Photo Flash: Matthew Bourne's SLEEPING BEAUTY Opens at the Ahmanson Tonight

Tony Award-winning choreographer/director Matthew Bourne, along with his company New Adventures, returns to the Ahmanson Theatre with a timeless tale for all ages, "Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty," A Gothic Romance. Presented by Center Theatre Group and Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center, "Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty" opens tonight, November 21, 2013, and will run for two weeks only through December 1. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast onstage below!

In "Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty," the traditional tale of good vs. evil, and of rebirth, is turned upside-down, creating a supernatural love story across the decades. Perrault's fairy tale about a young girl cursed to sleep for 100 years was turned into a legendary ballet by Tchaikovsky and choreographer Marius Petipa in 1890. Bourne takes this date as his starting point, setting the christening of Aurora, the story's heroine, in the year of the ballet's first performance at the height of the fin de siècle period when fairies, vampires and decadent opulence fed the gothic imagination. Aurora grows into a young woman in the more rigid, uptight Edwardian era, a mythicAl Golden age of long summer afternoons, croquet on the lawn and new dance crazes. Years later, awakening from her century long slumber, Aurora finds herself in the modern day, a world more mysterious and wonderful than any fairy story.

"As an artist, I have long considered L.A. and the Ahmanson Theatre to be my second home," said Bourne. "Many of the most important and memorable performances of my career have taken place here... It has long been my dream to complete the Tchaikovsky trilogy of ballet masterpieces and bringing this new production of 'Sleeping Beauty' to the Music Center is a perfect way of saying thank you to those audiences who have supported us from the beginning in the USA."

Bourne has enjoyed a special relationship with Los Angeles audiences, and the Ahmanson Theatre in particular, beginning with the American premiere of Bourne's "Swan Lake" in 1997. Since then, CTG has presented six other Bourne productions including "Cinderella," "The Car Man," "Play Without Words," "Nutcracker!," "Edward Scissorhands" and "Mary Poppins."

Bourne is the only British artist to have won a Tony Award on Broadway for both Best Choreographer and Best Director ("Swan Lake"), and has won over 50 international awards for his choreographic work, including the Broadway production of "Mary Poppins."

For "Sleeping Beauty," Bourne works again with three of his regular collaborators and New Adventures Associate Artists, the Tony and Olivier Award-winning designers Lez Brotherston (set and costumes), Paule Constable (lighting) and Paul Groothuis (sound design).

"Sleeping Beauty" is recommended for ages 10 and up, and tickets are available by calling (213) 972-4400, visiting online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, or in person at the Center Theatre Group box office at the Ahmanson Theatre. Tickets range from $20 - $110 (ticket prices are subject to change). The Ahmanson Theatre is located at the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012.

Photo Credit: Mikah Smillie and Simon Annand

The Cast of Matthew Bourne's SLEEPING BEAUTY

Hannah Vassallo and Dominic North i

Dominic North and Hannah Vassallo

Hannah Vassallo

Adam Maskell

Hannah Vassallo and Dominic North

Hannah Vassallo and Dominic North

The Cast of Matthew Bourne's SLEEPING BEAUTY

The Cast of Matthew Bourne's SLEEPING BEAUTY

Adam Maskell and Hannah Vassallo

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