Talkin’ ‘Bout My Gentrification: Danny Hoch’s ‘Taking Over’ at the Kirk Douglas Theatre

Now the Militant, in his infinite Militant Angeleno-ness, usually does not lavish any sort of praise on a native New Yorker (Vin Scully and the Dodgers exempted, of course).

But when he was given a chance to see a preview performance of Danny Hoch’s one-man play Taking Over at Culver City’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, the Militant was simply floored.

For those not familiar with Hoch, he’s a Gen-X-age writer, director and actor from Bwooklyn (his accent is expectedly blatant) known for his “Hip-Hop Theatre” productions, like 1998’s Jails, Hospitals & Hip Hop, where he plays a myriad of diverse characters endemic to his native borough environs, while exploring issues of race, class and societal issues in the story.

His current play, which explores gentrification in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg (think of the east coast equivalent to Echo Park/Silver Lake) through the portrayal of several characters: A Puerto Rican graduate student, a 60-something African American woman, a middle-aged Jewish landlord, a Dominican immigrant taxi dispatcher and a 20-something white hipster chick, among others.

Although the Militant has been to NYC a handful of times before, he’s never set foot in that particular part of Brooklyn, yet he totally identified with the subject matter.

For others, not so much. One performance earlier in the week had someone, visually offended, walking out of the theatre. In one scene the actor plays himself in an epilogic scene where he reads aloud some of his “hate mail.” Hey, art, after all, is supposed to elicit a reaction.

Though the Williamsburg situation seems more hyperbolic and extreme (million-dollar condos have not come to Echo Park – yet), and one of the characters’ indignant provincialism, though obviously well-intentioned, seemed a bit off-putting to even this Militant (or maybe us Californians are just more accommodating creatures, dunno…), in spirit, it was not a totally alien place for the Militant. Issues of how the locals enjoy things like safer streets and the availability of soy milk, only to discover that those trappings were not designed to be meant for them, or how one character is totally ignored by the hipster newcomers, are all too familiar themes for this Militant.

All is not heavy and brooding at all – a great deal of the play is presented as clever humor and well-executed comedic monologues (the reading of a coffeehouse’s weekly Calendar of Events is true comedy gold in its accurate portrayal of hipster entertainment). But some may find out that they are the ones being talked about here.

The Militant had a brief chat with Hoch after the show - one hardcore native New Yorker and one hardcore native Angeleno – and though they may not agree on sports or food, they both came to the accord that hipsters are a universal problem, and that it’s not just enclaves in New York and Los Angeles getting gentrified. One scene even confirmed the Militant’s belief that rampant gentrification can leave even the hipsters as victims of neighborhood change, as they get replaced by more upscale types.

Another aspect the Militant believes is praiseworthy is not just Hoch’s performance, but his endurance. The 90-minute play runs without any intermissions, and the actor has but seconds to transform from one character to the next. His voice was so thrashed after the show that when the Militant had his conversation with him, it was kinda like chatting with a mime.

Anyway, despite its NY origins, this play turns gentrification into a more universal issue. So with that, Danny Hoch’s Taking Over is 100% MILITANT APPROVED!

The show’s official premiere night is tonight, January 23. So run, don’t walk, to the Kirk Douglas Theatre by February 22. YOU. NEED. TO. SEE. THIS. And aside from spreading the word through this here blog and on his Facebook profile, he will also drop some flyers for this play at Intelligentsia Coffee in Silver Lake and at the American Apparel store in Echo Park. Heh heh heh...

Leave It To Levitt - MacPark Strikes Up The Band(shell)

MacArthur Park has been melting in the dark for several years. But years of all that sweet, green icing flowing down and cakes being left out in the rain caused the folks at the City and the Mortimer Levitt Foundation to say that they don't think they could take it and found a new recipe for the unused bandshell at the park's northwestern corner, by 6th Street and Park View Ave. On Wednesday, August 8, the new, refurbished and renamed Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles will be unveiled, after it took so long to bake it. Like the 4-year old Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena and several others across the country, the LPLA will be an outdoor performance venue that shares the foundation's vision of funding communities that want free concerts under the stars. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by the expected group of politicos who like to take credit for it at 6:30 p.m. on the 8th, with the inaugural concert at 7 p.m. Performing that evening will be the band May Melee and the Rubber Bullets.

