‘Dear Evan Hansen,’ LA Phil’s centennial season and 71 more arts events to check out this fall
With the new fall season comes a whole new list of cultural events, exhibits and shows.
This season’s highlights include the Los Angeles premiere of the Tony-winning Broadway sensation “Dear Evan Hansen,” Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s first substantive solo show and a slew of special programming timed to celebrate the L.A. Phil’s centennial season.
Below, Los Angeles Times critics and writers guide you through the season in art, books, dance, theater, music and more. For more in-depth coverage of what’s to come, explore our complete fall arts preview.
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Art
Times Art Critic Christopher Knight showcases a number of noteworthy exhibitions that are among the fall lineup.
Sept. 18-Dec. 8
“Earth Works: Mapping the Anthropocene”
Photographic works by Justin Brice Guariglia chronicle the chaos engendered by our current ecological crisis. USC Fisher Museum and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. USC Fisher Museum of Art, 823 W. Exposition Blvd., L.A. Closed Sun.-Mon. Free. (213) 740-4561. fisher.usc.edu. Also at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., L.A. Open daily. $8-$17; children 2 and under, free. (213) 763-3466. nhm.org
Sept. 23-Jan. 20
“Nina Chanel Abney: Royal Flush”
A traveling show of jazzy narrative paintings by the New York artist chronicles the social dynamics of urban life during the past decade. California African American Museum, 600 State Dr., Exposition Park, L.A. Closed Mon. Free. (213) 744-7432. caamuseum.org. Also at the Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, 1717 E. 7th St., L.A. Closed Mon.-Tue. Free. (213) 928-0833. theicala.org
Sept. 27-Dec. 30
“Stones to Stains: The Drawings of Victor Hugo”
The 19th century French Romantic poet and novelist also made experimental drawings, which are rarely seen. UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. Closed Mon. Free. (310) 443-7000. hammer.ucla.edu
Sept. 28-March 3
“Ai Weiwei: Life Cycle”
For his first substantive solo museum show in Los Angeles, the Chinese artist shows several works, including a new installation centered on a suspended, inflatable boat employing a traditional kite-making technique. Marciano Art Foundation, 4357 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Closed Sun.-Tue. Free; advance reservations required. (424) 204-7555. marcianoartfoundation.org
Sept. 30-Jan. 6
“Merion Estes: Unnatural Disasters”
A Los Angeles stalwart of the Pattern and Decoration movement makes collaged paintings on the grinding subject of ecological deterioration. Craft & Folk Art Museum, 5814 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Closed Mon. $5-7; veterans, active military and children under 10, free. (323) 937-4230. cafam.org
Oct. 6-March 24
John Toki
Better known in the Bay Area, where he was born and has worked for more than 40 years, the ceramicist builds large-scale abstract sculptures and murals that derive from natural forms. American Museum of Ceramic Art, 399 N. Garey Ave., Pomona. Closed Mon.-Tue. $5-7; 12 and under, free. (909) 865-3146. amoca.org
Oct. 7-Jan. 6
“Adrian Piper: Concepts and Intuitions, 1965-2016”
More than 260 socially conscious works by the influential Conceptual artist touch on virtually every medium imaginable, from painting and sculpture to video, performance and installation. UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. Closed Mon. Free. (310) 443-7000. hammer.ucla.edu
Oct. 14-March 11
“One Day at a Time: Manny Farber and Termite Art”
A survey of abstract and figurative paintings by the influential movie critic is accompanied by works by around 30 artists who, since Farber’s critical heyday in the 1950s and ‘60s, exemplified the anti-masterpiece philosophy of the late author and painter. Museum of Contemporary Art, 250 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. Closed Tue. $8-$15 (includes same-day admission to the Geffen Contemporary; jurors and children under 12, free; Thursdays after 5 p.m., free. (213) 626-6222. moca.org
Oct. 20-Feb. 24
“Tim Shaw: Beyond Reason”
The Northern Irish sculptor creates lavish environments to address diverse social issues, including terrorism and the human effects of artificial intelligence. The San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. Closed Wed. $8-$15. (619) 232-7931. sdmart.org
Oct. 30-Jan. 27
“The Renaissance Nude”
Controversial differences between nakedness and nudity are among the themes embodied in works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Albrecht Dürer and other artists of the 16th century European Renaissance. The Getty Center, N. Sepulveda Blvd. & Getty Center Dr., L.A. Closed Mon. Free. (310) 440-7300. getty.edu
Nov. 11-March 25
“Zoe Leonard: Survey”
Photographs and sculptures by the New York-based artist attempt to slam the visual brakes on the speedy ephemera that dominates the digital world. The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, 152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo, downtown L.A. Closed Tue. $8-$15 (includes same-day admission to MOCA; jurors and children under 12, free; Thursdays after 5 p.m., free. (213) 626-6222. moca.org
Nov. 11-March 25
“Laura Owens”
A full mid-career survey of the Los Angeles painter comes 15 years after the museum’s bracing inaugural introduction of her relentlessly hybridized work, which conjoins craft, digital mutation, avant-garde abstraction and more. The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, 152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo, downtown L.A. Closed Tue. $8-$15 (includes same-day admission to MOCA; jurors and children under 12, free; Thursdays after 5 p.m., free. (213) 626-6222. moca.org
Nov. 18-March 17
“Outliers and American Vanguard Art”
Twentieth century intersections between the works of self-taught painters and sculptors and self-conscious avant-gardists are explored in this sprawling and ambitious traveling show. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Closed Wed. $10-$25; members and children 17 and under, free. (323) 857-6010. lacma.org
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Architecture
Times staff writer Carolina Miranda lists what to keep your eyes peeled for in the fall.
