Davidson is well known in the Los Angeles performing arts community from her prior role as president and CEO of the Los Angeles Master Chorale at The Music Center from 2015 to 2023. During her tenue, she introduced an international touring model, produced major recordings, and guided the Chorale through the pandemic, securing over $2 million in federal and local support. Davidson also increased contributed revenue by 48% in four years, led a successful strategic planning process, negotiated key labor agreements and advanced a comprehensive rebranding that repositioned the organization.

 Immediately prior to joining The Wallis, Davidson was Executive Director of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., from 2023 until the present. Under her leadership, the NSO returned to international touring, released several acclaimed recordings and expanded innovative community and educational initiatives. Davidson spearheaded an endowment campaign, securing $25 million in gifts and pledges, and delivered a substantial increase in classical subscription sales while overseeing programming.

 “The arts are where a community sees itself, and where it imagines what’s possible next. I’m honored to join the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Arts at this pivotal moment. Together, we will build on its strong artistic foundation, attract world-class talent, and ensure that The Wallis remains a premier destination for exceptional and inspiring work. I’m excited to partner with our artists, audiences, and supporters to propel The Wallis into its next era as a national leader in bold creativity and big ideas,” said Davidson.

 Daphna Nazarian, the chair of The Wallis Board of Directors, noted, “We are thrilled to welcome Jean Davidson as the new Executive Director and CEO of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. She brings exceptional vision, strategic insight and a distinguished record of leadership that will elevate our organization and strengthen our community.”

Nazarian continued, “As a dynamic and accomplished leader, she offers a powerful and timely perspective aligned with our mission to uplift and inspire through the arts. The Wallis stands as a vital, cultural anchor where creativity fosters connection and understanding, and I am confident in her upcoming stewardship to guide us into our next chapter. Together we embrace a forward vision grounded in stability and excellence.”

 Davidson succeeds Robert van Leer, who departed to assume his new position as the Performing Arts Program Director of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Christine Bernardi Weil is the interim managing director and Coy Middlebrook is acting chief programming officer of The Wallis.  

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“It’s so beautiful,” BHHS Theater Director Samantha Howard told the Courier. “It’s just such a unique, cool space now. I’m beyond thrilled; it’s gorgeous.”  

The theater is located in the high school’s Building 3 (B3) and has been under renovation since 2019 as part of a larger construction project to upgrade multiple buildings on campus. Funded through local bond measures, the renovations at BHHS, including the work done on the Salter Theatre, are being overseen by management firm Fonder-Solari, which took over from Team Concept Development Services in 2022. Design was spearheaded by the DLR Group. 

The theater was named in 1991 for the family of the late Maxwell and Janet Salter. Maxwell served two terms as the mayor of Beverly Hills. 

According to the Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD), upgrades to the Salter Theatre included the installation of modernized equipment such as industry-leading audio-visual technology, performance-grade sound and lighting systems, a redesigned backstage area and enhanced safety features. 

The stage floor was also made level with the ground floor, and seating was rearranged to create a more comfortable space for audience members and performers alike. The theater can now seat approximately 125 people. 

In addition to plays, the theater will host dance showcases, guest speakers and more.  

During construction, students who previously used the Salter Theatre for rehearsals and performances relocated to various sites on campus and in the community. Some shows were staged at Horace Mann Elementary School, and BHUSD also contracted with the Saban Theatre. 

Howard expressed her excitement at having a home stage so students can practice in the same place that they will perform without having to move around. 

“The trucking back and forth has been so hard to do, along with designing for an off-site space and rehearsing off-site and then trying to translate that in the kids’ minds and bodies onto a new performance space,” she said. 

Howard noted that students in all specializations will see their education “dramatically improved” by the renovations. Learners studying theater tech will have access to “state-of-the-art sound equipment and consoles that we really didn’t have a place to set up before,” she said. 

Faculty is also considering creating a light lab where those pupils can practice using the equipment with lower stakes. 

For actors, Howard emphasized the confidence that comes with performing in a familiar space as well as the possibility for instruction on techniques such as developing a stage voice without using a microphone. 

“I’ve been making do, but I think this will start to show a big difference in their vocal work,” she said. 

For the performance of “Little Women,” which ran from Nov. 13 through 15 and Nov. 20 through 22, Howard was able to make the most of the new space. She describes the stage as a “modified thrust,” referencing a stage that extends into the audience on three sides. 

“I tend to utilize all the space I can,” Howard said. “So, for Little Women, we had a set that was a little bit more of a traditional setup, further upstage. But then we were using the [Salter], and it was a way to connect with the audience differently. I also used the aisle around the stage as the exterior scene locations, which was very cool.”

BHUSD Superintendent Alex Cherniss voiced his pride in the professionalism on display at the performances of “Little Women.”

“The BHHS production of Little Women is a shining example of the passion, discipline and creativity that define our performing arts program,” said. “Our students brought this classic story to life with extraordinary heart and talent, and I couldn’t be more proud of the team onstage and behind the scenes.”

Calling the performance “amazing,” BHUSD Board of Education President Rachelle Marcus expressed her enthusiasm for the work that went into every aspect of the show. 

“Little Women was beautifully done from start to finish,” she said. “Every part of the production: acting, set design, lighting and costumes was created by our students. It was moving, professional and a true example of the incredible talent we have in BHUSD.” 

The next performance scheduled for the Salter Theatre is a production of “The Pliant Girls” in April, which will be student-designed and produced.  

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Ashamedly, I must admit that I knew little about the suffrage movement, only that American women did not get the vote until 1920. The trip down that aisle was long, circuitous and very, very slow. The opening number, “Let Mother Vote,” sung by Carrie Chapman Catt, one of the important leaders of the early movement and a protegee of Susan B. Anthony, cleverly illustrates the approach of the older suffragists. Always ladylike, she makes the appeal that mothers raised their sons to do good and be respectful and the respectful thing to do would be to give their mothers the vote. President of the leading suffrage organization, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), she ruled with her iron fist in a velvet glove.

Alice Paul arrives on the scene in 1913. Tired of waiting and seeing that the “ladylike” approach is going nowhere, she has other ideas, ideas that are rebuffed by Catt. Paul forms her own organization, taking a more direct approach by organizing a march in Washington to show the strength and volubility of these young women. A rift developed between Catt’s NAWSA and Paul’s new group, the National Women’s Party. Both recognized that a constitutional amendment would be necessary, but getting there was a stumbling block to them both.

Especially notable is the role of Woodrow Wilson, president throughout most of this battle, and his patronizing refusal to take the movement seriously. Although portrayed as a buffoon without nuance, it should be noted that historically, Wilson was the very antithesis of equal rights. His record on civil rights runs to the overtly racist and he jailed Paul and her supporters for protesting in front of the White House in the guise of treasonous activity that was counter to national security. Like all the other characters in this play, the men are played by women.

It must be said that the play is inventive and the musical approach is meant to go down like a spoonful of sugar. The difficulty in telling this story is that everything comes off as episodes, separate scenes without enough yarn to knit them together, much like watching the tableaux at the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach. “Suffs” is all exposition, much told musically but not entirely effectively. The songs overwhelm the narrative. There is a song for everything, something that denies both the development of the individual characters and the story beyond its exposition. Recognizing that my opinion lies outside that of the Tony voters, Taub’s music is overly familiar. She has borrowed from the best; many times I was reminded of the scores of “Hamilton” and “Rent.” I was frustrated because I recognized refrains from other musicals but just couldn’t quite pinpoint from where they were borrowed.

She has a big story to tell, but because of the episodic way she has chosen, many important characters are shoehorned into scenes that do them little justice. The primary example of this is the introduction of Ida B. Wells, one of the most important figures in the history of civil rights who was shoved to the side by the leaders of the suffrage movement who, historically, found it more expedient to make it an all-white association. Treated tangentially is Catt’s homosexuality, presented in a lament as she sings “If We Were Married” to her longtime companion in life and in the movement, Mollie Hay.

There is no “pow” finish, just a clever tip of the hat to Paul and her continuation of the fight in the 1970s as she campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment. Interestingly, however, Catt’s post-vote accomplishments were sidelined. She was the founder of the League of Women Voters.

The cast was good, but perhaps due to the ensemble nature, no one leaped out. Maya Keleher is a sincere and emotional Alice Paul and Marya Grandy is a steely Carrie Chapman Catt. Danyel Fulton never quite catches on as Ida B. Wells, some of which may be the nature of the way she was written, but I would have liked a bit more fire. Laura Stracko as Alva Belmont, a wealthy woman underwriting Paul’s group, stopped the show with her antics and furs. The costumes were evocative of the era and the use of the minimalist stage was inventive, although the choreography was rather perfunctory.

I wished I had liked it as much as the majority of the opening-night audience. I just wished it had been better.

Now playing through Dec. 7, Tuesdays through Sundays. Check the Broadway in Hollywood website for times.

Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. 

Neely Swanson spent most of her professional career in the television industry, almost all of it working for David E. Kelley. In her last full-time position as Executive Vice President of Development, she reviewed writer submissions and targeted content for adaptation. As she has often said, she did book reports for a living. For several years she was a freelance writer for “Written By,” the magazine of the WGA West, and was adjunct faculty at USC in the writing division of the School of Cinematic Arts. Neely has been writing film and television reviews for the “Easy Reader” for more than 10 years. Her past reviews can be read on Rotten Tomatoes where she is a tomatometer-approved critic.

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“Othello,” starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, has been much in the news, primarily because of ticket pricing. But that takes the focus away from what is a wonderful production with great acting. The cast of “Othello,” led by the two stars, has found a tempo and flow that makes the glorious words come alive.

In Washington’s capable hands, Othello is a relatable hero who succumbs to the “green-eyed monster” and is undone by the machinations of Iago. Jake Gyllenhaal’s Iago is formidable, one of the most evil villains in literature; his every speech and action segues neatly into Othello’s reactions making this a more evenly staged two-hander. Each of them, Washington and Gyllenhaal, is the star of this play and production. Their command of the language and its rhythms enhance every moment. At the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, running through June 8.

“Maybe Happy Ending” is the sleeper hit of the season. Directed by Michael Arden (“Spring Awakening”), it stars the incredibly charming and talented Darren Criss (“Glee”) and Helen J. Shen. “Maybe Happy Ending” is about two helperbots (AI robots), Oliver and Claire, in the relatively distant future, who have been unwillingly retired from their positions and live in adjoining apartments.Each spends endless hours worrying over their respective futures. Claire and Oliver meet “cute” when Claire’s battery malfunctions and she needs to borrow a charger. She, the more realistic of the two, sees things through the lens of disappointment with a rundown end in sight. Oliver, on the other hand, is chipper and determined that his retirement to this apartment was a mistake and that his previous owner will come for him at any time, time being relative because it’s already been a number of years. Claire and Oliver are a mismatched duo who have been moored to the same life buoy. It is a variation on the age-old boy-meets-girl scenario with a lot of twists in store for them both.

Criss, loaded with charisma and heart, is the star of this inventive and surprising musical. His robot is a jerky mechanical bundle of disconnected wires that make him all the more endearing. Shen’s Claire is the charming counterpart, willing to humor him even though she knows where this will ultimately lead.

“Maybe Happy Ending” is one of those shows that gradually envelops and hypnotizes you until you are fully engaged in the lives of these robots with skewed human emotions. You will find yourself gradually and then thoroughly embraced by this musical with lovely tunes and an ending that is both cynical and innocent, that maybe happy ending. It’s unlikely that you’ll ever look at a charger the same way again. Now playing at the Belasco Theatre.

