BroadStage Announces 2022/23 Season and New Look

Artistic and Executive Director Rob Bailis and BroadStage Board of Directors Chair Jennifer Diener announce the 2022/23 BroadStage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center season with thirty-three offerings that include three world premieres - Mark Morris Dance Group's The Look of Love, An Evening of Dance to the Music of Burt Bacharach (October 20-23), Being Future Being a multi-disciplinary work by choreographer of Yup'ik descent Emily Johnson / Catalyst (September 8-10), and Barak Ballet's first full evening ballet Memoryhouse, set to composer Max Richter's album of the same name (June 15-17). The Look of Love and Being Future Being are co-commissioned by BroadStage, which was highly instrumental in the creation of these two works.

The season also includes two West Coast Premieres: seven methods of killing Kylie Jenner by Jasmine Lee-Jones, The Royal Court Theatre production presented in association with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (March 23-26); and with an ingenious blend of clowning, puppetry, and plain old theatrical magic, Dimanche from Company Chaliwaté & Focus (April 13-16). Dimanche paints a witty and tender portrait of humanity. As a family, somewhere in the near future, surprised by the uncontrollable forces of nature, is about to spend their Sunday together as strong winds and torrential rains rage outside.

The 2022/23 has become a transformational moment in the trajectory of the performing arts organization. As BroadStage approaches 15 years of offering dynamic performances to an ever-broadening audience, its future is sound thanks in large part to a $10 million gift from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. This contribution to BroadStage's endowment will not only support the organization's operations and programming, but also encourage others to help grow BroadStage's reach and impact.

The bond Measure S-passed by the voters of Santa Monica and Malibu in 2004-helped fund and build the Santa Monica Performing Arts Center which boasts one of the region's largest proscenium stages gracing its intimate 535-seat main venue. Soon after The Broad Foundation gifted the organization with a naming endowment that gave BroadStage the footing to program and administer the then new venue. The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage opened its doors in September 2008.

Broad Stage now encompasses three adjoining spaces including the Edye, an intimate black box space, and the indoor/outdoor and immensely versatile East Wing. Throughout its history, The Broad Foundation has generously provided continued guidance and financial support. Now, with this legacy gift, it propels the organization into a bright future.

Artistic and Executive Director Rob Bailis said, "A change has taken place. We have emerged from the chrysalis of the last two years with a new set of wings - a beautiful new color, a brand new shape - our story of transformation is ready to be shared. All of it inspired by and profoundly supported by this transformational gift to our endowment from the Broad Foundation."

"Our new look and feel reflect the path we have selected to travel in our programming and as a gathering place for new ideas in our community. The electric magenta color we have selected as our signature speaks to our promise to be bold and bring energizing, visually arresting works to our stages. The new "B" logo invites each of us to "B" as we are, to bring our authentic selves to this welcoming space and B joyful, B moved, and B inspired."

"Shortening our name to just one word, BroadStage is meant to suggest that at BroadStage you are invited BackStage. You will get to know our artists: their creative processes and practices will be celebrated as well as the incredible performances they will have to offer."

BroadStage Board of Directors Chair Jennifer Diener said, "BroadStage is becoming the Westside's destination for new ideas, ambitious programming, and a very warm welcome to the broadest possible audience. There is a sense of excitement with the fresh and unique experiences found here - and you can be certain there will be a performance that you will not soon forget. We are offering an adventure that will likely be new to you and maybe unexpected but will be really engaging in an environment that is welcoming and embracing. We are truly excited about what we have to offer Los Angeles' audiences, who are adventurous and creative."

Dr. Kathryn Jeffery, Superintendent and President of Santa Monica College, said "The Broad Foundation has been a steadfast partner on this now fifteen-year venture, expanding a beacon of light on the performing arts that shines forth from Santa Monica throughout the Los Angeles region. We are grateful for the generous financial support and, moreover, for the continued goodwill and consultation that is enabling our creative programming to flourish here on the Westside. The planning that has resulted in the announcement of the upcoming 2023 season is remarkable given the impact of the pandemic on the arts communities and it is The Broad Foundation-with its legacy of support from the very beginning-that has with such vision and purpose brought The Broad Stage to its rebirth as BroadStage."

Gerun Riley, President, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation said, "We are pleased to help position BroadStage to thrive in perpetuity and provide vital arts programming for the Los Angeles community by engaging an expanding audience with dynamic, relevant performances reflecting our shared humanity."

