Paul Crewes News

THE BITTER GAME,  a 'high-impact' immersive theater experience ripe with pain, poetry, and laughter that explores the experience of being black in America, debuts at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, November 14 through Saturday, November 17, 2018, outdoors on The Wallis' Promenade Terrace.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announces the actors selected for The Wallis Studio Ensemble's 2018-2019 company. This marks the third season of this groundbreaking company for early-career actors producing theater for social change. The San Diego Tribune describes the emerging ensemble as 'hauntingly beautiful' - and by ArtNowLAas 'Mesmerizing ... harrowing and provocative, this is avant-garde theater that sticks with you long after the curtain comes down." The Ensemble also received the Los Angeles Times theater pick of the week in June 2018 and was featured on NPR's KPCC in a piece by Priska Neely in 2016, in its first season.

Renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein, recipient of a 2011 MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, brings her technical precision and impassioned musicianship to the extraordinary task of performing all six Bach unaccompanied solo Cello Suites in a single evening on Friday, November 9, 2018, at 7:30 pm, in the Bram Goldsmith Theater at The Wallis. This season marks only the third in which she has ventured to perform all six in one evening, after years of playing the pieces individually. Weilersteinhas justly earned international acclaim for emotionally resonant performances of both traditional and contemporary music and has been lauded as "too big a talent to be pigeonholed" (New York Magazine). Bach's Cello Suites are widely considered to be among the composer's greatest works. The music, which "maps humanity in all its triumphs, joys and sorrows" (National Public Radio), was written around 1720 and largely unknown until famed cellist Pablo Casals became the first person to record all six suites, elevating their status so that they are now among the most popular and widely performed cello works ever written.

This holiday season, the team behind Los Angeles' award-winning "For The Record" series returns to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts with a multimedia-concert celebration of the soundtrack to one of the most beloved holiday movies of all time, Love Actually.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet, the groundbreaking San Francisco-based company noted for melding classical and contemporary ballet and creating works that draw on deeply-rooted cultural traditions, presents the Southern California debut of SUTRA,King's most recent collaboration with Grammy Award-winning tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain and ninth-generation Sarangi master Sabir Khan,on Thursday, November 1 through Saturday, November 3, 2018, 7:30 pm, in the Bram Goldsmith Theatre at The Wallis.

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts,  which brings audiences world-class theater, dance and music performed by many of the most sought-after artists,presents Chris Walden Big Band with a program that pays tribute to the "Rat Pack" era on Saturday, October 27, 2018, 7:30 pm,in the Bram Goldsmith Theater at The Wallis. Walden, a seven-time Grammy-nominated composer/arranger/conductor, has scored more than 40 feature and TV films and written more than 1,500 orchestral and big band arrangements for artists ranging from Aretha Franklin, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand to Diana Krall and Rihanna, among many others.

Jacob Jonas The Company, currently celebrating its fifth season, returns to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts as 2018/2019 Company-In-Residence with an intimate studio show comprised entirely of world premiere works from Wednesday, October 24 through Saturday, October 27, 2018, 8 pm, in the Lovelace Studio Theater. For the first time in The Company's history, it has commissioned works by guest choreographers, with the show featuring the world premieres of 'Unknown Territories' by Donald Byrd, Bessie award-winner and Tony-nominated choreographer who is company founder Jacob Jonas' mentor; 'Cupido' by Latino choreographer Omar Roman de Jesus; 'Transfer' and 'Make A Toast' by Jonas; and 'Crash,' also by Jonas with original composition and live music by Okaidja Afroso, a noted Afro-pop singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Ghana, West Africa. Jacob Jonas The Company, acclaimed for mixing contemporary ballet, breakdance and acrobatic movement, was named one of '12 standout companies of 2018' by the Los Angeles Times and '25 to Watch' by Dance Magazine in 2018.

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, a dynamic hub for the lively arts and vital community resource, presents the Los Angeles Master Chorale in two performances of Orlando di Lasso's dramatic a cappella masterpiece Lagrime di San Pietro (Tears of St. Peter) directed by Peter Sellars on Saturday, October 20, and Sunday, October 21, 2018, at 7:30 pm, in the Bram Goldsmith Theater at The Wallis. Conducted by the Master Chorale's Associate Conductor Jenny Wong and featuring 21 singers, the production is the first a cappella staging and most personal and emotionally-charged work to date from the acclaimed director's creative mind. Twenty-one singers transform the 75-minute Renaissance masterpiece - committed to memory and dramatically staged - into both a biblical parable of St. Peter's disavowal of Jesus Christ and a contemporary allegory for our fractious times. This marks The Wallis debut of the Master Chorale, whose appearance is part of a 13-city international tour that also includes performances at the Ravinia Festival in Illinois, the Melbourne International Arts Festival in Australia, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, The Barbican Centre in London and the Cite de la Musique in Paris.

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, a dynamic hub for the lively arts and vital community resource, presents a dozen classical, jazz and contemporary music programs featuring some of the era's most compelling musical artists during the 2018/2019 season. World premieres, programs with thought-provoking social commentary and timeless iconic works are among the offerings.

