Going All Out on Grand Ave

It’s no secret that downtown LA’s Grand Avenue has been a cultural hub for some time now.  But with the addition of The Broad Museum this past month, along with the slew of new restaurants, events and apartments opening up, Grand Avenue is brimming over with vibrancy right now.  So it seemed only fitting that all of the artistic organizations on the avenue take a moment to collectively open all our doors and celebrate all the incredible art and culture happening on Grand Ave all the time!

This Saturday, join us for Grand Ave Arts: All Access – Los Angeles’ home for world-class arts and culture turns inside out with open rehearsals, architecture tours, museum exhibitions, performances, food and drink, and kids film screenings.   It’s all free, open to all ages, and includes all the arts organizations from 5th Street to Temple.

Activities for The Music Center include …

+  Performances on our plaza by Xoyocote Azteca dance company.

+  Día de los Muertos art installations as part of a wide-scale project that includes Grand Park.

+  Día de los Muertos-themed face painting and Papel Picado workshops featuring guest            artists Alvaro Asturias and Xochitl Palomera in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion lobby.

+  Tours of our oldest theater, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, every 30 minutes beginning at     11:00 a.m. Last tour leaves at 1:30 p.m.

Visit the Grand Ave Arts: All Access website for a full rundown of activities for the day, and be sure to grab your friends and family to take in all the amazing things happening in the heart of Los Angeles’ cultural scene!

This is The Music Center!

Maybe you’ve been here once, maybe countless times. Or maybe you’ve yet to set foot on our campus. Wherever you may fall… we can guarantee there’s always something new to see and experience here! Just have a look…

For more fun videos, behind the scenes access and all things Music Center, subscribe to our YouTube Channel!  

This Week @MusicCenterLA

A little bit of a quiet week with Thanksgiving and all, but still plenty of opportunities to bring your family out for some wonderful highlights at The Music Center!

LA Phil has three presentations of Dudamel & Capuçon to choose from at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in addition to a one night only performance of Tony and Grammy toting Broadway legend Audra McDonald.

LA Opera continues it’s beautiful Florencia en el Amazonas with a performance this weekend.

Center Theatre Group continues it’s run of the 1960s farce What the Butler Saw at the Mark Taper Forum.

Ongoing daily throughout the week and all the way through to March is the ASCAP: One-Hundred Years and Beyond exhibit in the Library of Congress Ira Gershwin Gallery at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Free and open to the public!

See you at the Center and have a very happy Thanksgiving!

A Patina Thanksgiving

With the big feast just a week away, why not consider having the Patina Restaurant Group take care of the cooking so you can relax and enjoy more time with your family? If this menu melts your mouth as much as it does ours, be sure to place your order by Nov 25 @ 5PM.

This Week @MusicCenterLA

It’s a jam packed one with lots to choose from! Our quick digest to help sort it out is below…

Closing this week:

With only two performances left of LA Opera‘s Dido & Aeneas / Bluebeard’s Castle, be sure to catch one of them as the last show is this Saturday! Bonus: Read these 13 Things You Didn’t Know about the production!

Opening this week:

Are you in the mood for something raucously funny this week? Center Theatre Group presents Joe Orton’s 1969 British comedy What the Butler Saw opening Wednesday night at the Mark Taper Forum. In its day it was considered a scandalous play… See what you think 45 years later!

The LA Phil presents the Academy of Ancient Music for one night only, and then presents a three-performance run of Ravel & Elgar.

The LA Master Chorale will be in the Walt Disney Concert Hall with Renaissance: Reawakened, in which you’ll hear the music that graced the cathedral halls during the Renaissance.

While the REDCAT has an extremely busy week with dynamic programming almost every night of the week, we recommend Studio: Fall 2014. Not often do we as audiences get to experience an artist’s process, but this is one of LA’s own unique exceptions to that rule.

Ongoing daily throughout the week and all the way through to March is the ASCAP: One-Hundred Years and Beyond exhibit in the Library of Congress Ira Gershwin Gallery at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Free and open to the public!

See you at the Center!

BalletBoyz Discount Code!

Because we like you so much, we’ve put together a little special something…

TODAY ONLY! Save 35%* on select seats to BalletBoyz this weekend! Access your exclusive offer online, in person or over the phone by calling (213) 972-0711 with the following code: 25781

Get it: http://bit.ly/1kDmGhL

*35% off valid on all performances in the following sections: Main Orchestra, Center Mezzanine, Front Orchestra Ring, Rear Mezzanine A, Rear Mezzanine B and Orchestra Ring only. Other restrictions may apply. No refunds, cancellations or exchanges. Offer expires November 6, 2014 at 11:59 p.m.