Ticket packages of three or more attractions of the season and Nat Geo Live are available at a substantial discount and benefits are now on sale at BroadStage.org or 310.434.3200. Due to the limited capacity of many performances, audiences are encouraged to buy early for the best seating and prices.

World and West Coast Premieres

Yo-Yo a called Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) the preeminent modern dance organization of our time." Mark Morris Dance Group's The Look of Love, An Evening of Dance to the Music of Burt Bacharach in its world premiere is performed October 20-23. Rob Bailis said, "With The Look of Love, two of the most iconic and defining artists of our times, Burt Bacharach and Mark Morris, reach out to each other."

Mark is arguably our most musical choreographer and he has long wanted to explore the Hal David-Burt Bacharach songbook, as he had The Beatles in Pepperland on the occasion of the Sgt. Pepper's 50th." Morris is working with longtime collaborators costumer Isaac Mizrahi, musical arranger Ethan Iverson and lighting designer Nicole Pearce.

Being Future Being is a multi-disciplinary work (September 8-10) from choreographer of Yup'ik descent Emily Johnson / Catalyst. Johnson, a Bessie Award-winning choreographer, Guggenheim and United States Artists Fellow, and recipient of the Doris Duke Artist Award. It has a score by Pulitzer Prize winning Diné composer Raven Chacon. Johnson has created a distinguished body of dance works and social choreographies that engage audiences in shared experiences of movement, place, history, collective action, and the continuance of Indigenous cultural practices and perspectives.

Bailis said, "Emily Johnson's work is simultaneously epic and reductively poetic. There is nothing she speaks about that is not generous and rich and also a little terrifying. For example, what if when we looked at a tree, we saw not only foliage or landscape, but we saw just as immediately a critical player in our ability to breathe. How might that idea reorganize us? What if we had embraced indigenous wisdom and practices of land protection and resource stewardship instead of eradicating it?"

"What future could our beings inherit if a symbiotic relationship with living things was more essential than our dominance in the world? This piece of Emily's quietly relates to the idea Arandahti Roy offered us in her brilliant essay, a piece of writing that inspired our choices deeply at BroadStage, The Pandemic is a Portal and now we face the great gift and the painful challenge of selecting what to leave behind and what to carry forward into a transfigured landscape. Will we choose to see the earth as singularly sustaining human life or have we, however foolishly, however predictably, set our eyes on our next planet?"

Barak Ballet's first full evening ballet Memoryhouse, set to composer Max Richter's album of the same name (June 15-17), is an abstract work commemorating World War II and the Holocaust. It reflects on the somber and the heroic from one of Los Angeles' leading choreographers, whose work is seen frequently at the Santa Monica Performing Arts Center.

In seven methods of killing Kylie Jenner by Jasmine Lee-Jones, The Royal Court Theatre production presented in association with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (March 23-26), when Forbes Magazine declares Kylie Jenner a "self-made" billionaire, Cleo takes to Twitter to call out white women who co-opt and profit from Black culture. Soon online discourse spills into reality, blurring the tenuous lines between internet personas and who we are. On the internet, actions don't always speak louder than words.

With an ingenious blend of clowning, puppetry, and plain old theatrical magic, Dimanche from Company Chaliwaté & Focus (April 13-16). Dimanche paints a witty and tender portrait of humanity. A family, somewhere in the near future, surprised by the uncontrollable forces of nature, is about to spend their Sunday together as strong winds and torrential rains rage outside.

NEW Productions to the Region

The season includes two productions that are new to Los Angeles. The first is Ashwini Ramaswamy's Let the Crows Come (April 7-8, 2023) which evokes mythography and ancestry by using the metaphor of crows as messengers for the living and guides for the departed in a series of solos/trios from Ramaswamy (Bharatanatyam technique), Alanna Morris (Modern/African Diasporic technique), and Berit Ahlgren (Gaga movement from Israel) to an original live score featuring south Indian instruments, electro-acoustic cello and sound sampling.

The other is the previously announced Acrobuffos' acclaimed Air Play (12 performances July 21 to 31), part of two longer summer engagements. With a circus-style adventure for ages 5 to 105, two siblings journey through a surreal land of air. The company named Acrobuffos creates beauty and inspires laughter as umbrellas fly, fabrics soar over the audience, balloons swallow people, and snow swirls, filling the stage. Already seen by 150,000 worldwide, Air Play, created by circus performers Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone in collaboration with kinetic sculptor Daniel Wurtzel, has stunning images that create gales of laughter, bouncing on the edges of definition: part comedy, part sculpture, part circus, part theater.