Theater takes center stage in 2018/2019 as the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents some of the finest work from local, national and international artists featuring the return of For the Record'sLove Actually Live as a full-length, expanded production, the development of the new documentary musical Witness Uganda, National Theatre of Great Britain's landmark production of An Inspector Calls, the return of Hershey Felder in Hershey Felder as Claude Debussy:A Paris Love Story, the powerful solo performance The Bitter Game, and several family-friendly options including PigPen Theatre Company'sThe Old Man and The Old Moon,Trusty Sidekick Theatre Company's Shadow Play and the return of Story Pirates.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (The Wallis), building on its reputation as a prime West Coast home for dance, presents a wide range of innovative dance programs during its 2018/19 season, featuring the return of Jacob Jonas The Company as the 2018/19 Company-in-Residence and the addition to its illustrious roster of The Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Cuba's Malpaso Dance Company, Los Angeles' Ate9 Dance Company and Hubbard Street Chicago & Third Coast Percussion. Lauded since its 2013 opening for presenting the world's preeminent dance companies and choreographers as well championing exceptional rising artists, The Wallis has previously showcased Martha Graham Dance Company, Matthew Bourne's Early Adventures, Twyla Tharp's 50thAnniversary Tour, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Limon Dance Company, South Africa's Dada Masilo, BODYTRAFFIC and L.A. Dance Project, among other esteemed artists. 

Ate9 Artistic Director Danielle Agami today announced that the company is set to tour the United States with an exciting repertoire for the 2018/19 Season that features two new full-length works.

The California Arts Council announced its plans to award a total of $39,325 to The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts through two separate grant programs, the CAC's "Arts Education: Exposure" program and its "Reentry Through the Arts" program. 

Hershey Felder returns to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Artswith Beethoven, directed by Joel Zwick, from July 27 to August 12, 2018. This new production is based on the original Aus dem Schwarzspanierhausby Dr. Gerhard von Breuning with text by Felder and features some of Beethoven's greatest compositions from his keyboard works such as the "Emperor Concerto" to the 5thand 9thSymphonies, his keyboard sonatas, and chamber music. The Samantha F. Voxakis, Karen Racanelli and Erik Carstensen production is an extraordinary one-man musical play that brings the composer to life as it dramatizes the true story of a Viennese doctor who spent his boyhood by the Maestro's side as the son of Beethoven's best friend.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announced today the 2018/2019 season, delivering ten months of groundbreaking produced and presented works in dance, music and theater from locally, nationally and internationally renowned artists and companies. The season begins September 21, 2018, marking the third year of programming under the leadership of Artistic Director Paul Crewes and Managing Director Rachel Fine and the sixth for the institution. Michael Nemeroff, Chairman of the Board of The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, begins the second year of his term.

GRoW @ The Wallis presents the world premiere of CRE Outreach's production of MARCHING ON- an original play written by and starring eight military veterans from Veterans Empowerment Theatre (VET), an organization dedicated to presenting a first-hand view of the soldiers' experiences in their rawest form, unfiltered by press, political, or military censorship - in a special engagement at The Wallis' Lovelace Studio Theater, on Thursday, June 28 and Friday, June 29, 2018 at 8pm. This artistic journey brings veterans' personal stories to life from boot camp to returning home, highlighting the difficulty of transitioning back into society and exposing the inner turmoil of the lasting scars, both external and internal, endured from combat. For one veteran, her transition unlocks memories that have been hidden away for years, another feels rejected because of the color of his skin, while others realize that, above all, family matters most. Though alone in their stories, these heroes come together as a unit as they search for the strength to keep marching on. 

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announced today the 2018/2019 season, delivering ten months of groundbreaking produced and presented works in dance, music and theater from locally, nationally and internationally renowned artists and companies. The season begins September 21, 2018, marking the third year of programming under the leadership of Artistic Director Paul Crewes and Managing Director Rachel Fine and the sixth for the institution. Michael Nemeroff, Chairman of the Board of The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, begins the second year of his term. 

CRE Outreach presents the World Premiere of MARCHING ON, an original play written by and starring eight military veterans from Veterans Empowerment Theatre (VET), a group dedicated to presenting a first-hand view of the soldiers' experiences in their rawest form, unfiltered by press, political, or military censorship. This artistic journey brings veterans' personal stories to life from boot camp to returning home, highlighting the difficulty of transitioning back into society, exposing the inner turmoil of the lasting scars, both external and internal, endured from combat. For one veteran, her transition unlocks memories that have been hidden away for years, another feels rejected because of the color of his skin, while others realize that, above all, family matters most. Though alone in their stories, these heroes come together as a unit as they search for the strength to keep marching on.

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams' much loved, absurdist and subversive satire, is presented in a vibrant, fast paced, gender-bending production directed by Madeleine Dahm, from Thursday, June 14 through Sunday, June 17, 2018, including a Science Fiction Costume Night on June 16, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in the Lovelace Studio Theater. After its first appearance as a radio play originally produced by BBC 4 Radio in 1978, Adams' work quickly became a worldwide cult classic celebrated for its sharp wit and ironic style. Dahm's version at The Wallis integrates puppetry, stylized movement, miniature sets and live music to bring the timely political satire to life.  

The popular intimate nightclub, The Sorting Room, returns this summer to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, delivering a compelling and eclectic mix of music, comedy and cabaret with nine diverse sessions from June 22 – July 21, 2018, 7 pm. The Sorting Room  transforms the Lovelace Studio Theater into a 140-seat custom built nightclub space that offers Los Angeles audiences a rare opportunity to experience some of the best and emerging talent in cabaret, live contemporary music, spoken word, and more. The Sorting Room Summer sessions are sponsored by Delta Air Lines.