“Operation Mincemeat” was an eagerly anticipated import from London. Based on the true, yet unbelievable, story of how the Brits used a dead body loaded with false intelligence documents to fool the Nazis into believing they would be invading Sardinia instead of Sicily at the end of World War II. The Spitlip group has created what is supposed to be a farcical musical retelling of the story. Billed as a cross between Monty Python, “The Play That Goes Wrong” and Benny Hill; it was not. Certainly, some of the audience enjoyed it. We did not. The music was sophomoric and unmemorable, the humor was hit or miss and the tone was all over the map. Now playing at the Golden Theatre.

“Buyer beware” would be my byword for expensive shows with untested casts. “Othello” was worth the risk because both Washington and Gyllenhaal are seasoned stage actors who come back to Broadway often. In the case of other untested star vehicles, I would advise that you wait to purchase tickets until the reviews come in.

Here’s a sampling of other plays of note, both on and off Broadway, some already playing and others soon to arrive.

“Good Night and Good Luck” at the Wintergarden Theatre is George Clooney’s debut on Broadway in a script that he and Grant Heslov based on their acclaimed film.  Ticket prices rival those of “Othello.”

“Glengarry Glen Ross,” a new revival starring Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk and Bill Burr has just opened at the Palace Theatre, and there are hordes waiting to see Kieran Culkin, fresh off his Oscar win. What makes this worth taking a chance on is the formidable Michael McKean in a supporting role.

“Death Becomes Her,” at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre, is based on the 1992 film starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn. The show was well-reviewed and has lots of buzz. Starring Megan Hilty, Christopher Sieber and Jennifer Simard, it boasts terrific acting and clever songs.

“Buena Vista Social Club,” at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, is jam-packed with the music from the famous album. Most don’t notice that a plot is lacking because the music is so vibrant it makes you want to get up and dance.

“Hell’s Kitchen,” at the Shubert Theatre, is a musical featuring the music of Alicia Keys and based on her life. The show has been running for a year and that is recommendation enough.

“Oh, Mary!” at the Lyceum Theatre through June 28 is the most talked-about show on Broadway. A dark (very dark) comedy about Mary Todd Lincoln in all her misery that boasts incongruous actors playing her gayly (in all its definitions) and irreverently, often by a man in drag. Currently starring Tituss Burgess (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) as Mary, you get the picture. I truly regret not seeing this one.

“Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” another hit transferring from London with two Olivier Awards, is based on the Netflix series and has lots of buzz. Previews have started and the show opens April 22. At the Marquis Theatre.

“Just in Time” is Jonathan Groff’s return after his triumph in “Merrily We Roll Along.” This musical play about Bobby Darin transforms the Circle in the Square Theatre into a nightclub. Performances through July.

“Call Me Izzy” starts previews on May 24 and runs for 12 weeks at Studio 54. This is Jean Smart’s return to Broadway in a one-woman show set in rural Louisiana. The subject is secondary to the chance to see Smart, a truly great actress, on stage.And don’t forget about Off Broadway where Hugh Jackman will be starring in a new play called “Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes,” sharing the Audible Minetta Lane Theatre with “Creditors” starring Liev Schreiber. “Sexual Misconduct” runs from April 28 through June 18; “Creditors” begins May 10 and ends June 18.

“Irishtown,” the new play at the Irish Repertory Theatre, is a comic look at actors rebelling against their director. It stars the marvelous Kate Burton and Saorise-Monica Jackson of “Derry Girls,” and that alone makes it a must-see. Running from April 2-May 25.

“The Cherry Orchard” at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn starring the incomparable Nina Hoss (“Tar” and “Phoenix”). Now through April 27.

Ticket prices for many of the shows are off the scale. It’s always worth checking for discounts. TDF.com runs the TKTSs booth at Times Square and Lincoln Center offering same-day discounts on a wide array of shows; you can also check their site at tdf.org. Today Tix (todaytix.com) offers last-minute theater tickets for many of the shows, but keep in mind, there are no refunds or exchanges because this is a third-party ticket. If the above-the-title star calls in sick, there is no refund (something that you can get when tickets have been purchased online or from the box office). Also, check out the following sites: Broadwaybox.com, Theatermania.com, nytix.com and Playbill.com/discounts. Don’t forget to check for returns at the box office or the online lotteries for some of the shows.

My advice? Go now, go later, but go see a play on Broadway or Off. It’s always an immersive experience and one that will stay with you long after the lights go up. And don’t forget to check out the wonderful offerings in Los Angeles’ small theaters. 

Neely Swanson spent most of her professional career in the television industry, almost all of it working for David E. Kelley. In her last full-time position as Executive Vice President of Development, she reviewed writer submissions and targeted content for adaptation. As she has often said, she did book reports for a living. For several years she was a freelance writer for “Written By,” the magazine of the WGA West, and was adjunct faculty at USC in the writing division of the School of Cinematic Arts. Neely has been writing film and television reviews for the “Easy Reader” for more than 10 years. Her past reviews can be read on Rotten Tomatoes where she is a tomatometer-approved critic.

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Sadly, Sondheim passed away before the show was little more than a concept, but Mackintosh, a true believer, has come up with an amazing array of songs performed by a very talented cast, headlined by Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga.

Sondheim got his start at the ripe old age of 27 writing the lyrics for “West Side Story,” and Lea Salonga’s solo of “Somewhere” will send shivers. But his goal was to write the words and music and almost got that chance with “Gypsy” when Ethel Merman, its star, demanded someone more experienced for the music. Still, his lyrics for that show are amazingly smart, sharp, pungent and funny. Lea Salonga, once again, brings down the house with her rendition of “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.”

“Sondheim’s Old Friends” has an interesting and engaging structure. Performed on an essentially bare stage with risers on the right and left delineated by streamers of light and a small orchestra upstage. Even if the songs are unfamiliar to you, and some will be, they are choreographed and staged as little plays unto themselves. If you’ve never seen “Into the Woods” (and I haven’t), you will still recognize its fairy tale structure and story. “Agony” is a tale unto itself about the frustrating quest of two entitled princes longing for their lady loves (Cinderella and Rapunzel), just out of reach as Cinderella’s fella holds tightly to her glittery shoe and Rapunzel’s suitor can’t quite reach her tresses. In “I Know Things Now” and “Hello, Little Girls,” Bernadette Peters is a fetching Red Riding Hood wary of and then wooed by the unctuous, handsomely evil wolf sung by Jacob Dickey.

I had completely forgotten Sondheim’s early musical, “A Little Night Music,” based on the Ingmar Bergman movie, “Smiles of a Summer Night.” But I was transported to long-ago memories as the cast sang a clever ode to the pitfalls of “A Weekend in the Country.” It highlighted the complicated relationships the characters had with one another, but especially with the owners of the country chateau to which they were invited. It leads directly to said chateau and into Bernadette Peters singing “Send in the Clowns” as the melancholy dirge about bad timing and lost love that it is. That song has been covered so many times, most memorably, I think, by Judy Collins, that it was nice to be reminded where it came from. Although Peters has lost some of her range and her edges are occasionally rough, she makes up for it all in her amazing, poignant and dramatic delivery.

I could go on and on, parsing each and every wonderful song, but it would be better for you to see this fantastic production. Most are from shows you might recognize like “Company” and “Into the Woods.” We are treated to a veritable “Reader’s Digest” condensed version of “Sweeney Todd” that highlights the dark humor of Mrs. Lovett, the worst pie maker in London, and the steadfast murderous vengeance of Sweeney Todd, all sung stunningly by Jeremy Secomb and Lea Salonga.

Beth Leavel channels her best Elaine Stritch in a stringent delivery of  “Ladies Who Lunch,” and Bonnie Langford belts that formidable number, “I’m Still Here” from “Follies” that documents the ups and downs of a life in the theater, but really, any life lived for passion.

By taking all of these songs, some from shows that are famous and others that aren’t, most notably, the hilarious “The Boy From,” a collaboration with Mary Rogers (the daughter of Richard) for the off-Broadway show “The Mad Show,” Cameron Mackintosh hasn’t just created an ode to Sondheim but also a love letter to musical theater. And he’s done it without plot or narration. The songs speak, or rather sing for themselves and immerse you in the messages that each puts forward, whether of love lost and/or found, cynicism, joy, sadness and regret.

Directed seamlessly by Mathew Bourne, who redefined ballet with his “Swan Lake,” and choreographed by Stephen Mear, whose dance numbers seem effortless (they’re not) and contribute greatly to how the production flows. So great is the direction and choreography that it seems invisible but, like the music, it will carry you away.

It is a very large cast of 15 extraordinarily talented singers and dancers, all with multiple Broadway and West End credits under their belts. There isn’t space to mention them all, but they all deserve mention.

My advice? Get tickets while you can to this limited pre-Broadway run.

Now playing through March 9 at the Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Check with Audience Services (213-628-2772) for matinees and performance times. 

The post ‘Sondheim’s Old Friends’—Everybody Rise! appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Lloyd Dallas, company director, is determined to get his production of “Nothing On” on its feet before he goes off to mount a backwater staging of “Richard III.” “Nothing On” is led by the formidable Dotty Otley, a soap star getting up in years who is counting on this play to jumpstart her fading career. Dotty, starring as Mrs. Clackett, plays the family retainer who has been left in charge of the Brent mansion while her employers reside in Spain for tax purposes. It’s her day off, but she’s decided to stay and watch the Queen’s something or other on the telly. Her presence where she isn’t supposed to be sets off a tsunami of misunderstandings. 

Roger Tramlemain, the estate agent who is in charge of the rental while the Brents are in Spain, arrives with dim bulb bimbo Vicki who has been led to believe that Roger owns the house. She’s counting on nooky during her lunch break and he’s eager to accommodate her. Imagine his surprise when he finds Mrs. Clackett, just settling down to a plate of sardines. (Never before has the lowly sardine been so prominently featured.) With Mrs. Clackett there, he must keep Vicki hidden and soon resorts to shoving her into various upstairs rooms and closets. Soon, other surprise visitors appear. Mr. and Mrs. Brent have snuck back into the country to celebrate their anniversary, something that could have disastrous tax implications, They, too, assumed Mrs. Clackett would be away.

Act One is the technical rehearsal of “Nothing On,” and Lloyd Dallas is having a devil of a time getting the actors to remember their cues, their lines and their props. This rehearsal is an unmitigated disaster, and doors that should open don’t and doors that shouldn’t, do. Like any farce, it is a play of doors opening and closing, mistaken identities and proper timing. “Nothing On” gets nothing right, making the upcoming opening of the play rather problematic, even if it is in the tiny village of Weston-super-Mare. That this is the beginning of a roadshow of off-off-off-West End village theaters does not bode well for the tour.

Act Two, mid-tour, takes us behind the stage as the actors wait for their cues and reveal the machinations and illicit affairs of the director and several of the cast members. Their arguments and criticisms of each other are less than soto voce and can be heard not just on stage but also in the audience (the very definition of “noises off).

Act Three, at the end of the tour, is back on stage, facing the audience, where the petty jealousies, affairs and rivalries (mainly romantic) have taken a final toll and nothing goes right with the play as things come crashing down around the actors, literally and figuratively.

“Noises Off” is as much about a play (“Noises Off”) within a play (the production of “Nothing On”) within a play (“Nothing On”) as it is a tribute to all the actors and producers of small-town theater that share the same difficulties as major productions. His characters are all types, and none too subtle, and the three acts illustrate the adage that familiarity breeds contempt, open hostility, and lots and lots of sardines.

The actors are definitely having fun playing actors playing actors playing actors, and trying to keep all the mayhem moving to its inexorable end. This production, transferred almost intact from the Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago, is directed by Anna D. Shapiro, a Tony winner who understands what farce is and employs her excellent cast to good effect.

