The Wallis Announces Season of Theater, Dance, Music, Film, Cabaret, Conversation, and Family Entertainment

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts has announced a robust and distinctive range of performances, programs, and events for the 2022/2023 season, including two world premieres, one U.S. premiere, one West Coast Premiere, and one Los Angeles Premiere, featuring groundbreaking produced and presented works in theater, dance, music, film, cabaret, conversation, and family entertainment. Among the celebrated artists whose work is represented are Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Bradley Bredeweg, Sheldon Epps, Xiang "Sean" Gao, Emma Rice, Kwame Alexander, Lisa Fischer, Thelma Houston, Osvaldo Golijov, Lillias White, Stephanie J. Block, Anthony McGill, Isaac Mizrahi, Ulysses Owens, Jr., J'Nai Bridges, Jeffrey Kahane, John Irving, Reza Aslan, and many others.

Extraordinary dance and music companies featured from around Southern California, the United States, and the world range from Mambo Kings, Ballet Hispánico, Luminario Ballet of Los Angeles, and BODYTRAFFIC to Pacifica Quartet, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and more. Sing for Hope, The Wallis' 2022-2023 Season Company-in-Residence, and its founders, sopranos Camille Zamora and Monica Yunus, Artists-in-Residence, present, with The Wallis, the Sing for Hope Production of The Last Sorcerer (Le Dernier Sorcier), an 1867 masterwork salon opera 150 years ahead of its time. Programming also features continued partnerships with Writers Bloc, ASCAP, and Film Independent; the return of the signature Sorting Room series; and Sunday Fundays with free family entertainment. Under the leadership of Executive Director/CEO Rachel Fine, The Wallis' ninth season begins in late September 2022 and runs into the summer of 2023.

"The Wallis launches its 2022/2023 stronger than ever," says The Wallis' Executive Director and CEO Rachel Fine. "With this full slate of bold, diverse, and ambitious programming, we're prepared to wow, engage, and move our audiences during a time when we all need to be elevated and nurtured by the performing arts. We are pleased to be operating at full throttle, once again, thanks to the invaluable support of The Wallis' Board of Directors, the City of Beverly Hills, the Annenberg Foundation, and our loyal community of supporters, artists, staff, and friends."

"The Wallis' 2022/23 season provides a place for our communities, our audiences, and our artists to be revived with inventive programming that inspires, entertains, challenges, reflects and uplifts," says Associate Artistic Director Coy Middlebrook. "The breadth and depth of the work being presented during this season showcases the work of some of LA's and America's leading, and emerging, artistic thought-makers in dance, theater, music, film, and literature. Their contemporary perspectives paired with their tremendous creativity generates work that is as fresh and gripping for these times we find ourselves in as it is timelessly poetic and enthralling."

Theater offerings further broaden The Wallis' commitment to new work, with two World Premieres, one West Coast Premiere, and one Los Angeles Premiere. From November 22 to December 17, 2022, The Wallis presents INVINCIBLE - THE MUSICAL (World Premiere) FEATURING THE MUSIC OF Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, which reimagines the timeless story of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet for the 21st century through an intricate weaving of the four-time GRAMMY Award-winners and 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees' legendary catalogue and inspired new songs. With a book by Bradley Bredeweg, music direction and arrangements by Jesse Vargas, and orchestrations and arrangements by Neil Giraldo, Invincible - The Musical is presented by Special Arrangement with Jamie Cesa, Cody Lassen & Bel Chiasso Entertainment.

The pioneering SHANGHAI SONATAS: A NEW MUSICAL IN CONCERT (World Premiere) is presented from March 16 to 18, 2023 by The Wallis in collaboration with the University of Delaware Master Players Concert Series. Concept, music and produced by Xiang "Sean" Gao, one of Musical America's Top 30 Professionals of the Year, Shanghai Sonatas brilliantly shows the power of music to build bridges across cultures. With book by Alan Goodson and lyrics by Joyce Hill Stoner, Shanghai Sonatas is directed by Chongren Fan.

Sheldon Epps (Blues in the Night) returns to direct The Wallis Production of MY LORD, WHAT A NIGHT (West Coast Premiere) from May 23 to June 11, 2023, a new drama written by Deborah Brevoort based on the real-life friendship between legendary Black contralto Marian Anderson and physicist Albert Einstein, two icons of the 20th century, who dealt with the injustices of a highly divided era in American history.

From January 11 to 22, 2023, The Wallis Presents Wise Children's WUTHERING HEIGHTS (Los Angeles Premiere) based on the novel by Emily Brontë and adapted and directed by Emma Rice (Brief Encounter, Tristan & Yseult). Rice returns to The Wallis to transform Brontë's masterpiece into an intoxicating story of revenge, shot through with music, dance, passion, and hope.

DAHLAK BRATHWAITE: TRY/STEP/TRIP from February 2 to 5, 2023, written and composed by Dahlak Brathwaite, is a spoken word, multi-character musical performed through the language of step dance. Directed by Roberta Uno, it is choreographed by Toran X. Moore, with assistant choreography by Freddy Ramsey, Jr., and orchestrations and additional compositions by Teak Underdue.

The Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences On Tour Production of ACOUSTIC ROOSTER'S BARNYARD BOOGIE: STARRING INDIGO BLUME from April 22 to 23, 2023, is a brand-new stage show recommended for ages five and up. Adapted from the books by New York Times best-selling author Kwame Alexander, it is written by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess with music by Randy Preston, and directed by Lili-Anne Brown.

Among the dynamic blend of dance companies presented during the season are two making their Wallis debuts: BALLET HISPÁNICO, October 7/8, 2022, in celebration of the incomparable company's 50th Anniversary, and LUMINARIO BALLET OF LOS ANGELES, February 24/25, 2023, a thrilling repertory ballet, aerial, and modern dance company. Returning favorites are BODYTRAFFIC, October 21 to 23, 2022, which has conquered the contemporary dance world with its stunning performers, technical mastery, and a commitment to the most challenging repertoire; BLUE13 DANCE COMPANY, noted for its rhythmic and exuberant genre-bending artistry that blends hip-hop, ballet, modern, and traditional Indian dance, on May 12/13, 2023; and ALONZO KING LINES BALLET, JUN 9 to 11, 2023, performing a new work featuring Grammy Award-winning vocalist Lisa Fischer set to a score by jazz pianist, composer, and MacArthur Fellow Jason Moran.

Additionally, pop, opera, jazz, blues, classical, Broadway, and Latinx artists, many making their Wallis debuts, are among the sweeping and diverse array of music performers.

As part of Sing for Hope's residency, The Wallis presents the U.S. PREMIERE of the Sing for Hope Production of THE LAST SORCERER (LE DERNIER SORCIER) on March 3, 2023, preceded on March 2 by a Center Stage panel. One hundred fifty years ahead of its time, Pauline Viardot's 1867 masterwork salon opera was written on a libretto by her lover, the great Russian novelist Turgenev. A feminist eco-fable in operatic form, it premiered to great acclaim with Viardot at the piano in her Baden Baden villa and her students in the roles. After the original piano-voice manuscript was held in a private collection for over a century, it essentially vanished without a trace until acquired several years ago by Harvard Library, which gave Sing for Hope co-founder Monica Yunus permission to publish and produce the recording of the world premiere of the work. New English language narrations take the place of French dialogue that would have come in between each musical number, punctuating the concert story-book-style.

AN EVENING WITH MOTOWN - A Bristol Entertainment Production (October 1, 2022), a uniquely entertaining music experience, features Grammy Award-winning artist Thelma Houston and other remarkable talents.

As part of Sing for Hope's residency, HAVANA NIGHTS (October 13, 2022) showcases the MAMBO KINGS and star soprano Camille Zamora, hailed as a leading interpreter of classical Spanish song by NBC Latino, with a sultry, passionate, and exciting evening of Latin music from Spain and the island of Cuba. Canadian-Trinidadian pianist STEWART GOODYEAR performs in his Wallis debut (October 15, 2022) selections from his latest album, PHOENIX, including original works by Goodyear as well as Debussy, Jennifer Higdon, Anthony David and others that obtain new life by arising from the sound world, past traditions, and gestures of Franz Lizst. FALLING OUT OF TIME (October 27, 2022) is a gripping new song cycle from Grammy-winning composer OSVALDO GOLIJOV with an ensemble of musicians, led by acclaimed violinist Johnny Gandelsman, that finds its roots in David Grossman's novel of the same name.

BROADWAY @ THE WALLIS & MARK CORTALE PRESENT, the internationally acclaimed concert series, returns with two star-studded evenings. Lillias White WITH Seth Rudetsky, HOST & PIANIST, on November 3, 2022, features Tony, Obie and Emmy Award-winner White (The Life, Fela!, Dreamgirls, Barnum, Once On This Island, Chicago, Disney's Hercules, Pieces of April, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, "The Get Down," "Russian Doll, "Search Party") in conversation and performance with SiriusXM Radio star Rudetsky. Stephanie J. Block WITH Seth Rudetsky, HOST & PIANIST (May 4, 2023), is an evening with Tony Award-winner Block (The Cher Show, Falsettos, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, 9 to 5: The Musical, Boy From Oz, Wicked) revealing behind-the-scenes stories and music from Block's stellar Broadway career.

The virtuosic LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA makes its Wallis debut with two appearances, the first of which is Baroque Concerti (January 28, 2023), an evening of chamber performances featuring soloists Yura Lee, principal viola, and David Washburn, principal trumpet, performing works by Johan Baptist Georg Neruda, Corelli, Geminiani, Telemann, and Handel. Masterworks for String Orchestra (May 6, 2023) immerses audiences in the majesty of the string orchestra through a program of rich and varied compositions by Bingen, Britten, Mendelssohn, Hindemith, and Greig, curated by LACO Concertmaster and Director of Chamber Music Margaret Batjer.