Okay, just kidding with that one. Especially to the LAPD Senior Lead Officer who told me about the August opening event on Tuesday.

But once regarded as the hellhole of all urban ills in Los Angeles, the park has really seen a gradual upturn in recent history. The renovation of the park and the opening of the (M) Red Line subway station across the street back in 1993 was a modest start (along with the associated public re-discovery of Langers Deli). The opening of Mama's Hot Tamales Cafe earlier this decade brought some more momentum, as with the more recent and likewise acclaimed Chichen Itza (No Homer, I said Chichen Itza, not "Chicken Pizza...") Restaurant on the opposite end of MacPark, the missing link in the equation is the park itself. The bandshell has seen much finer days in the past, hosting big band, jazz and salsa concerts. This Militant, as a wee young teen, even had his first-ever band's first-ever gig in the bandshell during the independence day celebration of a certain unspecified foreign country back in 198x.

The new LPLA will have concerts 5 nights a week from August to October (and May to October come '08 and henceforth) featuring World, Dance, Latin, Children's and Roots (Jazz, Blues, R&B) music. This Militant is big on overcoming urban fears and perceptions to make things better, so when the music starts a-playin' at MacPark, whether on bike or via subway, the Militant will be there...and he hopes you will be, too.

Sometimes You Wanna Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name
On Monday evening, the Militant had another one of his adventures in his Not-Really-Eastside community, and this time it had nothing to do with a car, a train, a bus or even a bike. It was all on foot. See, the Militant was walking to his nearest popular local ice cream or gelato or nonfat frozen yogurt joint when he unexpectedly, by chance, ran into friend and fellow active community member "A." The Militant told "A" about what he was doing, so "A" joined the Militant and walked down the block to the popular local ice cream or gelato or nonfat yogurt joint. The Militant and "A" got their ice cream/gelato/nonfat fro-yo and had a productive chat about the community. When all of a sudden, across the street, unexpectedly, by chance, comes walking in friends and fellow active community members "B" and "C." So "B" and "C" join "A" and the Militant, hanging out on the sidewalk tables and talk about the community, gossip and some recent movies. After a while, "B" and "C" leave to go home, and "A" tells the Militant about some dream business plan he had to open an Eastern European-style beer kiosk business locally. Well all this talk about beer got the Militant suddenly craving for one, so he suggested to "A" that they continue their conversation a short distance away at this new establishment that this Militant passed off as some gentrified pub place that had some nice microbrews on tap. So as the Militant ordered a beer each for himself and "A," and an appetizer item. The dude at the counter asked The Militant his name for the food order and The Militant said, "[censored]." The counter dude said, "Hey, you're [censored] [censored], right?" The Militant assumed Dude At The Counter knows him from his community activities when Dude continued and explained that he knew the Militant Angeleno some 10 years ago as a customer support acquaintance. The Militant didn't recognize the face, but he certainly did remember the name. So The Militant asks Counter Dude, "So, you work here now?" Counter Dude replied, "Work here? This is my business!"

So unexpectedly, by chance, The Militant runs into an acquaintance from 10 years back who runs this establishment that The Militant originally passed off as some faceless bastion of gentrification. But being that this businessowner is someone he knows personally, who also knows other people he knows personally, the perception has changed. It's no longer an establishment to be feared or reluctantly patronized, but this is someone I know, who's trying his hand at running a business relatively unique to the neighborhood and that The Militant is more than welcome here.

Ultimately experiences like this remind the Militant that Los Angeles is really just a small town (albeit with an awful lot of concrete), and that though the Militant has made it his mission to open people's eyes and make people learn, sometimes, just sometimes, the Militant has to have his own eyes open so he can learn too.