Oct. 26-Jan. 21
“Architects of a Golden Age: Highlights From the Huntington’s Southern California Architecture Collection”
In the late 1970s, the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens launched an initiative to preserve the records of Los Angeles architects working between 1920 to 1940. “Architects of a Golden Age” should provide a worthwhile glimpse of the ways in which those preservation efforts have paid off.
The Huntington’s archives hold original drawings of L.A.’s groundbreaking Union Station, gouaches that depict the interiors of the old Los Angeles Stock Exchange (before it was a nightclub) and a downright sumptuous rendering of one of Wallace Neff’s Airform houses, designed to alleviate housing crises. Expect unknown gems too — such as an elegant study for neon lighting on a Chinatown building. The Huntington Library, Art Galleries, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. Open daily. (626) 405-2100). huntington.org.
Sept. 30-April 21
“West of Modernism: California Graphic Design, 1975-1995”
Take a little bit of ’80s shoulder-pad optimism. Throw in some Postmodernism. Add a personal computer. Now blend. That’s how you might describe the graphic design of the late 20th century, which was shaped by bold forms, deconstructivist tendencies and, of course, technology. “West of Modernism,” which opens at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art at the end of this month, draws from the museum’s growing collection of graphic design objects to examine how this period played out in California. (Think: Deborah Sussman’s colorful Memphis-style designs for the ’84 Olympics). It also looks at how other cultural forces — from literary theory to the debut of the Apple Macintosh computer — helped shape the field. LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles. Open daily. (323) 857-6010 lacma.org.
Dec. 22-April 28
“The Sea Ranch: Architecture, Environment and Idealism”
In 1964, a developer and a group of Bay Area architects set out to build a community on the Sonoma coast that served as a rejoinder to walled-off suburbia. Master planned by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, Sea Ranch took Modernism and imbued with it collective ideals — which included plenty of shared space. In a 2016 essay, architecture critic John King pondered whether the development was truly influential or merely an embodiment of a rose-colored past. This new exhibition, which opens at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art at the end of the year, offers an opportunity to once again consider its legacy. SFMOMA, 151 3rd St., San Francisco. Closed Wednesdays. (415) 357-4000) sfmoma.org.
Nov. 6
“The Man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century”
At a moment in which Postmodernism is beginning to receive a more thorough reconsideration, it is a good time to consider the career of Philip Johnson, the influential architect and scholar who helped define the form. (See his AT&T Building, which took the Modernist tower and added a roofline inspired by a Chippendale chest.)
<>Certainly, there is oh-so-much more to Johnson: his early dalliance with fascist politics (for which he later apologized), his powerful role as the first director of the architecture department at the Museum of Modern Art, the homosexuality he at times obscured for professional reasons, the ethereal glass house he designed for himself in the Connecticut countryside.
Architecture critic Mark Lamster covers the scope of Johnson’s life and work in a new biography, “The Man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century” due out in November. Naturally, there is a section devoted to Johnson’s design of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. Interesting fact: Johnson’s first design concept for the cathedral was a stucco, Mission-style church — and televangelist Robert Schuller was not a fan. On sale Nov. 6, Little, Brown and Co., 528 pp., $16.99, littlebrown.com.
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Broadway
The Times’ Matt Cooper highlights some of the nationally touring Broadway musicals and other shows coming soon to local stages.
