book covers.

Hi there. It's good to be back again. I've been reading up on book cover designs, and I'd like to share some of it with you.

PBS has an interesting article on Peter Mendelsund, designer for Alfred A. Knopf, who just released two new books--Cover and What We See When We Read.

Covers by Peter Mendelsund via pbs.org.

Another great article on a new found site called It's Nice That featuring Richard Bravery, an art director at Penguin Books.

Illustration by Cleon Peterson

Illustration by Georgia Hill

It's Nice That is a lovely site dedicated to creativity, art and design. 

Let's take a moment to talk about The Casual Optimist. Er...The Accidental Optimist. I can't believe this is the first time I'm posting about it. I get The Casual Optimist mixed up with The Accidental Optimist, but I think they are the same people--one is the tumblr and one is a site, or...vice versa. They have a constant stream of amazing graphic design, book covers and art.

Design by Rodrigo Corral Design; Photo Demurez/Glasshouse 

(Henry Holt/September 2014) via The Casual Optimist

While we're on the subject of covers, let's turn our attention to records and the wonderful blog Symphonie Fantastique by the Seattle-based Jive Time Records. Focusing mostly on modern classical music and how it was interpreted by cover illustrations, the designs they post are stunning. You can experience these for real at Amoeba Records. Back in the classical nook, the still have rows and rows of vintage vinyl.

On another note (pun intended--I love puns), music is still making me happy. Specifically the new albums by Nashville-based singer Otis Gibbs...

 ...and hometown boys Hold Steady, who are back in the Twin Cities playing the Replacements reunion show. Sadly, I am not going, but my brother and his wife are. Plus my friend Sara nd my friend Doc, who flew out from L.A. for it. I had better get a T-shirt out of all this.

Last weekend, I was excited to attend one of the final productions of "Lear" at the Theatricum Botanicum nestled in Topanga Canyon.

I suppose you could file this under "I can't believe I never..." because I can't believe this was my first time attending a production at this legendary theater. My friend and date Vivian couldn't believe it either. She was excited because, while Shakespeare's comedies are widely performed around the city, his tragedies are not.

Melora Marshall as the Fool and Ellen Geer as "Queen" Lear

I hadn't read or seen King Lear before, so this was a first, too. Maybe it's a better strategy to go in with an understanding of the play before you're treated to the role-reversal version of it, but...whatever. I got it. Ellen Geer and Melora Marshall, the two actresses who lead the Botanicum company were phenomenal, as was Ellen's daughter Willow Geer.

It was just so cool to sit back in a wooded canyon and watch an A-list production of Shakespeare--complete with an awesome sword fight and someone's eyes getting ripped out. Note: there are still three performances of "Lear" left if you want to check it out.

But I would like to study up on the play a little and see it in its traditional form, so I'll be taking in Ian McKellan (love him, always) in the titular role. You can watch the full production of King Lear at pbs.org.

Mr. Hotness as Shakespeare's King Lear via pbs.org

OK, I hope you enjoyed this little post. I'll be back next week with something fun about Los Angeles and the movies. Love, Lexa.

33 variations.

Last week I won tickets to the play, 33 Variations, which I saw on Tuesday with a friend. I was really excited because 1. I don't win many things, 2. I hadn't yet been to the Ahmanson and 3. the play was about Beethoven.

It was really exciting and a great theater-going experience. The production was pretty breathtaking--the most subtly spectacular effects I've seen on a live stage, the narratives of Beethoven and the musicologist studying his manuscripts interweaving with the Variations played on piano and...Jane Fonda. I mean, come on. I felt like I was seeing a true Grand Dame of the Theater.

It was a bit schmaltzy and life-affirming in a Lifetime for Women kind of way. At one point, Jane's daughter, played by Samantha Morton, yells "I finally see how you see me mom. And it's horrible!" before storming off the stage. A little cringe-inducing, but I could forgive it. There were many moments that made me laugh, and I don't mean in a phony, artificial way, like "they want me to laugh here, so I'll let out a little chuckle." I really laughed. And I stayed awake through the whole thing! And that, my friends, is a good play.

actors part iii, or "cousin bette".

I have no idea how I came upon this. I think I received a flyer in the mail. The theater company sounded interesting, and Ellie and I were looking for something to do last weekend. I wasn't familiar with the story, and I never read Balzac. He was one of those authors I feel like I should have ready by now--but he slipped through the cracks.

But I have to tell you, Cousin Bette, as adapted by playwright Jeffrey Hatcher and presented by the Antaeus Theater Company is mmm mmm good. A delicious, devious revenge drama, it clocks in at around three hours, with two intermissions, but I just didn't want it to end.

I have to say--theater can be tough. Like I can't believe I just wrote that sitting in a chair for three hours was awesome. When I first moved to L.A., theater here seemed to be nothing more than one-man/woman shows about being an out-of-work actor, the hell of dating in Hell-A or being and out-of-work-actor trying to date in L.A. It was all dreadfully meta, something actors only did when the tv spots and commercial work dried up. And why would anyone even bother with theater here? Where's the glitz, the glam, the red carpets? And aside from the Mark Taper and the Geffen Playhouse, there was just that dingy stretch of theaters along Santa Monica in Hollywood.

But in the past couple of years, some of my most memorable arts experiences have been theater outings, and I've stumbled upon some great houses, most notably the Fountain Theatre tucked behind the Scientology Center on Sunset, A Noise Within in Glendale and now the Antaeus in the NoHo Arts District.

Usually when I watch a play, my only thought is "how the hell do these people memorize 2-3 hours of lines?" That alone just blows my f***ing mind, but they do so much more. The acting in Cousin Bette, while there a little schlock here and there, was really fantastic, and I just thought, "wow, these people are just doing their art for art." Very little money, very little recognition--just art. I love that. And I loved Cousin Bette. I think you will, too.