I’m culture writer Carolina A. Miranda, and I am currently knee-deep in Netflix’s The Eternaut, a sci-fi apocalypse series inspired by a ‘50s-era graphic novel from Argentina called El Eternauta. The comics, written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld, with art by Francisco Solano López, revolve around a man named Juan Salvo (played by the fantastic Ricardo Darín) who must do what it takes to survive as a deadly snowfall blankets Buenos Aires.
The story, about bands of ordinary men fighting a deadly force of impossible magnitude, is made more poignant by the fact that Osterheld was detained and disappeared by the Argentine military in 1977. So far, I’m three episodes into the series and the story has me hooked.
In addition to sci-fi, here’s what else I'm mainlining:
Ainadamar, an opera inspired by poet Federico García Lorca
A slew of LA gallery shows
That new musical about Luigi Mangione
Plus, much more below…
The featured image at top is a view of Aftermath (2025), by Nancy Baker Cahill at Charlie James Gallery. (Photo by Carolina A. Miranda)
The Pen and the Pistol
Daniela Mack as Federico García Lorca (standing) and Ana María Martínez as Margarita Xirgu in LA Opera's Ainadamar. (Cory Weaver / LA Opera)
In 1936, in the early days of the Spanish Civil War, the poet Federico García Lorca, already well-known for his stage play Blood Wedding, was picked up by a group of right-wing Nationalists, taken to a site outside the city of Granada, then assassinated alongside two bullfighters and a schoolteacher. Lorca’s openness about his homosexuality, along with his strong sympathies for Spain’s democratically-elected Republican government, was all that was needed to arouse the enmity of the Nationalists. The site where he was reportedly killed sits near a historic fountain called Aynadamar, a name rooted in Arabic that means “fountain of tears.”
The story of Lorca — his life and untimely death — forms the basis of the opera Ainadamar, which is currently being staged by LA Opera at the Music Center. Directed by Brazilian choreographer Deborah Colker, with a score by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov and a libretto by the Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, the opera imagines Lorca’s last days — as recounted by his close friend and colleague, the theater actor and director Margarita Xirgu.
Ainadamar is short and impressionistic. Only 80 minutes long, it consists of three sections — or “images” — in which Xirgu (sung by soprano Ana María Martínez) relates her history with Lorca to a young protegée named Nuria (the striking up-and-comer Vanessa Becerra). In the role of Lorca is mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack.
Performers weave in and out of the opera's principal set piece: a translucent fringe curtain used as a scrim for projections. (Cory Weaver / LA Opera)
At moments, the opera’s narrative structure — a story about a story, told in flashbacks — has the effect of sapping some of the drama. But the strong performances, along with a blazing score rooted in flamenco and klezmer, as well as the powerful choreography and smart set design by Jon Bausor, give the show punch. Occupying the center of the stage is a circular curtain made of translucent fringe, serving as a physical container for the memories recollected by Xirgu. The fringe also serves as a scrim onto which words and images are projected — effects devised by video artist Tal Rosner. Among these are droplets of water that appear to descend down the surface of the curtain like tears.
Ainadamar’s most searing moments arrive with the appearance of flamenco singer Alfredo Tejada, who plays the Nationalist soldier, Rámon Ruiz Alonso, who leads Lorca to his death. Tejada commands the stage with an authoritative cante jondo (deep song) that brings to this otherwise traditional opera the vibrating calls of Andalusian Roma musical practice. His performance is hypnotic; it is resonant, too. It is his character who delivers one of the opera’s most poignant lines: Lorca, he sings, “has done more damage with his pen than others have with their pistols!”
Flamenco singer Alfredo Tejada in Ainadamar. (Cory Weaver / LA Opera)
Which is ultimately why Ainadamar is such a meaningful opera for right now: a reminder of the power that art and artists can wield in the fight against authoritarianism. Lorca, the man, may have been assassinated in 1936. But his ideas remain vibrantly, powerfully alive.
🖋️🖋️🖋️
Ainadamar is on stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion through May 18th; laopera.org.
The New York Timesreviewed the show during its run at the Metropolitan Opera (with a slightly different cast).
Plus, Lithub has a great story about Lorca’s final days.
In the galleries
Diane Arbus, A castle in Disneyland, Cal., 1962, at David Zwirner. (Estate of Diane Arbus)
Diane Arbus at David Zwirner (East Hollywood) In 1972, just a year after taking her own life, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a retrospective devoted to Arbus, a photographer renowned for her unblinking images of nudists and sideshow performers. The show was hailed and reviled (most famously by Susan Sontag), all while drawing blockbuster crowds. David Zwirnerteamed up with Fraenkel Galleryto recreate that historic exhibition on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 2022; now it has landed in LA. A must-see! Through June 21st; zwirner.com.
Jay Lynn Gomez and Nancy Cahill at Charlie James Gallery (Chinatown) Expect two very different but engaging shows. In Butterfly Dream, Gomez chronicles, in paintings, the story of her gender transition: the interiors of doctors’ offices, old family photos, and a self-portrait in which she perches, alluringly, on a bean bag. In a separate space, Cahill brings dimension to the augmented reality work for which she is best known. Most compelling is the installation in the gallery’s basement, titled Aftermath, which projects color and patterns onto a wall sculpture made out of torn paper — though abstract, it’s a piece that conveys an ecology in distress. Cahill’s show is on view through May 24th; Gomez through May 31st; cjamesgallery.com.
Carolee Schneeman at Lisson Gallery (Hollywood) Schneeman is perhaps best known for her outré performances — like Meat Joy (1964) — in which dancers writhed around with pieces of raw fish and meat. This exhibition brings to light lesser-known work, including a large-scale installation drawn from a dream the artist had on a visit to LA in the summer of 1985, in which she envisioned a series of rock-like forms inspired by Monet’s Water Lilies. Through May 24th;lissongallery.com.
Alexandre Arrechea at Simard Bilodeau (Downtown) The Cuban-born artist is best known for his sculptural work. (He was the subject of a survey at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach in 2023.) This small gallery show brings together new paintings, inspired by the flora of his native country — albeit abstract and rendered surreal. Through June 7th; simardbilodeau.com.
🎨🎨🎨
Around the Internet
Devastating cuts have hit the National Endowment for the Arts as Trump pledges to eliminate the agency.
The Trump administration has done a lot of damage, but Dana Liebelson writes that the President’s vision for culture remains inscrutable.
Speaking of inscrutable: Marion Maneker writes about George Lucas’s rising LA museum.
A musical about Luigi Mangione is set to premiere at San Francisco’s Taylor Street Theater.
The Cultural Journalist podcast (co-hosted by KCRW editor Andrea Domanick!) has a fascinating episode on how the financial industry has reshaped moviemaking.
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