a live-to-picture screening of his 2022 film “Werewolf by Night,” with Sarah Hicks conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
SUNDAY
Building Bridges: The Master Chorale in Concert With the National Chorus of Korea Two world-class choral organizations team up for a cross-cultural program uniting more than 100 singers. 7 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. lamasterchorale.org
Family Fest: Día de los Muertos A free event featuring activities, festive music, dance and foods. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
TUESDAY
Singer Lyle Lovett.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Lyle Lovett and His Small Large Band The four-time Grammy-winning Texan performs his greatest hits. 8 p.m. Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 18000 Park Plaza Drive. ccpa.cerritos.gov
WEDNESDAY
Daniel Passer direct “The Farce Awakens: Ferdeau x 2” at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.
(Odyssey Theatre Ensemble)
The Farce Awakens: Feydeau x 2 Cirque du Soleil clown Daniel Passer directs “Going to Pot” and “Stark Naked,” two one-acts by Georges Feydeau. Through Jan. 17, 2027. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 South Sepulveda Blvd. odysseytheatre.com
The Laugh Track Playwright Wendy MacLeod’s comedy goes behind the scenes of “I Love Lucy,” the groundbreaking 1950s sitcom starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Directed by Brian Shnipper. Through Nov. 22. International City Theatre, 330 E. Seaside Way, Long Beach. ictlongbeach.org
The SoCal scene
The Endeavour shuttle is on display in launch position at the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Exposition Park.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
ICYMI: The best of this week’s L.A. Times arts coverage.
Artist Barry McGee poses for a portrait at Jeffrey Deitch gallery.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
San Francisco artist Barry McGee is back in L.A. after February’s wild takeover of a 99 Cents Only Store. This time he’s staging a show called “Another Round” at Jeffrey Deitch gallery on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins poses in the press room with the award for best revival of a play for “Appropriate” during the 77th Tony Awards.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / AP)
London’s Royal Court Theatre announced that playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ 2025 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning “Purpose,” directed by Phylicia Rashad, will launch its new season in January, marking the hugely successful Broadway show’s first staging outside of the U.S. (“Purpose” opens at Geffen Playhouse next month.)
Beasley is expected to enter a guilty plea during a Dec. 9 hearing, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York confirmed in an email to The Times.
The NBA journeyman, who spent half of the 2022-2023 season with the Lakers, and several others were charged this summer with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Beasley entered a not guilty plea to all charges on July 1.
It is not clear the charges to which Beasley will be entering a guilty plea.
Beasley has been accused of illegally manipulating his performance in NBA games to ensure gamblers won prop bets on at least four occasions while he was playing for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023-2024. According to the indictment, he and co-defendant Ed Davis, also a one-time Laker who was teammates with Beasley on the 2020-2021 Minnesota Timberwolves, conspired for Beasley to under- or overperform during certain games relative to specific statistics on which others involved in the scheme would place bets.
Beasley had previously borrowed money from Davis after accumulating millions of dollars in gambling losses. In exchange for fixing his performances, the indictment says, Beasley’s debts to Davis were “reduced or paid off.”
Also indicted were Paolo Zamorano, William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky and Ernesto Plascencia. All six defendants initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, but Brown has since pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and Gorodetsky and Plascencia also both scheduled for change of plea hearings in November.
On the same week that a court filing showed that construction on President Trump’s hotly contested triumphal arch could begin as soon as Nov. 5, another less reported development pointed to the possibility that the government might be misrepresenting its plans for Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes in West Potomac Park.
On Monday, the National Park Service held a meeting about a proposed redesign to the park, which is part of the National Mall and also where Trump wants to put his Garden of Heroes featuring more than 250 statues ranging from Humphrey Bogart to Kobe Bryant to Benjamin Franklin. Trump first proposed the idea in 2020, but it wasn’t until his second term — when he began a crusade to remake much of Washington, D.C.’s historic core according to his own predilections — that the plan looked as if it might manifest. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act even appropriated $40 million for the project.
The Garden of Heroes has remained largely in the background while preservationists focused on the demolition of the White House East Wing and the construction of a massive ballroom in its place, as well as the botched painting of the Reflecting Pool, and, of course, the gigantic triumphal arch.
