Imago Theatre's LA BELLE, LOST IN THE WORLD OF THE AUTOMATON to Play Plaza del Sol Performance Hall

Portland Oregon's Imago Theatre company brings their visionary family show La Belle, Lost in the World of the Automaton to the Plaza del Sol Performance Hall on November 19, 2017 at 3:00pm. The Oregonian said of the show, "La Belle is a non-stop eye-popper. It's all wow factor."

This telling of Beauty and the Beast trades the castle, forest and provincial town for a wondrous new setting on a steamship inhabited by a living mechanical man. La Belle captures youthful imaginations with elegant puppets, animatronics, and an endless stream of visual effects. The story of the beautiful woman and the mechanical man comes to life through songs, storytelling, and a vast land of make-believe. The adults will enjoy a touch of slapstick humor, reminiscent of silent film stars Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

Imago Theatre is known for their wildly inventive family programming.

Tickets for La Belle, Lost in the World of the Automaton, which start at $33, can be purchased by calling 818.677.3000 or visiting www.valleyperformingartscenter.org. Additional family programming for VPAC (The Soraya) includes Hansel & Gretel: A Wickedly Delicious Musical Treat (December 3), MUMMENSCHANZ (February 11), Yamato - The Drummers of Japan (March 11) and Manual City's The Magic Cinema (March 18).

Since 1979, Imago has been creating transformative theater that crosses boundaries traditionally associated with language, age and the physical realm. None other than the New York Times said of their work: "Theater like this opens the eyes to the possibilities of exploration in the vast realm of imagination." The company's trademark style - which combines masks, dance and slapstick with witty social commentary on the human condition - is the direct result of over thirty years of study, development, and practice. Not easily pigeon-holed, Imago has repeatedly proven unique in its ability to create both popular family-oriented fare as highly regarded as its critically acclaimed (and ambitious) productions for adults.

Imago has toured globally for over three decades, with numerous multi-national visits to Asia and Europe. Two of the company's most lauded production, FROGZ and ZooZoo, have played at New York's esteemed New Victory Theatre while another, No Exit, was revived at Harvard's American Repertory Theatre and the Hartford Stage Company.

Working out of a large 18,000 square foot theatre laboratory in Portland, Oregon, under the artistic direction of Carol Triffle and Jerry Mouawad, Imago's ensemble of actors, dancers, designers, fabricators and musicians become alchemists seeking fresh perspectives of performance. The company has been honored for mask theatre pieces which have appealed to a wide age range, and for innovative works that push the boundaries of form, design and story.

With its ongoing mission to create theater that transcends language, age, and gravity (and other laws of the real world), Imago has repeatedly entertained multicultural, multigenerational audiences with its inventively mind-bending productions. While the company's approach has long been grounded in the rigorously physical techniques of the late Jacques Lecoq - an influential theater theoretician for whom Imago co-founder Carol Triffle served as assistant --- Imago has developed a distinctly theatrical approach all its own, one that's equal parts dance, design, circus, music, text, and illusion. Jerry Mouawad's neo-vaudevillian treatment of Sartre's existentialist masterpiece No Exit was hailed for its "skin-tingling tension" (Boston Globe) while Triffle's The Dinner was cited as "the most original and inspired theater you'll see" (The Oregonian).

The Soraya opened its 2017-2018 season on September 16 with a performance of AMADEUS Live (Milos Foreman's 1984 Academy Award-winning Best Picture with live orchestra) with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and members of the LA Opera Chorus. The evening honored the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Foundation in recognition of the family's recent $17 million gift that will rename VPAC as the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Performing Arts Center, known as The Soraya. The gift is one of the largest in the history of the California State University and the system's largest single gift to support the arts; gift to support the programming and operations of the award-winning Valley Performing Arts Center - which has become one of the cultural jewels of the region in the six years since it opened.

The 2017-18 Soraya season signals a new era for the premier event venue. Under the leadership of Executive Director Thor Steingraber, the renamed Younes and Soraya Nazarian Performing Arts Center expands its programming and outstanding multidisciplinary performances. The mission of The Soraya is to present a wide variety of performances that not only includes new and original work from the Los Angeles region but also work from around the world that appeal to all of LA's rich and diverse communities.

Located on the campus of California State University, Northridge, The Soraya's season offers a vibrant performance program of nearly 50 classical and popular music, dance, theater, family and international events that will serve to establish The Soraya as the intellectual and cultural heart of the San Fernando Valley, and further establish itself as one of the top arts companies in Southern California. The award-winning, 1,700-seat theatre was designed by HGA Architects and Engineers and was recently cited by the Los Angeles Times as "a growing hub for live music, dance, drama and other cultural events."

Photo Credit: Opus 3 Artists

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