Sept. 12-30 and Oct. 9-14
“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”
Return engagement of this Tony-winning biographical musical about the singer-songwriter who found solo success with her Grammy-winning 1971 album “Tapestry.” Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. $49 and up. (800) 982-2787. www.hollywoodpantages.com. Also at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $26 and up. (714) 556-2787. www.scfta.org
Oct. 17-Nov. 25 and Jan. 1-13
“Dear Evan Hansen”
A classmate’s death provides a teen with social anxiety disorder a chance to fit in in this Tony-winning musical. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. $75 and up. (213) 972-4400. www.centertheatregroup.org. Also at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $34.25 and up. (714) 556-2787. www.scfta.org
Nov 6-25
“A Bronx Tale”
An Italian American youth in the 1960s is drawn to the mobster lifestyle in this musical adaptation of Chazz Palminteri’s 1993 semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama. Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. $35 and up. (800) 982-2787. www.hollywoodpantages.com
Nov. 13-25
“Waitress”
A musical adaptation, with songs by Sara Bareilles, of writer-director Adrienne Shelly’s 2007 comedy-drama about an unhappily married small-town waitress and pie maker who yearns for a better life. An L.A. Times Critics’ Choice. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $29 and up. (714) 556-2787. www.scfta.org
Nov. 28-Jan. 6 and Feb. 5-17
“Come From Away”
An airport in Canada plays host to travelers from around the world who were diverted from their various destinations by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in this Tony-winning musical. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. $30-$135. (213) 972-4400. www.centertheatregroup.org. Also at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $29 and up. (714) 556-2787. www.scfta.org
Nov. 28-Jan. 27
“Wicked”
Composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz’s blockbuster musical prequel to L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” returns. Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. $42 and up. (800) 982-2787. www.hollywoodpantages.com
Jan. 8-Feb. 11
“Jim Steinman’s Bat Out of Hell: The Musical”
A young rebel fights the power in a post-apocalyptic future in this show from the U.K. centered on the over-the-top power ballads that Jim Steinman crafted for the singer Meat Loaf. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. $30-$135. (213) 972-4400. www.centertheatregroup.org
Jan. 22-27 and Jan. 29-Feb. 17
“Hello, Dolly!”
Betty Buckley stars in this Tony-winning 2017 revival of the Jerry Herman musical about a matchmaker in turn-of-the-last-century New York. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $26 and up. (714) 556-2787. www.scfta.org. Also at Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Prices TBD. (800) 982-2787. www.hollywoodpantages.com.
Feb. 19-24
“Kinky Boots”
A drag queen helps the owner of a failing shoe factory turn things around in Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper’s hit musical comedy based on the 2005 indie film. Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Prices TBD. (800) 982-2787. www.hollywoodpantages.com
Feb 26-March 24 and April 9-14
“Cats”
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony-winning mega-hit based on “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” by T.S. Eliot. Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Prices TBD. (800) 982-2787. www.hollywoodpantages.com. Also at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $29 and up. (714) 556-2787. www.scfta.org
March 6-23
“Disney’s Aladdin”
A young thief unleashes a friendly genie in the hit stage adaptation of the 1992 animated musical. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $26.50 and up. (714) 556-2787. www.scfta.org
March 27-April 14 and May 28-June 9
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
A young boy joins other golden-ticket holders on a tour of an eccentric candy maker’s fantastical factory in this musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s tale. Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Prices TBD. (800) 982-2787. www.hollywoodpantages.com. Also at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $29 and up. (714) 556-2787. www.scfta.org
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Classical Music/Opera
Times Classical Music Critic Mark Swed gives some tips for great classical performances that kick off this fall.
