Subscriptions for Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts's 2013-14 Season Now on Sale

By: Oct. 01, 2013
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Subscription tickets for the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts 2013/2014 Inaugural Season go on sale on Tuesday, October 1 and are available by visiting www.thewallis.org.

The Martha Graham Dance Company will open the season in the Bram Goldsmith Theater on November 8 and 9, 2013, followed by the play Parfumerie by Miklos Laszlo, adapted by E.P. Dowdall and directed by Mark Brokaw, from November 26 to December 22, 2013. The romantic tale Parfumerie inspired the films The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Old Summertime, and Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail, as well as the Broadway musical She Loves Me. As a special program, an exhibition on perfume entitled Timeless Scents: 1370-2013, a history of fragrances through the ages is being created especially for The Wallis by Chandler Burr, former New York Times scent critic.

Other highlights include the celebrated Kneehigh Theatre production of Noël Coward's Brief Encounter, which played to great acclaim in London and New York, from February 15 to March 23, 2014. Brief Encounter is complemented by Love, Noël: The Letters and Songs of Noël Coward from February 20 to 22, 2014, to be performed in the Lovelace Studio Theatre. The chamber opera A Coffin in Egypt, composed by Ricky Ian Gordon with libretto and direction by Leonard Foglia, is a co-production with Houston Grand Opera and Opera Philadelphia. Based on a Horton Foote play, it will have its West Coast premiere from April 23 to 27, 2014 and stars beloved mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade.

Located in the heart of Beverly Hills, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will transform a Beverly Hills city block into a vibrant new cultural destination with two distinct, elegant buildings: the historic 1933 Italianate-style Beverly Hills Post Office and the new, contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater. Together these two structures embrace the city's history and future, creating a new cultural landmark. Within the treasured Post Office, existing spaces are re-imagined into the 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater, a theater school for young people (opening in 2014), a café and gift shop. The Wallis, the first performing arts center to be built in Beverly Hills, will be a home for artists from around the world and audiences of every age.

The inaugural season will also include Maurice Hines performing his Tappin' Thru Life, May 9 to 24, 2014; Jessica Lang Dance, May 30 and 31, 2014, in their West Coast debut; Les Ballet Jazz de Montréal, January 10 and 11, 2014; and concerts by St. Lawrence String Quartet, January 15, 2014, Rueibin Chen, March 27, 2014, and Ramin Bahrami, April 9, 2014.

Baseball Swing, a new show, produced in conjunction with Robert Thompson and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, April 4 to 6, 2014 celebrates the unique love affair between baseball and music with a "major league" concert featuring the greatest music about the greatest sport, with 2,000 images and video synchronized to the live performance.

Family programming at the Goldsmith Theater will be highlighted by the novel symphony The Trumpet of the Swan, May 2 to 4, 2014, adapted by Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman from the E.B. White novel, with music by Tony Award winning composer Jason Robert Brown. In the intimate Lovelace Studio Theater, the Catherine Wheels Theatre Company from Scotland presents White, February 28 to March 23; the production won three 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival Awards (including Total Theatre) and the 2011 Scotland Critics Award for Best Production for Children, Design, and Technical Presentation. Also in the Lovelace will be a two-actor import from Visible Fictions, Jason and the Argonauts, based on the classic Greek myth, which performs January 16 to February 2, 2014.

A collaboration with Sundance Institute Film Music Program will bring ComposersLab LA On Stage to the Wallis (March 30 Editors please note: this date has been revised since the original press materials), giving the audience a behind-the-scenes look into the creative process of a film composer. World-renowned composer Harry Gregson-Williams (the Shrek films, The Chronicles of Narnia, Kingdom of Heaven, Man on Fire, Spy Game) will be onstage as he shares insight into his creative techniques including a live demonstration of his work, with special guests.

Executive Director Lou Moore said, "In this season, we celebrate the transformation of the post office and its return to public use as well as the community's influence past and present that brought us to this historic moment. We open with Martha Graham, who began her dance training in Los Angeles, and went on to change the idea of what dance could be. Her company will present Chronicle, considered a masterwork that was created in Los Angeles in the 1930's when the post office was being built. Following Graham, we're excited to be producing Parfumerie during the holidays. The play centers on a romance conducted through love letters, which is a perfect homage to the post office. We are also thrilled to be presenting the highly acclaimed theater production of Noël Coward's Brief Encounter, an international sensation that will have its LA premiere.

Children's programming is a major part of who we are. This year, we are bringing two productions from Scotland, a country known worldwide for its high quality professional theater for young people. We'll be presenting shows age specific including a play for our youngest theatergoers, ages 2-5. These shows will have extended runs of performances and we'll offer each child the opportunity to have their own subscription. We are so excited to be working with such established artists as Mark Brokaw, Leonard Foglia, Ricky Ian Gordon, Frederica von Stade, Maurice Hines, Marsha Norman, Jason Robert Brown, Emma Rice, Harry Gregson-Williams, the Kneehigh Theater, and Les Ballet Jazz de Montréal during our first season."

Board Chairman Jerry Magnin said, "Beverly Hills boasts five star hotels, the best restaurants, and legendary shopping. Now imagine a performing arts center with world-class programming that complements all of the great amenities of our community. Guests at The Wallis will embrace these experiences in two state of the art venues that provide a special intimacy between performers and audience."

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