Dotty Otley as Mrs. Clackett, played knowingly by Ora Jones, is the star who needs a success to reestablish her fading career. Lloyd Dallas (Rick Holmes) has pretensions of grandeur with his Cambridge literature degree and minor success directing Shakespeare in unremarkable locales. Amanda Fink as Brooke Adams/Vicki is really good at being bad, not as easy as you would think; and David Lind playing Garry Lejeune playing Roger Tramplemain is tasked with making sure his Roger and Garry roles intersect into believable jealousy and pratfalls. The rest of the cast keeps the wheels moving while the gears continue to jam. The set, designed by Todd Rosenthal, is a masterpiece of moving parts, going from front of house to backstage and back to the front of house stage in the final act.

There were plenty of laughs and the audience was definitely enjoying this production. Frayn has written a good farce but often misses the mark by piling on too many incidents and coincidences. The play within a play within a play is a novel concept and is tailor-made for farce but the plot is a bit thin, using incident upon incident to drive the play until, at the inventive end, it collapses upon itself. Noel Coward in “Present Laughter” was a master at opening and closing doors and Alan Ayckbourn, arguably the most successful and accomplished farceur of the last 50 years, made adept use of backstage shenanigans in “A Chorus of Disapproval,” about an amateur operatic society production that upends the best intentions of its local director. Interestingly, the most successful farces have an undercurrent of sadness that serves to heighten the comedy and adds necessary depth. “Noises Off” gets almost everything right, but the depth is missing, an inadequacy of the play not the actors.

“Noises Off” is meant to be enjoyed for what it is—a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing but fun.

Now playing at the Geffen Playhouse through March 9. Performances take place Wednesday through Sunday with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Runtime is 2 hours and 30 minutes  including two intermissions. The Geffen Playhouse is located at 10886 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles.

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LAB, now celebrating 20 years, is composed of a talented group of young dancers, only two of whom have been with the company for as long as six years. Their skills and technique are uniformly good and they dance with feeling. Unlike many companies, the men are as good as the women, and with more experience and more challenging choreography they may be able to make the leap from a good company to a very good or even excellent one.

Barak’s interpretation of Richter’s music as a backdrop to the Holocaust was ambitious but unrealized. Costuming and lighting were an attempt to set a somber stage but the dancing was, in its own way, a bit too light and lyrical to convey a message of tragedy. Still, the dancing was very good; the dancers performed well and occasionally the choreography was inspired, allowing the dancers to shine above what was often rather mundane. The second “act,” after intermission, was a bit better and more challenging than the first.

Had Barak not chosen to try to shoehorn the music and dance into an overly ambitious throughline, one would have been able to enjoy the performances as a very good example of the combination of modern dance vocabulary integrated into a more classical format. Instead, the question that repeatedly ran through my mind was, “What does this have to do with the Holocaust?” Leaving the theater, this same question was echoed by many of the patrons. If this was an attempt at a story ballet, it was not successful.

Nevertheless, the technique and emotion shown by the dancers, some homegrown and others from around the world, all with excellent training, were so good that I would love to see them do something else. They will perform “Cinderella” at the Dolby in June and are known for their “Nutcracker,” danced at various venues around town in December. These are more classical pieces, but I would very much like to see what they could do with ballets created by contemporary artists like Christopher Wheeldon, Amy Hall Garner or Robert Garland. The “Cinderella” that they will dance this summer is choreographed by Edwaard Liang, Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet and a choreographer of interest.

Melissa Barak’s vignettes did not challenge or allow the dancers to exhibit all that they may be capable of, and that is part of the problem. An evening like this one should have challenged not only the dancers but also the audience. Instead, it was a pleasant evening overshadowed by trying to understand what any of it had to do with World War II.

Of particular note, however, was the lighting design by Nathan Scheuer who brilliantly adhered to the theme by conveying a prison, barbed wire and desolation with designs that seemed three-dimensional and opaque and were anything but. Abstract trees on the back curtain seemed to move as the lighting magic gave the impression of movement and wind. One was convinced that the walls constructed of light patterns on a scrim were unbreachable. The non-traditional costuming by Holly Hynes was interesting but, with the exception of the gray outfits meant to suggest camp “pajamas,” was not evocative of the theme.

The end of the program was abrupt, coming suddenly with the black curtain falling and then rising, revealing all of the dancers, leaving the audience no time to reflect on the last vignette entitled “Quartet Fragment.” But then, maybe that was the point.

The Wallis Dance Series will continue with A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham on April 11-12. The internationally renowned Mark Morris Dance Group will perform May 16-18. Finishing the season on June 13-14 will be “Gatherings,” a program curated by Benjamin Millepied, Founder and Artistic Director of L.A. Dance Project.

In an apparently altruistic effort at conservation, The Wallis no longer provides printed programs. Accessing a program on your phone is counterintuitive for a number of reasons. An older crowd has more difficulty manipulating QR codes, myself included, and navigating the app is not intuitive. More importantly, however, cell phones need to be turned off during the performance, making it impossible to follow the thread of dance numbers or figure out who the dancers are. Donors are also given short shrift. Their names should be front and center as supporters of the arts and an example and influence to others; if not in a printed program, at least on a welcome board giving credit and thanks to the people who support the organization. Perhaps The Wallis can find a different approach to saving trees by streamlining the written material or offering old-fashioned stapled pages produced by an in-house printer. Please, please, return to the days of old when a tangible reminder of an evening out could be kept and savored long after the event instead of digitally and quickly forgotten.

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The innovative first piece, a world premiere, was called “Mayday,” choreographed to the music of Buddy Holly, the rock ‘n’ roller who led the way in the rockabilly style with hits like “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue,” just a few of the songs choreographed by Trey McIntyre. Both a playful homage to Holly’s music and an ominous reminder of his death in a plane crash at the age of 22, McIntyre makes full use of the company’s strengths. In unisex croptop gray suits, Holly nerdy horn-rimmed glasses, slapping rhythm on their bare stomachs, they moved in sync, flowingly to the music as they undulated in and out of formation, constantly followed by a toy airplane, manned by each dancer at various points in the piece, as a constant reminder of what will come. The smooth back-and-forth movements of elbows, legs, heads, arms, perfectly matched to the beats of the various songs, has you smiling from the beginning until the climax. This is choreography that highlights the range and training of the various dancers, with Chandler Davidson and his blonde buzzcut leaping and pirouetting gracefully with his seamless athleticism. Joan Rodriguez, ballet-trained in Cuba, was another standout. His extension and leaps were breathtaking. Katie Garcia, easily melds the worlds of ballet and modern, capturing the stage in her solos. Choreographer McIntyre made full use of each dancer’s specialized training. 

“I Forgot the Start,” choreographed by Matthew Neenan, was a poetic ode to love using the music of Sinéad O’Connor among others. The dancers were very good, coupling and uncoupling as the music by the various artists suggested, and that was, to a certain extent, the point of the piece with its theme of love and the loss thereof.

“Incense Burning on a Saturday Morning: The Maestro,” the final performance of the evening, sent the company out on a high note. It wasn’t so much the choreography by Juel D. Lane that excelled but, instead, it was the design of the composition that set it apart from almost anything you have seen or will see in the future. Lane was attempting to portray artist Ernie Barnes, a Los Angeleno, in his studio and it was the innovative lighting and video design that propelled this piece off the stage and into the audience. Opening on a single dancer, Ty Morrison as Barnes, in his studio, wielding a brush as he feigns painting on a canvas. As his hands move across that canvas, the glass-like scrim between the audience and him fills with the brushstrokes he is making to breathtaking effect. He continues filling the canvas and concurrently the scrim as his muse arrives in the form of dancer Alana Jones, voguing for the painter. Enter the corps, portraying both the wildly primary-colored paints and, eventually, the vibrant dancers swirling, leaping and surrounding the two as the artist’s vision is realized and we see Barnes’ most famous painting, “The Sugar Shack” take shape with the model and the paints becoming one with the characters on the canvas. The wildly free, yet coordinated undulating motions of the “paints” energizes the choreography and helps tell an enrapturing story.

This night was particularly celebratory as Artistic Director Tina Finkelman Berkett introduced each choreographer, sitting in the audience among those who would soon become their rabid fans. The enthusiasm of this crowd, many of whom had never before heard of BodyTraffic, built with each number, ending with standing ovations for the dancers and the choreographer, brought to the stage for a bow with the performers. 

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“Love is love. It shouldn’t matter who loves who and what gender it is,” explains Sebastien Marcovici, the company’s Associate Artistic Director, about the queer rendering of the show. He speaks from the L.A. Dance Project’s studio near downtown L.A. In the next room, dancers are rehearsing for an upcoming performance at The Getty. 

A love story about forbidden attraction seemed like a fitting landscape to portray a tragic queer love. “The gay community exists. Why not incorporate it and show it in a story everyone knows?” says Marcovici. In this “Romeo & Juliet,” the iconic lovers will be played by a revolving cast of two same-sex couples and a heterosexual couple. Marcovici argues that this choice is not meant to be provocative; instead, it is intended to represent modern love stories. “It’s not new, especially in contemporary dance. It’s not the first time we see two men or two women dance together.” 

Like classic literature, the story of “Romeo & Juliet” looms large in the consciousness of the ballet world and has since its original composition in 1935 by Sergei Prokofiev. Marcovici, who met Benjamin Millepied while dancing for the New York Ballet Company, has seen many reprisals of the ballet by companies worldwide and is excited to bring a fresh take to the story. Originating from France, Marcovici spent his dance career in the New York Ballet Company for two decades before joining Millepied as a rehearsal director at the L.A. Dance Project.

Cinematography also plays a refreshing and unexpected role in Millepied’s “Romeo & Juliet.” Millepied may be most known for choreographing Aronofsky’s 2010 unsettling film, “Black Swan,” but his interest in film extends far beyond that. The classic love story is revived with a Hollywood twist as a camera follows the dancers behind curtains into different settings—transporting audiences outside the theater for the famed balcony scene. Millepied and Marcovici have a longstanding admiration for the film, using the livestream to bring a multidimensional approach to a classic art form. 

“It is shot very carefully so that we have a beautiful scene, beautiful shots like a movie. It was filmed as if it were a movie,” he says. Marcovici acknowledges that the marriage of dance and film is not a new tradition, especially in Hollywood. “In old Hollywood movies, there was a lot more dance. In some ways, it went away, but it’s always been there. I think there is an audienc for it.” Marcovici will operate the camera himself due to his extensive knowledge of the choreography, projecting it on the screen in real time for a mesmerizing presentation.  

The show’s film aspect allows audiences not just to reimagine the tale of the star-crossed lovers—but also the theater-going experience. “I think what’s exciting is that the audience that comes to the theater will see the theater in a different way. First, we’re going to show them some backstage places that have never been before because of where the camera goes,” he explains. “Let’s bring the audience to watch dance closer, more intimately.”  

The show has seen many iterations in Los Angeles over the years—a truncated version at Disney Concert Hall and one at the Hollywood Bowl scored by the L.A. Philharmonic. Marcovici notes that while the production has been very successful worldwide, producing the show in the company’s home city is always exciting. “I think the most exciting thing is to do it here and show it more easily to families and friends. Of course, the L.A. audience has seen a lot of our work, and we’ll finally show it here.”  

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Juicy still lives at home with his mother Tedra, but things have changed significantly. Juicy’s thug of a father has been shanked in prison by someone wielding a sharpened toothbrush. He’d been there quite some time, having slit the throat of a waiter who annoyed him, and it was an ignominious, if apt, way to die. His parenting style was similar, just without the knife and toothbrush. Juicy has mixed feelings about the man who raised him without love or compassion, but he’s more certain of his disappointment in his mother for marrying Pap’s brother Rev a mere week after Pap was put in the ground.

