Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Celebrates The Music, The Magic, The Love of Motown

Patrice Rushen
Panel Moderator


(Beverly Hills, CA, August 31, 2022) – Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents the world premiere of Motown: Celebrating the Music, the Magic, the Love on Saturday, October 1, 2022, 7 p.m., at The Wallis’ Bram Goldsmith Theater.

Immerse yourself in the magic of early Motown with a unique opportunity to experience an evening with music trailblazers and icons who will share their rare insights into the phenomenal music, and the stories behind it, that positively impacted people and music around the globe. Motown: Where legends were born and dreams were made!

Created, produced and directed by Karla Gordy Bristol, of Bristol Entertainment, this spectacular  show highlights the early days of Motown Records as only can be told by those truly in the Motown Family.

The show includes a Motown panel, moderated by four-time Grammy nominee Patrice Rushen, featuring artists, writers, producers, and executives including: Brian Holland, hitmaker known for songs including “Stop! In the Name of Love”; Claudette Robinson of The Miracles; Iris Gordy, former Motown Vice President; Janie Bradford, co-writer of “Money That’s What I Want”; and Miller London, pioneering record salesman.

Experience a presentation of nostalgic stories shared by Smokey Robinson, The Temptations’ Otis Williams, The Four Tops’ Duke Fakir, and Martha Reeves “Dancing in the Street,” and relive the days of “Hitsville U.S.A.,” the little house with the big sound as envisioned by Motown Founder and living legend Berry Gordy.  

Smokey Robinson


Dynamic keyboardist Herman Jackson is the evening’s music director. Performing songs that have brought people together for over six decades are singing sensations Grammy-winner Thelma Houston, Brenda Holloway, Scherrie, Lynda & Susaye Former Ladies of The Supremes, and special guests.

Thelma Houston


This incredible show truly celebrates the Music, the Magic and the Love of the Motown story, and will be led by legendary radio personality and Announcer Shadoe Stevens and Master of Ceremonies, Emmy Award-winning news anchor Pat Harvey. 

Pat Harvey
Master of Ceremonies


Motown: Celebrating the Music, the Magic, the Love, a Bristol Entertainment Production, is supported by Sony Music Group and The Berry Gordy Foundation for Truth and Justice.

Tickets for Motown: Celebrating the Music, the Magic, The Love ($29 - $99) are sold out. To be added to the waitlist, please emailed Ticket Services at tickets@thewallis.org. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills.

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. 

About Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts: 

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a dynamic cultural hub and community resource where local, national and international artists share their artistry with ever-expanding audiences. The campus, located in the heart of Beverly Hills, CA, is committed to robust and distinctive presentations and education programs curated with both creativity and social impact in mind. Distinguished by its eclectic programming that mirrors the diverse landscape of Los Angeles and its location in the entertainment capital of the world, The Wallis has produced and presented more than 350 theater, dance, music, film, cabaret, conversation, and family entertainment programs since its doors opened in October 2013. Hailed as “au courant” (LaLa Magazine), The Wallis was lauded by Culture Vulture, which proclaims, “If you love expecting the unexpected in the performing arts, you have to love The Wallis.” Its programming has been nominated for 79 Ovation Awards and nine L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards. The campus itself, a breathtaking 70,000-square-foot facility, celebrating the classic and the modern, has garnered six architectural awards. Designed by acclaimed architect Zoltan E. Pali (SPF:architects), the restored building features the original 1933 Beverly Hills Post Office (on the National Register of Historic Places), which serves as the theater's dramatic yet welcoming lobby, and includes the contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater; the 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater; an inviting open-air plaza for family, community and other performances; and GRoW @ The Wallis: A Space for Arts Education, where learning opportunities for all ages and backgrounds abound. Together, these elements embrace the city's history and its future, creating a performing arts destination for L.A.-area visitors and residents alike. Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is led by Chairman of the Board Michael Nemeroff and Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer Rachel Fine.

For more information about The Wallis, please visit: TheWallis.org.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:


WHAT:

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Presents

Motown: Celebrating the Music, the Magic, the Love (World Premiere)

Created, produced and directed by Karla Gordy Bristol


FEATURED MOTOWN ARTISTS/WRITERS/PRODUCERS/EXECUTIVES (in alphabetical order):

Shelly Berger

Janie Bradford

Duke Fakir

William Goldstein

Iris Gordy

Brian Holland

Brenda Holloway

Thelma Houston

Miller London

Scherrie, Lynda  & Susaye Former Ladies of The Supremes

Martha Reeves

Paul Riser

Claudette Robinson

Smokey Robinson

Otis Williams


MASTER OF CEREMONIES/MODERATOR/ANNOUNCER (in alphabetical order):

Pat Harvey, master of ceremonies

Patrice Rushen, panel moderator

Shadoe Stevens, announcer 


WHEN:

Saturday, October 1, 7 pm

WHERE:

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

Bram Goldsmith Theater

9390 N. Santa Monica Boulevard

Beverly Hills, CA 90210


RUN TIME:

Approximately 150 minutes, including a 20-minute intermission

TICKET PRICES AND INFORMATION:

$29 - $99

SOLD OUT

Join the waitlist by emailing Ticket Services at tickets@thewallis.org.

