MUSE/IQUE Brings LIKE IT LIKE HARLEM to Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center

MUSE/IQUE and Artistic and Music Director Rachael Worby continue their 2025 season with four performances of Like It Like Harlem: Salsa, Boogaloo, and the Making of a New Musical Playground in New York, Friday August 8 at 7:30 pm, Saturday August 9 at 7:30 pm and Sunday August 10, 2025 at 2:30 and 7:30 pm, at the Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center, presented with Center Theatre Group. Guest performers include vocalist Rogelio Douglas, Jr., vocalist/violinist Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Oscar Hernández, piano and concert consultant.

When Puerto Ricans and Cubans arrived in New York City in the mid-20th century, they ushered in a cultural renaissance in the neighborhood that became popularly known as “Spanish Harlem,” but is also known to many simply as “El Barrio”—the neighborhood. The story of East Harlem is the story of how American music is made. It's where mambo, salsa, and boogaloo converged to give rise to iconic hits like “I Like It Like That,” “Oye Cómo Va,” and “Boogaloo Blues," and where artists found pride, passion, and possibility on every block.​

In this performance, MUSE/IQUE celebrates the power of community to inspire bold, authentic expression, and we pay tribute to legendary artists like Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Pete Rodriguez, and more.

Reservations for the August 8-10, 2025 performances of LIKE IT LIKE HARLEM at the Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center are now open for members. For those new to MUSE/IQUE, please visit muse-ique.com to learn about attending MUSE/IQUE events and to explore membership plans.

More about the 2025 MUSE/IQUE Season 

The season continues with FREE Open House concerts of MADE IN MEMPHIS (September 12-14, Pasadena’s Memorial Park) about Stax, Soul and the black artists who started a sound revolution, and concludes with HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF Etta James? - the guts and triumph of an American icon (October 14-15, 19, Huntington and Skirball), followed by a final concert for our donors, STAND BY ME: Season After Party, featuring the hits of Leiber and Stoller in November, location and date to be announced.

MUSE/IQUE is in the midst of a two-year exploration of key musical moments in America—the first initiative of its kind in MUSE/IQUE history. In 2025, they expand on the themes that were introduced in 2024. This two-year season is proudly presented by LeeAnn and Ron Havner / JCS Family Foundation.

2025 CTG:FWD programming at the Mark Taper Forum is made possible through the generous support of the S. Mark Taper Foundation. Additional funding is provided by gifts to the Artistic Director Discretionary Fund.