Juicy, known for his level-headed manner, almost a disconnect from situations around him, is mightily torn about the big wedding celebration happening at the house that day. Imagine his surprise when Pap suddenly appears to him, covered by a red and white checked sheet, a tip of the hat to the restaurant in a Casper the Friendly Ghost sort of way. Even ghosts have a sense of humor and off comes the tablecloth, revealing Pap in a Colonel Sanders white suit with rhinestone highlights. You must, he explains, kill Rev. Gut him like the pig that he is. Juicy learned the fine art of swine slaughter from his father, but this is not a skill he has practiced for many reasons. The look on his face makes you think this may not be the time even if it is the place. Conflicted in general, poor Juicy is at an impasse over this command.

Into a puff of smoke and sparkles, Pap disappears just as Tedra, joyful and shaking her fine rear end as she loads up the buffet table, appears. Which dress, she asks Juicy, should she wear? The turquoise or the pink? Obviously, an old hand at offering fashion advice, Juicy signals the turquoise, much to his mother’s delight. Uncle Rev, as in Reverend although it’s clear he worships at the altar of the Weber Grill more than God Almighty, sneers at Juicy. He’s soft, Rev proclaims. He needs to harden up and proceeds to sucker punch him in the stomach.

But Mom has more bad news to share. Rev wanted a bathroom redo; pink was not his color. They’ve spent all of Juicy’s tuition money for the online University of Phoenix courses in Human Resources he’s been taking. Rev has robbed him of his mother and his education, all with a laugh and a self-satisfied smirk. Juicy’s father’s wishes are starting to make sense. Close friend Tio is sympathetic and an ally, having seen the ghost when Pap mistakenly thought he was Juicy.

More guests arrive and Juicy has to entertain Rabby, fresh from services in her magnificently large purple feathered church lady hat with matching accessories, and her children Opal and Larry, childhood friends of Juicy’s. Larry, in his Marine uniform looking like a recruitment poster, and Opal, uncharacteristically in a dress she would like to rip to shreds, have their own secrets.

Tensions rise with Rev, and the closely guarded secrets of Juicy’s friends are gradually revealed. Juicy, however, is a puzzle. Soft, yes, but what does that mean? He’s ridden the fence his entire life. Fulfilling his father’s wishes would be a giant leap for him, but at what expense?

At the heart of this inventive, hilarious and very warm play lies a theme of acceptance—its cause, its cost, its satisfaction. Juicy, the perpetual observer, encourages others to be honest, all the while holding back from divulging his reality. It’s also about the cost of authenticity because none of the four young people has had the courage to step out of the closet that others have pushed them into.

“Hamlet” was a bloodbath; “Fat Ham” is not. The ties to Shakespeare’s classic are knowing, irreverent and only in passing. On occasion, Juicy will recite a passage that fits appropriately but if Opal is Ophelia, she doesn’t die and her love interests lie elsewhere. She hates wearing a dress but likes those who do. Larry is the Laertes whose care and concern over his sister and Juicy disguises where his interests lie in agonizingly stoic style. In truth, she wants to wear his uniform and he’d like her dress. The similarities between Rev and Tedra to Claudius and Gertrude are definitely there, and Rabby in full “Sunday going to meeting” regalia is a hilarious Polonius who has no more clue as to who her children really are than Polonius’s grasp on reality in “Hamlet.” Tio, the comic relief in a play rife with it, is a would-be Horacio, having also seen the ghost—but he is an unreliable source because he’s almost always high on something.

ljames heightens the humor in his use of stereotypes, used primarily in the “adult” characters. Tedra brings the house down with her booty-shaking dirty dancing and karaoke (shoot me please!) that underscores a satire of class and archetype. Similarly, Rabby is cut from the same over-hyped cloth, right down to the feathers in her hat. Rev and Pap, however, are thugs, one subtle, the other not so much. It is the second generation, except for the perpetually stoned Tio, who presents real-world identity problems uncluttered with cliché. They are the heart and soul of this outrageous comedy in their search for acceptance and authenticity. It is, however, the still-conflicted Juicy who is left searching. Or maybe that’s my interpretation, and he has always known who he was and needed no social approbation.

The Geffen was extraordinarily lucky to book this acclaimed Broadway play that got its start at the storied Public Theater and won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for drama. Most of the cast are reprising their roles from the original, and it makes you long for more transfers like this one. Chris Herbie Holland as Tio has the least to do, but then that was Horatio all over, wasn’t it? Played as a clown, more like a combined Rosenkranz and Guildenstern on steroids, he’s primarily expositional. Matthew Elijah Webb, an understudy in the original run of the play, is Larry, an enigma hiding his true self. Uninteresting almost throughout, his lack of character may have been by design because he closes the show and brings down the house. Adrianna Mitchell is Opal, the girl who likes girls but has a hard time expressing herself. Opal is a character who starts the tsunami that ends the play. Like Ophelia, her self-questioning opens up an avenue that is followed by others. Benja Kay Thomas is Rabby, the clueless church lady. Playing a definite type, one that adds to the underlying absurdity, she eventually rises above stereotype but never loses the fun.

Billy Eugene Jones plays both Rev and Pap. Jones plays them with depth, relatable ugliness and command of the stage. His dual roles are the source of several jokes, but his ability to reveal a bully with nuance is superb. As shown in his recent star turn in “Purlie Victorious” as Gitlow Judson on Broadway, Jones’s skill at transcending deliberate stereotypes inherent in a script is masterful. Nikki Crawford, Tony-nominated for her performance as Tedra, is a show-stopper, literally and figuratively. The moment she comes on stage in those tight denim shorts you know that Shakespeare’s play has been reimagined from the bottom up, so to speak. Her elocution and every action emphasize her distance from her son as she opts for sex over love and loyalty.

It is Marcel Spears, Juicy, who is the heart and soul of this family dramedy. Spears, a seasoned theater and television actor (“The Neighborhood”), has a command of nuance and subtlety that makes this comedy of the absurd take flight. It is on his ambivalence that all the other characters and actions turn. Spears makes you understand that the accusation against Juicy of being “soft” is double-edged. His “soft” is thoughtful and pivotal. Spears would actually make a great Hamlet.

Now playing at the Geffen Playhouse through May 5. Performances take place Wednesday through Sunday with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Runtime is 100 minutes without intermission.

The Geffen Playhouse is located at 10886 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles.  

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It’s not that LadyBird wasn’t expecting her mother but she thought they were going to fish in the late night hours and her mama didn’t bring her own pole. “Why isn’t your sister here?” Vernita demands. “Call her now and get her over here.” But LadyBird is in no hurry and wants answers. What’s going on? What’s in the basket? Why didn’t you bring your pole? This tug-of-war between mother and daughter is not new. LadyBird is a rule follower. She’s masked and insists on distance from a mother who’s never seen a rule she didn’t want to break or a boundary to breach. Vernita, like so many others, is convinced that if she hasn’t gotten sick by now, she’s not going to. Everyone who’s going to die has already died, she insists. It’s already taken half the town.

But back to that pesky basket, being guarded so carefully by Vernita, and the mysterious blood on her hands. As LadyBird pulls back the towel, she yelps and turns away to vomit. Her mother stares her down. “Don’t you dare throw up, girl. We don’t need another mess to clean up tonight.” As Mama explains it, they need Meka, her other daughter, right now. She’ll know what to do because she’s acquainted with criminal activities. Although Meka considers herself a healer, and they could definitely use some of that right here and now, she’s partial to weed, medicinal and otherwise; the otherwise being illegal in Texas. Finally arriving, she’s less than clear-eyed, having spent the evening puffing away with her husband in their new hot tub.

The head? It belongs, or rather belonged, to Clayton Rutherford, the owner of just about everything in the town including the slaughterhouse and factory, both of which he shut down. Earlier, when there was a fire at the factory and workers died because the exits were chained shut, he offered no compensation. He owned the housing his workers lived in and the grocery stores they shopped in. Job or no job, they all owed him money and he demanded payment. But now he’s dead and Vernita has been caught red-handed, literally and figuratively.

The Rutherfords have been inextricably tied to Vernita’s family for generations. After the Civil War, Vernita’s beloved ancestors briefly rented Rutherford land, earning enough with their cotton crop to think about buying it. They had a gift for growing cotton, but that gift brought out greed and injustice in the town folk, especially Big Rutherford who controlled the sheriff, his cronies and just about everyone else in town. Demanding payments that weren’t due, Mama Ada and Papa Gee stood their ground and refused to pay. A gun battle ensued and many died. But that wasn’t enough. Rutherford’s men came in the night and hanged seven of the survivors, including Papa Gee, and stole a year’s worth of cotton.

Inexplicably, most of the white men who exacted vengeance on the innocent Blacks went missing. Soon only their heads turned up. But Big Rutherford was untouched and the order of the day was restored. Ada, single minded of purpose, was determined to get that land back; she never did. Vernita shivers telling this story because here, after many years, is the head of the man whose descendent built his crooked empire on the backs of her relatives.

Vernita, recounting this tale and others, reveals her ties to the folklore tradition inhabited by ghosts and spirits, both vengeful and forgiving. As she tells the girls “What do we believe about our dead?” Meka responds, “That they come back until they work is done.” They provide spiritual protection. As her daughters listen to these phantasmagoric stories, there is a disturbing rustling in the trees. An outsider emerges, one seemingly unknown and possibly hostile to this family. But the stranger, Taysha, is not unknown and she shares a bond with the three of them that will shatter their grasp on reality.

Calhoun has written a story that is deeply infused with a mythical spirituality, an African American magical realism. She has linked the folkloric tales of Vernita to the genealogy of her family. The stories were a way to connect to the past and rise above the future. In setting her play during the pandemic, she has made it a metaphor for the illness that has affected so many of the racists that populated this red neck of the woods. Lynching, Jim Crow laws, beatings and killings by the police are, in their own ways, a pandemic that affected the lives of African Americans since slavery. But the lingering effects of this type of pandemic are not on the Blacks, but on those who perpetrated these injustices, infecting their souls. Here, the beheadings are the spiritual retaliation for past sins.

This tale of retribution by unseen forces was the central theme of Percival Everett’s outstanding novel, “The Trees.” The mystery and solution to who will ultimately face justice is in the trees, from whose branches hung the strange fruit, those lynched for the crime of being Black. Tracking down and exacting revenge on the perpetrators is by a mysterious group, all of whom are hiding in plain sight. Much like the initial retaliation for justice in “The Trees,” the so-called murder of Clayton Rutherford is to avenge the past misdeeds of his ancestors. That he, himself, is unredeemable is icing on a poisonous cake. Swiftly directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, Calhoun largely succeeds in couching her story in folklore by telling this story speedily, at times a bit too quickly, with a mordant sense of humor. It is, most assuredly, a black comedy (an unavoidable pun). Unnecessary, however, is the disdain shown by all but LadyBird for the real need to protect oneself during a pandemic. She needlessly plays on the ignorance of the consequences of ignoring health concerns as if it is LadyBird who is superstitious rather than Vernita and Meka who play into the trope that the virus was not real.

Brandee Evans, LadyBird, a rigid rule follower played for exaggeration, is excellent, a voice of reason in real time and an astute listener about the past. Angela Lewis is the humorous Meka whose only purpose may be to keep us engaged as the mystery of the head starts to play out. Perhaps it is the role or the writing, but her character doesn’t contribute needed substance to the plot. She moves the story along without adding a great deal to it. Amber Chardae Robinson is the mysterious Taysha. It is something of a thankless and yet pivotal role, pushing Vernita to acknowledge her own shortcomings and sins and move on. It is a difficult character to portray because of the “other worldliness” demanded and at times she is not as convincing as she needs to be. The group is led by Kimberly Scott as Vernita. Although she occasionally stumbled over her lines, interrupting the necessary rhythm, she effectively portrays an older lady dependent on both church going and respect for the spirits of the past, and I don’t mean the Holy Ghost. She is most effective when cornered, angry and upset, which is most of the time.

