CAP UCLA 2018–19 Season Lineup Features 14 Bold Events at The Theatre at Ace Hotel DTLA

CAP UCLA 2018–19 Season Lineup Features 14 Bold Events at The Theatre at Ace Hotel DTLA

Highlights include diverse global perspectives and social justice champions Vijay Iyer and Teju Cole, Fran Lebowitz, The Soul Rebels, DakhaBrakha, Kronos Quartet and Sam Green, Lettuce and John Scofield, Roberto Fonseca and Fatoumata Diawara, Nano Stern, and The Gloaming

West Coast premieres of Jérôme Bel’s Gala and Carrie Mae Weems’ Past Tense

Excusive programs by UnCabaret, Nadia Sirota and wild Up, and Nico Muhly

“CAP UCLA, known for presenting contemporary, often experimental, live performances is partnering with The Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles to bring a third of its programming to the center of the city.” —Los Angeles Times

“L.A.’s major programmers aim to stir up chatter with the raddest, baddest work possible — like Taylor Mac: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, which Kristy Edmunds brought to downtown’s Theatre at Ace Hotel earlier this year.” —Los Angeles Magazine

UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) unveiled its 2018–19 season lineup honoring heritage artists and featuring pioneering champions for social justice and diverse world views. Following last season’s highly successful collaboration, CAP UCLA and The Theatre at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles will once again team up to present 14 bold programs by leading innovators and acknowledged masters in contemporary dance, music, theater and spoken word.

Offering more than 40 unique events and 60 performances, the new season runs from September 22, 2018, to May 10, 2019, and will open and close with programs at Ace.
Launching the season and Jazz series, composer-pianist Vijay Iyer and writerphotographer Teju Cole’s powerful new collaboration, Blind Spot, investigates humanity’s blindness to tragedy and injustice throughout history. Cole’s striking photography and voice will be accompanied by a live score composed by Iyer.

West Coast premieres will be made by Jérôme Bel’s Gala (Feb. 20) and Carrie Mae Weem’s Past Tense (March 8). Hailed as “a tour de force, wildly entertaining and truly radical” by The New York Times, celebrated choreographer Bel’s collective art form brings together dance professionals and amateurs of diverse backgrounds. Acclaimed artist Weems’ new performance-based work takes on themes of social justice, escalating violence, gender relations and the enduring significance of the story of Antigone within the context of contemporary history through music, text and video. Three exclusive programs created especially for CAP UCLA’s new season will be staged at The Theatre at Ace Hotel DTLA. L.A.’s legendary UnCabaret (Nov. 18) will celebrate 25 years of groundbreaking comedy in a one-time-only evening of wildly fun, idiosyncratic live performance, music and never-before-seen footage featuring special guest alumni Julia Sweeney, Janeane Garofalo, Greg Behrendt, Rebecca Corry, Alex Edelman, Allee Willis, Andy Kindler, Maria Bamford and many more to be announced, hosted by creatrix Beth Lapides, dubbed the “High Priestess of alternative comedy” (Los Angeles Times) with musical director Mitch Kaplan. Virtuoso violinist Nadia Sirota and modern music collective wild Up (Jan. 12) team in a live podcast event featuring L.A.based composer Andrew Norman and N.Y.-based Pulitzer Prize-winning musician Caroline Shaw. Composer Nico Muhly presents Archives, Friends, Patterns (May 10), a performance in three parts: a collaboration with composer Thomas Bartlett, gems from 40-plus years of Philip Glass’s catalog and a cycle of his own drone-based compositions, in the season’s final event.

Exploring diverse social and cultural perspectives, the Global Music series kicks off with Ukrainian “ethno-chaos” band DakhaBrakha (Sept. 27), weaving ancient Eastern European folk songs into a subversive musical tapestry that embraces punk-pop and hip-hop. The series continues with Cuban jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca and Malian vocalist Fatoumata Diawara (March 23); Chilean singer-songwriter and activist Nano Stern (March 30); and The Gloaming (April 12), a group of master musicians steeped in traditional Irish music with modern hues of jazz, contemporary classical and experimental music.

CAP UCLA’s Words & Ideas series opens at Ace with author and style icon Fran Lebowitz (Sept. 30), one of our most insightful social commentators called an “important humorist in the classic tradition” by The New York Times Book Review. Purveyor of urban cool, Lebowitz is a cultural satirist whom many call the heir to Dorothy Parker.

Musical highlights also include Grammy-winning Kronos Quartet in A Thousand Thoughts (Dec. 7), a live documentary written and directed by Oscar-nominated filmmakers Sam Green and Joe Bini that blends music and narration with archival footage and filmed interviews. Celebrate Mardi Gras early at a deep pocket funk party with New Orleans’ beloved eight-piece brass band The Soul Rebels (Feb. 16). The funk continues with Lettuce, known for their incendiary live shows and massive two-decade career, joined by legendary guitarist and frequent collaborator John Scofield (March 20).
“Our programs are designed to bring you closer to the artists who offer us their creative intelligence and deeply considered perspectives,” said CAP UCLA’s Executive and Artistic Director Kristy Edmunds, in her seventh season. “Each performance is distinct, frequently surprising and potentially alive.” The San Francisco Classical Voice noted, “according to CAP’s Kristy Edmunds, the idea is to target the artist community of downtown and nearby Silver Lake. It appears to be working.” During the 2017–18 season, CAP UCLA presented 15 shows at The Theatre at Ace Hotel DTLA, including critically acclaimed, sold out performances of MacArthur Fellow Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “a necessary and great American epic for our time.” The Times called Farmhouse Whorehouse, an Artist Lecture by Suzanne Bocanegra Starring Lili Taylor “a bewitching theatrical curio … anatomizes an artist’s way of seeking to open our eyes to the wondrous strangeness surrounding us.”

