Los Angeles Times - 07.03.2020

What makes a

house a ‘Home’

A theater piece builds

a residence brimming

with life. A review. E3

Comics...................E6-7

What’s on TV..........E8

Author Jeanine Cum-

mins was visibly nervous

when she sat down with the

host of “Oprah’s Book Club”

to discuss the controversy

surrounding her hotly con-

tested immigration story,

“American Dirt.” Taking a

deep breath, she physically

braced for a heated discus-

sion that had begun months

before she ever stepped in

front of the cameras with

Oprah.

The interview, in an epi-

sode that premiered Friday

on Apple TV+, was centered

on the passionate debate

sparked by Cummins’ novel

when it was published this

year by Flatiron Books, an

imprint of Macmillan, and

anointed a must-read title

by America’s preeminent

tastemaker and TV talk

show goddess. Critics from

the Latinx community and

elsewhere accused Cum-

mins of cultural appropria-

tion, exploiting stereotypes

and benefiting from white

privilege in her fictional ac-

count of a mother’s harrow-

ing journey from Mexico to

the U.S.

The book garnered a sev-

en-figure advance and was

advertised by the publishing

house as the definitive immi-

gration tale. Cummins, who

identifies as white, became

the catalyst for a national ar-

gument over who has the

right to tell a story — and

was lambasted (especially

on social media) for using

the first-person voice of a fic-

tional Latina protagonist

named Lydia.

On Friday, the con-

Oprah brings

‘Dirt’ out of

echo chamber

On latest episode, she

carefully but candidly

examines controversy

over Cummins’ novel.

[SeeOprah,E2]

LORRAINE ALI

TELEVISION CRITIC

Hours before the start of the day’s filming on

the Sony Pictures sound stage that is home base for Showtime’s

“Kidding,” the proceedings were already in controlled-chaos mode.

Ennui Le Triste, the show’s emotional, talkative French baguette,

went over his lines. Sy the Wide-Eyed Fly darted from place to place, at-

tached to a man in a body suit covering everything but his face. Astron-

otter, the full-size otter dressed in a white astronaut suit, tried to get a

grip on her large helmet.

Welcome to the behind-the-scenes frenzy of “Mr. Pickles’ Puppet

Time,” the children’s show within the very adult show “Kidding,” the

comedy-drama featuring Jim Carrey as a Mister Rogers-esque TV host

struggling to maintain a grip on his sanity after a horrific family tragedy.

Carrey plays Jeff Pickles, a.k.a Mr. Pickles, who uses his puppet pals

living in the idyllic forest of Pickle Barrel Falls to teach his young viewers

life lessons.

On this humid summer day, Carrey was missing in action. Instead, the

puppets have taken over the facility.

CHRISTIANAnderson plays Sy the Wide-Eyed Fly and Gwen Hollander is Astron-otter of “Kidding’s” “Mr. Pickles’ Puppet Time.”

Carolyn ColeLos Angeles Times

The puppet masters

It’s all joyful hands on deck behind the scenes of ‘Kidding,’ the

‘Mister Rogers’-like show-within-a-show starring Jim Carrey

BYGREGBRAXTON>>>

[SeePuppets,E5]

JIM CARREY, who plays the TV host Jeff Pickles in

“Kidding” and had a hand in creating some of the

puppets, says the show’s aim is to heal and uplift.

Nicole WilderShowtime

Even for the audacious
Los Angeles Philharmonic, a
Power to the People! festival
might seem like asking for
trouble.
Think of John Lennon’s
1971 song and that photo of
him with raised fist. Think of
the slogan as a rallying cry
for Vietnam War protesters
in the 1960s or the Black Pan-
thers’ call for “All Power to
the People.”
Think again.
For its opening L.A. Phil
concert featuring the festi-
val’s cocurators, jazz pianist
Herbie Hancock and orches-
tra music and artistic direc-
tor Gustavo Dudamel,
Power to the People! did, in-
deed, invoke political activ-
ism Thursday night at Walt
Disney Concert Hall. A sta-
tion in the lobby let you take
a selfie with a backdrop of

MUSIC REVIEW

Hancock brings the Power

Jazz giant invokes

political activism as

L.A. Phil launches

monthlong festival.

MARK SWED
MUSIC CRITIC

GUSTAVO DUDAMEL, left, and Herbie Hancock kick off the monthlong Power

to the People! program with two of Hancock’s politically themed compositions.

Robert GauthierLos Angeles Times

[SeeHancock,E4]

CALENDAR

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020:: LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR

E

The 2020 South by South-
west festival has been can-
celed because of the con-
tinuing spread of the
coronavirus, city and county
officials in Austin, Texas, an-
nounced Friday.
SXSW organizers say
they are “devastated” by the
news, noting that it’s the
first time in 34 years that the
event won’t happen. The fes-
tival, which encompasses
film, music, interactive me-
dia and television, was to
have been held March 13-22.
Austin Mayor Steve Ad-
ler said at a news conference
that he had declared a local
disaster and together with
that had “issued an order
that effectively cancels
South by Southwest this
year.”
Festival organizers
tweeted out a statement
while the news conference
was taking place.
“SXSW will faithfully fol-
low the City’s directions,”
they said. “We are devas-
tated to share this news with
you. ‘The show must go on’ is
in our DNA, and this is the
first time in 34 years that the
March event will not take
place. We are now working
through the ramifications of
this unprecedented situa-
tion.”
“We tried to make a deci-
sion in the interest of public
safety,” Adler said by phone
on Friday, noting that he
consulted with the city’s
public health officials, local
hospitals, epidemiologists
and the mayors of other cit-
ies, including Miami and

SXSW

CALLED

OFF; A

HARD

HIT

Organizers say they’re

‘devastated,’ but

Austin consulted

widely before acting.

By Christie D’Zurilla

[SeeSXSW, E5]