Also this summer, for 17 performances in the Edye, comes the Indian Ink Theatre Company production of Mrs. Krishnan's Party (July 8 to 24) - a party like no other. Food simmers on the stove, laughter abounds, music is live, storytelling has 'serious laughter' and strangers become friends; seating is available from life of the party to wallflower. Indian Ink has won multiple awards in New Zealand and two Fringe First Awards at Edinburgh.

Jazz and Blues - Nine Evenings that are the Hallmark of BroadStage

Bailis said, "From the moment BroadStage opened, it has been a fabulous place for Jazz - the venues are perfectly suited to concert Jazz and cabaret, they can even transform into social dance and club spaces quite easily. But most of all, it has been the presence, from day one, of major Jazz curators, producers, and performers that has been defining. Over the years, Quincy Jones, Stanley Clarke, and The Reverend Shawn Amos rate among the biggest influencers who have shaped our programming through their hands-on work on our stages to identify the talent we've shared with the public. This year's Jazz and Blues program will span all three of our venues, indoors and out, and brings with equal vigor some of the newest voices and some of the most well-known."

The Jazz and Blues season begins with the return of fan favorite Hiromi: The Piano Quintet (September 17) and GRAMMYⓇ-nominated saxophonist, bandleader, and composer Mr. Ravi Coltrane, who performs a musical expedition into the repertoire of his storied parents, John and Alice Coltrane, in Cosmic Music: A Contemporary Exploration of the Music of John and Alice Coltrane (September 23) with fresh interpretations of classic works. Making his BroadStage debut on the occasion of his father's birthday, Coltrane furthers his family legacy by "embracing jazz's past as a means to communicate his own modern-day voice" (Okayplayer).

One of today's most popular jazz musicians, GRAMMYⓇ-winning pianist/composer Hiromi brings her trademark hair-raising energy and virtuosic technique back to Los Angeles, performing compositions from her latest album, Silver Lining Suite and joined by a string quartet. Together they form The Piano Quintet, "a vessel that propels Hiromi's piano heroics into the stratosphere" (WBGO.org).

On December 17, Herb Alpert & Lani Hall present A Christmas Wish with an evening of holiday classics, Brazilian jazz, American standards, and a few classic Tijuana Brass songs performed by legendary trumpeter, composer, and producer Herb Alpert and his musical partner and wife, GRAMMYⓇ Award-winning vocalist Lani Hall. The show features photos and videos from their 60-year career and an audience Q&A. "Happy music made by happy people ... ebullient performances by musicians who convey the pleasure of playing together." - The New York Times

With her 18-piece orchestra, 2019 NEA Jazz master and seven-time GRAMMYⓇ winner and "national treasure" (NPR) Maria Schneider (March 4) performs arrangements from her 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist album Data Lords.

Making her BroadStage debut, trumpeter/vocalist Bria Skonberg (March 10) "has become the shining hope of hot jazz." -The New York Times. Linking past and present with inventive arrangements from the traditional jazz repertoire, reinterpretations of contemporary classics, and original compositions,
trumpeter/vocalist Skonberg is one of the "most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation" (The Wall Street Journal).

Virtuosic jazz pianist and celebrated conceptual artist Jason Moran (June 3) makes his BroadStage debut with a solo piano concert featuring highlights from his extraordinary recording career. The composer of the score for Ava DuVernay's Selma and recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Grant, Moran is a risk-taker and trendsetter who draws inspiration from all artistic forms. With such a rich palette to draw from, this evening is sure to prove again why Rolling Stone calls him "the most provocative thinker in current jazz."

blackbox curated by the Reverend Shawn Amos

blackbox curated by the Reverend Shawn Amos will introduce artists new to many in our audience, as well as celebrate blues and soul icon Bobby "Blue" Bland with an all-star tribute to the vast musical repertoire. This sonic journey is curated and led by Bobby's son and drummer Rodd Bland - fronting Robb Bland and the Members Only Band (June 23, East Wing) and features musicians who played with Bobby during his storied career. The others in the series are Lizzie No (February 17, The Edye) and Mento Buru (May 12, East Wing).

