Also
Yemandja: A Story of Africa (April 14-16) a new music theatre work by and starring vocal legend Angélique Kidjo inspired by her ancestors directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce with production design by Kerry James Marshall; Heartbeat Opera
Fidelio (February 26-27) with live cast and video appearance of over 100 incarcerated singers; and the shared World Premiere with Scripps College of
The Conference of the Birds (June 18-19) from composer Fahed Sladat and librettist Sholeh Wolpé, and director-choreographer André Megerdichlan.
Subscription packages, starting at $47, are on sale at
thebroadstage.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.
The season also includes a broad range of performing arts including four leading-edge dance making companies: Mark Morris Dance Group & Music Ensemble, Circa performing
Sacre, the United States premiere of Aakash Odedra Company’s
Samsara, and the Los Angeles premiere of
ODEON from Ephrat Asherie Dance; the Los Angeles debut of internationally renowned countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński with MichaŠ‚ Biel, piano and the Broad Stage debuts of Takács Quartet and Simone Dinnerstein, and the Colburn Orchestra and the Danish String Quartet.
Other attractions include Fran Lebowitz, Alanna Mitchell in
Sea Sick, Tony Award winner Alan Cumming and
All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro. Trey McLaughlin and the Sounds of Zamar, Delfealyo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, Artemis, and American roots master Martha Redbone, who all make their Broad Stage debuts, as well as Jazz Legends Dianne Reeves, Chucho Valdés and Joe Lovano in a program of duets. Returning favorites include three Nat Geo Live evenings, Beethoven, Bagels & Banter with Robert Davidovici, and blackbox with The Reverend Shawn Amos & The Brotherhood, and vocalist Brenna Whitaker.
Newly commissioned works Iphigenia and Yemandja: A Story of Africa; Fidelio from Heartbeat Opera; World Premiere of The Conference of the Birds Iphigenia (February 17-19) directed by Obie Award winner Lileana Blain-Cruz, conducted by Clark Rundell, and with scenic design by Frank Gehry, features nine vocalists (including spalding) a 10-person chorus and chamber orchestra, accompanied by stars of the jazz world including Brian Blade, John Patitucci, and Danilo Perez from the Wayne Shorter Quartet.
Shorter and spalding’s
Iphigenia, unlike its forebears, is not an adaptation of the Greek myth as much as it is an intervention into myth-making and into music and opera as we know it — classical and jazz forms collide in a full orchestral score.
Iphigenia stares down the history of opera and makes some demands on its future: No more tragic women singing through suicide and going mad in perfect pitch. In the end Shorter and spalding turn their gaze outward beyond the stage:
What will we make, they ask,
at this precise moment in our collective present when we are so desperately in need of new visions for the world? In
Yemandja: A Story of Africa, a new music theatre work by and starring global superstar and three-time GRAMMY ® winner Angélique Kidjo, directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce and with production designed by artist Kerry James Marshall, is a cohesive and expansive work of original musical theater, both uniquely African with deep connections to the roots of African American culture. Inspired by her ancestors, her family, and Africa’s resilience, singer and storyteller extraordinaire Kidjo conjures up a timely theatrical work that is at once a family drama and historical thriller, redolent of Greek tragedy and infused with themes of love.
Iphigenia and
Yemandja: A Story of Africa are both a part of new concerted partnerships of commissioning by Bailis and The Broad Stage.
Iphigenia is commissioned by Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, DC), The Broad Stage at Santa Monica College (Los Angeles), ArtsEmerson (Boston); Carolina Performing Arts (Chapel Hill, NC), and MASS MoCA (North Adams, MA).
Yemandja: A Story of Africa is co-commissioned by Arts Emerson (Boston), The Broad Stage at Santa Monica College, Cal Performances (Berkeley), Ruth and Stephen Hendel, The Kennedy Center (Washington DC), and MassMoCA (North Adams, MA). Produced by THE OFFICE performing arts + film.
The Conference of the Birds (June 18-19) world premiere shared with Scripps College of an oratorio from composer Fahed Sladat and librettist Sholeh Wolpé, and director-choreographer André Megerdichlan, based on the Sufi mystic poet Attar’s seminal text about the journey of the soul as it seeks union with the divine in English with text from the original Persian.
Heartbeat Opera Fidelio (February 26, 27 Los Angeles Premiere) With a cast of five singers, seven band members, and a chorus of recorded audio and video of more than 100 incarcerated singers and 70 volunteers from six prison choirs in four states across the Midwest, Fidelio is a “fearless work that [is] somehow true to the original yet very current” (Broadway World). In this adaptation of Beethoven’s opera, a black activist is wrongfully incarcerated. His wife, Leah, disguises herself to infiltrate the system and free him. But when injustice reigns, one woman’s grit may not be enough to save her love. This daring work pits corruption against courage, hate against hope.
