The Music Center's Mark Taper Forum
Opened in 1967, the Mark Taper Forum (Taper) is The Music Center’s smallest and most intimate theatre and was designed for the production of dramas and experimental theater. It was named for S. Mark Taper, a prominent real estate developer, banker and philanthropist. The venue is the ideal stage for dramatic plays and productions by Center Theatre Group and has received virtually every theatrical award including a special Tony for theatrical excellence, which was awarded in 1977.
A circular building that measures 140 feet in diameter, the Forum rises from a reflecting pool. The upper 27 feet of the Forum cantilevers out from the base, which is covered in dark, split-face granite blocks. The dark granite mirrors that of The Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion across Jerry Moss Plaza.
The Taper’s drum-like structure features a 378-foot-long cast concrete relief mural in an abstract pattern that encircles the theatre and suggests the movements of the performing arts. Designed by sculptor Jacques Overhoff, the relief is a repeating pattern that is seven panels in width with seven repeats, for a total of 49 panels; the artist chose seven panels as the width so the eye would never be able to see the repeating pattern given the circular shape of the building. Inside the Taper, the entrance features a 60-foot wall, created by designer Tony Duquette, called “Curved Wall”, which is composed of 50,800 abalone shell tiles.
Featuring a thrust stage that juts out into the audience, the theatre’s 736 seats are arranged in a semi-circle in classical amphitheater style, surrounding three sides of the stage. This design gives audiences the opportunity to view the performance from a variety of perspectives. As such, the theatre does not feature either a stage arch or curtain.
The Music Center oversaw a $30 million renovation of the Taper interior from 2007–2008 to upgrade its technical capabilities and audience amenities while maintaining the structural integrity of the original design. Award-winning architectural and design firm, Rios Clementi Hale Studios (now known as Rios), led the theatre’s architectural renovation.
As part of their work, the architects doubled the size of the lobby area, enhanced the abalone wall with recessed lighting and added a new main refreshment area. In addition, the lobby now includes mirrored columns a metal mesh wall covering called Cascade Coil Drapery, decorative terrazzo flooring and a raised ceiling and floor. By raising the lobby floor, the architects provided audiences with access to the theatre directly from Jerry Moss Plaza.
Featured at the Mark Taper Forum
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Wed Jun 01 12:00 PM
Sun Jul 03 12:00 PM
Center Theatre Group King James
Mark Taper Forum
In a town that was searching for someone to look up to, no figure loomed as large as Lebron James. Playwright Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) chronicles the friendship of two Clevelanders as they bond over the rise of the g...Show More
In a town that was searching for someone to look up to, no figure loomed as large as Lebron James. Playwright Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) chronicles the friendship of two Clevelanders as they bond over the rise of the greatest player in Cavaliers’ history. This new play from the Pulitzer Prize-short lister is hailed as “wonderfully daring, imaginative, and compassionate” (The New York Times).
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Wed Jul 27 12:00 PM
Sun Aug 28 12:00 PM
Center Theatre Group Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool
Mark Taper Forum
On the heels of his award-winning Broadway show The New One, which made its West Coast premiere on the Ahmanson stage, comedian and storyteller Mike Birbiglia returns to Center Theatre Group with a tale of life, death, and a ...Show More
On the heels of his award-winning Broadway show The New One, which made its West Coast premiere on the Ahmanson stage, comedian and storyteller Mike Birbiglia returns to Center Theatre Group with a tale of life, death, and a highly chlorinated YMCA pool. With his unique form of comedic storytelling, Birbiglia chronicles a coming-of-middle-age story that asks the big questions: Why are we here? What’s next? And what happens when the items at the doctor’s office that you thought were decorative become quite useful?
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Sat May 21 7:30 PM
Sun Jun 12 2:00 PM
LA Opera Aida
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Relationships are hard work. Especially when it's between a prisoner of war and her captor. Oh, and their love has to remain a secret (for obvious reasons). Verdi's epic drama Aida returns to our stage for the first time in 16 years, in a sensatio...Show More
Relationships are hard work. Especially when it's between a prisoner of war and her captor. Oh, and their love has to remain a secret (for obvious reasons). Verdi's epic drama Aida returns to our stage for the first time in 16 years, in a sensational production starring Latonia Moore and Russell Thomas. Director Francesca Zambello conjures a gorgeous world where hieroglyphics by the L.A.-based artist RETNA create a striking backdrop to the timeless story. Expect to be further blown away by a huge chorus and orchestra, a ballet, and beautiful music that's both intimate and heroic in this grandest of grand operas.