But Monday’s NPS meeting about plans for West Potomac Park rang alarm bells for some when Judy Chesser, chair of the nonprofit conservation and preservation group the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, asked, “How does this relate to the Garden of Heroes that is being discussed in West Potomac?” to which the NPS spokesperson replied, “This is just an update to the tidal basin master plan we started before. This is not the Garden of Heroes.”
However, the Washington, D.C.-based education and advocacy organization Cultural Landscape Foundation noted that the rendering in NPS’ presentation and the illustrated “Pledge Agreement” from the National Garden of American Heroes Foundation contain similarities that “go way beyond coincidental.”
“Each includes a great lawn, a giant oval/circle, an amphitheater, a fountain, and a staircase to the Potomac River,” Charles A. Birnbaum, founding president and chief executive of the foundation, wrote in an email.
“In addition, the new design shown Monday amputates part of the FDR Memorial to accommodate the Oval. This is intentional. Clearly the Oval is meant to host something else or it would be re-scaled so as not to interfere with the FDR Memorial,” the email continued.
In that instance lawyers repeatedly said there were no plans to renovate the golf course (thus preventing U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes from issuing an injunction against said renovations), only to chop down hundreds of trees on the course with no notice over a holiday weekend. Reyes was irate and sources familiar with the feud say that the judge expects the case to go all the way to the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, as of 2 p.m. PDT, Thursday, opponents of Trump’s arch have filed a motion for an injunction on the possible Nov. 5 construction, arguing that Congress needs to approve any plan moving forward. This head-snapping whirlwind of motions and counter motions is expected by critics to continue to be the norm as Trump tries to push through as many of his D.C.-based renovations as possible before a new Congress is seated in January.
“What better way to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary than to shut down the legally required review process, ignore some 100,000 negative public comments, and fast track the construction of a bloated and deeply unpopular monument that the president claims is for him,” wrote the Landscape Foundation’s Birnbaum in a statement about the arch.
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt pitching preservationists for my personal garden of heroes. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
You’re reading Essential Arts
Our critics and reporters guide you through events and happenings in the SoCal arts scene. In your inbox every Friday.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
American Sound Takes Flight MUSE/IQUE explores the nation’s music from Aaron Copland to Paul Simon in a concert setting infused with storytelling and cultural context. Featuring Brandon Victor Dixon, Liv Redpath and the MUSE/IQUE Orchestra, led by Artistic and Music Director Rachael Worby. 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
Bach to Broadway The 31st annual concert, featuring Pueri Cantores SGV, the St. Andrew School Choir, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus and members of the L.A. Opera and L.A. Master Chorale benefits the restoration of historic St. Andrew Church. 7:30 p.m. St. Andrew Church, 311 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. saintandrewpasadena.org
Ballet Festival: Jerome Robbins at the Ahmanson Theatre
(Steven Pisano / The Joyce Theater Foundation)
Ballet Festival: Jerome Robbins Three programs of the choreographer’s masterworks, curated by New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck, with dancers from New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet and other major companies performing to live chamber music 7:30 p.m. Friday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. musiccenter.org
Andrew Bird The acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and songwriter joins with the Los Angeles Philharmonic to mark the 20th anniversary of his album, “The Mysterious Production of Eggs,” with orchestral arrangements, plus popular songs from his catalog. 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Aymeric Hainaux and François Chaignaud The musician and choreographer team up for “Mirlitons,” a marathon vocal and dance duet. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Nimoy, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu
Museum on Haunted Hill: A Celebration of Vincent Price The institution pays homage to its original patron, the noted actor, art collector, advocate and historian, with an evening of after-hours access to exhibitions, casual screenings of classic Price films, drinks and snacks, music, a photo booth and haunted decor. 5-8 p.m. Vincent Price Art Museum, East Los Angeles College, 1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez, Monterey Park. vpam.org
PLAY: A Play EmIly Mast’s unscripted conceptual performance features six players, guided by a coach, working against a clock and an evolving set of rules to examine “the invisible systems that govern power, behavior and care.” With Hugo Armstrong, Gregory Barnett, Chu-Hsuan Chang, Jessica Emmanuel, Jessica Hemingway, Aramazd Stepanian and Maxwell Transue. 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, 152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo. moca.org
