Tony Award-winning Center Theatre Group has entered its second half-century at The Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in downtown Los Angeles, celebrating with its 2017-18 Season curated by Artistic Director Michael Ritchie. In addition to two Tony-nominated musicals featuring a Tony-winning play and the world premiere of a Center Theatre Group commission, the season’s programming will also present the American premiere of Matthew Bourne’s most recent masterpiece The Red Shoes.
The wide-ranging new season will suit the vibrant and diverse city: Center Theatre Group has been working with the world’s greatest artists for over 50 years. The newly knighted Sir Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes will be presented by Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, and will run from 15 September to 1 October. Bourne’s new adaptation of the legendary Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger film reunites him with his regular collaborators and New Adventures Associate Artists who created Sleeping Beauty – Lez Brotherston (set and costumes), Paule Constable (lighting) and Paul Groothuis (sound). The Red Shoes is set to a new score arranged by New Adventures Associate Artist Terry Davies, using the music of golden-age Hollywood composer Bernard Herrmann.
As both a much-loved fairytale and Academy Award-winning film, The Red Shoes has inspired generations of dancers with its tale of obsession, possession and one girl’s dream to be the greatest dancer in the world. Bourne’s new interpretation of one of the greatest films about ballet, one that highlights the poignant theme of love vs. art, still resonates with audiences today. He choreographs with references to Hollywood movies and Diaghilev-era ballets, telling this complex story between London and France, art and real life. Most importantly no prior knowledge of the film is necessary.
Bourne is a five-time Olivier Award winner, and the only British director to have won the Tony Award for both Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical. He has been recognised by over 40 international awards and was awarded the OBE for Services to Dance in 2001.