Oct. 3-7
“the mile-long opera: a biography of 7 o’clock”
Leave it to David Lang to assemble 1000 singers along the High Line — a park built on a repurposed elevated rail line — in New York City, where they will sing to passersby their personal contributions in a city of 8 million stories. The High Line, SW corner of Gansevoort and Washington streets, New York, N.Y. Free. milelongopera.com
Oct. 20-Nov. 11
“Satyagraha”
The only American opera company to regularly program Philip Glass, Los Angeles Opera this year turns to the prolific composer’s second, and most popular, opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. A portrait of Gandhi during his formative years in South Africa, the opera comes courtesy of the visually and theatrically exhilarating English National Opera production. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. $19 and up. (213) 972-8001. LAOpera.org
Oct. 20, 23 & 25
Valery Gergiev
The famed Russian conductor brings his Mariinsky Orchestra from St. Petersburg to Segerstrom Center (Oct. 20) and the Soraya (Oct. 25) in programs centered around Stravinsky, who happened to be born in St. Petersburg and who lived most of his later life in West Hollywood. In between, Gergiev will conduct the Colburn Orchestra at Disney Hall (Oct. 23). Mariinsky Orchestra: Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. $48 and up. (949) 553-2422. PhilharmonicSociety.org; also at Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. $49–$109. (818) 677-3000. TheSoraya.org. Colburn Orchestra: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $29 and up. (213) 972-7282. $15-$46. laphil.com
Oct. 20
Dylan Mattingly
The 27-year-old composer from Berkeley is already making waves with an ambition that knows no bounds. Jacaranda, the Santa Monica new music series, opens its season at First Presbyterian Church with his two-hour piano extravaganza, “Achilles Dreams of Ebbets Field,” which evokes Achilles, Hector, Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson, and will be played by Kathleen Supové. First Presbyterian Church, 1220 2nd St., Santa Monica. $20, $45. (213) 483-0216. jacarandamusic.org
Oct. 25-27
“Bernstein @ 100”
The endless celebration of the Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday this past August is not over yet. As part of Pacific Symphony’s 40th anniversary celebrations, its longtime music director and Bernstein protégé Carl St.Clair pays tribute to Lenny with a program that includes Serenade with violinist Augustin Hadelich. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. $25-$196. (714) 755-5799. PacificSymphony.org
Nov. 1
Margaret Leng Tan
For more than four decades, pianist Margaret Leng Tan has been a mainstay of the New York new music scene, particularly known for her association with John Cage and also for astonishingly bringing the toy piano into the serious repertory. Just as astonishingly, Tan will make a very belated Los Angeles debut in a recital at REDCAT, which will include George Crumb’s new cycle of ten fantasy pieces, “Metamorphosis (Book 1),” evoking famous paintings. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., L.A. $20, $25. (213) 237-2800. redcat.org
Nov. 7 and 9
Alisa Weilerstein
The young American cellist who has risen to international stardom appears with the Czech Philharmonic and its new music director, Semyon Bychkov, in Dvorak’s Cello Concerto at Segerstrom followed by a marathon recital of all six of Bach’s solo suites for cello at the Wallis two nights later. Dvorak’s Cello Concerto: Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. $48 and up. (949) 553-2422. PhilharmonicSociety.org. Bach cellos suites: Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Bram Goldsmith Theater, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. $45–$95. (310) 746-4000. TheWallis.org
Nov. 14-18; Oct. 19-Nov. 10; Sept. 12-23
“Schoenberg in Hollywood”
Speaking of Hollywood, futuristic experimental composer Tod Machover turns to Stravinsky’s L.A. émigré nemesis as the subject of his latest opera, which Boston Lyric Opera will premiere (Nov. 14-18). Hollywood, in fact, is all over the opera world (everywhere, that is, except L.A.) this season with Nico Muhly’s “Marnie” (the story best known from the Alfred Hitchcock classic) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (Oct. 19-Nov. 10) and, in Germany, Yuval Sharon’s production of Olga Neuwirth’s “Lost Highway” (based on David Lynch’s film) at Frankfurt Opera (Sept. 12-23). “Schoenberg”: Boston Lyric Opera, Emerson/Paramount Center, 559 Washington St., Boston, Mass. $52-$182. (617) 542-6772. blo.org. “Marnie”: Metropolitan Opera, 30 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, N.Y. $30 and up. metopera.org. “Lost Highway”: Oper Frankfurt, Untermainanlage 11, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. 20,00 Euros and up. + 49 (0) 69 / 212 49 49 4. oper-frankfurt.de
Nov. 27
“Garlands for Steven Stucky”
The late composer and beloved new music guru of the Los Angeles Philharmonic will be remembered in a Piano Spheres recital by Gloria Cheng, who has enticed a host of composers — Esa-Pekka Salonen among them — to write tributes to Stucky. Zipper Concert Hall, the Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $20, $35. pianospheres.org
Nov. 29-Dec. 2; Oct. 9
Ellen Reid
The Los Angeles composer puts the finishing touches on her quadfecta of L.A. commissions this year. Following her Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Master Chorale premieres last spring, fall brings her L.A. Opera premiere, “p r i s m,” at REDCAT (Nov. 29-Dec. 2) and a sound installation in the Walt Disney Concert Hall garden for the L.A. Phil. “p r i s m”: REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., L.A. $69. (213) 972-8001. LAOpera.org. “LA Fest: LA’s Newest Music”: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $20-$60. (323) 850-2000. laphil.com
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L.A. Phil
The L.A. Phil embarks on a massive undertaking for its centennial year, and Times Classical Music Critic Mark Swed points out some exciting offerings coming up.