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Wed May 25 6:30 PM
A TMC Arts Program: Arts Grown L.A. UniverSOUL Hip Hop/Residency Culmination
Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center
The Music Center's community partners UniverSOUL Hip Hop and Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) will share the results of work they have developed during their 10-week Hip Hop residency at a special culmination on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Cen...Show More
The Music Center's community partners UniverSOUL Hip Hop and Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) will share the results of work they have developed during their 10-week Hip Hop residency at a special culmination on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center. Youth enrolled in the LTSC Mi CASA afterschool program have enjoyed weekly Hip Hop dance instruction. Open to the public, this culmination event will include performances by UniverSOUL Hip Hop and LTSC youth, with a live DJ. Join us and be part of the experience!
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Tue Apr 26 8:00 PM
Sun May 29 1:00 PM
Center Theatre Group Hadestown
Ahmanson Theatre
Welcome to HADESTOWN, where a song can change your fate. Winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album, this acclaimed new show by celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mit...Show More
Welcome to HADESTOWN, where a song can change your fate. Winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album, this acclaimed new show by celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and innovative director Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) is a love story for today... and always.
Intertwining two mythic tales — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — HADESTOWN is a haunting and hopeful theatrical experience that grabs you and never lets go.
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Sun May 29 7:30 PM
LA Phil Hold On, We Shall Overcome! with Nathaniel Gumbs
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Nathaniel Gumbs honed his musical craft learning to play by ear in his Baptist church in the Bronx, sneaking in on Saturday nights to teach himself how to play the church’s organ. Now serving as Director of Chapel Music at Yale University, Gumbs h...Show More
Nathaniel Gumbs honed his musical craft learning to play by ear in his Baptist church in the Bronx, sneaking in on Saturday nights to teach himself how to play the church’s organ. Now serving as Director of Chapel Music at Yale University, Gumbs has championed traditional spirituals, recording an album with Dashon Burton titled Songs of Struggle, as well as underperformed music of Black composers. Hold On, We Shall Overcome! presents concert music of western European and African American composers, world premiere arrangements of traditional hymns, and spirituals from the vibrant Black church tradition.
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Thu May 26 8:00 PM
Sun May 29 2:00 PM
LA Phil Dudamel Conducts Beethoven’s 9th
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Written when Beethoven was completely deaf, his epic Ninth Symphony has become the go-to composition for people to celebrate joy and our common humanity. The creativity that erupts through the first three movements achieves an ecstatic climax at t...Show More
Written when Beethoven was completely deaf, his epic Ninth Symphony has become the go-to composition for people to celebrate joy and our common humanity. The creativity that erupts through the first three movements achieves an ecstatic climax at the finale when voices are added. To begin the evening, Dudamel gives world premieres of music by Peruvian-born composer Gonzalo Garrido-Lecca and Francisco Cortés-Álvarez from Mexico.
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Sat May 21 7:30 PM
Sun Jun 12 2:00 PM
LA Opera Aida
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Relationships are hard work. Especially when it's between a prisoner of war and her captor. Oh, and their love has to remain a secret (for obvious reasons). Verdi's epic drama Aida returns to our stage for the first time in 16 years, in a sensatio...Show More
Relationships are hard work. Especially when it's between a prisoner of war and her captor. Oh, and their love has to remain a secret (for obvious reasons). Verdi's epic drama Aida returns to our stage for the first time in 16 years, in a sensational production starring Latonia Moore and Russell Thomas. Director Francesca Zambello conjures a gorgeous world where hieroglyphics by the L.A.-based artist RETNA create a striking backdrop to the timeless story. Expect to be further blown away by a huge chorus and orchestra, a ballet, and beautiful music that's both intimate and heroic in this grandest of grand operas.
Show Less -
Tue Apr 26 8:00 PM
Sun May 29 1:00 PM
Center Theatre Group Hadestown
Ahmanson Theatre
Welcome to HADESTOWN, where a song can change your fate. Winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album, this acclaimed new show by celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mit...Show More
Welcome to HADESTOWN, where a song can change your fate. Winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album, this acclaimed new show by celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and innovative director Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) is a love story for today... and always.
Intertwining two mythic tales — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — HADESTOWN is a haunting and hopeful theatrical experience that grabs you and never lets go.
Show Less

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