Heartbeat Opera is a young company intent upon reimagining opera in intimate spaces for a new generation of artists and audiences. Employing a minimalism that allows the emotional integrity of the music to shine through, the company’s work focuses on the body of the singer and the visceral power of the music. From the drama at the core of each work, Heartbeat Opera grows vivid theatrical worlds through revelatory adaptations, radical rearrangements, and ingenious design.
During the pandemic The Broad Stage presented Heartbeat Opera’s
Breathing Free, which will be presented again as a digital student matinee with an accompanying learning guide. SMC Art Department and SMC Barrett Gallery will host an exhibition with local artist Suchi Branfman; her
Undanced Dances Behind Prison Walls During a Pandemic focused on restorative justice and an artist working with incarcerated populations.
Honoring Earth Day, The Broad Stage presents the acclaimed
Sea Sick, (April 15-16 in The Edye Los Angeles Premiere), written and performed by Alanna Mitchell about the dark truth of oceans. In
Sea Sick, prize-winning journalist turned master storyteller in this mesmerizing solo show. Culled from her work with leading ocean scientists,
Sea Sick tells Mitchell’s most important story: her journey to the bottom of the ocean, the demons she discovered there and, most importantly, her hope for the future.
The Guardian said,
“The knowledge she’s gained from studying watery dead spots, ancient fish and plankton leads her to leave us with a gentle provocation, a way to break the stubborn human blockage that prevents some of us from admitting that we’ve harmed the Earth. Why don’t we try forgiveness? After all, we have to own what we’ve done in order to be able to fix it. This might be the most pragmatic use of the concept of forgiveness and it could only come from someone who sees the writing on the wall but still believes in the power of a happy ending.” Audience members are invited to participate in a Heal the Bay clean up.
Och & Oy! (Jan 21-22 Los Angeles Premiere) — Tony Award ®-winner
Alan Cumming (
Cabaret, “The Good Wife”)
and Ari Shapiro NPR’s
All Things Considered host (January 21-22) and frequent Pink Martini singer transport listeners through an evening of tunes and tall tales.
The previously announced
An Evening with Fran Lebowitz (April 28-May 1; Q+A following) features the star of the recent directed by Martin Scorsese Netflix series “Pretend it’s a City.” Lebowitz is author, journalist and social observer, who in a cultural landscape filled with endless pundits and talking heads, stands out as one of our most insightful commentators. Purveyor of urban cool, Lebowitz is a cultural satirist whom many call the heir to Dorothy Parker. Her essays and interviews offer her acerbic views on current events and the media – as well as pet peeves including tourists, baggage-claim areas, after-shave lotion, adults who roller skate, children who speak French, or anyone who is unduly tan.
New public events, community activations and education programs New public events, community activations and education programs are being devised in collaboration with artists of the season – including three of the four dance companies. Each activity offers an opportunity for the public, families and students to learn about and engage with the content, genres and artistry beyond the stage to enhance and deepen the experience of what is presented. Learning guides are offered to The Broad Stage entire community: the public and families, Santa Monica College students and faculty, 2
nd-12
th grade classrooms, highlighting performances in a season that are particularly suited for audiences 12 years and older and provide deeper learning about and context for the artists.
The leading edge — where the spirit of dance is located today: Mark Morris, Circa, Aakash Odedra, Ephrat Asherie Bailis said about the dance programming, “We have an Australian company, an Israeli-American setting dance to Brazilian music, a South Asian artist collaborating with a Chinese dancer creating a unique work from Chinese literature with a Buddhist mindset, and Mark Morris, an American legend bringing one of his true masterpieces. Four companies of very different scales and aesthetics – but what this work has in common is that none are a company’s repertory works, but each is choreography. While drawing from completely different cultures, each of these works is bespoke and a uniquely magical creation.”
Mark Morris Dance Group & Music Ensemble Mozart Dances (June 9-12). The sublime joy of dance with the world-renowned Mark Morris Dance Group & Music Ensemble:
Mozart Dances has been praised as music embodied, with three Mozart piano works set to Morris’ buoyant, exhilarating choreography. The program features the Piano Concerto No. 11, Sonata for Two Pianos and Piano Concerto No. 27 performed live in the intimate hall. “… exhilarating and masterfully timed.”
– The Washington Post “To hear Mozart through Morris’ ears is to appreciate the music in scintillating new detail.”
– The Guardian “If you could capture the essence of childhood play – the boundless energy; the unselfconscious immersion in pretending; the relentless inventiveness; the sheer delight in creativity … you’d have the Mark Morris Dance Group in
Mozart Dances.”
– The Times (U.K.). A complimentary learning guide for
Mozart Dances is available on The Broad Stage Learning Hub.