Sept. 30
Celebrate LA!
As he did nine years ago to begin his music directorship of the L.A. Phil, Gustavo Dudamel offers a free Hollywood Bowl concert, on Sept. 30. This time it will feature, along with the orchestra and Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, pop stars Katy Perry and Kali Uchis as well as jazz legend Herbie Hancock. But first: A massive daylong L.A. Phil street party, also Sept. 30, with all kinds of musical activities occurring along an eight-mile stretch from Walt Disney Concert Hall to the Bowl. “LA Phil 100 at the Bowl”: Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. Free. (323) 850-2000. www.hollywoodbowl.com. “Celebrate LA!” festival: Various locations. Free. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com
Oct. 4-7; Oct. 9; Sept. 29-30
Andrew Norman
A major new orchestral piece by a favorite L.A. Phil composer since his student days at USC (where he now teaches) headlines the orchestra’s first subscription program beginning on Oct. 4. Norman also curates the first Green Umbrella program of the season of newly commissioned works by young L.A. composers (Oct. 9). Wearing his Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra creative adviser and composer-in-residence hat, Norman is ever the composer who tries harder, as the ensemble acknowledges, opening its season with his piece “Try.” LA Phil 100th-season opener: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $20-$197. Green Umbrella: also at Walt Disney Concert Hall. $20-$20. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com. Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra: Alex Theatre (Sept. 29), 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale; also at UCLA’s Royce Hall (Sept. 30), 340 Royce Drive, Westwood. Next Sun., 7 p.m. $28 and up; discounts available. (213) 622-7001. www.laco.org
Oct. 7
Eve Beglarian
Although known as a socially, politically and musically edgy New York composer, Eve Beglarian has deep L.A. roots. Her father was a USC music dean when she was growing up. Amid a mostly traditional recital by French-American organist Renée Anne Louprette will be Beglarian centennial contribution with a new piece for organ pipes and Ireland’s brand of bagpipes known as uilleann. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $20-$60. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com
Oct. 18-21
‘Romeo and Juliet’
A performance of Prokofiev’s compete ballet score, conducted by Dudamel, will include members of the L.A. Dance Project on the Disney stage choreographed by artistic director Benjamin Millepied. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $73-$233. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com
Oct. 24; Oct. 16
Seong-Jin Cho
The Korean gold medal winner of the 2015 International Van Cliburn Piano Competition has risen to quick stardom with his recordings and recitals, and the L.A. Phil invites him for a Disney recital of complementary Chopin and Debussy. He also returns to UCSB for the same recital a week earlier. Walt Disney Concert Hall (Oct. 24), 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $20-$114. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com. Also at Campbell Hall (Oct. 16), UC Santa Barbara, Mesa Road, Santa Barbara. $25-$40. (805) 893-3535. www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu
Nov. 6, 10 & 11
Fluxus Festival: Cage’s ‘Europeras’ 1 & 2
John Cage’s exhilarating, funny and surprisingly moving crazy-quilt of arias, sets, costumes and individual orchestral parts from different historic European operas will get its West Coast premiere (and first home-grown performance by any American arts institution) in a production by Yuval Sharon. Sony Picture Studios, 10202 Washington Blvd, Culver City. $40-$55. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com
Nov. 8-10
‘The Tempest’
For the theater component of the orchestra’s fall season, San Diego’s the Old Globe joins Finnish principal guest conductor Susanna Mälkki for scenes from Shakespeare’s last comedy with Sibelius’ seldom-heard incidental music. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $20-$199. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com
Nov. 11
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
Founded as a training orchestra for Arab and Israeli students by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said in 1999, the ensemble has served as a model for music as a Middle Eastern mediator and in the process grown, under Barenboim’s direction, into a powerfully impressive orchestra. WEDO makes its belated L.A. debut at Disney Hall under the L.A Phil auspices. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $47-$141. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com
Nov. 30-Dec. 2; Dec. 7-9
MTT
Angeleno and former principal guest conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who has had a lifelong association with the L.A. Phil, returns to focus on two disparate loves, Tchaikovsky and Ives, along with his own music, in two distinct programs. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $61-$199. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com
Dec. 13-16; Jan. 3-6
Zubin Mehta
Meanwhile, Brahms is the chosen composer for former music director Zubin Mehta, who will see out the old year and usher in the new one with Brahms symphonies and concertos. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $61-$219. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com
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Dance
As dance writer Christina Campodonico points out in the list below, the fall is teeming with promising possibilities to embrace the art of movement.