“We’re thrilled for The Theatre to continue to be a home for CAP UCLA’s programming and to be able to support special projects, artists and audiences in downtown Los Angeles,” said Ace’s Chief Brand Officer Kelly Sawdon. “Like Ace, CAP is about community, collaboration and an unequivocal trust in risk-taking. For the first year of this partnership, we celebrated the groundbreaking work of contemporary artists through some of the most compelling programming being showcased today. Together, we look forward to able to expose a broader demographic to contemporary performance and creative expression.”

Artists presented at Ace last season previously presented by CAP UCLA at Royce Hall include Grammy winners Angélique Kidjo, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Eighth Blackbird, Antonio Sanchez, Chris Thile and Grammy nominee Brad Mehldau, plus Japanese sound artist Ryoji Ikeda and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane.

“In a region where traffic haunts the lives of everyone, it’s futile to expect people to trek across time and space to see shows more than once in a while,” wrote Scott Timberg in Los Angeles Magazine. “So last year Edmunds shifted a full third of her programming to The Theatre at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles, making it possible for people in northeast L.A. to catch a show without an insane commute.” CAP UCLA 2018–19 Season at The Theatre at Ace Hotel • Vijay Iyer and Teju Cole: Blind Spot – Saturday, Sept. 22 • DakhaBrakha – Thursday, Sept. 27 • Fran Lebowitz – Sunday, Sept. 30 • UnCabaret 25th Anniversary Show and Celebration – Sunday, Nov. 18 • A Thousand Thoughts Live Documentary with the Kronos Quartet Written and Directed by Sam Green and Joe Bini – Friday, Dec. 2 • Nadia Sirota and wild Up – Saturday, Jan. 12 • Jérôme Bel: Gala – Saturday, Feb. 2 • The Soul Rebels – Saturday, Feb. 16 • Carrie Mae Weems: Past Tense – Friday, March 8 • Lettuce and John Scofield – Wednesday, March 20 • Roberto Fonseca and Fatoumata Diawara – Saturday, March 23 • Nano Stern – Saturday, March 30 • The Gloaming – Friday, April 12
• Nico Muhly: Archives, Friends, Patterns – Friday, May 10

Ace Choice Series Subscription – $253 (CAP UCLA members $225) • Vijay Iyer and Teju Cole: Blind Spot – Saturday, Sept. 22 • Fran Lebowitz – Sunday, Sept. 30 • UnCabaret 25th Anniversary Show and Celebration – Sunday, Nov. 18 • A Thousand Thoughts Live Documentary with the Kronos Quartet – Friday, Dec. 2 Written and Directed by Sam Green and Joe Bini • The Gloaming – Friday, April 12
Subscription and Ticket On-Sale Dates: Series subscriptions are on sale now and Individual tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday, July 16 (presales to CAP Members on July 13 and CAP Enews and Ace A-List subscribers on July 14) and are available online at cap.ucla.edu, theatre.acehotel.com, via AXS by phone at 888-929-7849 and in person at The Theatre at Ace Hotel box office. Programs, prices and performers subject to change.

Links: CAP UCLA at The Theatre at Hotel 2018–19 Season Teaser | Season Calendar About CAP UCLA UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) is dedicated to the advancement of the contemporary performing arts in all disciplines — dance, music, spoken word and theater, as well as emerging digital, collaborative and cross-platforms — by leading artists from around the globe. Part of UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture, CAP UCLA curates and facilitates direct exposure to artists who are creating extraordinary works of art and fosters a vibrant learning community both on and off the UCLA campus. The organization invests in the creative process by providing artists with financial backing and time to experiment and expand their practices through strategic partnerships and collaborations. As an influential voice within the local, national and global arts communities, CAP UCLA connects this generation to the next in order to preserve a living archive of our culture. CAP UCLA is also a safe harbor where cultural expression and artistic exploration can thrive, giving audiences the opportunity to experience real life through characters and stories on stage, and giving artists an avenue to challenge assumptions and advance new ways of seeing and understanding the world we live in now. Like CAP UCLA on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. #CAPUCLA

About The Theatre at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles The Theatre at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles is Ace’s loving reanimation of the historic United Artists Theater. Built in 1927 for the maverick film studio founded by Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, The Theatre stands as a monument to a group of seminal American artists — modern iconoclasts striking out on their own. Ace’s restoration of this majestic space serves as a singular stage for art, film, dance and creative celebration in the heart of the Broadway Theater District’s vibrant modern renaissance. View all upcoming events at The Theatre at Ace Hotel DTLA at theatre.acehotel.com.

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