LA's New Opera Company

WHAT would it look like if Hurricane Katrina blew across an Italo Calvino fable? We might be able to find out when Crescent City, whose creators call it a "hyperopera," comes to Atwater Crossing later this week.

Recently I visited the set, much of which was designed by local visual artists, and met with director Yuval Sharon and composer Anne LeBaron of CalArts. Here's my story.

Sharon, who used to run the edgy Vox series at New York City Opera, is one of the founders of The Industry, a new company that will put together experimental performances. He's a trip, and a lot of fun to talk to, expecially about Brecht and Wagner. If all goes well, he could inject some powerful energy into the local arts scene. He reminds me in some ways of David Sefton... Very much looking forward to catching Crescent City.

I'm also enjoying the arts-oriented warehouse complex Atwater Crossing itself, and had a good time there at party for Slake magazine over the weekend.