Sinners: Sounds That Summon This exhibition examines the standout Club Juke scene in Ryan Coogler’s Oscar-winning 2025 film focusing on the guitar played by the character Sammie Moore (Miles Caton), costumes, objects and archival material. Through March 14, 2027. California African American Museum, 600 State Drive, Exposition Park. caamuseum.org
SATURDAY
Grand Ave Arts: All Access Tenth annual celebration of L.A. downtown cultural corridor with free exhibitions, tours, performances, family-friendly activities and more from participating organizations including the Broad, Center Theatre Group, Colburn School, Classical California, Dataland, Gloria Molina Grand Park, Grand Performances, L.A. Opera, L.A. Phil, Los Angeles Central Library, Metro Art, MOCA, the Music Center and REDCAT. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Grand Ave., between Temple and 6th Streets, downtown L.A. grandavearts.org
Kabuki in Motion: The Lion Returns U.S. Kabuki Ken Kyu Kai presents this program of kabuki dance, Nihon buyō (Japanese classical dance), and live koto and shamisen music featuring artists from Japan and California. 4:30 p.m. The Huntington, Rothenberg Hall, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. huntington.org
Picasso Ceramics From the Rosenbaum Collection The exhibition presents 63 original prints and limited-edition ceramics, including vessels, plates, pitchers and sculptural forms created by the artist after 1947. Through Feb. 28, 2027. Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. bowers.org
SUNDAY
Lucile Dollat The French organist performs music from the 16th century to the present. 7:30 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
TUESDAY
Jason Moran Presents Duke Ellington: My Heart Sings The pianist and composer performs with members of the Pacific Symphony to engage with Ellington’s work through a contemporary frame. 8 p.m. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org
The Music Man Meredith Willson’s Tony Award-winning musical comedy brings smooth-talking con man Harold Hill to River City, where his schemes are curtailed when he falls for Marian, the local librarian. Through Nov. 8. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. centertheatregroup.org
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal with Rafael Payare The Canadian ensemble and its charismatic Venezuelan conductor (who also leads the San Diego Symphony) perform Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93,” plus Felix Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64” with Leonidas Kavakos. 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
The 39 Steps Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller (itself an adaptation of a novel by John Buchan) about an ordinary man entangled in international intrigue. Directed by Hunter Foster. Through Nov. 22. Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. lagunaplayhouse.com
The Who’s Tommy The band’s 1969 rock opera featuring “I’m Free,” “See Me, Feel Me,” “Sensation” and, of course, “Pinball Wizard,” is transformed into a Broadway musical by composer Pete Townshend and original director Des McAnuff. Through Nov. 15. Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd. broadwayinhollywood.com
WEDNESDAY
Nedra Ryan Taylor and Sarah Scott Davis in the play “Confederates.”
(Davis Northern)
Confederates Institutional racism, as experienced in two different eras by Black women, is the subject of Dominique Morisseau’s 2022 dramatic comedy. Best known for her three-play cycle “The Detroit Project” as well as the book for the musical about the Temptations “Ain’t Too Proud,” Morisseau juxtaposes the plight of an enslaved rebel and Union spy during the Civil War with that of a contemporary political science professor facing a threatening work environment. Fountain Artistic Director Raymond O. Caldwell directs this sharp-eyed satire examining an unbroken thread of racial and gender bias in American history. (Charles McNulty) Previews, 8 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, play runs through Dec. 13. Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave. fountaintheatre.com
THURSDAY
Seasons of America With Teddy Abrams & Ray Chen The world premiere of Abrams’ L.A. Phil commission, written especially for violinist Chen, along with Julia Perry’s “A Short Piece for Orchestra.” Charles Ives’ “Three Places in New England, S. 7” and George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.” 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A.laphil.com
Sasha Velour: Travesty The Season 9 winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performs a new solo work that spans queer history through lip-sync performances embodying various personas including a witch burned in a field, a clown who builds a theater and patrons of an underground gay bar. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Oct. 30. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
The SoCal scene
Katie Folger gets ready at her home before her performance of “Getting in Bed With the Pizza Man” at the Elysian Theater.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
ICYMI, the best of this week’s L.A. Times arts coverage:
A marble torso sculpted during the early Roman Empire set a new world record for ancient classical sculpture at auction earlier this week when it sold at Sotheby’s New York for $34.3 million. That was almost three times more than its pre-sale estimate of between $8 million and $12 million.
The “Rookie” actor appeared in a short video posted Sunday to the show’s Instagram Stories with her temporary partner, Alan Bersten — who is filling in for suspended pro Val Chmerkovskiy — to promote their upcoming routine.