Sept. 28
Jessica Lang Dance
Treating her dances as canvasses for both the body and design, New York-based Jessica Lang (also an alum of Twyla Tharp’s company) is as recognized for her choreographic gifts as her design sense. Showcasing mesmerizing video art, architectural stage elements and a jaw-dropping white gown during her company’s last visit to L.A., her design-centric brand of dance returns to Southern California — this time with the romantically titled “This Thing Called Love.” The new work is inspired by the art and music of Tony Bennett. Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. $55-$150. (949) 854-4646. www.thebarclay.org
Sept. 29
Ballet Hispánico
Founded by Venezuelan-born dancer and choreographer Tina Ramirez in 1970 as a vehicle for teaching flamenco, the New York-based company has since expanded its repertoire to encompass contemporary dance stylings flecked with merengue, salsa, mambo, cha-cha and more. Using dance to explore the ever-evolving Latinx identity, the Cal State L.A. dance company-in-residence presents an exciting program in September: dances all made by Latina choreographers. The bill includes the playful “Línea Recta” by sought-after Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Michelle Manzanales’ highly personal “Con Brazos Abiertos,” and Tania Pérez-Salas’ Baroque-inspired “3. Catorce Dieciséis.” Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State LA, 5151 State University Dr., Los Angeles. $28-$48. (323) 343-6600. www.luckmanarts.org
Oct. 4-7
David Roussève/REALITY
Not since 2014’s heartbreakingly beautiful “Stardust” has Southern California hosted a full-blown dance concert by David Roussève’s REALITY. But the company ends that hiatus with the premiere of “Halfway to Dawn,” another “Stardust”-like mixture of audiovisuals and dance. Roussève mixes his company’s expressive movement style with Cari Ann Shim Sham*’s bold video art and d. Sabela grimes’ jazz-infused sound design to explore the lesser-known aspects of arranger and activist Billy Strayhorn’s life. As the composer behind Duke Ellington hits such as “Take the ‘A’ Train,” Strayhorn lived openly as a gay man in the shadow of the jazz great. Vintage recordings of Strayhorn’s songs from the ’40s and ’50s, as well as historical footage from his era offer new artistic insight into the complexities of the talented pianist’s life. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., Los Angeles. $15-$30. (213) 237-2800. www.redcat.org
Oct. 5-7
Company Wayne McGregor
The London-based company of Britain’s brainiest choreographer leaps across the pond for a three-date run of one of its most ambitious works. For “Autobiography,” McGregor had his entire genetic code sequenced and transformed into a computer algorithm, which selects the order of 23 dance sections for every performance (a nod to Merce Cunningham’s own experimentation with chance procedures and software). That — and live-scoring by form-busting electronic music producer Jlin — make no two shows alike. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. (213) 972-0711. www.musiccenter.org
Oct. 6, 13 & 20
Los Angeles Ballet
Stepping into works by L.A. choreographer Aszure Barton and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Alejandro Cerrudo for the first time, Los Angeles Ballet ventures into uncharted territory for “Modern Moves,” the company’s Directors’ Choice program. Barton’s rambunctious and lusty “Les Chambres des Jacques” and Cerrudo’s “Lickety-Split” (driven by the music of neo-folk artist Devendra Banhart) pair with the flirtatious cowboys and saloon gals of George Balanchine’s classic “Western Symphony.” Prepare for three evenings of folksy charm. The Alex Theatre (Oct. 6), 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Also at Royce Hall, UCLA (Oct. 13), 340 Royce Drive, Westwood; and, Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center (Oct. 20), 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Redondo Beach. $36-$104. (310) 998-7782. www.losangelesballet.org
Oct. 12-13, 19-20, 26-27 & 30-31
American Contemporary Ballet
There was a time when ACB’s season was gone by summer’s end, but this gem of a chamber ballet company offers a devilish fall double feature with “Burlesque & Inferno.” “Inferno” explores a hellish world inspired by Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” while the debut of “Burlesque” delves into the uniquely exhibitionist aspects of this sensual art form. Both feature the music of American composer Charles Wuorinen. The Bloc, 700 S. Flower St., Suite 3200, Los Angeles. $45 and up. (213) 878-9020. www.acbdances.com
Oct. 12-14
Diavolo/Architecture in Motion
Ever since it started launching dancers off of giant set pieces, Diavolo — now 26 years old — has never really backed down from testing the limits of the human body, or architecture. More recently, the daredevil company competed on Season 12 of “America’s Got Talent,” but it gets back to its theatrical roots at the Music Center with the California premiere of “Voyage” and a reprise of its signature work, “Trajectoire.” Ahmanson Theatre, the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. $15-$78. (213) 972-0711. www.musiccenter.org