I enjoyed the show and, having recently read “The Trees,” I especially liked the tangible comparisons in the material. If you’re going to be influenced, even if it’s subliminal, I can think of no better role model than Percival Everett.

Now playing at the Geffen Playhouse’s Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater through March 17. Performances take place Wednesday through Sunday, with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Run time is 80 minutes without intermission.

Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, 90024 

Neely Swanson spent most of her professional career in the television industry, almost all of it working for David E. Kelley. In her last full-time position as Executive Vice President of Development, she reviewed writer submissions and targeted content for adaptation. As she has often said, she did book reports for a living. For several years she was a freelance writer for “Written By,” the magazine of the WGA West, and was adjunct faculty at USC in the writing division of the School of Cinematic Arts. Neely has been writing film and television reviews for the “Easy Reader” for more than 10 years. Her past reviews can be read on Rotten Tomatoes where she is a tomato-approved critic.

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Here, we introduce a few of these women, each representing a different facet of the colorful mosaic that comprises The Wallis. Debbie Allen, who needs no introduction, has been instrumental in bringing dance to the center and to the community of Beverly Hills and beyond. As a board member of The Wallis, Executive Director of the Annenberg Foundation (and the right-hand woman to Wallis herself) Cinny Kennard exerts her influence behind the scenes, keeping in close contact with The Wallis Executive Director and CEO Robert van Leer to ensure the institution receives the support it needs from the foundation. Last month, Daphna Nazarian was named Executive Vice Chair of the board of directors at The Wallis. She has been one of the key figures helping to raise the necessary funds to keep the center’s many community outreach educational programs going and expanding.

Debbie Allen

Debbie Allen’s contribution to the world of dance is indisputable and immeasurable. 

To many, she might best be remembered for her award-winning performances as the hard-nosed principal choreographer at a fictional performing arts school in the hit ‘80s TV show “Fame.” But Allen has worn many hats in her career: actress, dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, director and producer. She has won six Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe and five NAACP Image Awards, among many others.  Allen was appointed by President George W. Bush to represent the United States as a Cultural Ambassador of Dance. She has the distinction of being named a Kennedy Center Honoree with an artist in residence there for over 15 years.

Allen has long been a leader in the arts and has taught and mentored generation after generation from communities that otherwise would not have the support to pursue dance. She also sits on the board at The Wallis and has played an important role in bringing people from every age and background to the city of Beverly Hills together in celebration of dance.

In fact, her influence at The Wallis was there from the very beginning when it was still a post office. Wallis Annenberg had invited her to an initial meeting where conversations were centered around the architecture, and what was going to go where. Allen sat back and listened before chiming in, “The architecture? Where is the dance studio?”

Years ago, Allen’s sister, actress Felicia Rashad, introduced her to Annenberg. The pair later met for lunch and over the course of that meal, Allen shared her plans to build a dance school that would focus on underserved Black and Latino communities. By the time the check came, Wallis had offered a grant to help make it possible. In 2001, Allen opened the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. (Last year, the Academy moved into a new facility inside the Rhimes Performing Arts Center in Mid-City. The 25,000-square-foot space was donated by TV powerhouse Shonda Rhimes.)

Annenberg and Allen remained close over the years, and when plans for The Wallis were taking shape, Allen was asked for her input. 

“I think that for me, the most fulfilling thing was to help them understand that the footprint has to be open to the community,” Allen said. “When you go to Europe and places all over the world, there are squares everywhere that are busy with people drinking tea or sipping wine while they enjoy performances around them. The Wallis has that footprint in that wonderful terrace that opens itself up to the whole community.”

After The Wallis opened, and Allen joined the board, the question was—what to do with that terrace?

Allen, inspired by those bustling European squares, came up with an idea. She offered to lead a series of free dance lessons covering dance from all parts of the world, like salsa, African, flamenco and hip-hop to the public on the terrace. And Dance Sundays with Debbie Allen and Friends was born.

“We started that program, right out of the box, with no real funding and no real planning. Sometimes that moment of spontaneity in creativity is lightning in the bottle,” said Allen. “And I started teaching those classes, and I was out there in that hot sun sometimes. I was out there on Mother’s Day. My family was so mad at me. They said, ‘Nobody’s going to come!’ That day, I had around 250 people that had bused in from all over to be with me on Mother’s Day.”

Allen encourages all to dance, even when everyone is watching. “For me, the spirit of the dance lives inside everyone. And they just have to let it come out. Let it come out!  Don’t be afraid to touch it,” she said. “Dance is the most original of all the art forms. Before man could make an instrument, we were dancing. Before we had language, we were stomping on the ground, jumping and leaping and celebrating life, births, deaths or begging for good weather.”

Dance Sundays remains an enormously popular part of The Wallis’ free summer programming on the Promenade Terrace, which has been expanding ever since. Events like Sunday Funday, a series of family-friendly entertainment such as puppet shows and children’s musicians are now held in the outdoor space. “This is all at no cost to the community other than their time, their interest and curiosity,” said Allen. “That’s what you have to pay. And it doesn’t get much better than that.”

And though The Wallis has its own independent committee responsible for its dance programming, and Allen praises them for their diversity, she certainly has had influence. Allen said she pushed to bring in Black choreographers like civil-rights activist and dance visionary Alonzo King, the gifted Crenshaw-based Lula Washington and Camille A. Brown, whose work, a combination of contemporary and ancestral styles, often explores themes surrounding African American identity.

But for Allen, dance is more than an art form, she truly believes it can save the world. 

“I believe dance can lead to solving some of the problems in the world right now,” she said. Then, as if channeling the no-nonsense character that made her famous, she added, “If I could just make everyone dance, I could straighten this mess out, bring them all to the ballet bar and make them ‘hold, and hold, and move’ until they do it right.”

As funding is increasingly slashed from school arts programs, she said now more than ever we need to fill in those gaps left by the lack of political will to prioritize arts education. “This is why we can’t survive without somebody like Wallis Annenberg, and the Wallis Annenbergs of the world, and the Shonda Rhimes of the world, and the people who will help make things possible that the government just doesn’t do,” she said.

As a Culture Ambassador of Dance under President George W. Bush, Allen was tasked with traveling the world from China to Brazil to Cuba to define cultural diplomacy. She discovered that no matter where she went, no matter the issues that were dividing the people of that nation or dividing nation from nation, dance was a common language that transcended everything. It allowed for communication, for people to sit at the same table and begin to understand one another. 

“I remember when I was a little girl growing up in Houston, Texas, I couldn’t be in ‘The Nutcracker’ because everything was so segregated. It was the middle of the civil rights era,” she shared. “So, I have an understanding of the price of freedom. I watched all the people, who were my elders, marching in the streets and saw things as a kid that no kid should see. And now it’s happening again. Just when we think we have reached a point of another plateau of success, we slide backward. So, this is why The Wallis is so important, and what we’re doing at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy is so important. What we do has to be measured by the change it makes in people’s lives.”

Cinny Kennard 

For the past nine years, Cinny Kennard has served as Executive Director of the Annenberg Foundation, and unofficially, as CEO Wallis Annenberg’s right-hand woman. She is also a member of the board at The Wallis.

Her relationship with Wallis Annenberg goes back decades.

“I’ve had the great blessing to work with Wallis on different projects on and off for probably 20 years,” Kennard said. “It’s been a tremendous opportunity to actually learn, working beside her, about philanthropy,  impact and leadership. And she’s a great mentor, as well as the boss.”

It was largely due to Wallis and the Annenberg Foundation that The Wallis was willed into existence, thanks to generous grants and donations from both. So, it’s no surprise that the foundation considers the performing arts center one of its key projects.

“The Wallis is its own entity with phenomenal leadership helping to secure amazing artists and entertainers,” explained Kennard. “But Wallis and I sit on the board. We keep very, very close to The Wallis to ensure that Beverly Hills has a flagship enterprise around the arts. The close relationship is something to which Robert van Leer, Executive Director and CEO of The Wallis, can attest. Kennard regularly checks in with him and the pair maintain a close partnership.

“The Wallis and the Annenberg Foundation is a deeply important relationship. And it goes way past the funds that the Annenberg Foundation has given us,” said van Leer. “It is a truly symbiotic relationship, where we both want the best for the center and for its future in all dimensions. And Cinny, in her role at the foundation and as a member of the board, is an important leader in the broader cultural community and as part of The Wallis in Beverly Hills.”

For Kennard, what distinguishes The Wallis from other cultural institutions is its experimental and innovative approach to the arts. The center is often referred to as “the Kennedy Center of the West” because of its multidisciplinary programming, which includes theater, music and dance. Even comedy has a place on its stages. But it’s also somewhat of an incubator where established and emerging talents are given the freedom to explore new ways of expression.

“The Wallis tries to do things that are different. In a lot of ways, it’s a laboratory. It’s a place to try things. And I think that’s what makes it distinct from other places,” said Kennard. “Beverly Hills is known, certainly for its greatness around the world, but honestly it hadn’t been known for its cultural footprint. The Wallis changed that. It is a cultural epicenter right in the middle of Beverly Hills.”

And though it’s located in Beverly Hills, Kennard points out that The Wallis has tentacles that reach far beyond the city’s borders.

“I think what everybody’s most proud of is that on any given day you can see school buses ringing the courtyard around The Wallis, bringing in kids from underserved neighborhoods and communities of color from all over the city for the GRoW program to learn about theater and music,” she explained. “So, it’s not just sitting here serving one community, it’s serving a cross-cultural group of people from all over our region.”

Kennard said the foundation is also particularly proud of The Wallis’ Creative Aging programs, where classes in creative writing and playwriting, tailored to older adults (age 55+), are offered year round. In these group classes, students are guided through a series of short assignments intended to help them excavate memories and life events, learning the power and importance of finding and sharing their voice. The classes culminate in students reading a selected work on stage at The Wallis.  “We’re really proud of the effort to draw in the aging community to that theater,” said Kennard. “It becomes something much more than just a community theater; it becomes something very powerful, offering relevant and powerful programming for the community on a regular basis for all people from all walks of life.”

Ensuring female voices are amplified at The Wallis is equally important, said Kennard, but as you might imagine at a foundation run by two formidable women, it’s not a directive, it’s part of the DNA of the organization. “It’s an instinctive part of our thought process to ask, what have we done for women? And what are we doing to make sure women are valued and not devalued?” she said.

Make no mistake, Kennard is a powerhouse in her own right. She began her career in journalism and was a CBS News correspondent in Los Angeles, London and Moscow and won an award for her coverage of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, where she was boots on the ground in Baghdad and in Israel. “I did what so many women in my generation did, which was to just push through it and not let anything stop me. I put my head down and did the work,” she said.

For her part, Kennard is willing to do what she has always done, put her head down and do the work, alongside her mentor and boss. “We are two women working together in this enormous analog universe,” she said. “And I’m extremely proud of being part of a duo that’s female.”

Daphna Nazarian

Daphna Nazarian had a long successful career as an architect before joining the board at The Wallis. She worked for a firm specializing in the revitalization and preservation of historical landmarks in Downtown Los Angeles and later helped develop and remodel residential estates in Bel-Air, Brentwood and Beverly Hills. In 2012, she started her own interior design company.