PLEASE NOTE:

Due to current health and safety variables, performances are subject to change, postponement or cancellation.


                                                                                          # # #


Thursday, August 4, 2022

CTG's 2022-23 Kirk Douglas Theatre Season


The season begins with a historic new works festival the L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival with an all-women cohort of 10 writers in September 2022.


2022 Pulitzer Prize Finalist play “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord”

Written by Kristina Wong

Directed by Chay Yew

A co-production with East West Players

in March and April 2023


A fresh take on the play “Fetch Clay, Make Man”

Written by Will Power

Directed by Debbie Allen

Produced in association with SpringHill

in June and July 2023


The West Coast premiere of “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord”

Written by Alexis Scheer

Directed by Lindsay Allbaugh

Produced in association with IAMA Theatre Company

in August and September 2023


The 2022-2023 Kirk Douglas Theatre Season was unveiled today as Center Theatre Group Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman joined Center Theatre Group’s Associate Artistic Directors Luis Alfaro, Lindsay Allbaugh, Tyrone Davis, Neel Keller, and Kelley Kirkpatrick to share the upcoming programming for the Culver City theatre.

The season will begin with the L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival, which is set to take place over the course of two weekends, September 9-11 and September 16-18, 2022. For the first time in the history of Center Theatre Group’s L.A. Writers’ Workshop, all 10 playwrights in the group will have their work presented at the Douglas. This notable cohort of 10 women writers includes Jami Brandli, June Carryl, Penelope Lowder, Lisa Ramirez, Jessica Ko, Pia Shah, Judy Soo Hoo, Delanna Studi, Julie Taiwo Quarles, and Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera. 

A 2022 Pulitzer Finalist, Kristina Wong, will return to the Douglas from February 12 to March 12, 2023 in a co-production with East West Players in “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord.” Emmy® Award winner Debbie Allen will make her Center Theatre Group directorial debut with Will Power’s “Fetch Clay, Make Man,” produced in association with SpringHill from June 4 to July 2, 2023. Rounding out the 2022-2023 Season is the West Coast premiere of Alexis Scheer’s “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord,” from August 20 to September 17, 2023.  

“The Kirk Douglas Theatre presents bold, authentic, and engaging works, and this season our Artistic Team has created a thrilling lineup of innovative artists making work that breaks boundaries and unites people through the power of their storytelling,” said Center Theatre Group Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman. “These three vibrant productions, paired with works from the outstanding playwrights in our L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival, center human connection and celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of Los Angeles.” 

“We believe that theatre creates the energy that feeds a city, a culture, and a society. This season’s programming at the Douglas focuses on using the art of theatre to broaden horizons and illuminate new perspectives,” the five Associate Artistic Directors stated.  “We are grateful to our theatre community for challenging and engaging with us as we set out to honor the commitments to our global majority community. This season, we have also intentionally partnered with like-minded organizations on each production, as we believe that collaboration is vital to our L.A. theatre ecology.” 

The L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival includes a variety of stories from women playwrights ranging from female magicians, the exploration of American singer/songwriter and activist Nina Simone, the kinship of teachers, trademarking African culture, as well as Cherokee circular storytelling, to name a few. 

Center Theatre Group’s 2019 Dorothy and Richard E. Sherwood Award winner Kristina Wong returns to the Douglas with a co-production with East West Players of her Pulitzer Prize-Finalist play, “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord.” In this solo show — directed by Chay Yew and with additional support from the Skirball Cultural Center — the COVID-19 pandemic takes a twist with a sewing squad that borders on a feminist utopia or a doomsday cult all with the goal of fixing the U.S. public health care system while in quarantine one mask at a time from a Koreatown apartment. Wong explores and reflects what we have been through and imagines what we want to become with hilarity and generosity.

Produced in association with SpringHill, Will Power’s “Fetch Clay, Make Man” brings together two unlikely celebrities: boxer Cassius Clay (better known as Muhammad Ali) and Hollywood star Stepin Fetchit. Set in the 1960s at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, these two drastically different people combine young and old to discover how public personas shape themselves and how legacies are determined. Tony Award® nominee and Drama Desk Award winner Debbie Allen will stage this powerful production. 

An abandoned tree house, an Ouija board, and a group of teenage girls set the scene for a wild and twisted exploration into the young minds of women where mystery and magic collide in the West Coast premiere of “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord” by Alexis Scheer, directed by Center Theatre Group Associate Artistic Director Lindsay Allbaugh and produced in association with IAMA Theatre Company. This fierce comedy shares a riotous perspective of the danger and damage of formative years, as Miami-based girls summon the ghost of Colombian drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar. 

Tickets and subscription packages for the Kirk Douglas Theatre 2022-2023 Season will be on sale at a later date. Tickets — $10 for a reading or $30 for a Festival Pass — are now currently on sale for the L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival and are available at CenterTheatreGroup.org.