An 8-year-old’s guide to ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’: L.A. arts and culture this week

About halfway through opening night of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” at the Pantages, I had an unsettling revelation: I had totally lost the plot.

I was standing in line to buy a $25 owl for my 8-year-old daughter during intermission of the three-hour play, and I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I wanted to ask my daughter to explain what was happening, but if I’m being honest, I was embarrassed. I mean, I’m a reasonably intelligent adult of a certain age. I read and comprehended “The Brothers Karamazov” in college, and I keep track of the intricate details of my family’s byzantine schedule with what I regard to be superhuman recall. So why was I having trouble with a hit Broadway show based on one of the most recognizable franchises in human history?

The second half of the show did not bring more clarity, although I did manage to wrap my mind around the ending even though I was unsure of what exactly had led to it. This is where I pause to tell you that I really loved the play, despite being hopelessly lost. The magic effects are super, and maybe that was the problem. I spent so much time admiring the floating books, the outrageously spooky Dementors and the fiery wand-wielding that I wasn’t paying attention to the dialogue. (I did know enough to spot that Aidan Close — the actor who played Scorpius Malfoy — was truly funny and hugely enjoyable to watch.)

But I suspect the real issue was that the show is built in a very distinct world — one that my daughter is fully immersed in. Having read the first four books and watched every single movie multiple times, she didn’t miss a beat. She was absolutely riveted every time I looked over at her. Which also distracted me. She was so darn cute.

The show got out past 10 p.m., and my daughter fell asleep on the drive home, which is something to consider if you do take your own 8-year-old, or borrow one from a friend or family member. At any rate, I couldn’t wake her to explain it to me then, so I waited until the following afternoon to casually ask what exactly had happened in the play.

“Mom,” she said, crossing her arms and regarding me with the stern demeanor of a Catholic school teacher. “Do I have to explain everything to you?”

In this case, yes, I told her. Yes, you do.

I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, and I promise you I’m not always off the mark. Ashley Lee and I are here with your biweekly dose of arts news.

Best bets: On our radar this week

“Floor Scrapers,” 1875, Gustave Caillebotte (French, 1848-1894), Oil on canvas, 40 3/16 x 57 1/16 in (102 x 145 cm), Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Gift of the heirs of Caillebotte through his executor Auguste Renoir, 1894.

(Musée d’Orsay. dist Grand Palais RMN / Patrice Schmidt. EX.2025.2.32)

’Gustave Caillebotte: Painting Men’
The largest display of the French Impressionist’s work on the West Coast in 30 years features about 100 paintings and drawings — a selection that specifically considers his distinct focus on male subjects, from family members and close friends in domestic interiors to anonymous workers, sportsmen and soldiers in their everyday environments. The free exhibition is on view Tuesday through Saturday, until May 25; a conversation with the exhibition’s co-curators about its genesis, research and development takes place Tuesday on site and online. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood. getty.edu

‘44’
The smart, satirical R&B musical spoofs the rise and presidency of Barack Obama, as well as the many eccentric political characters on both sides of the aisle that crossed his path during his time in the White House. The show, created by Eli Bauman, began as a sold-out engagement at the Bourbon Room and is returning to L.A. after hit runs in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. Performances run through March 23. Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City. centertheatregroup.org

“Exhibitionism” at Rajiv Menon Contemporary in Hollywood.

(Simran Malik)

‘Exhibitionism’
Rajiv Menon Contemporary’s newly opened permanent space is dedicated to bringing contemporary South Asian and diasporic art to the United States. Its inaugural exhibition features more than 20 pieces by 19 artists, ranging from emerging to established, and explores artists’ relationship to privacy and attention through depictions of intimacy, domesticity and the art world. It is on view through March 30. Rajiv Menon Contemporary, 1311 Highland Ave., Hollywood. rmcontemporary.com

— Ashley Lee

The week ahead: A curated calendar

“Topdog/Underdog,” Brandon Gill, left, and Brandon Micheal Hall, starts Wednesday at Pasadena Playhouse.

(Jeff Lorch)

TUESDAY
Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets The sharp-witted singer-songwriter is joined by the lucha libre mask-clad guitarists.
7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. Troubadour, 9081 N. Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. troubadour.com

Joe Minter and Daisy Sheff Solo shows by the two painters are the inaugural exhibitions at Parker Gallery.
Through March 29, closed Sundays and Mondays. Parker Gallery, 6700 Melrose Ave. parkergallery.com

Víkingur Ólafsson & Yuja Wang The pianists collaborate in a program featuring works by Conlon Nancarrow, John Adams, Arvo Pärt, Rachmaninoff and Schubert.
8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

Tyshawn Sorey The world premiere of the composer-percussionist’s “For Julius Eastman” features Sarah Rothenberg on piano.
8 p.m. Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. mondayeveningconcerts.org

Larry Stanton: Think of Me When It Thunders Thirty works by the late artist, mostly portraits of men on paper and canvas made between 1980 and 1984, serve as a memorial to the victims of the AIDS crisis.
Through April 5, closed Sundays and Mondays. CLEARING Los Angeles, 530 N. Western Ave. c-l-e-a-r-i-n-g.com

WEDNESDAY
Topdog/Underdog Brandon Gill and Brandon Micheal Hall star in Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, directed by Gregg T. Daniel.
Through March 23. Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. pasadenaplayhouse.org

THURSDAY
Jean Arthur Double Bill The popular star’s four-decade career included this pair of classic Depression-era screwball comedies, “Easy Living” (1937) and “If You Could Only Cook” (1935).
7:30 p.m. Thursday and 6:30 p.m. Friday. New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd. thenewbev.com

Juilliard String Quartet The virtuoso foursome performs works by Bach, Beethoven and Michelle Barzel Ross.
7:30 p.m. Chapman University, Musco Center for the Arts, One University Drive, Orange. muscocenter.org

Dudamel Conducts Mahler’s Seventh The L.A. Phil’s Mahler Grooves Festival continues with Gustavo Dudamel conducting the composer’s “symphony of everything.”
8 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

Culture news and the SoCal scene

”Macbeth” is an immensely difficult play to effectively pull off, writes Times theater critic Charles McNulty in a column examining Shakespeare’s immortal tragedy. McNulty recently took in two vastly different shows, one at the cinema and one onstage — each with its own strengths. An acclaimed London production starring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo, filmed live at the Donmar Warehouse, recently had a limited onscreen run. “Not having attended the Donmar Warehouse production in person, I can’t say it’s the best stage version I’ve ever seen,” wrote McNulty. “But if I were to ever see anything remotely approaching this level in the theater, I could end my career a contented critic.” McNulty also dove into the specifics of a “less lofty” production currently playing at A Noise Within, and with both shows, found himself considering the play’s parallels to contemporary politics.

The Vienna Philharmonic is heading to Southern California for the first time since 2014. The orchestra is set to play two concerts at Segerstrom Center for the Arts led by Grammy Award-winning conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The first program features pianist Yefim Bronfman playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, followed by Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben. The second is a performance of Schubert’s Symphony No. 4 and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.”

Artists are stepping up to protest the Trump administration’s vision for the National Endowment for the Arts, which has manifested in new rules about what kinds of art can qualify for grants. Hint: no programming that promotes diversity of “gender ideology.” Last week, 463 artists, writers, dancers and others signed a letter to the NEA asking that the new rules be rolled back.

A massive art-forgery operation was busted by Italy’s art crime squad, which raided a workshop outside Rome that housed 71 fake paintings attributed to artists including Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol.

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

A joke for word nerds:
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
To.
To Who?
To Whom.