Recently, Nazarian was named Executive Vice Chair of the
board of directors. Van Leer said he is pleased Nazarian accepted the role, “Daphna has been instrumental in her fundraising efforts, and she is deeply passionate and committed to The Wallis and the Beverly Hills community, as a longtime resident,” he said. “Following her years
of service and dedication as Co-Chair of Development on the board, we’ve decided to expand Daphna’s role with the position of Executive Vice Chair.”

Nazarian was first approached and asked to join the board at The Wallis during the pandemic. For her, the decision to devote her time to the arts center was a deeply personal one. 

“I was asked to join the board at a very challenging time in my life. It was a time when I didn’t have a lot of my own passions and creativity that I had when I was a driving force within my field,” she explained. “Surrounding myself with people who had the passion and excitement for their art, and surrounding myself with people who are talented in areas that I’m not, such as music, really became a healing source for me and gave me the strength to find my balance in life.”

Nazarian is largely tasked with raising the essential funds to ensure the center is maintained and can implement its most important and fundamental programs like GRoW, which includes outreach to about 50 community schools all over L.A. County each year.

Once a year, Nazarian spearheads an annual gala, but despite the fanfare and glitz, fundraising means asking people for money. “I used to be very shy and initially I thought there was no way I could do it,” said Nazarian. “But I believe so strongly in the mission of The Wallis so there was no way I could say no.”

Nazarian not only took on the responsibilities, she found she was really good at it. After all, raising money for causes is something that Nazarian grew up with as her family has a rich legacy of philanthropy.

She was 11 years old when her family fled Tehran, Iran during the revolution of 1979. They escaped to America and settled in Beverly Hills. “When we moved here, it was supposed to be very temporary. And within a short while, it became very evident that because we were Jewish, we could not go back,” she said. “Iran was our home, then all of a sudden, we weren’t accepted. We didn’t belong. Sadly, this issue of antisemitism is still relevant all around the world.”

In Iran, her mother was heavily involved in charity work from helping the women’s suffrage movement there to raising money for orphanages. Once in this country, both her mother and her father wanted to give back, and they focused their efforts on the arts and aiding Jewish organizations. Her father started several different foundations. One gives free loans to Israelis coming out of their compulsory military service so that they can afford college. 

Her parents also instilled in her and her siblings a deep appreciation for the arts. She recalls her father once telling her, ”You don’t have to become a musician or a concert pianist, but music is there for you when you need it. If you’re upset or hurt, music is going to be your companion.” When she started Girl Scouts in Iran, her father gave her a gift, a book by Marc Chagall. “As an 8-year-old in Iran, what did I know of Marc Chagall? But that became my first introduction to the world of the arts,” she said. “And he wrote in it, ‘Whatever you do in life, make sure you always take in the beauty that life affords you around you.’” 

Nazarian used these anecdotes to underscore what she feels is perhaps one of the most important missions of The Wallis, exposing children to the arts, especially as arts programs are cut from schools all over the country. “Through the arts, children and young adults are exposed to subjects like social justice and racial issues. They learn new ways to deal with pressures within their communities from lack of education to police brutality or antisemitism. They are also exposed to different cultures. And [The Wallis] does more than expose other cultures, it celebrates and values them. All of this makes it easier for me to go out and say, ‘We need help, we need support. Everyone’s support adds up.’”

Ultimately, for Nazarian, what these programs do is create a healthier and more tolerant community. “Hopefully, we’ve given these children an outlet, they won’t drop out of school, they won’t resort to violence. They’ll learn to express themselves in healthy ways and accept and embrace other cultures, and they will extend it to other people so it becomes a ripple effect. And that’s the purpose of The Wallis, to create bigger and bigger ripples.” 

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So many things these days start with the disclaimer “This is a work of fiction based on a true story.” “Invincible” should lead with the caution “This musical is a work of imagination loosely based on a famous play.” But oh what a play they’ve chosen to reimagine, “Romeo and Juliet.”

The back story, elaborated recently in the New York Times Dec. 1, 2022 edition of the Arts and Leisure section entitled “Romeo and Juliet Rock Out Again,” may be even more interesting than the finished project. Bradley Bredeweg, a television writer, had just reread “Romeo and Juliet,” so it was fresh in his mind when he slid a CD of his favorite Pat Benatar hits into the car player and had his Eureka! moment. As the songs spooled out of the speakers he connected them to specific moments in the play. They all fit. In no time flat he’d written the musical and was presenting it at a small theater in LA. Of course there’s always that pesky problem of music rights, but who’d notice? It’s not like the “Rockwell Table and Stage” in Los Feliz was on anyone’s radar. But it was. Pat Benatar and her husband and creative partner Neil Giraldo had been working on a show that incorporated their catalog. They caught wind of Bredeweg’s project (the entertainment world is smaller than you’d think) and soon cease and desist letters were flying across the country. Permission is sacrosanct when using anyone’s material; well, anyone living (royalties stretch further back but that’s another lesson entirely). But there’s a bit of happily ever after for Bredeweg, Benatar, and Giraldo because they decided to collaborate. And now we have Bredeweg’s reimagination of “Romeo and Juliet” with music by Benatar and Giraldo.

I say “happily ever after” mutedly because this show that they hope eventually to bring to Broadway still has a long way to go.

The idea is solid even if it reinvents characters, choices, and the substantive underpinnings. As laid out in the program, the action takes place in Verona, contemporary time unspecified, following a civil war between the Montagues and the Capulets in which the Capulets have emerged the victors. Although the head of each family has died, only Lord Capulet is celebrated a hero with the attendant laurels. Paris has been appointed Chancellor of Verona in his stead and is obsequiously served by Tybalt Capulet, a weasley hothead if ever there was one. Paris is actively pursuing fair Juliet, primarily for the additional political and financial weight she would bring in marriage. Her widowed mother is not opposed and she, too, would gain politically.

On the losing side are the Montagues, now without their leader, Lord Montague. Lady Montague, in mourning, is particularly protective of her son Romeo, a rather feckless teenager. He and his friends, Mercutio and Benvolio, are in and out of mischief, plotting constantly to embarrass and get back at the dreaded Capulets. An invitation to a masked ball hosted by the Capulets falls into their grubby hands and it is there that they are headed. Well you know the rest, at least you do if you’ve seen either “West Side Story” or read “Romeo and Juliet.”

Bredeweg’s stroke of genius was his ability to place Benatar’s songs into the play without positioning it as a jukebox musical. Even for someone, or rather especially for someone, unacquainted with the music, it seems to fit the scenes organically, never stopping the action of the moment. He has also melded modern vernacular and sprinkled it with some of the more famous dialogue from the original. You have to admit, Shakespeare definitely knew how to capture a moment. What does jar, however, is the use of random profanity because saying s*** or f*** takes you completely out of the moment. So often today’s writers confuse swear words with edginess. The use of profanity is a sign of laziness. Honestly, you couldn’t think of another way to express anger or frustration?

It grieves me to say that overall the production doesn’t work well enough. Some of the fixes would be easy; some not. The easiest fix is the sound. The opening number was over-amplified and the orchestra drowned out the singing. One major weakness lies with costuming and production design. Costumes and production design are the keys to any show, theater or film. They literally set the scene and give the audience an anchor to “who, what, and where.” The set is simple–a single three-story building that serves primarily to house the Capulets. There is a changing digital backdrop on the wall showing non-descript tenements and cathedral interiors, but these rotating photos do not tie the story to a time frame. This is perhaps a post-war apocalyptic era but the production design could make that clearer.

More troublesome was the costuming. If this is a dystopian war-torn city, as the riot police outfits would imply, then a modernistic, almost “Mad Max” costuming would have established the ongoing conflict and who the winners and losers were without exposition to set that stage. Instead there is a mishmash of leather jackets, sophisticated party dresses, jeans, Eurotrash micro minis, and skinny suits (Paris wears a red one and Tybalt’s outfit is hard to place). Everyone is in something different and none of it speaks to the time frame.

But, these are the easy fixes. What is harder to rectify is the lack of chemistry between the characters. “Romeo and Juliet” is a play of passion–the passionate enmity, the passionate love, and there is a decided lack of passion in “Invincible.” In fairness, some of it may be due to an under-rehearsed and somewhat inexperienced cast, some of whom are very good and others of whom are not. The lack of story and character development is almost fatal. The thunderbolt of love that should be evident in the meeting of Romeo and Juliet is entirely missing. They meet cute at a bar, he dances, she watches, and… That’s all folks. Before you know it, he’s asking the Friar to marry them and then he goes off to tell Juliet of his plans. That’s sort of not how it works, certainly not in Romeo and Juliet. Whether it’s “Invincible,” or “Romeo and Juliet,” or any love story, there has to be attraction, passion, and determination. It’s not done in the telling, it’s done in the action.

Director Tiffany Nichole Greene assembled an interesting, diverse cast, only some of whom were able to grasp their characters. Nevertheless, it would be unfair to fault the acting because if it’s not on the page, it’s hard to find a center. That being said, Sharon Leal as Madame Capulet and Dionne Gipson as Madame Montague are very good singers and grapple with characters that are ambiguously described. Kay Sibal as Juliet shines like a star. She has true stage presence and a voice that reaches into the soul. A recent graduate of UCLA’s Musical Theater program, this should just be the start of a major career. Khamary Rose, Romeo, suffers most from the lack of definition in the script concerning his character. He has a great voice and when his mike failed him during a crucial love scene his singing still projected to the back of the house.

By far the most accomplished actor, giving a true star turn, is Jon Patrick Walker as the Friar. He is genuinely funny and empathetic. The stage comes alive when he’s on it.

Special mention should also be given to Galen Hooks, the choreographer. The dance sequences did more to identify time, place, and character than any other element in the show. All the dancers executed the routines smoothly, professionally, and with that excitement that was missing in everything else.

Despite all of my objections, I enjoyed the show. I saw what they were trying to do, and though I don’t think they succeeded, it was an interesting exercise in imagination. Running an hour and 45 minutes without an intermission, they have two choices. Make it slightly longer with an intermission and expand the Romeo and Juliet scenes, or cut it shorter and eliminate some of the overly long, and not particularly well-executed fight scenes. But as all of the previous productions of the source material show, it’s tough to tell the story of Romeo and Juliet in less than two hours.

Are they ready to move to a bigger stage? I think not; or at least not any time soon. “Invincible” is not yet invincible.

At the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts; 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills until Dec. 18. 

Neely Swanson spent most of her professional career in the television industry, almost all of it working for David E. Kelley. In her last full-time position as Executive Vice President of Development, she reviewed writer submissions and targeted content for adaptation. As she has often said, she did book reports for a living. For several years she was a freelance writer for “Written By,” the magazine of the WGA West and was adjunct faculty at USC in the writing division of the School of Cinematic Arts. Neely has been writing film and television reviews for the “Easy Reader” for more than 10 years. Her past reviews can be read on Rotten Tomatoes where she is a tomato-approved critic. 

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Prieto most recently served as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Music and Art School, a non-profit arts education institution in East Los Angeles with a 77-year history of making arts education a tangible reality for thousands of underserved youth in the community. In that role, he has worked to recontextualize and combat the often outdated standards of fine and performing arts so that a new, diverse, and more modern cohort of students can experience the enrichment that creativity offers. Prieto succeeds Mark Slavkin, The Wallis’ first Director of Education, who led the department for and retired after seven years, building a successful and admired program emulated by other institutions.

“Manny Prieto is a dedicated arts education pioneer and advocate,” said Fine. “A visionary and community-focused trailblazer, he is dedicated to ensuring arts education and outreach programs remain indispensable in our complicated and evolving world. On behalf of The Wallis’ Board of Directors and staff, we welcome Manny enthusiastically to our senior management team. Under his strategic guidance, The Wallis will continue to prioritize its education department to serve the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles communities with forward-thinking educational programs that reflect the rich cultural diversity and needs of our great cities.”