“Hi, everybody,” Dewan said while standing beside Bersten during rehearsals. “It’s ‘Dedication Night’ and we are dancing a Viennese waltz to ‘Unchained Melody’ by the Righteous Brothers, the greatest, most romantic song ever.”
The “Step Up” star shared on social media that she is dedicating this dance to her mother.
“My mom has always been my biggest cheerleader,” Dewan wrote in her Sunday Instagram post. “The one who believed in me before I even knew what was possible for myself. Who encouraged me to dream big, to keep going, and most importantly, to never lose sight of who I am along the way.”
She added: “There’s something so beautiful and full circle about getting to honor the woman who first encouraged my love of dance, through the very thing she helped me fall in love with.”
The short teaser was shared shortly after it was announced that Chmerkovskiy would be suspended for a week for posting a message on TikTok that seemed to reference Will Smith‘s infamous 2022 Oscars slap. That incident involved Smith rushing the stage and slapping host Chris Rock with an open hand after the Oscars host made jokes about Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Keep my wife’s name out your … mouth!” Smith shouted at Rock afterward.
Chmerkovskiy’s since-deleted TikTok post appeared to be in response to judge Carrie Ann Inaba‘s harsh critique of the performance by pro Jenna Johnson, his wife, and partner Harry Shum Jr. during Tuesday’s “Super Bowl Night” episode of the show.
“You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,” Chmerkovskiy reportedly wrote.
“DWTS” producers BBC Studios responded with a widely reported statement that the “well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable. Val’s social media post was inappropriate and does not reflect the values or standards expected of anyone connected with the show. As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show.”
Chmerkovskiy has since apologized for his remark, saying in a statement provided to Deadline that he had merely reacted on “instinct” to “defend [his] wife.”
“In a moment where my instinct was to defend my wife, I made a poor decision to reference a meme to ‘keep my wife’s name’ out of the conversation, without stopping to think through what else that reference could imply, which was genuinely never my intention,” the statement read. “Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.”
The dancer also reportedly posted an apology to his Instagram Stories on Thursday.
“I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent post,” he wrote. “I have reached out to Carrie Ann to apologize directly and personally, and I also want to apologize publicly as I understand my words affect so many outside of our internal DWTS family.”
Bersten, who is filling in this week as Dewan’s partner, was previously paired with celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis before they were eliminated earlier in the season.
Bryan Mbeumo’s goal is not enough to win it for beleaguered United as Dominic Calvert-Lewin levels for Leeds.
Published On 18 Oct 202618 Oct 2026
Manchester United ended a turbulent week with a frustrating 1-1 draw at Leeds on Sunday that does little to ease the pressure on beleaguered manager Michael Carrick.
The Red Devils travelled to the Yorkshire home of their bitter rivals desperate to find a spark after just two wins in nine games in all competitions this season.
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The sense of a growing crisis at the club was exacerbated in midweek by an outburst from defender Lisandro Martinez, who took aim at the United hierarchy after a 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
The Argentina centre-back said Carrick, in his first full season in charge at Old Trafford, had been left with an under-strength squad after an underwhelming summer transfer window.
The United boss insisted on Friday that the club had “moved on” from the incident and Martinez was named in the starting lineup at Elland Road.
Both teams were fully committed in a feisty start to the match in Leeds but there was little goalmouth action.
The first effort on target came in the 26th minute when United goalkeeper Senne Lammens clawed away a Nico Elvedi header destined for the top corner after bouncing up off the turf.
Bryan Mbeumo, playing as United’s target man, headed wastefully wide a minute later after a fine cross from Youri Tielemans and then shot tamely at Leeds goalkeeper James Trafford.
But he finally broke the deadlock in the 35th minute when Tielemans again delivered a low ball from the right which Mbeumo guided into the bottom corner for his fourth Premier League goal of the season.
Martinez went off at half-time as Morocco’s Noussair Mazraoui was brought into the action.
Leeds started strongly after the break and were level in the 51st minute when Dominic Calvert-Lewin controlled the ball on his chest and finished at full stretch after Tarik Muharemovic got his head to the ball following a corner.
The home team were now well on top, largely limiting Carrick’s team to counter-attacks.
The Man United boss made attacking substitutions in the search for a winner, bringing on Mason Mount and Matheus Cunha, but neither team could force a winner.
The point left 20-time English champions Manchester United in 13th place in the table with just one win in seven games while Leeds are seventh.
