Off Center Festival and More Set for Segerstrom Center, Jan 2014

Segerstrom Center for the Arts has announced its upcoming shows for January 2014. Details below!

Off Center Festival
January 23 - February 2, 2014 | Various times. Various venues. Free - $25.

The Center presents its third annual Off Center Festival, a dizzying mix of contemporary theater, music and performance art that takes place throughout the campus. Every company and performer will be making their Center debuts. The festival redefines the Center experience with an atmosphere that animates the Center with an eclectic and energetic array of the finest in contemporary performance.

Pacific Symphony presents:

Nadja Plays Mendelssohn
January 9 - 11, 2014 | Thursday - Saturday at 8 p.m. Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. $25 - $185.

Described as an artist who "will make you hang breathlessly on every note," violinist and conductor Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg stands out for her passionate and powerful sound, her risk-taking musical persona and her energetic presence. She's electrifying! The program includes Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, Bizet/Scedrin's Carmen Suite and Zwilich's Prologue and Variations.

Concert Preview at 7 p.m. with host Alan Chapman.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents Chamber Music:

Emerson String Quartet
January 10, 2014 | Friday at 8 p.m. Samueli Theater. $29 - $69.

After 16 remarkable concerts in the Center's Chamber Music Series, audiences enjoy a significant relationship with the Emerson String Quartet. This season begins a new chapter in the ensemble's rewarding artistic partnership. For the first time in its history, the Emerson welcomes a new artist to its ranks as cellist Paul Watkins joins the ensemble. For this milestone engagement, Eugene Drucker, violin; Philip Setzer, violin; Lawrence Dutton, viola; and Paul Watkins, cello; will perform a special program, featuring Beethoven's "Razumovsky" Quartets, Op. 59 No. 1 - 3.

Pacific Symphony presents:

Magic Potion

January 11, 2014 | Saturday at 10 and 11:30 a.m. Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. $19 - $39.

Talented singers join Pacific Symphony to bring to life a special 45 minute opera for kids, inspired by Donizetti's comic gem Elixir of Love. Dr. Dulcamara's potent potion has the power to enchant. Or does it? Find out during this rollicking adventure filled with sparkling music and zany characters!

The symphony's Family Musical Mornings are fun and fascinating 45 minute concerts that enhance a child's love for music. Guests are also invited to join the Musical Carnival for free hands-on activities for children. Meet Symphony musicians; sing, dance, play and color; try musical instruments and enjoy thematic activities related to the concert. (9 a.m. for 10 a.m. concert and 12:15 p.m. for 11:30 a.m. concert.)

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents Broadway:

Disney's Beauty and the Beast

January 14 - 19, 2014 | Tuesday - Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Segerstrom Hall. $29 - $119.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the smash-hit Broadway musical, is returning to Segerstrom Center! Based on the Academy® Award-winning animated feature film, this eye-popping spectacle has won the hearts of more than 35 million people worldwide. This classic musical love story is filled with unforgettable characters, lavish sets and costumes and dazzling production numbers including "Be Our Guest" and the beloved title song. Experience the romance and enchantment of Disney's Beauty and the Beast!

Family Explorer Series subscribers have a unique and special opportunity to enjoy Disney's Beauty and the Beast by adding a January 18 or 19 performance to their subscription package.

Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents:

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
January 22, 2014 | Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. $35 - $250.

One of the world's preeminent classical artists, Grammy Award-winning conductor and violinist Pinchas Zukerman has remained a phenomenon in the classical music world for more than four decades. Zukerman returns leading the London-basEd Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, an ensemble widely regarded for its exceptional quality and versatility. The evening performance highlights a Romantic program with Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, Bach's Violin Concerto in E major, and Schoenberg's Verkla?rte Nacht.

The symphony's Family Musical Mornings are fun and fascinating 45 minute concerts that enhance a child's love for music. Guests are also invited to join the Musical Carnival for free hands-on activities for children. Meet Symphony musicians; sing, dance, play and color; try musical instruments and enjoy thematic activities related to the concert. (9 a.m. for 10 a.m. concert and 12:15 p.m. for 11:30 a.m. concert.)

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents Off Center Festival:

Sekou Sundaiata's blessing the boats: the remix January 23 - 26, 2014 | Thursday - Sunday at 8 p.m.
Founders Hall. $25.

As a brilliant poet and storyteller, Sekou Sundiata created a very personal and inspiring story of hope, compassion and wonder. It makes you consider the physical body, its changing nature - how we are all vulnerable but can get through most anything with the support of loved ones. blessing the boats: the remix tells the moving, personal story of a man and his health as he experiences illness that turns out to be kidney failure. Within this emotional and profound journey, he reflects on the utmost compassion of the friends who come forward to donate one of their kidneys, and ultimately, the grace by which he feels so blessed.

Pacific Symphony presents:

Pink Martini
January 23 - 25, 2014 | Thursday - Saturday at 8 p.m. Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. $45 - $170.