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“Gretchen is an arts lover, dedicated community builder and strategic thinker who brings creativity,  a thoughtful approach and proven business experience to her new role on the Board of Directors,” said The Wallis’ Chairman Michael Nemeroff. “We are honored that she has accepted this leadership role with The Wallis. Gretchen’s service on our Board continues a long legacy of support of The Wallis from Neiman Marcus and its leadership.” 

Pace’s involvement with The Wallis includes facilitating Neiman Marcus’ sponsorship of The Wallis’ recent benefit, “The Wallis Delivers: Al Fresco Night,” honoring the City of Beverly Hills, on September 24, 2021. Neiman Marcus was also a sponsor of “Dreambuilders: From Post Office to Box Office,” a virtual benefit commemorating the 25th anniversary of The Wallis’ founding and honoring The Honorable Vicki Reynolds, President Emeritus Richard Rosenzweig and Founding President Paul Selwyn, on December 3, 2020.

Pace has more than 23 years of luxury retail experience, including seven at Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills and Topanga. She studied at the Art Institute of Boston and is passionate about the arts. A skilled potter with an encyclopedic knowledge of music, she also serves as Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills and Topanga’s resident DJ. 

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Crewes joined The Wallis in 2015 as its first Artistic Director. During his notable tenure, he has led the venue to national prominence with an exceptional range of programs and performances. During the past six years he has brought acclaim to The Wallis with groundbreaking work that celebrates and reimagines music, dance, theater, cinema and family programming. 

“Paul Crewes has had an indelible impact on The Wallis, shaping its artistic mission and fostering new work on our stages while championing both established and emerging artists across genres,” said Board Chair Michael Nemeroff. “The Wallis has benefitted beyond measure from his artistic guidance, staunch support and deeply felt passion. His visionary leadership has helped position The Wallis as one of the country’s preeminent performing arts venues and has also helped bring attention to L.A.’s own deep pool of astounding artists. We appreciate  Paul’s  vast contributions to The Wallis and his considerable impact on the arts scene locally and beyond. Through his work, he has touched the lives of so many people on both sides of the stage, leaving an enduring legacy, which we are delighted he will continue to nurture in his new capacity as The Wallis’ Artistic Advisor.”

“It has been a once in a lifetime opportunity to serve as Artistic Director of The Wallis,” said Crewes. “The organization’s Board, staff, supporters and audiences have afforded me an extraordinary opportunity to think big, push boundaries, and help advance new artistic ideas and perspectives – all in a world class state-of-the-art venue in the heart of Beverly Hills. It’s certainly not easy to step away from a job I love, but family considerations are taking me back to England. I’ve chosen to announce my departure now to ensure that The Wallis has ample time to evaluate next steps. When I assume the role of Artistic Advisor in January, I’ll be working closely with Wallis staff to make sure the artistic elements put in place for the 2021-2022 Season, which is now fully programmed, continue running smoothly. Although I’m not saying a formal goodbye just yet, I absolutely want to acknowledge Michael Nemeroff, the Board of Directors, Rachel Fine, and all of my incredible Wallis colleagues who make it a joy to be part of The Wallis family.”

Prior to joining The Wallis, Crewes was Chief Executive and Executive Producer of Kneehigh Theatre, the internationally recognized Cornwall, U.K. company, whose goal was to create “theater of humanity” with an ever-changing ensemble. He also worked throughout the U.K. in Producer and Executive Producer roles at The Lowry, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Jude Kelly’s Metal, Crewes Gale Productions, which he formed, and West Yorkshire Playhouse, as well as serving as Production Manager at Theatre Royal and Director of Technical Training at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, with stints earlier at London Contemporary Dance Theatre, Paines Plough Theatre Company and Bristol Old Vic.

Crewes and his family plan to return to England. 

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Enrollment is limited. Registration Fee: $75 (scholarships available). 

To learn more about “Staged Stories” visit: https://thewallis.org/StagedStories?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EduFall21Classes&utm_content=version_A.

To learn more about “Beyond Words” visit: https://thewallis.org/BeyondWords?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EduFall21Classes&utm_content=version_A. 

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After eight months of “unplanning” and another six months of creatively staged virtual performances, coronavirus has now compelled the Wallis to build an entire outdoor theater that was completed in about two weeks, just in time for the first live performances in early June. Earlier this month,  the Courier was fortunate enough to attend one of its late-evening shows.

“We had a space in the Promenade Terrace there that in my mind was perfect for us to create and design an outdoor theater,” Artistic Director Paul Crewes told the Courier. “It was designed specifically for the COVID world. We produced a new play, ‘Tevye in New York,’ which was a one-person show, because rehearsing a company of six, or more than one person, was obviously going to be problematic. We obviously put these plans in place at a point when we didn’t really know what the world was going to look like in June, and we started to plan in December of last year of producing an outdoor theater space, and producing a piece of work for that space specifically.”

The stage is 36 feet wide, 20 feet deep, and cost the Wallis approximately $40,000 to build and maintain through Sept. 2, according to Crewes. Crewes came up with the concept of the stage and its surroundings, and worked with the Wallis’ in-house production team and Technical Director Matt Waldron on the final designs. 

Different theater and dance performances will continue in the outdoor space until Sept. 2, and in October, The Wallis will return inside for a full, uninterrupted season, following whatever COVID protocols are in place at the time. Crewes also said he’d like to bring the stage back next summer, though it might interfere with the many outdoor fundraisers and shows the theater normally holds in the Promenade Event Terrace. 

It’s been a long, hard road for The Wallis this past International Year of Unplanning. In March 2020, Al Pacino performed to a sold-out crowd at the indoor Goldsmith Stage. The very next day, they canceled all future performances, and two days after that, Crewes remembers stopping an international theater crew from getting on a plane.

The long, bleak road of “dismantling the season” had begun. The Wallis went dark from March until November, with only a skeleton crew keeping up the building. With no new revenue coming in, the theater relied on emergency grants, and cut half its expenses, which included furloughing half the staff.

But leave it to a team of creatives to get, well, creative. Once Crewes and his crews could go back inside, they staged a number of online performances filmed all over the building. “We tried to create theatrical events that were filmed, rather than films or TV,” Crewes said. “It was trying to capture the theatrical style, and remind people of the venue.”

In November, the theater hosted a virtual gala, which featured different works of art filmed all over its resplendent campus to “get people excited to see the building again.” That same month, they started a series of virtual “Sorting Room Sessions” concerts, filmed HD in a theater decked out like a nightclub. Virtual classes also started up again. Throughout the course of the rehearsals, actors and musicians were required to take weekly COVID tests, Crewes said. 

Crewes said his team is considering livestreaming performances in the future, because it can reach so many more people. But ultimately, before anything else, the Wallis is about live art, not live streaming. 

“It was very exciting to see people coming back people in the building,” Crewes said. “It felt like we were able to do what we’re supposed to do, which is create live performance, and let people see it.”

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“I’ve always been drawn to projects that shake things up and look at physical spaces in a new way, which is where this idea began,” said Crewes. “We have this beautiful open space which gave us so much opportunity and possibility. Our own production team designed the outdoor performance space, which has a larger footprint than our Lovelace Studio Theater, and in two weeks we’ll have a fully staged piece of theater to share, followed by a month of dance and music programming in August.” For more information and tickets, visit www.TheWallis.org. 

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Both Shim sisters will perform in newly choreographed numbers. Sixth-grader Elle will dance in “Les Petites Étoiles,” Mozart’s charming piano composition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” a new piece choreographed by Associate Artistic Director Caprice Walker and featuring the pre-professional performance company’s younger dancers, to be accompanied by live piano. 

Jenne Shim, in the 8th grade, will perform in the classic “Dance of the Fairies” from “Sleeping Beauty.” The “Dance of the Fairies” is based on Marius Pepita’s choreography, staged by Aimée Gaudio, and supported by Tchaikovsky’s melodic score. Jenne is also performing in Michele Bachar Mendicelli’s lively jazz piece, “Swing!” featuring the stylings of The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, Bette Midler, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. 

Westside Ballet has persevered throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, holding both online and limited in-person classes. An outdoor dance studio was constructed in early Fall 2020. The school’s indoor studios offer classes at 50% occupancy, with plans of 100% occupancy come June. 

The Shim sisters will take part in intensive programs with special New York City Ballet guest teachers this summer. For more information visit westsideballet.com.  

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Fries enjoyed a prolific career in the film and television industry, spanning  over 60 years. He participated in the production of over 5,000 series episodes, 140 television movies and mini-series, and more than 40 theatrical films.

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Fries graduated from Ohio State University where he later received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree. He began his career at Ziv Television in 1952 where he worked on legendary syndicated shows like “The Cisco Kid,” “Highway Patrol,” “Bat Masterson,” and “Sea Hunt.” From Ziv he moved to Screen Gems in 1960 where he was involved in the production of such classics as “Naked City,” “Route 66,” “Bewitched,” “Hazel,” “The Monkees,” and “Father Knows Best.” Later he oversaw feature film production at Columbia Pictures and worked with top producers and directors in the industry on films such as “Castle Keep,” “The Horseman,” “Easy Rider,” “Five Easy Pieces,” and “Getting Straight.”

Fries pioneered the television movie genre at Metromedia Productions in the ’70s (with over 30 movies for TV and nine television series) and then mastered with his own independent production and distribution company, Fries Entertainment. 

Known for issue-oriented movies, Fries Entertainment programs included over 200 hours of content for ABC, CBS, and NBC, including iconic TV movies like “Small Sacrifices” starring Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O’Neal; “The Neon Empire,” a three-hour epic saga starring Ray Sharkey, Martin Landau, and Gary Busey; “Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean” starring Suzanne Pleshette and Lloyd Bridges; “The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury” starring Rock Hudson; “Woman on the Ledge” with Deidre Hall; “Bitter Harvest” starring Ron Howard and Art Carney; “The Word” starring David Jansen and based on the book by Irving Wallace; and the Emmy-nominated “LBJ” starring Randy Quaid and Patty Lupone. 

Fries also produced dozens of theatrical films during this time, including “Cat People” with Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, and John Heard; “Out of Bounds” featuring Anthony Michael Hall; the original “Spider-Man” series for foreign markets; and the cult-classic “Troop Beverly Hills” starring Shelly Long and fashioned after his wife Ava’s real-life experience leading a Girl Scout troop.

Chuck was deeply committed to the entertainment industry. He was a lifetime member of the Producer’s Guild and recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award, a former Chair of the American Film Institute, and served in leadership roles in both the Academy of Arts & Television Sciences and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He was also a guiding force in The Caucus for Producers, Writers and Directors for over 45 years, serving five terms as Chair and receiving their most coveted Awards.

Much of Chuck’s history as a renowned Hollywood producer was documented in his memoir “Chuck Fries Godfather of the Television Movie: A History of Television” which was published in October of 2013.

Fries is survived by his wife of 33 years, Ava; seven children;  22 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. He is preceded in death by two children, son Thomas Fries (Debi) and step-daughter Cami Markman.

A private memorial service for family took place April 29. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Caucus Foundation (caucusfoundation.org).  

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The City of Beverly Hills and Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts have teamed up with TZ Projects to launch “Visions in Light: Windows on The Wallis.” The drive-by video display art exhibit takes place at The Wallis nightly from 8 – 11 p.m. from Nov. 19-29.

Projected on the windows of The Wallis, “Visions in Light” features nearly 40 established and emerging artists of diverse cultures portraying work meant to inspire joy, wonder and awareness.