Brighton stun Crystal Palace with five-star display
Elsewhere on Sunday, Brighton leapfrogged Arsenal into second place, at least temporarily, after humbling Crystal Palace 5-0, including a sensational Diego Gomez effort from the halfway line.
Fabian Hurzeler’s team were three goals up inside 10 minutes after an own goal from Palace defender Jaydee Canvot, Gomez’s spectacular effort and a strike from Yasin Ayari.
Further goals from Charalampos Kostoulas and substitute Jack Hinshelwood in the second half deepened Palace’s pain.
The Gunners, six points behind Manchester City, are in action at Nottingham Forest in the late-afternoon kickoff.
Arsenal need a win to rein in City, who have won all seven of their league games this season.
Enzo Maresca’s men have put together their impressive run despite off-field distractions after the club was charged with multiple breaches of Premier League financial rules.
Bournemouth beat 10-man Sunderland 2-0 with goals from Marcus Tavernier and Evanilson for their first league win of the season.
“For me, performance can’t be everything,” Miley Cyrus declared on Friday night, and you had to admire her choice of setting: onstage at the Hollywood Bowl in front of approximately 18,000 people who’d turned up precisely to see her perform.
A star since her teenage days on the Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana,” the 33-year-old musician and actor was maybe half an hour into the first of two sold-out concerts at the iconic hillside amphitheater — a place close to Cyrus’ heart, as she explained in a videotaped intro recalling a gig she and her fiancé, Maxx Morando, caught last year by the French band Air.
“I step into wine, which soaks onto my boots,” she said in the dramatic black-and-white clip. “I don’t mind stained leather — it only adds to their character.”
Cyrus’ shows were billed as part of the rollout of her latest album, “Bass Persuades,” which came out in September (and which found her dropping her last name to go simply by Miley). Yet the two-night engagement is really meant to mark her grand return to the stage after she said a few years ago that she’d sworn off touring because it was too harmful to her mental health.
Is “grand” the right word for a comeback as equivocal as this one? Despite all the hype surrounding this weekend’s concerts, Cyrus spoke again and again Friday about how much less space for performance she has in her life these days than she used to; she talked repeatedly about her quest to balance her fans’ emotional needs with her own.
At one point, after singing a couple of numbers on a small B-stage about halfway up the bowl, she walked through the crowd back to the main stage, gripping and grinning the entire way. Then she described the toll her trip had just taken: “I appreciate each of you guys reaching out and touching me, and me getting to feel you. But I do want to say — it is a lot for me,” she said. “It is a little bit overwhelming.”
In an era of parasocial pop stardom, the radical honesty of Cyrus’ approach — her clear-eyed appraisal of the relationship that binds an idol and her audience — was kind of a thrill to behold. The problem was that her singing for the most part wasn’t.
As she described being overwhelmed, her band slowly revved up her song “Wrecking Ball.” It’s one of the great power ballads of the last 25 years, with a chorus as cathartic as any in modern pop; Cyrus, the showbiz lifer, surely understood the payoff she was building toward. Except when the moment arrived, she inexplicably dodged it, skipping the song’s first chorus and soft-pedaling the second — an anticlimax for the ages.
Indeed, Cyrus let the audience and her backup singers handle vocals for many of her biggest hits, among them “The Climb,” “Party in the U.S.A.” and “We Can’t Stop”; during that last one, she twerked for a second, evoking memories of the infamous 2013 MTV performance that briefly scandalized a nation.
She sang more heartily in songs from “Bass Persuades,” which would’ve been better news if that tuneless mishmash of bleary synths and dated club beats weren’t one of the year’s least likable pop records. (This month Variety reported that, after debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the album took the biggest fall in chart history in its second week of release.)
The paradox of Cyrus’ career at this stage is that she wants to do the thing that nobody wants her to do — “Bass Persuades” is just the latest in a string of crummy LPs — and doesn’t want to do the thing that everybody wants her to do. Truly, her bad taste should be studied: On Friday, she welcomed Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips to the B-stage for a duet on “Karen Don’t Be Sad,” from the miserable psych-rock record they made together in 2015. Naturally, Cyrus said it was her favorite of her albums.
One highlight of the show was Cyrus’ tribute to her late godmother, Dolly Parton, whom she memorialized with a rendition of “Jolene” and with a funny and touching account of the time Parton tried unsuccessfully to get Cyrus to sing with her at the Bowl.