Oct. 18-21
L.A. Dance Project
L.A. Dance Project made its bold debut in Walt Disney Concert Hall six years ago and will tackle one of the most romantic scenes in the Western canon there as well. Backed by the musical tour de force that is Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Phil, LADP Artistic Director Benjamin Millepied choreographs the balcony scene from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” with dancers from his company animating the illustrious score. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. $73-$222. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com
Oct. 20-22
Ate9
A goddess of Gaga — the otherworldly dance form from Israel — and a master manipulator of movement, Danielle Agami’s Ate9 dance company has been a gift to the L.A. dance scene since 2013. The svelte ensemble performs an update of Agami’s “Old/News” and Agami herself performs her introspective solo “Framed.”Temple Israel of Hollywood, 7300 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. $10-$30. (323) 876-8330. www.ate9dancecompany.com
Oct. 24-27
Jacob Jonas The Company
Though only 4 years old, the L.A.-born-and-bred Jacob Jonas company has already shaken up the city’s dance scene by building community between its disparate networks and bringing world-class dance to the Santa Monica Pier. Jonas has also made his mark by fusing break-dance styles picked up from his time busking on the Venice boardwalk with choreographic methods learned from his mentor, Spectrum Dance Theatre’s Donald Byrd. As the Wallis’ 2018-2019 company-in-residence, JJTC premieres two new commissions and two new works: Byrd’s “Unknown Territories,” Omar Roman de Jesus’ “Cupido” and “Transfer” and “Crash” by Jonas. Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Bram Goldsmith Theater, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. $35. (310) 746-4000. www.thewallis.org
Oct. 27-28, Sept. 16 & 23
Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre
The Ford may seem like an odd choice for Los Angeles’ longtime “queen” of site-specific dance, who’s eschewed traditional theaters for places like laundromats and libraries. But never fear — the nonconformist choreographer is using the theater’s outdoor loading dock and its retractable door in the aptly tiled “Loaded” to explore boundaries, borders and how one can be locked into or out of society. (If you can’t wait until October, the company also finishes its run of “The Story of Ramona,” based on the heroine of Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 novel, at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse on Sept. 16 and 23.) “Loaded,” Ford Theatres, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd., East Hollywood. $25-$50. (323) 461-3673. www.fordtheatres.org. “Ramona,” The San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, 320 S. Mission Drive, San Gabriel. $15-$50. (626) 308-2868. www.heididuckler.org
Nov. 1-3
Alonzo King Lines Ballet
Known for its impeccable fusion of classical and contemporary ballet techniques, Alonzo King Lines draws another seamless connection between contrasting art forms in “Sutra.” The Sanskrit titled-collaboration between the San Francisco-based dance company and Indian music masters Zakir Hussain and Sabir Khan transcends the boundaries of geography and genre by weaving together Lines’ luscious verve with Hussain’s Grammy Award-winning tabla playing and Khan’s sonorous vocals and ninth-generation mastery of the Sarangi instrument. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Bram Goldsmith Theater, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. $35-$105. (310) 746-4000. www.thewallis.org
Nov. 3-4
Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Company
Spanning seven hours and three parts (with two intermissions and a dinner break in-between sections), Bill T. Jones’ “Analogy Trilogy” is not for the impatient or faint of heart. This opus to memory and storytelling demands time and commitment, but epic tales unfurl from its marathon showing, including that of a Jewish nurse who defied the Germans in Vichy France (Jones’ mother-in-law); the excessive life of a party boy named Lance; and the travel experiences of author W.G. Sebald’s protagonist Ambros Adelwarth. Royce Hall, UCLA, 340 Royce Drive, Westwood. $69-$149. (310) 825-2101. www.cap.ucla.edu
Nov. 9-11
Mikhailovsky Ballet
Once a fading Russian dance ensemble, the reinvigorated Mikhailovksy Ballet can now hold its own against the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi. Its vibrant and restaged “Don Quixote” (masterminded by artistic director Mikhail Messerer) comes to life at Segerstrom with celebrated principal dancer Ivan Vasiliev (who walked away from the Bolshoi to join the Mikhailovsky) as the besotted barber Basilio for two performances. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $29-$169. (714) 556-2787. www.scfta.org
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Theater
Times Theater Critic Charles McNulty shows that there’s no shortage of ambitious drama, and some of the most intriguing plays can be intimately experienced at the better smaller venues too.