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BalletBoyz is one of the most cheekily original and innovative forces in modern dance and has thrilled audiences and critics the world over with its distinctive style marked by muscularity, ferocity, as well as tremendous grace and elegance. The Guardian describes it as “a paradox of muscular impact and weightless flight.”

You’re Invited: Ballet Preljocaj Pre-Party at the Ace Hotel

image source

Well, the big week has finally arrived.  The week we welcome cutting-edge contemporary dance company Ballet Preljocaj back to The Music Center.  They made a splash in 2012 with their rendition of Snow White and now they’re back with the North American premiere of Les Nuits (The Nights) – A sensual interpretation of the A Thousand and One Nights stories.

We can hardly wait for the performances, but we’ve partnered with the new Ace Hotel in downtown LA to cook up a little something to tide us over till opening night this Friday.  We’re talking about a pre-performance party (oh yeah) and everyone’s invited!

Grab a drink and take in the beautiful skyline of our glorious city, while you gab it up with cast and crew from the show.  Groove to a set from Dublab’s DJ Frosty as he mixes tunes from Les Nuits and score a sweet deal on tickets if you’re still in need of seats for the show.  It all kicks off this Wednesday from 5-8pm on the roof at the new Ace at 9th and Broadway.

See you there!

Dance Camera West’s 13th Annual Dance Media Festival

Photo by Erich Koyama

June 6-8 at The Music Center, Grand Park, REDCAT and MOCA

We can hardly wait for Dance Camera West’s annual Film Festival featuring screenings of new films, live performances and art installations that focus on the theme “Restructure.”  And the best part?  This year, the three day event takes place in our neck of the woods – Grand Avenue in Downtown LA!

The festival kicks off with performances by LA-based dance company BODYTRAFFIC on The Music Center Plaza around a specially commissioned Architectural Art installation by Gustavo Godoy on June 6 at 7:30pm, followed by screenings of dance shorts in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

The festival continues the following afternoon, June 7, with another performance from BODYTRAFFIC and screenings immediately following down the street at MOCA.

Next the festival hits Grand Park with a live performance from the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company at 7:00 p.m., followed by more screenings under the stars.

The weekend concludes on June 8 with BODYTRAFFIC’s final performance at 2:00 p.m. on the plaza before more screenings, talks and discussions at REDCAT.

The live performances are free and open to the public and tickets for the film screenings are a bargin and a half!  With so much great artistry and creativity in one weekend, you won’t want to miss any of the fun!

Tickets and more information can be found by visiting the Dance Camera West website.  Follow all the weekend activities on Twitter & Instagram with #DCWfest and #GrandAveLove!

 

This Week @ MusicCenterLA

It may be a short week after the long holiday weekend, but our calendar is jam packed with amazing shows and events you don’t want to miss.  Here’s the rundown…

 
It’s the last week to see Center Theatre Group‘s production of The Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess.   Showing every night this week, see it and start your own Summertime off right!

Seeing Plácido Domingo in LA Opera‘s Thais is an absolute MUST and there are just a few performances left!  See it this Thursday! 

Catch the grand finale of LA Phil‘s Mozart/Da Ponte Trilogy with Gustavo Dudamel conducting on Saturday afternoon.

Celebrate LA’s next generation of artists at REDCAT’s Studio series.  This Saturday night, see six intriguing investigations in dance, theater, music and multimedia performance.

And shimmy yourself over to Cumbia Night this Friday at a special Dance Downtown in Grand Park! 

See you at The Center! 

Summer Kick Off with our 100th Dance Downtown

If you like to dance, if you love Los Angeles, and you’re looking to enjoy your Friday nights out in the warm summer air, then you’ll love our Dance Downtown series.  Every other Friday, from now till September, we’re transforming The Music Center plaza into a full on dance party – each with a different style and theme.  Show your samba skills, rock out to 90’s tunes, or go country with a little line dancing – whatever takes your fancy!  Dance Downtown’s are open to all levels, all ages, and are completely free.  So come down for beginner lessons, a full on dance session, DJ’s, live bands, prizes, photo booths, food and fun.

We’re kicking things off with a blast from the past with 60’s Night and as an added reason to do the twist, this will be the 100th Dance Downtown!  Naturally we had to put together a playlist in honor of this momentous occasion.  Recommended commute music for sure!

Here’s the full schedule of dates and dance styles for your calendaring needs…Hope to see you there!

May 16 – 100th Dance Downtown – 60s Night

May 30 – Cumbia – a special evening in Grand Park

June 13 – Argentine Tango

June 27 – Line Dance & Two-Step

July 11 – Bollywood

July 25 – K-Pop

August 8 – Samba

August 22 – 90s Night

September 5 – Disco

September 19 – Salsa