I also found myself moved near the end of the night by Cyrus’ performance of the only keeper on “Bass Persuades” — a dreamy little love song called “Let’s Get Married” for which Morando joined her onstage. As he played drums, she ran her hand tenderly over his chest before laying her head on his shoulder; the moment reminded me of that goofy intro video about the Air concert, which she likened to a bubble containing only the two of them.
“That’s how it feels when we’re together,” she said. “I think I’d live in that bubble.”
Remember Edward Warchoki? The Polish humanoid robot that went viral in April for chasing wild boars through a parking lot in Warsaw? Even late-night comedian John Oliver did a bit on him, calling Warchoki “a pretty canny PR campaign for anthropomorphic robots. All I’m saying is, ‘That is a nice way to get us all used to him before he’s inevitably one day used as a weapon of war.’ ”
Warchoki has not yet turned into a weapon of war — unless you consider being an online influencer a form of digital warfare. As the first robot influencer, Warchoki has his own social media accounts and appeared at Poland’s parliament. Last week he entered the art world when he was among the first visitors to what looks to be a fascinating exhibition, “How to Feel Real. Art, Technology and Us,” at MO Museum in Vilnius, Lithuania. The show is a collaboration of the modern art museum with ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, which specializes in media art.
According to a news release, the show “explores questions that are becoming increasingly urgent in a world shaped by technology: How do we feel real, and what does it mean to be alive?” Apparently Warchoki was there to address the issue head on.
“People keep asking me if I’m real, so when I heard about an exhibition asking what ‘real’ actually means, I thought: Finally, someone is asking the right question. I’m coming to the beautiful Vilnius to see what the artists have to say — and, of course, to check whether they think I’m real,” Warchocki said in the release.
A number of works in the exhibit explore artificial intelligence, automation, “and the ways machines are increasingly taking on roles we once considered distinctly human,” said MO Museum director Milda Ivanauskienė. “Bringing Edward into the museum is a playful extension of this idea, as his deliberately human-like and slightly absurd persona makes the questions raised by the exhibition tangible — inviting us to wonder why we are so eager to find the human in a machine.”
I am intrigued by this last question and wonder about it myself: Why exactly are we so quick to anthropomorphize AI? Every time I’ve interacted with a chatbot I feel the urge to be polite in my dealings, to say “please” and “thank you” when I ask questions. I certainly don’t do that with a Google search. And once, when I saw a delivery robot hopelessly stuck in a pothole, I felt genuinely bad for it. “Poor little guy,” I thought. I imagine if I met Warchoki, I’d react the same way.
I’m glad MO Museum is exploring these impulses by using artist’s thoughts and interpretations as a way to offer answers to an issue that is not going away — but only growing more powerful and omnipresent by the day.
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt and I’ve got a pickle-kimchi lollipop to sell you. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
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The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
Elim Chan conducts the L.A. Phil in 2024.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Elim Chan Conducts the L.A. Phil It will be a busy couple of weekends in L.A. for the San Francisco Symphony music director-designate. First up is a program featuring Dongshoon Shin’s “Dance Card,” Franz Liszt’s “Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S. 125” with pianist Yefim Bronfman, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s suite from “Swan Lake.” Next week will be “A Symphonic Ballet,” with Claude Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, L. 86,” Karen Gomyo premiering Samuel Adams’ “Violin Concerto No. 2 (The Wheel),” and Igor Stravinsky’s “Petrushka (1947).” “Swan Lake,” 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. “Symphonic Ballet,” 8 p.m. Thursday, 2 p.m. Oct. 17-18. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Kuniko Kato Presents Reich90 The North American tour of the Steve Reich Project, conceived and produced by Japanese percussionist Kato arrives downtown in honor of the composer’s 90th birthday. 7:30 p.m. Colburn School, Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. colburnschool.edu
Victoria Marks : A Deer Walks into a Dance The award-winning choreographer and four performers (Rian Alcid, Maya Billig, Karen Chuang and Aaron Mason) explore the idea connection in a world of division via movement, text and the deconstruction of a (bad) joke. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd., Westwood. cap.ucla.edu
SATURDAY
L.A. Opera’s new music director, Domingo Hindoyan, conducts a dress rehearsal of “Carmen.”
