LEAP OF FAITH, NEXT TO NORMAL, LES MIS & More Part of Ahmanson's 2010-11 Season

The 2010-2011 Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre season will include the world premiere of a new musical, "Leap of Faith," the 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical "Next to Normal," the 2009 Tony Award-winning Best Play "God of Carnage," the 25th Anniversary celebration of an international musical classic, "Les Misérables," and a brand-new Cirque du Soleil production at the Cirque's new home at the Kodak Theatre, it was announced today by CTG's Artistic Director Michael Ritchie.

"I believe that Los Angeles audiences will love this new season," said Ritchie. "The Ahmanson's 44th year at the Los Angeles Music Center continues the tradition we are known for - presenting the highest quality theatre in the country by premiering a major new musical, by offering Angelenos the first chance to see the best of Broadway, by honoring a treasured musical that 25 years ago redefined the genre, and by providing a special first-look at what will be the hottest ticket in Hollywood in the summer of 2011.

"This is a season that represents the broadest possible range of theatricality, from the powerful rock musical that grapples with mental illness, "Next to Normal," to the gospel-infused new musical of deceit and redemption, "Leap of Faith," and from the explosively funny, four-character comedy of "God of Carnage" to the game-changing epic musical of "Les Misérables," it reminds me how multi-dimensional the word ‘theatre' is and it makes me proud to see how the definition continues to expand."

"Leap of Faith"
A World Premiere Musical.
September 5 - October 17, 2010.
Opens September 26, 2010.

The world premiere of the new musical "Leap of Faith" opens the Ahmanson Theatre's 2010-2011 season with all the passion, fervor and high theatrics of a rousing, gospel-charged tent revival, where miracles occur like clockwork.

"Leap of Faith" is based on the Steve Martin movie and features a score by eight-time Academy Award-winner Alan Menken, book by Janus Cercone with Glenn Slater, and lyrics by Glenn Slater.

Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford is the director and choreographer.

"Leap of Faith" will be presented September 5 through October 17, 2010, with the opening scheduled for September 26.

When part-time reverend and full-time con artist, the Reverend Jonas Nightengale, stops in a small Kansas town with his traveling ministry, he quickly pitches a tent and invites the locals to a revival. The sheriff is determined to stop Jonas from separating the townspeople from their money, but Jonas' real challenge arises when he meets a pretty waitress and her son, whose love for him forces this ultimate cynic to take a real leap of faith.

Casting for "Leap of Faith" will be announced shortly.

The new musical is based on the motion picture "Leap of Faith" produced by Paramount Pictures Corporation and written by Janus Cercone.

Alan Menken was nominated for a Tony Award for "Beauty and the Beast" (Original Score, 1994), and with Glenn Slater he received a Tony Award nomination for "The Little Mermaid" (Original Score, 2008). He won Academy Awards for "The Little Mermaid" (for both Original Score and Original Song, 1989), "Beauty and the Beast" (Original Score and Original Song, 1991), "Aladdin" (Original Score and Original Song, 1992), and "Pocahontas" (Original Score and Original Song, 1995). Glenn Slater also composed the lyrics and co-wrote the book for Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical, "Love Never Dies."

Center Theatre Group audiences know Rob Ashford's work on "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (choreographer, 2004) and the world premiere of "Curtains" (choreographer, 2006) at the Ahmanson. He was also the director and choreographer for the Donmar Warehouse production of "Parade" at the Mark Taper Forum in 2009. For his Broadway choreography he won a Tony Award for "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (2002) and Tony Award nominations for "The Wedding Singer" (2006), "Curtains" (2007) and "Cry-Baby" (2008).

"Next to Normal"
Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize
West Coast Premiere.
November 23, 2010 - January 2, 2011.
Opens November 28, 2010.

A "brave, breathtaking musical" is what Ben Brantley of The New York Times called "Next to Normal," which will have its West Coast premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre,
November 23, 2010, through January 2, 2011. Opening is set for November 28.

Brantley also stated that the musical which just received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated last spring for 11 Tony Awards (including Best Musical) is ". . . a work of muscular grace and power. It is much more than a feel-good musical; it is a feel-everything musical."