As The Washington Post puts it, "Pour in a variety of genres, shake well, serve. Crowd loves it." Pink Martini is part big band, part classical ensemble, part salsa troupe and all fun! The 12-member group may deliver magical ballads, syncopated tangos, spitfire ditties or dreamy love songs - all enhanced with the lush backing of Pacific Symphony, led by Principal Pops Conductor Richard Kaufman.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents Off Center Festival:

POP: Party on the Plaza January 24, 2014 | Friday at 6 p.m. Arts Plaza. FREE.

On January 24, the Center hosts a FREE Off Center Festival party on the Arts Plaza. It will feature performances by Culture Clash, the bands Little Willie G. - The Original Voice of Thee Midniters and La Santa Cecilia plus food trucks for dinner and snacks.

"Smart and deadly funny. A comic grand slam!?," wrote the Boston Herald. Culture Clash consists of three Latino members (Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza) who have been writing and performing together for twenty years. Each artist plays multiple characters, crossing all racial, social, and sexual boundaries, reinventing our ideas of storytelling and community.

"Little Willie G. is considered to be the best singer to come out of East Los Angeles and has one of the most powerful and soulful voices in the music-world today," says Rolling Stone Magazine. A charismatic figure/singer, Little Willie G.'s style has drawn comparisons to Jackie Wilson and Frank Sinatra. He'll perform all the classics, including "Sad Girl," " The Town I Live In" and That's All."

L.A. Weekly hailed La Santa Cecilia as "the best Latin alternative band of the year." They exemplify the modern-day creative hybrid of Latin culture rock 'n' roll music. The group draws inspiration from all over the world, utilizing Pan-American rhythms such as cumbria, bossa-nova, rumba, bolero, tango, jazz and klezmer music.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents Off Center Festival:

Die Roten Punkte: Super Musician January 24 & 25, 2014 | Friday and Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Samueli Theater. $25.

Die Roten Punkte (German for The Red Dots and pronounced DEE ROTTEN POONK-TEH) is a two- piece band from Australia by way of Berlin's underground rock scene. Otto and Astrid Rot are a lipstick- smeared, tantrum-loving, sonic collision someplace between The B-52s, Kraftwerk and early Ramones. "Pants-wettingly funny!" said Canada's Uptown Magazine. Otto (vocals, guitar, keytar, loops) and his petulantly imperious sister Astrid (drums, vocals, glockenspiel, cowbell, accordion) squabble their way through their ridiculously infectious songs in a performance that is equal parts rock concert and comedy sketch show. One of the most hilarious gigs you'll ever see.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents Off Center Festival:

Edgar Oliver: Helen & Edgar
January 24 - 26, 2014 | Friday - Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Studio Performance Space. $25.

Edgar Oliver has a cult following mesmerized by his spellbinding tales. "Utterly absorbing and unexpectedly moving," Oliver delivers spoken memoirs from his childhood. He, his sister Helen and his mother Louise are among the characters. Each story is represented with remarkable artistry and masterful use of language and phrasing. Riveting from the moment he sets his eyes on the audience.

Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents:

Handel's Theodora
January 27, 2014 | Monday at 7 p.m.
Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. $30 - $250.

Handel's Theodora - a tragic tale of love, faith and virtue - was the composer's favorite of his oratorios, surpassing even his famed Messiah. This dramatic masterpiece, centered around the story of the Christian martyr Theodora and her Christian-converted Roman lover Didymus, will be performed by The English Concert, one of the first orchestras dedicated to performing Baroque and early Classical music on period instruments. Talented countertenor David Daniels assumes the role of Didymus, joining a wonderful cast under the direction of Harry Bicket, chief conductor of the Santa Fe Opera and who makes his Orange County debut.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents Broadway:

CHICAGO

January 28 - February 2, 2014 | Tuesday - Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m.
Segerstrom Hall. $29 - $99.

A true New York City institution, CHICAGO has everything that makes Broadway great: a universal tale of fame, fortune and all that jazz; one show-stopping song after another; and the most astonishing dancing you've ever seen. No wonder CHICAGO has been honored with six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, a Grammy and thousands of standing ovations. It's also no surprise that CHICAGO has wowed audiences all around the world, from Mexico City to Moscow, from Sao Paulo to South Africa. Whether you're looking for your first Broadway musical, whether you've seen the Academy Award-winning film and want to experience the show live on stage or whether you've seen it before and want to recapture the magic, CHICAGO always delivers. This purely entertaining show will star award-winning actor and star of stage, TV and film, John O'Hurley, reprising the role of Billy Flynn.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents Off Center Festival:

Phil Soltanoff: LA Party
January 29 - 31, 2014 | Wednesday - Friday at 7:30 p.m. Studio Performance Space. $25.

