“Four thousand years ago, someone pressed a reed into clay to preserve this story. Tonight, we sing it forward.” — Diana Farrell, librettist and artistic director Ahmad Joudeh (young Gilgamesh), center, with ensemble in "Gilgamesh: The Opera" at Cerritos Center (Photo by Christina Gandolfo) The 4,000-year-old epic tale of Gilgamesh was brought to life last weekend in the form of a lush opera five years in the making. With culturally inflected orchestral music, a rich l

From left: Amy Melendrez (Rosalí), Blanca Araceli (Carmen García) and Laura Vega (Pancha) in "Real Women Have Curves" at Casa 0101 Theater (Photo by Steve Moyer Public Relations) Josefina López’s "Real Women Have Curves," directed by Corky Dominguez at Casa 0101 Theater, drops us into a small East Los Angeles sewing factory in the late 1980s. The story follows five Latina women racing to meet an almost impossible deadline while quietly navigating a constant fear of immigratio