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Carmen Los Angeles Opera’s new music director, Venezuelan conductor Domingo Hindoyan, opens the company’s season with a new production of Bizet’s “Carmen.” It stars mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, who has dazzled in Mozart at L.A. Opera. The Spanish gothic new production is by director/designer Thaddeus Strassberger and choreographer Antonio Najarro. (Mark Swed) The season-opening performance will be broadcast live in high definition, free of charge, at Steinmetz Park in Hacienda Heights and at the Santa Monica Pier. Through Nov. 7. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. Free simulcast, 6 p.m. Saturday, Santa Monica Pier and Steinmetz Park, 545 S. Stimson Ave., Hacienda Heights. laopera.org
Strauss, Ravel, Beethoven Music Director Jaime Martín conducts the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in Richard Strauss’ “Metamorphosen,” Maurice Ravel’s “Piano Concerto in G Major” with Conrad Tao, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major (Eroica).” 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A.; 4 p.m. Sunday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. laco.org
SUNDAY
Dale Brockman Davis, Alonzo Davis and David Hammons.
(Museum Associates)
The Brockman Gallery: Los Angeles,1967-1990 For more than two decades, the Leimert Park gallery, founded by Alonzo and Dale Davis, served as a vital cultural hub, staging exhibitions, festivals, concerts, literary events and more. Named after the brothers’ maternal grandmother, born enslaved, the Brockman Gallery was a flourishing, ongoing act of self-determination in the wake of the 1965 Watts Rebellion. It showcased Black artists whose opportunities were severely limited at mainstream, white-run institutions and galleries: David Hammons, Suzanne Jackson, John Outterbridge, Elizabeth Catlett, Betye Saar, Carrie Mae Weems, Senga Nengudi, Noah Purifoy and many more. More than 60 works by artists associated with the gallery will be included in this first full-scale consideration of the Brockman’s scope and impact. (Leah Ollman) Through Jan. 24. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. lacma.org
Pacific Jazz Orchestra: A Tribute to Quincy Jones Led by Chris Walden, and featuring vocalists Nayanna Holley and Adam ‘Aejaye’ Jackson, the ensemble performs early work by the late producer/composer. Presented by Ventura Music Festival, 3 p.m. Sunday. Rancho Campana Performing Arts Center, 4235 Mar Vista Drive, Camarillo. pacificjazz.org
TUESDAY
Mendelssohn & Brahms Members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform a program of chamber works from Joseph Haydn, Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms. 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Ulysse Marion A new work by choreographer Dimitri Chamblas, created with former Paris Opera Ballet dancer Marion Barbeau and dancer and musician Ulysse Zangs, explores the journey of a performer throughout a life in art. 8 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org
THURSDAY
At the Very Bottom of A Body Of Water The latest work by Benjamin Benne, a dramatist many have been keeping close tabs on, continues his collaboration with veteran director (and fellow L.A. native) Juliette Carrillo, and dives even further into magical realism in an unconventional work exploring the oceanic depths that grief can reveal. (Charles McNulty) Through Nov. 29. Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave. bostoncourtpasadena.org
Judy Baca, detail from the 1960s segment of the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural.
(Judy Baca and the SPARC Archives.)
Skirball Cultural Center Three new exhibits open: “The 1960s — A Generation on Fire: Judy Baca’s Great Wall of Los Angeles” presents new murals as part of the evolving L.A. landmark; “Patrisse Cullors: Wishes Made Material” features three new works inspired by conversations between Black and Jewish communities; and “Jenny Yurshansky: What We Carry” explores local immigration stories, memories and family history through collected objects. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. skirball.org
The SoCal scene
Zoe Ryan, director of UCLA’s Hammer Museum.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
ICYMI, the best of this week’s L.A. Times arts coverage:
Climate activists in Tallahassee this week unveiled a statue of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that was created to melt. “In response to the Governor’s recent ‘Don’t say climate change’ action in state law, 350Action (one of the world’s most influential climate change advocates) built quite a visual — a statue that couldn’t withstand Florida’s daily climate. It’s provocative but for a purpose, to encourage young people to vote in a few weeks for candidates that recognize the threat from climate change,” a news release noted of the “climate denial statue.”
And finally, not strictly arts related, but some Halloween fun for you: Street Food Cinema is hosting its annual Boo-ze, Bites and Frights events with some spooky horror film screenings at Heritage Square and the Ford over the next few weekends, including a Saturday showing of “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” which is a film that still genuinely terrifies me.
