LOS ANGELES -- On Dec. 4, the Mark Taper Forum will present the world premiere of LIKE JAZZ, a "new kind of musical" conceived by writer Larry Gelbart, composer Cy Coleman and lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Patricia Birch is the choreographer, Gordon Davidson the director.

With sixteen original songs faithful to the jazz genre, LIKE JAZZ offers a glimpse into the fascinating world of jazz artists. Each composition tells a story about the joys and perils that a jazz performer encounters away from the shelter of the bandstand. Whether a tale of artists of world note or one of those never destined to make it big, these musical accounts celebrate and, when appropriate, commiserate with these gifted artists whose lives often seem to be as improvised and unpredictable as their music.

Through Jan. 25, 2004 at Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave. Call (213) 628-2772 or visit TaperAhmanson.com. Deaf community & charge, TDD (213) 680-4017.

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FANTASIA RETURNS WITH DOUBLE BASS

LOS ANGELES -- Actor/director Louis Fantasia will reprise his renowned one-man show DOUBLE BASS at the Goethe-Institut on Dec. 5 & 6 at 7.30 PM. Written by Patrick ("Perfume") Susskind and translated by Eric Overmeyer and Harry Newman, DOUBLE BASS probes the fears and phobias of a second-rate musician facing a major performance challenge. Fantasia (a regular contributor to LIVELY-ARTS.COM) has been performing the show, off and on, for the past fifteen years, not just in L.A. but elsewhere in the USA and abroad.

DOUBLE BASS marks the 20th anniversary of Goethe-Institut Los Angeles.

Fantasia is also a director with more than a hundred plays, musicals and operas to his credit, including the first production on the reconstructed Globe stage in London. Earlier this year, KCRW-FM broadcast his production of Alice in Wonderland, starring Judy Geeson, Harry Shearer, Elliot Gould and Malcolm MacDowell.

Goethe-Institut L.A. is located at 5750 Wilshire Blvd. Call (323) 525-3388.