In LA Party, a monastic-vegan/raw food fanatic falls off the wagon one night and spends an evening on a wild L.A. bender. Phil Soltanoff is an award-winning theater artist creating innovative, hybrid work in which the arts collide in compelling ways. He challenges familiar forms, builds links among seemingly incompatible media and materials, and employs new technologies in surprising and human ways. The short story collides with live video in which six performers produce a compelling composite human being.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents Off Center Festival:

Culture Clash: KEEP CULTURE AND CLASH ON: 30 Years of Revolutionary Comedy Remastered

January 30 - February 2, 2014 | Thursday - Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Founders Hall. $25.

Culture Clash is celebrating its 30th anniversary as the most prominent Chicano/Latino performance troupe in the country. For its Center debut, the company will present the world premiere of KEEP CULTURE AND CLASH ON: 30 Years of Revolutionary Comedy Remastered. This is theater of the moment, written and performed first for the people and communities on which their works are based and, ultimately, for broader audiences. Culture Clash uses performance collage to bring history, geography, urban excavation, forensic poetry and storytelling together in a contemporary, movable theater narrative through a Chicano point of view. Their videos, short films and art exhibits have been shown at The Smithsonian; The Whitney Museum of American Art; Sundance Film Festival; The San Juan, Puerto Rico Film and Video Festival; The Art Institute of Boston; Palm Springs Film Festival and The Los Angeles Film Festival, among others. (Please Note: This show contains mature subject matter.)

Pacific Symphony presents:

Toradze Plays Shostakovich

January 30 - February 1, 2014 | Thursday - Saturday at 8 p.m. Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. $25 - $185.

Recognized as a masterful virtuoso with deep lyricism and intense emotion, Russian pianist Alexander Toradze joins Pacific Symphony to introduce a journey into the music of Shostakovich. Music Director Carl St.Clair dives into Symphony No. 10, perhaps the composer's best work, at once melancholy and intense.

Concert Preview at 7 p.m.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents Off Center Festival:

Rinde Eckert: Becoming Unusual ... The Education of an Eclectic January 31 & February 1, 2014 | Friday and Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
Samueli Theater. $25.

Becoming Unusual ... The Education of an Eclectic is a work in progress, solo concert of song, dramatic monologues, lecture and video. Award-winning composer, musician, singer, librettist, actor and director, Eckert explains that his goal is to build a theatrical logic in his works that is fiercely interdisciplinary, "a theatre that accepts various modalities of meaning and feeling without subordinating one to the other." Eckert describes many of his characters as "little men with big ideas whose consequences of their hubris are often disastrous." Sometimes tragic and austere, sometimes broadly comedic, entirely grounded by presence, his work is alchemical: moving from rumination and distillation to hard-won illumination, or its lack.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is unique as both an acclaimed arts institution and as a multi- disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence on all of its stages, offering unsurpassed experiences, and engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a diverse array of inspiring programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center traces its roots back to the late 1960s when a dedicated group of community leaders decided Orange County should have its own world-class performing arts venue.

As Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization, Segerstrom Center for the Arts owns and operates the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall and intimate 250-seat Founders Hall, which opened in 1986, and the 2,000-seat Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, which opened in 2006 and also houses the 500-seat Samueli Theater, the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge Education Center's studio performance space and Boeing Education Lab. A spacious arts plaza anchors Segerstrom Center for Arts and is home to numerous free performances throughout the year as part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts' ongoing Free for All series.

The Center presents a broad range of programming each season for audiences of all ages from throughout Orange County and beyond, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, intimate performances of jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family-friendly programming, free performances open to the public from outdoor movie screenings to dancing on the plaza and many other special events. It offers many education programs designed to inspire young people through the arts. These programs reach hundreds of thousands of students of all ages with vital arts-in-education programs, enhancing their studies and enriching their lives well into the future.

In addition to the presenting and producing institution Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the 14-acre campus also embraces the facilities of two independent acclaimed organizations: Tony® Award-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of the Orange County Museum of Art. Segerstrom Center for the Arts is also proud to serve as the artistic home to three of the region's major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and the Pacific Chorale, who contribute greatly to the artistic life of the region with annual seasons at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

Free Public Tours: Segerstrom Center offers tours of Southern California's award-winning home for the performing arts and its expanded facilities. The tours take visitors through the three venues, making this a perfect outing for groups or anyone who wants to know more about the performing arts. The tour is conducted by Center Docents. Public tours are conducted Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. Private group tours are by reservation only.

Please note: Private and public tours of all Segerstrom Center halls are now available.

Please call (714) 556-2122, ext. 4246 for more information on either the private or the public tours.

For information about individual programs and ticket prices, call: Segerstrom Center for the Arts - (714) 556-2787 Pacific Chorale - (714) 662-2345 The Philharmonic Society of Orange County - (949) 553-2422 Pacific Symphony - (714) 755-5799. All programs, artists and dates are subject to change.