With the release of her debut album, Hard Won, in March 2017, NYC singer-songwriter, harpist, and guitarist Lizzie No established herself. Billboard Magazine called the album "simultaneously understated and fervent." She followed up the album with the release of "Sundown," a benefit track for Black Lives Matter.

Mento Buru is a 7-piece band, combining an energetic blend of Latin rhythms, Jamaican SKA, jazz funk and reggae to create a unique live musical experience. Formed in 1993, Mento Buru has become a staple of the California music scene performing to an ever growing fan base throughout the state. The band has shared stages with everyone from Buck Owens, Los Lobos, WAR, The Specials, Fishbone and Poncho Sanchez.

NEW Sunday Morning Music / Santa Monica

BroadStage is inaugurating a new and engaging chamber music series Sunday Morning Music / Santa Monica curated by Award-winning cellist and longtime BroadStage collaborator Antonio Lysy, musical director of the annual Incontri in Terra di Siena Chamber Music Festival in Tuscany, Italy that he founded in 1989. It is the successor to the longtime BroadStage favorite Beethoven, Bagels and Banter following the retirement of long-time curator Robert Davidovici.

Bailis said, "Los Angeles is home to one of the greatest communities of classical musicians anywhere in the world - it is an unmatched talent pool. We wanted to create opportunities for our finest players to revel in some of the more ambitious mixed ensemble repertoire they might not otherwise have an opportunity to play. For example the wonderful Schubert Octet is not performed nearly often enough as most traditional chamber configurations don't have that instrumentation. So we are thrilled to be able to keep it predominantly local but bring together a lot of adventurous, unique configurations as well as collaborations with other art forms that can so ably enrich the chamber music experience"

September 18, Main Stage - Schubert: Octet in F major, D. 803 performed for the first time by principals of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and renowned soloists. | December 18, The Edye - SAKURA Cello Quintet, dynamic five-cello virtuoso ensemble, in a program of film music and popular arrangements. | February 12, The Edye - Dream with Me A pre-Valentine's program for soprano, piano, violin, and cello, featuring works by Rachmaninoff, Zemlinsky, Bernstein, Massenet, and Beethoven. | May 28, Main Stage Te Amo, Argentina 2 - Song, dance, and rhythms of the Andes, Pampas, and the sounds of Buenos Aires street cafés.

Cue the Music with Robert Kraft

Cue the Music with Robert Kraft (dates and guests to be announced) An original Broad Stage series to celebrate film composers and the impact of music on cinema. In its inaugural year, the BroadStage audience spent two great evenings with Emmy winner Kris Bowers, whose work is known from Bridgerton and whose five scores from last year included King Richard, Respect and Space Jam, and Michael Abels, (Get Out, Us). who was between the world premiere of his opera Omar, co-composed by Rhiannon Giddens and the release of Nope, the third Jordan Peele film he had scored.

Bailis said, "This is a glimpse inside the composer's mind in real time with all the bells and whistles they so richly deserve at their disposal for a one-night-only mix of live music, film clips, curated conversation, and audience engagement. We get to see their music played live on stage in original reductions created and conducted by the composers, with time to stop and talk and reflect on how they make their magic and what goes on behind the scenes of some of the most brilliant and popular films of our day. This program is a feast for industry insiders and everyday film lovers alike."

Classical and World Music

Basiani - The State Ensemble of Georgian Folk Singing (November 4) is presented at a new offsite engagement at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica. Singing in three-voiced polyphony harking back to the 10th century and wearing all traditional costumes, Basiani returns to the United States from their home country of Georgia. Praised by The Wall Street Journal for their "bright, crisp voices," this striking male acapella ensemble captivates audiences with a program featuring folk and traditional songs, monastic chants, religious hymns, and epic ballads full of complex harmonies and colorful melodies.

In Sō Percussion and Caroline Shaw with special guest Shodekeh Talifero (April 22) the brilliant multi-genre quartet Sō Percussion joins forces with co-composer Caroline Shaw, the youngest Pulitzer Prize winner ever to present selections from their 2020 song cycle Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part, and with breath artist and beat boxer Dominic Shodekeh Talifero Sō Percussion for their exhilarating collaboration Vodalities: Paradigms of Consciousness for the Human Voice.

