The Music Center's 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 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). 

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?

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.