With a thrilling contemporary score, "Next to Normal" is an emotional powerhouse of a musical about a family trying to take care of themselves and each other.

Winner of three 2009 Tony Awards, "Next to Normal" has music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey (both won a Tony Award for Best Score). "Next to Normal" is directed by three-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif ("Next to Normal," "Rent" and "Grey Gardens").

Rolling Stone raved about the musical, "Rock is alive and rolling like thunder in ‘Next to Normal.' It is the best musical of the season by a mile. Next time you think the Broadway musical is dead, head off to ‘Next to Normal.' It'll pin you to your seat." Joe Dziemianowicz of the New York Daily News said the musical is ". . . next to wondrous - hopeful and uplifting . . . ‘Next to Normal' is an exceptional show that says something meaningful and powerful." Adam Feldman of Time Out New York called it ". . . surprising and moving, a thoughtful, emotional musical for grown-ups."

"Next to Normal" was chosen "one of the year's ten best" by major newspapers around the country including the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Out New York and New York Daily News, among others.

The presentation of "Next to Normal" at the Ahmanson Theatre will mark the beginning of a national tour. Casting for this tour will be announced in the future.

"Next to Normal" is produced by David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo and Second Stage Theatre.

"God of Carnage"
West Coast Premiere.
April 17 - May 29, 2011.
Opens April 27, 2011.

The scathingly funny "God of Carnage," winner of the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play, will have its West Coast premiere in an exclusive Center Theatre Group engagement at the Ahmanson Theatre, April 17 through May 29, 2011. The opening date is April 27, 2011.

"God of Carnage" is written by Yasmina Reza ("Art") and translated by Christopher Hampton.

"God of Carnage," hailed by Elisabeth Vincentelli of the New York Post as
". . . gleefully nasty fun," is set in a gentrified section of Brooklyn where two married couples meet to sort out a playground fight between their sons. At first, niceties are observed but as the evening progresses and the rum flows, the gloves come off and the night becomes a side-splitting free-for-all of verbal brawling as tempers rise and inhibitions fall.

Linda Winer of Newsday said "God of Carnage" is ". . . brutally entertaining," while syndicated columnist Liz Smith raved, "Hysterical! Fasten your seat belts and go!" And David Rooney said in Variety it's ". . . elegant, acerbic and entertainingly fueled on pure bile."

French playwright Yasmina Reza received her first Tony Award in 1998 for Best Play for "Art," which CTG presented at the UCLA/James A. Doolittle Theatre in Hollywood in 1999. She has written seven plays in total including the more recent "Life (x) 3," "The Unexpected Man" and "A Spanish Play."

Christopher Hampton has translated five of Reza's plays including "Art." He is well-known to CTG audiences for his plays "Savages" (1974), "Tales from Hollywood" (1982) and "The Talking Cure" (2004) at the Mark Taper Forum, and "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" (1987 Tony Award nomination) at the Ahmanson (1988). He won a Tony Award for the book and score for "Sunset Boulevard" in 1995 and an Academy Award for "Dangerous Liaisons" in 1989.

The director and cast for the production will be announced in the future.

"Les Misérables"
CameRon Mackintosh's New 25th Anniversary Tour
June 14 - July 31, 2011.
Opens June 17, 2011.

CameRon Mackintosh's new 25th anniversary tour of one of the greatest musicals of all- time and the world's longest running musical, "Les Misérables," will play the Ahmanson Theatre June 14 through July 31, 2011. The opening is set for June 17.

"I'm delighted that 25 years after ‘Les Miz' originally opened in London there is still a huge audience to see this marvelous show," said producer CameRon Mackintosh. "Over the years I have seen many successful but visually different productions, so it has been exciting to develop this new design which draws inspiration from the brilliant drawings and paintings of Victor Hugo himself. Integrated into spectacular modern projections, the new ‘Les Miz' is a magnificent mix of dazzling images and epic staging, driving one of the greatest musical stories ever told."