Los Tigres Del Norte will perform this Saturday at Anaheim’s Honda Center. Ahead of rocking the Pond with its classic hits, the famed norteño band brought its signature sound and activism to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. The performance closed out the series’ Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, dubbed as “El Tiny.”
Composed of the Hernández brothers (Jorge, Hernán, Eduardo and Luis) and cousin Óscar Lara, Los Tigres Del Norte was founded in the late 1960s in the Sinaloan town of Rosa Morada and settled in San José. It has sold millions of records worldwide with songs about the drug trade, unrequited love and immigrant life in this country.
That theme of immigrant struggle within the U.S. was top of mind when the group performed at NPR’s Washington, D.C., offices.
The group was recently honored by the city of Minneapolis in September for defending the rights of immigrant communities for decades, and for standing in solidarity with the city following the large-scale immigration enforcement campaign that took place there earlier this year. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey proclaimed Sept. 9 Los Tigres del Norte Day.
“[Following the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids], they told the people of Minneapolis, the Latino American community that we are one, that we are united and that we’re going to do everything possible for the people that we love,” Frey said in a September news conference.
Los Tigres’ director and lead vocalist Jorge Hernández told The Times the honor came as a surprise to the group, who was in town for the 39th annual Hispanic Heritage Awards to present the people of Minnesota with the Humanitarian Award for their collective acts of solidarity with the immigrant community throughout the ICE raids.
The frontman said he was humbled by the action and was touched to spend time with members of the Minneapolis community who worked on the front lines during the ICE surge.
“There were Latinos present who set an example for how to support people in [a time of chaos],” Hernández said. “Those who were documented brought food to families who were undocumented so that they didn’t have to go outside to face the problems that were made possible due to [the Trump administration]. It’s because of action like those that we showed up for the city.”
Immediately after its time in Minnesota, the band flew out to film the Tiny Desk set.
The performance was a long time coming, according to Hernández.
“It was something beautiful and historic for us which should’ve happened 10 to 15 years ago,” he said, blaming conflicting schedules for the delay.
Though postponed, the 73-year-old musician knew the band’s messages would land with as much timeliness as ever.
In his introduction for Los Tigres Del Norte, NPR’s “Alt.Latino” host and “El Tiny” coordinator Felix Contreras spoke about why he wanted the band to perform as part of Tiny Desk’s month-long celebration of Latinidad.
“Our community is under attack and it’s not the first time … and it takes away our humanity,” Contreras said before Los Tigres kicked off the set with their hit “Somos mas Americanos.” “And for as long as I can remember, these gentlemen have been giving us back our humanity.”
Opening with the 2001 track was notable as the song flips jingoist U.S. narratives about who can call themselves American. The lyrics assert that Mexicans are more American than “gringos” and highlight how a large swath of the U.S. once belonged to Mexico.
Los Tigres let their songs do all the talking as they played straight through a series of tunes from across several decades, including 1995’s “Golpes en el Corazón,” 1997’s “Quiero Volar Contigo,” 1989’s “Ni Parientes Somos” and the 1986’s bittersweet single “La Puerta Negra.”
Hernández said the group wanted to use the platform to bring further awareness to the struggles immigrants continue to face in this country with an audience that notably skews more American than Los Tigres is accustomed to.
“We performed songs that talk about the problematic systems [in the U.S.] that have been around for years, but that are right now worse than ever before,” Hernández said. “The songs we sang [for Tiny Desk] have a lot to do with our society. I hope the wider public can listen to it and translate the songs to English so that they can connect to the lyrics.”
He said he hopes that the band can set an example for younger people that political messaging through music can empower artists, not hinder them.
“We’ve been singing songs since the ’70s about immigration and problems our community faces,” Hernández said. “As an artist, if you see a problem that affects your community, no matter how much you ignore it, you must realize that you are an active participant. You can’t stay quiet, your songs should talk about your problems so that through your work you can connect with and inform people.”
One thing that has continued to surprise and inspire Hernández over the last few years is seeing younger generations of fans celebrate his group’s music.
“They are the future and we sing our songs to them so that they can hear about the problems in our community that have existed and that persist,” he said. “At some point in life you will face big problems and it will be important that you know your history, what you stand for and how to defend yourself. We want to help people know their rights and be prepared to know how to act in difficult times like right now.”
