Shannon Holt, Sandra Tsing Loh and Tony Abatemarco in Sugar Plum Fairy | Photo by Tania Thompson/SCR
Hit play below to listen to our Arts Alive interview with Sandra Tsing Loh.
During this season of numerous Nutcrackers, writer and performer Sandra Tsing Loh offers an alternative view of Tchaikovsky’s ballet in a show titled Sugar Plum Fairy, in which she plays a 12-year-old girl who dreams of playing Clara in The Nutcracker.
The story has its roots in Loh’s youth, when her older sister was a great ballet student while she was “the kid who would put a pillowcase on my head and dance to records in the living room.”
Loh left the living room performances behind and embarked on a career as a playwright, actor, radio commentator, educator, and bestselling author. And now, with Sugar Plum Fairy, she’s created a holiday show for all ages which she describes as a “G-rated, Rocky Horror, Yule thing.”
Sandra Tsing Loh’s Sugar Plum Fairy runs through December 23 at the Skylight Theatre, 1816-1/2 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles 90027. Tickets at skylighttheatre.org.
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Alan Chapman
Alan Chapman, in addition to his weekday morning program, is also the host and producer of two weekend programs: Modern Times and A Musical Offering.
After receiving his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he earned a Ph.D. in music theory from Yale University. He is currently a member of the music theory faculty of the Colburn Conservatory. He was a longtime member of the music faculty at Occidental College and has also been a visiting professor at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. His analytical work has appeared in the Journal of Music Theory and in The New Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill, winner of the Deems Taylor Award for excellence in writing on music.
Well known as a pre-concert lecturer, Alan has been a regular speaker on the L.A. Philharmonic's "Upbeat Live" series since its inception in 1984. He also works closely with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Pacific Symphony. His lectures have been presented by virtually every major performing organization in southern California. He has been heard globally as programmer and host of the inflight classical channel on Delta Airlines.
Alan is also active as a composer/lyricist. His songs have been performed and recorded by many artists around the world and have been honored by ASCAP, the Johnny Mercer Foundation, and the Manhattan Association of Cabarets. His children's opera Les Moose: The Operatic Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle was commissioned by LA Opera for its 1997-98 season. Alan frequently appears in cabaret evenings with his wife, soprano Karen Benjamin. They made their Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 and performed at Lincoln Center in 2006. Their recent CD, Que Será, Será: The Songs of Livingston and Evans, features the late Ray Evans telling the stories behind such beloved songs as "Mona Lisa" and "Silver Bells."