Based on Victor Hugo's classic novel, "Les Misérables" is an epic and uplifting story about the survival of the human spirit. The magnificent score of "Les Misérables" includes the classic songs "I Dreamed a Dream," "On My Own," "Stars," "Bring Him Home," "Do You Hear The People Sing?," "One Day More," "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," "Master of The House" and many more.

CameRon Mackintosh's new production of Boublil and Schönberg's "Les Misérables" has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer from the original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel and additional material by James Fenton. The production is directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell, designed by Matt Kinley inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo with costumes by Andreane Neofitou and additional costumes by Christine Rowlands, lighting by Paule Constable and sound by Mick Potter.

The London Times hails the new production "a five star hit, astonishingly powerful and as good as the original." The Western Mail says "an outstanding success - the best version yet." The South Wales Echo proclaims "such an experience, lavish and impressive - a guaranteed crowd pleaser." Musical Stages says "the new orchestrations, direction, staging and lighting tell the story in a stimulating and refreshing new way that enables us all to dream a new dream and take us on a new adventure that we cannot fail to enjoy," and the South Wales Argos says "dream the dream - it is worth all of the hype. A magnificent production."

"Les Misérables" originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on October 8, 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre On December 4, 1985, and moved to its current home at the Queen's Theatre on April 3, 2004, where it continues to play to packed houses. When "Les Misérables" celebrated its 21st London birthday on October 8, 2006, it became the World's Longest-Running Musical, surpassing the record previously held by "Cats' in London's West End.

The Broadway production of "Les Misérables" originally opened at the Broadway Theatre On March 12, 1987, and transferred to the Imperial Theatre On October 17, 1990, running for 6,680 performances. Broadway audiences welcomed "Les Miz" back to New York on November 9, 2006, where the show played the Broadhurst Theatre until its final performance on January 6, 2008. To date, "Les Misérables" remains the third longest-running Broadway production of all time.

A New Production from Cirque du Soleil
At Cirque du Soleil's New Home in Hollywood - The Kodak Theatre
Summer 2011

The imaginative Cirque du Soleil will provide a unique opportunity for Ahmanson season ticket holders to be among the very first in Los Angeles to see the company's new production in their new home in Hollywood at the Kodak Theatre.

This production will be a permanent show at the Kodak, running year-round. Ahmanson season ticket holders will have exclusive first priority seating in previews of this production during the summer of 2011. The production will open in the fall of 2011.

This Cirque du Soleil presentation is the fifth production on the Ahmanson's 2010-2011 season.

A lyrical, fanciful, kinetic foray into the seventh art (cinema), Cirque du Soleil's new production (as yet unnamed) will bring together dance, acrobatics, live video, filmed sequences and animation as it takes spectators on a fantastic voyage right to the heart of the movie-making process.

From illustration to animation, black and white to color, silent films to talkies, fixed shots to swooping camera movements, audience members will witness the poetic construction/deconstruction of this art as an object and as a way of transcending reality.

Since its Los Angeles debut 23 years ago as part of the L.A. Festival, Cirque du Soleil has brought 10 touring shows to the area, with more than three million people in attendance. In the past, Cirque du Soleil pitched tents in places such as the Santa Monica Pier and near the Queen Mary in Long Beach for limited runs, but this new production at the Kodak Theatre will allow more than 350 performances a year in the beautiful 3400-seat theatre that opened in 2001. Cirque will share the Kodak Theatre with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Academy Awards show each year.

For the Cirque du Soleil engagement, Ahmanson season ticket holders will receive all of the usual season ticket perks, including free ticket exchange.

CTG's 2010-2011 Ahmanson Theatre Season Available on Subscription Only

Tickets for the Ahmanson Theatre's 44th season are currently available by subscription only. For information and to charge season tickets by phone, call the Exclusive Season Ticket Hotline at (213) 972-4444. To purchase subscriptions on-line, visit CenterTheatreGroup.org. For information regarding audio description and Project D.A.T.E. (sign language interpreted, open caption and audio description performances) call TDD (213) 680-4017 or voice (213) 972-4444.