Versatile, daring, and insightful, Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Martinez (October 1) has received rave reviews for the lyricism of her playing, her compelling interpretations, and her elegant stage presence. Ms. Martinez returns to BroadStage following her acclaimed appearance at The Edye with an evening of both contemporary and classical compositions including Caroline Shaw's Gustave Le Gray and Beethoven's Bagatelles (Selections). "Gabriela possesses a marvelous, contagious energy... she is simply a genius." - Gustavo Dudamel. Program includes Mazzoli's Heartbreaker; Hahn's Portraits de Peintres (with spoken verses by Proust); Shaw's Gustave Le Gray; Schoenberg's Picture Etudes (Selections); Beethoven's Bagatelles (Selections); Cuong's Veil; Snider's The Currents; Meyer's New Commission.

Takács Quartet with Jeremy Denk (January 20, 2023) "One of the world's greatest string quartets" -with Jeremy "Denk, clearly, is a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs" - The New York Times. The richly dramatic program - Haydn's String Quartet in F Major Op. 77 No. 2; Mendelssohn-Hensel's String Quartet in E-flat Major; Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44 -- is uniquely interpreted through the energy and imagination of the prestigious Takács Quartet and MacArthur "Genius" Jeremy Denk.

An Evening with Lucia Micarelli (February 11) Returning to BroadStage after a sold-out debut in 2018, actress, violinist, and vocalist Lucia Micarelli has performed as a featured soloist with Josh Groban, Chris Botti, Jethro Tull, and starred in the critically-acclaimed HBO series Treme. With the full range of her staggering talents, Micarelli maps a thrilling evening of music, moving from classical to jazz to traditional fiddle music and Americana, bound together by her signature emotional vulnerability and technical wizardry. "Dazzling skills and a Mona Lisa smile." - The Washington Post

Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Avi Avital, mandolin (March 11) Internationally acclaimed chamber orchestra Academy of St Martin in the Fields returns to Los Angeles with "explosively charismatic" (The New York Times) superstar mandolinist Avi Avital. The Academy has become a BroadStage favorite for their unrivaled live performances. Together, their fresh interpretations of the world's greatest orchestral music, including Bach's Violin Concerto No. 1, arranged for solo mandolin by Avital, promise to deliver an unforgettable evening of classics.

BroadStage Activations

B Included: Engage with the artists beyond the stage at free community and college events inspired by our programs. Find your creative spark with workshops, panels and master classes!
B Familiar: Go beyond the scenes with our free online REVEAL library. Enjoy interviews and highlights from the artists' transformational practices as they develop their performances
B Intrigued: Discover creativity. Immerse yourself within live or online performances, intergenerational audiences that include community members and students experiencing the arts through field trips, digital access and with Learning Guides for everyone!

BroadStage is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
through the Department of Arts and Culture
Theatre Sponsors: Laurie and Bill Benenson, Susan Stockel
Jazz & Blues Sponsor: Richard and Lisa Kendall
blackbox Sponsor: Ann Petersen and Leslie Pam
Mark Morris Dance Group Presenting Patron Sponsor: Laura Stevenson Maslon
Takács Quartet with Jeremy Denk Presenting Patron Sponsor: The Keston Family
Basiani Presenting Patron Sponsor: James R. Mulaly
Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Avi Avital Exclusive Patron Sponsor: Lloyd E. Rigler-Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation

BroadStage gathers artists, thinkers and audiences to celebrate our shared humanity and expand the role the arts play in the vitality of our diverse community. BroadStage is an industry-leading performing arts producer and presenter located on the Los Angeles' Westside, providing a platform for the world's most compelling artists working the theatre, dance and music, and multidisciplinary artforms. Building upon its first decade, the organization is rising to meet a rapidly evolving set of needs for artists, audiences, community and campus, with the aim to advance its role as an invaluable cultural resource and artistic ambassador for greater Los Angeles.

A beacon of Santa Monica College (SMC) - one of the country's most progressive, diverse and accessible educational institutions - BroadStage harnesses the transformative power of the performing arts as essential to well-being and society. Established in partnership with SMC in 2008, both organizations are aligned on core values of creativity, learning, and belonging. With the leadership of Artistic and Executive Director Rob Bailis, BroadStage is strengthening its impact through a new artistic vision, an expanded venue footprint, and enhanced community activation. These activities invite a deeper relationship to the artists on our stage and to the work they passionately share.

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