Sacre by Circa (February 4-5) critically acclaimed contemporary circus company Circa tightly weaves together powerful world-class acrobatics and dynamic encounters suffused with dark humor and rich tenderness. Featuring new composition by Philippe Bachman alongside
Rite, the famous high C on the bassoon sounds and the stage explodes with bodies locked in a ritual unto death. Under the direction of circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz the Circa ensemble puts bodies on the line for Sacre in electrifying explosions of physicality and power. Bailis said,
“Sacre penetrates the senses and stirs the soul with unparalleled blending of concert music, choreography, and circus. Circa is able to access what is so exciting about this iconic score through a celebration of the physical human potential the like of which little else can touch.”
Circus enthusiasts of all ages can join in a free Community Workshop at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Campus.
Sacre by Circa is commissioned by Merrigong Theatre Company. Co-produced by Le Comete. Circa acknowledges the assistance of the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body and the Queenland Government through Arts Queenland.
Aakash Odedra: Samsara (February 10-13) Aakash Odedra Company and Bagri Foundation invite the audience to enter the world of
Samsara – a journey through the vast cultures of China and India in this physical and spiritual performance. Created and performed by international dance artists Aakash Odedra (UK/India), working from the lineage of Akram Khan, and Hu Shenyuan (China), to live music of composer and singer Nicki Wells (UK/Switzerland). Bailis said the work is “quite profound and remarkable,” drawing upon ballet, Chinese folk, kathak and contemporary dance.
Samsara is inspired by the journeys of the many monks believed to have attempted the long pilgrimage between China and India, that led to the classic 16th Century Chinese story
Journey to The West. This compelling journey of self-development, strength, fear and love,
Samsara traces a path across lands and through time, exploring the idea that if we let attachments go and allow love or light in, we might find a place of truth and peace.
Ephrat Asherie Dance ODEON (April 1-2)
ODEON, an original dance work for six dancers and four musicians, is the second collaboration between sister and brother team Ephrat and Ehud Asherie (choreographer and musical director, respectively). Set to the music of fin-de-siècle Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth, known for mixing early 20th century romantic music with samba and other popular Afro-Brazilian rhythms, this work takes a hybrid approach to movement. Odeon delves into what happens when you bring together parts of the extended family of street and club dances–including breaking, hip hop, house,[SP1] and vogue–remix them, pick them apart and challenge them to inhabit unfamiliar spatial and choreographic contexts.
Rooted in African American and Latinx street and club dances, Ephrat Asherie Dance is dedicated to exploring the inherent complexities of these dances, investigating the expansive narrative qualities of various vernacular forms including breaking, hip hop, house and vogue, as a means to tell stories, develop innovative imagery, and find new modes of expression. Asherie offers an intergenerational community workshop celebrating New York Hop and social dance club culture at Santa Monica Virginia Avenue Park. Also Asherie will choreograph a dance on the Santa Monica Pier. Also Asherie will choreograph a dance on the Santa Monica Pier.
Classical — Orliński, Takács, Dinnerstein and Danish String Quartet Polish
countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński (March 10) has emerged as one of the most vibrant performers on the international classical music scene, triumphing on stage, concert, and recordings. Opera said, “Orliński is the real countertenor deal, one of the best I’ve heard : and has raised the bar decisively.”
Orliński’s first recording
Anima Sacra has garnered critical accolades and earned him the prestigious Opus Klassik award for Solo Vocal Recording. His sold-out concerts and recitals throughout Europe and the United States have attracted new followers to the art form, and his live performance of Vivaldi’s “Vedrí² con mio diletto,” filmed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2017, has amassed more than seven million online views. Television appearances, including the “Concert de Paris” at the Eiffel Tower and “Rebâtir Notre Dame de Paris,” both with the Orchestre National de France and Les Victoires de la Musique Classique awards concert accompanied by the Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon, have been broadcast to millions worldwide. In 2019, he was the subject of a major profile in
The New Yorker and featured in Polish
Vogue. His third album – entitled
Anima Aeterna, featuring sacred arias and motets from the Baroque era – will be released in October 2021, Orliński will conduct a master class for Santa Monica College Music Department.
The world-renowned
Takács Quartet (The Broad Stage debut March 19), is now entering its 47th season.
Edward Dusinberre,
Harumi Rhodes (violins),
Richard O’
Neill (viola) and
András Fejér (cello) are bringing to fruition several innovative projects for the 2021-2022 season. With bandoneon/accordion virtuoso
Julien Labro, the group will perform new works composed for them by Clarice Assad and Bryce Dessner in a program that will also feature a solo set by Labro and the Ravel String Quartet.
Simone Dinnerstein (March 27) American pianist Simone Dinnerstein has a distinctive musical voice.
The Washington Post has called her “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity.” She first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote
The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.” Since that recording, she has played with orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai. She has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Seoul Arts C
