Entering The Nimoy Theater is stepping back in time to 1940, and taking in the retro splendor of the lobby and theater is a fantastic experience for the senses. Go for the theater, stay for the performance. Along the sides of the audience are massive architectural sculptures with fluted lighting making the whole space more sumptuous and inviting. These lighting sculptures illuminate the beautiful murals of certain notorious landmarks of old Tinseltown adorning the walls of the theater. The Nimoy is well-staffed and well-suited to its second life as an Arts venue.
Interior of The Nimoy Theater – Photo courtesy of CAP UCLA
The stage itself is small with no wings but two walls enclosing it, making this space very intimate and greatly suited to music or cabaret style performance. Which is exactly what was delivered by Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher on Saturday night, September 30, 2023 and presented by CAP UCLA. The stage was taken up by a grand piano stage right and a roughly 6 x 8 foot raised wooden platform with mics for the tap dancing of Caleb Teicher on stage left.
Tao and Teicher entered the space very casually and addressed the audience as if in their living room, which perfectly suited the intimacy of the space and the easygoing nature of the evening’s menu of sensory delights. I say ‘menu’ because the evening progressed exactly along the lines of a lavish banquet.
CAP UCLA – Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher performing in “Counterpoint” – Photo by Jason Williams
The first piece was a tantalizing appetizer Aria from The Goldberg Variations by J. S. Bach. This was a lovely introduction of light themes and easy conversation between Tao and Teicher. The sensitive response of the taps to the whimsical call of the music was enchanting. Tao’s relaxed attitude during the evening let the music speak for itself. He never got in the way of the composers coming through that glorious piano. Teicher is a lanky, lithesome mover with excellent technique and a fine control. They were reminiscent of Buddy Ebsen in more than a few numbers. Teicher has great length in the legs that belies exacting precision. It was necessary in order to compliment Tao’s channeling of the piano.
CAP UCLA – Conrad Tao performing in “Counterpoint” – Photo by Jason Williams
At times Tao would solo on the piano while Teicher sat, and vice versa. The ‘Counterpoint’ title is all too apt for the conversation and dialogue witnessed between the ever-changing accumulation of notes and the mercurial and immediate response of the feet through tap shoes. By the middle of the program a new language had been glimpsed and understood, a new language of pure rhythm that could delight, excite, caress and alarm.
CAP UCLA – Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher performing in “Counterpoint” – Photo by Jason Williams
The soundscape produced by the two was magnificent and enveloping. The complexity of their ‘language’ was astounding and riveting. One was put in mind of the Navajo or Diné code talkers of WWII. To hear it was to know it spoke volumes if one could only understand the syntax. They were listening to each other intently, and when each spoke it was clearly interwoven and harmonious.
CAP UCLA – Caleb Teicher performing in “Counterpoint” – Photo by Jason Williams
Teicher performed ‘The Coles and Bufalino Soft Shoe’ honoring Charles ‘Honi‘ Coles, and Brenda Bufalino. Tao made sure to mention Arnold Schoenberg and his 12-tone technique as an influence. Both utilized their respective instruments, piano and tap shoes, as extensions of themselves. They at times were engaged in call and response and then suddenly very playful, like two dolphins jumping over and under each other with their rhythms. They were curious and inquisitive and then when least expected, demanding and powerful. They were delicate and subtle, taking care to give each other the floor like orators in the Senate of Rome. Then with the Mozart Allegretto ‘Alla Turca’ by David Parker, they were comedic, song and dance men touring the provinces in a covered wagon. With ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ by Gershwin they pulled the stops out. Each launched headlong into a tour-de-force of rhythmic timing and sonic complexity. I closed my eyes during this section and was transported, listening to concordant conversation shooting ahead of aural comprehension. It was magnificent.
The program closed with Ravel and then J. S. Bach again, book-ending the evening beautifully. After a few minutes of well-earned standing ovation they rewarded with an encore and then graciously returned the space to itself.
CAP UCLA – Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher performing in “Counterpoint” – Photo by Jason Williams
This pairing was a match made in heaven as the intimate space was perfectly suited to the intricate and detailed music and movement displayed by Tao and Teicher. The new venue acquisition was made possible by a generous gift from Susan Bay Nimoy and was named the UCLA Nimoy Theater to honor the legacy of her late husband, Leonard Nimoy. The Nimoy is a rehabilitation of the UCLAN Theatre, which opened on Christmas Day 1940, and was likely named for its proximity to UCLA. In 1955, the UCLAN was renamed the Crest Theatre and, in the late eighties, theater designer Joseph Musil restored the Crest with an Art Deco inspired renovation and added stylized murals of Hollywood and Westwood landmarks. The Nimoy’s restoration carefully preserved many of Musil’s features. To the degree that the lighting grid over the audience has many of the units focused on the murals and not the stage. But, no worries, as the stage has plenty of light of its’ own to represent wonderfully.
For more information about The Nimoy Theater, please visit their website.
To learn more about CAP UCLA, please visit their website.
Written by Brian Fretté for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: CAP UCLA – (L-R) Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher performing in “Counterpoint” – Photo by Jason Williams