The Grammy Award-winning PACIFICA QUARTET, which has achieved international recognition as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today, is joined by the brilliantly multifaceted Anthony McGill, principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic, on February 23, 2023. Actor, host, writer, acclaimed fashion designer, and producer Isaac Mizrahi, whose one-of-a-kind show on March 4, 2023, combines comedy, commentary, and an array of classic and soon-to-be classic songs from Stephen Sondheim to Blondie, from Comden & Green to Madonna. Cellist SETH PARKER WOODS (March 9, 2023), recipient of the 2022 Chamber Music America Michael Jaffee Visionary Award and hailed by The Guardian as "a cellist of power and grace," performs works by Rachmaninov, Liszt, Kagel, Chinary Ung, Respighi, Lembit Beecher, and Reinaldo Moya. ULYSSES OWENS, JR. & J'NAI BRIDGES in NOTES ON HOPE (April 27, 2023), bring together mezzo-soprano opera star J'Nai Bridges and Grammy-winning jazz trailblazer percussionist Ulysses Owens, Jr., in a program of works by Debussy, Ravel, Duparc, Satie, Poulenc, Ellington, and more. Pianist JEFFREY KAHANE, recognized around the world for his mastery of a diverse repertoire, performs his interpretation of BACH: GOLDBERG VARIATIONS (May 11, 2023), long regarded as the most serious and ambitious work for the keyboard. All of these artists are making their Wallis debuts.

On May 20, 2023, the award-winning MIRÓ QUARTET (Daniel Ching, violin; William Fedkenheuer, violin; John Largess, viola; Joshua Gindele, cello), one of America's most celebrated string quartets, is reunited with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer KEVIN PUTS, who has been hailed as one of the most important composers of his generation. Critically acclaimed for a richly colored, harmonic, and freshly melodic musical voice that has also been described as "emotional, compelling, and relevant," Puts has had works commissioned, performed, and recorded by leading orchestras, ensembles, and soloists throughout the world.

The season's music programs conclude on June 1, 2023, with an evening featuring the chamber trio of JORDAN BAK, viola, GENEVA LEWIS, violin, and EVREN OZEL, piano. With myriad colors and sounds spanning two centuries, this evening offers a unique blend of artistic collaboration and instrumental and interpretational distinctiveness between performers and composers, from works by Debussy, Schumann, and Mozart to Max Reger's Piano Trio No. 1 in B minor, showcasing the young 18-year-old composer's musical and technical maturity and brimming with bravura, sensitivity, and promise.

The Wallis continues its partnership with WRITERS BLOC for a series of CONVERSATIONS providing insight into the literary process featuring AN EVENING WITH ANTHONY DOERR (September 29, 2022), AN EVENING WITH John Irving (October 23, 2022), and AN EVENING WITH REZA ASLAN (November 1, 2022). For 26 years, Writers Bloc has fostered the significance and importance of literature as an art form, enhancing the public's knowledge and awareness of contemporary writers and thinkers who have made a significant impact on the cultural and literary landscape.

The Wallis' wildly successful SORTING ROOM series, which transforms the Lovelace Studio Theater into an intimate nightclub, returns during the holiday season to offer the best talent from a wide range of genres including the American songbook, spoken word, comedy, classic cabaret, storytelling, dance, contemporary music, and more.

Film presentations in partnership with FILM INDEPENDENT, featuring screening events and conversations with celebrated actors and filmmakers, will be announced.

The ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop and Festival also returns in partnership with the ASCAP Foundation. In addition there will be a special Evening with Stephen Schwartz concert in celebration of his 75th birthday. (Dates and tickets to be announced soon.)

Of particular note, The Wallis continues its beloved free monthly outdoor SUNDAY FUNDAY family series from October 2022 through June 2023 with a variety of engaging programming that includes Debbie Allen & Friends' Dance Sundays and quality live performances by groups ranging from Parker Bent to Broadway Babies and Spring Groove, plus Holiday Hanukah with Mostly Kosher in December and a bilingual concert in June with Nathalia - all designed to spark young peoples' imagination and fuel creativity. No reservations or tickets are required for Sunday Funday events.

Subscriptions to The Wallis' 2022/2023 Season are on sale now. Single tickets will be available at a later date. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. To purchase subscriptions and for more information, please call 310-746-4000 (Monday - Friday, 10 am to 6 pm) or visit TheWallis.org.

The Wallis is closely monitoring the ever-changing local health and safety environment carefully and addressing known health factors at the moment. Should plans change and any performance be required to be postponed or cancelled or if venue capacity limitations are instituted, ticket holders will be notified immediately with options for their purchased tickets per The Wallis' ticketing policies.

The health and safety of patrons, our staff, and artists inside and outside the venue are a top priority for The Wallis, which is requiring all patrons to provide, upon entry, proof of full vaccination or a negative PCR test result within 48 hours or a verifiable Antigen test within 24 hours from your performance date, along with a government issued photo ID. Facial masks, covering both the mouth and nose, are still required at all times while within the venue. The Wallis' health and safety protocols are also subject to change at the venue's sole discretion or in accordance with LA County and City of Beverly Hills regulations. Current Health & Safety Protocols and updates may also be accessed at TheWallis.org/Safety. Policies are subject to change.

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