Sept. 12-Oct. 21
“Gloria”
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (“Appropriate,” “An Octoroon”), one of the brightest and boldest playwrights working today, offers a workplace satire, set in a Manhattan magazine office, that aspires to be more than a media industry or millennial generation send-up. Echo Theater Company, Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., L.A. $20, $34; for previews and on Mondays, pay what you want. (310) 307-3753. www.EchoTheaterCompany.com
Sept. 21–Oct. 26
“Nightwalk in the Chinese Garden”
This collaboration between the Huntington and CalArts Center for New Performance, in association with the Shanghai Kunqu Troupe, has invited internationally renowned playwright Stan Lai to create a site-specific work for the Huntington’s Chinese Garden. The immersive drama combines elements of the Chinese classic “The Peony Pavilion” with tales of early 20th century California. The Huntington, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. $85-$150. (626) 405-2100. www.huntington.org
Oct. 6-Dec. 30
“Oppenheimer”
For the first show at its new home, Rogue Machine Theatre presents the American premiere of Tom Morton-Smith’s drama about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist, polymath and political activist who was caught in the paranoid cross-hairs of the Red Scare. When the play had its Royal Shakespeare Company premiere, the Guardian’s Michael Billington wrote that it “shows the father of the atomic bomb and leader of America’s Manhattan project to be a genuinely tragic hero.” Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave., Venice. $40. (855) 585-5185. www.roguemachinetheatre.net
Oct. 13-Nov. 10
“Kings”
Dámaso Rodríguez directs Sarah Burgess’ play, which had its world premiere earlier this year at New York’s Public Theater. This Washington comedy, involving lobbyists and the politicians they steer, takes on K Street and the ever-green subject of money and politics. South Coast Repertory, Segerstrom Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $23-$91. (714) 708-5555. www.scr.org
Oct. 17-Dec. 16
“Cost of Living”
Never a venue to shy away from difficult human drama, the Fountain presents the West Coast premiere of Martyna Majok’s drama, which won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize. A parallel story of disabled people and their differently vulnerable caretakers, the play, like all of Majok’s work, throws an unsparing light on characters who have been relegated to the cultural and economic margins. The Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., L.A. $25-$45. (323) 663-1525. www.FountainTheatre.com
Oct. 17-Nov. 11
“The Woman in Black”
A long-running mega-hit in London’s West End, this adaptation of Susan Hill’s ghost story by Stephen Mallatratt arrives in Pasadena just in time for Halloween in the touring version of Robin Herford’s, by all reports, frighteningly good production. Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. $25 and up. (626) 356-7529. www.pasadenaplayhouse.org
Oct. 18-21
Gob Squad: “Creation (Pictures for Dorian)”
The British-German collective is back at REDCAT in this production co-presented by Center Theatre Group that invites local performers to take up some of the moral, aesthetic and philosophical questions on aging posed by Oscar Wilde’s indelible novel, “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., L.A. $12-$30. (213) 237-2800. www.redcat.org
Oct. 18-20
“The Barber Shop Chronicles”
A touted import from Britain presented by UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance, this piece by playwright, poet and performer Inua Ellams explores the role of barber shops throughout the world in the lives of men of African heritage. Grooming isn’t the only thing on the menu at these communal nexuses where problems, political and personal, are raised before a chorus of voices. UCLA Freud Playhouse, 405 Hilgard Ave., Westwood. $29-$59. (310) 825-2101. www.cap.ucla.edu
Oct. 30-Dec. 9
“Valley of the Heart”
Luis Valdez, the creator of “Zoot Suit,” is back at the Taper with another passionately political play about California history that speaks directly to our current moment. A story of Japanese and Mexican immigrants, Valdez’s latest harks back to the policy of internment and its effect on a family forced to sort out the American dream from an increasingly oppressive reality. Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. $30-$99. (213) 628-2772. www.centertheatregroup.org
Nov. 5-Dec.16
“Hughie” & “Krapp’s Last Tape”
Brian Dennehy stars in this double bill of plays by Nobel Prize winners Eugene O’Neill and Samuel Beckett. Escapist dramas they most definitely are not. But in the right actor’s hand — and Dennehy seems as right as they come — they leave permanent marks on the soul. Geffen Playhouse, Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood. $30-$120. (310) 208-5454. www.geffenplayhouse.org
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