The show is part of the Embrace & Celebrate Culture initiative, a new Citywide inter-Commission collaboration to celebrate diversity and create a greater culture of inclusion, equity and belonging in the City of Beverly Hills.   

To learn more about “Visions in Light: within the windows of the building.” visit www.tzprojects.org.

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The Courier also spoke with BHHS Performing Arts Department/ Theatre Artistic Director and Instructor, Karen “Kaz” Chandler about the production.

Is this the first time you’ve livestreamed a play?

No, actually we’ve been in a normal year performance schedule as much as possible. In September and October my Drama Lab students Zoomed into primary and elementary classes as fairytale characters and did monologues and movement activities with the kids. In early October we did ‘Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 30 plays in 60 minutes.’ This was 22 students in short 1-3-minute comedy sketches and was streamed live through Broadway on Demand, with the added component that the audience could phone in their choice of order of performance for scenes. On Oct. 29 and 30 we did a livestream on YouTube for free. It was a radio type version of ‘Dracula, Comedy of Terrors.’ Actors were costumed with virtual backgrounds, sound effects, everything we could do, and audience members could comment through the show. So, going into ‘Hamlet,’ we feel pretty confident in our process and abilities. I worked all summer with an improv troupe and other teachers on Zoom to learn all the tricks and ideas for performing virtually.

How do these new formats affect the acting?

The hardest part is the limitation of movement and the inability to touch one another. Also, virtual backgrounds can be glitchy and sometimes wipe out the movement of a hand or body part. It’s also an honor system of learning the lines and not ‘reading them’ from your screen. We have been able to play around a little with looking left or right as if you are talking to the ‘square’ next to you. That’s much harder.

What are the technical challenges you face?

It’s live. We are adding a pre-recorded part to ‘Hamlet’ that will play in a Zoom square as the screen is going on. Tricky, but it will work.  Thomas Zoesch, our tech theatre specialist has been key in doing all the live streaming homework. Lots of training has taken place with cameras off and on, hiding non video participants and the like. Audience members can comment during the show. We found the ‘yeahs’ and ‘way to go’ and “wow that was cool” in the comments are the next best thing to applause.

Please describe some of the
challenges of rehearsing and putting on a performance during COVID.

We are missing the connection we have with one another. We are missing the intense physical training we do as an ensemble that’s really about connecting with one another. But it is what it is, and we are firmly committed to continuing to train. When it all returns, we are ready. We are learning new ways to reach our audience. My seniors and juniors, who have the roles in this show, really love Shakespeare and have been waiting to do a production. It’s royalty-free, so that suits the fact that we can offer this for free. I’m really impressed with the commitment and level of skill shown by this ensemble.

To watch the show, log on to linktr.ee/bhhhstheatre.

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For the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (The Wallis) in Beverly Hills, which took steps to curate a list of artists who offer online performances, classes and talks in the weeks following March’s Safer at Home order, the impacts of COVID-19 have been dramatic.

“I think everybody in the arts world is struggling at the moment,” The Wallis’ Artistic Director Paul Crewes told the Courier. “Community for me, in the arts, has always been about sharing experiences.”

While the shared moments of awe, communal laughter and wonderment intrinsic to live performances, both for the audience and performers, may be on an extended intermission, The Wallis is actively working on innovative ways to bring content to audiences. Available online (https://thewallis.org/Streaming) are a bevy of performances created by artists who continue to produce works remotely.

“People are coming up with very interesting and unique ways to create the works,” Crewes described. “They want to share the work that they’ve created, and we help to share.”

The bounty of offerings for people to enjoy include musical and theatrical performances, podcasts, and virtual dance classes.

For Crewes, “The Encounter,” which was available on demand for free through The Wallis from May 15 to May 25, showed just how powerfully performing arts can also translate digitally. The original production by Simon McBurney, the star and creator, was mounted during Crewe’s first season with The Wallis at the 500-seat Bram Goldsmith Theater.

“It was brilliant in both formats,” Crewes described of the one-man show.

On July 12, The Wallis will live stream “Hershey Felder, Beethoven” from Florence, Italy. It will mark the second time the multi-talented performer will do a ticketed live stream event which will benefit The Wallis during this time of quarantine. All other programmed offerings from The Wallis since the shutdown began have been free.

Directed by Joel Zwick, Felder’s dramatic journey into the great German composer’s life will include a bounty of music by Ludwig van Beethoven, including excerpts from “Moonlight Sonata.” Felder, a talented pianist, is known for his nuanced portrayals of composers. Tickets ($55 per household) include access to the live performance which begins at 5 p.m. and an additional 72 hours of on-demand viewing access.

Crewes estimated that The Wallis sold around 550 tickets to Felder’s previous live stream performance when he took on the role of Irving Berlin this past Mother’s Day. “So, it was a full house,” he said.

In tandem with creating a new calendar of performances from January 2021 and beyond, Crewes said The Wallis is continuing to explore virtual avenues that engage the audience. Particularly given that no one knows quite how long the restrictions – and inherent dangers of COVID-19 – will sustain, Crewes said that figuring out the best ways to share content is of increasing importance.

One of the more novel offerings recently launched at The Wallis is “Fairyland Foibles,” which premiered June 27. Produced by The Wallis Studio Ensemble, which is part of GRoW at The Wallis, the digital soap opera/radio play offers a unique twist where the audience gets to have a say on how the plot develops. For 24 hours after each episode premieres on YouTube, viewers can vote on Facebook about how the fairy tale continues for the next two or three chapters. The 20-minute episodes air on Saturdays at 7 p.m. through Aug. 9.

“We felt very strongly that that was a piece we were missing,” said Madeleine Dahm, director of The Wallis Studio Ensemble. “Hopefully this creates more of a sense of connection for audiences to the work. For us it was really about trying to find this sense of connection.”

After the first episode, viewers were asked to determine which of the characters ended up in the dungeon. Dahm said the choice came down to one vote and then the Ensemble had less than a week to prepare the second episode.

“Essentially we have no idea. And then the writers have to rewrite that section or write it from scratch…and the actors quickly learn lines and have a rehearsal,” she told the Courier. “It’s a very tight process, particularly for the actor who has to take on a part and they’re not quite sure what they’re going to get.”

For more information or to check out a bounty of online performing arts offeringsvisit thewallis.org.

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The Wallis’ Board of Directors has issued a $150,000 challenge by matching every dollar for all contributions to Hope @ The Wallis. Funds raised by the campaign will directly support artists, educators, and its mission during this challenging time in our community. 

According to Rachel Fine, The Wallis’ Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, “Our community match/challenge is a general resiliency fund for The Wallis, and will benefit the entire organization, including the Artist-In-Residence program.” 

Crewes told the Courier that he has been very busy, despite the closed campus. However, that’s not to say that we can expect to see a live performance from Hope in the near future. “Due to travel bans and the unknown, we have no plans at the moment for Daniel to visit this summer, but when he can come to Beverly Hills, aside from celebrating his performances here, we’re planning a very long lunch at one of our local restaurants,” said Crewes. 

He added, “We have plans for Daniel to perform three different concerts in 2021. We hope these will be live, as planned, but we will also explore other forms of performance through technology if required.” 

The summer program of classes will also continue virtually for the time being. “Our attendees are very grateful for them,” Fine told the Courier. “Although virtual classes are not the same as in-person experiences, Mark Slavkin, our Director of Education, has received heartwarming feedback from the participants, who are thanking him for keeping the classes going and the education communities connected,” she said. 

To donate today to Hope @ The Wallis, visit www.TheWallis.org/HopeFund. 

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This annual school program provides a unique opportunity for thousands of students from K-12 schools within Los Angeles County to attend student matinee performances featuring world class artists and performing arts presented on The Wallis’ stages. The Wallis School Partners Program is part of GRoW @ The Wallis, the umbrella for an eclectic mix of education, growth through the arts and outreach programs at The Wallis. 

“The Wallis is extremely grateful for this significant grant from the California Arts Council, which will help us continue to share our exceptional music, dance and theater programs with students from the greater Los Angeles area,” states Rachel Fine, The Wallis’ Executive Director and CEO. “These engaging performances promote an understanding and sharing of culture, enhance awareness of others, build cognitive skills and foster civic engagement, among other crucial benefits. The Wallis School Partners Program reflects our deep commitment to investing in the young people of our community.”

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Arts Council is supporting appropriate solutions for grantees. It recognizes that some grant recipients may need to postpone, modify or cancel their planned activities supported by CAC funds, due to state and local public health guidelines. 

“Creativity sits at the very heart of our identity as Californians and as a people,” said Nashormeh Lindo, Chair of the California Arts Council. “The California Arts Council is proud to be able to offer more support through our grant programs, at a time when our communities’ need is perhaps greater than ever before. These grants will support immediate and lasting community impact by investing in arts businesses and cultural workers across the state.” 

The Wallis’ California Arts Council grant was among more than 1,500 awarded to nonprofit organizations and units of government throughout the state for their work in support of the agency’s mission to strengthen arts, culture and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. The state’s investment of nearly $30 million marks a more than $5 million increase over the previous fiscal year, and the largest in California Arts Council history. 

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At the VIP post-performance reception at Porta Via on Canon, Pacino posed for photographs with special guests and veterans. Tim Farrell, CEO, National Association of Veteran-Serving Organizations, and Ben Donenberg, Artistic Director, The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles and Paul Crewes, Artistic Director of The Wallis were also in attendance. 

It might have only lasted a few hours, but Crewes spent 18 months discussing the project with Pacino. “He wanted a home in L.A. where he could play and just do his theatre,” Crewes told the Courier. “He came to me with this particular project but I was cool with whatever he wanted to do.” 

Pacino, who has been known to revisit projects, likes to keep working on the material and try things differently. “He knows the play but wants to find out more about it because he’s still digging into it,” said Crewes. 

Pacino even came to the board meeting for The Wallis to lend support. “He kept saying to me, how can I help?” said Crewes. “He’s amazingly astute and has so much energy.” 

Scheduling could be the only pitfall concerning future productions with the actor. If Pacino gets his wish, “The Merchant of Venice” could be next up on the agenda, and the artistic community can only hope for a longer run. 

“For us, it’s not about the event, but a guy who lives across the road and is one of our neighbors,” added Crewes. “This is his home and he wants this theatre to be his artistic home.” 

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Proud of the history of her namesake, established by her grandfather, Moses, a newspaper salesman who bought the Daily Racing Form and the Philadelphia Inquirer, Wallis, from a young age, watched her father, Walter, take over the family business and grow the company into a media empire. Albeit one of privilege, Wallis’s childhood in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. was not without struggles (her parents divorced when she was 10 years old, and her only sibling, her brother Roger, committed suicide at age 22 while on leave from Harvard University). This may have helped to mold her empathetic approach to life.

In the early 1970’s Wallis, along with her four children, moved to Los Angeles as her physician husband accepted a position at UCLA Medical Center. The marriage ended in divorce in 1975. That is when Wallis moved her children into a 22-room, Wallace Neff home on Ridgedale Drive in Beverly Hills where she raised them through adulthood.

In 1988 Walter Annenberg sold his Triangle Publications to Rupert Murdoch for a reported $3 billion dollars and created the Annenberg Foundation with one-third of the proceeds. Over time and under his leadership, the Foundation created and funded primarily educational institutions such as the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles, as well as providing major gifts to support the arts, presidential libraries, hospitals, orchestras, and museums. Years later, in 2009, as Walter’s only surviving child, and an active, passionate participant, Wallis became Chairman of the Foundation.

Wallis learned the importance of philanthropy from her father, as well as great judgment when it comes to people. Innately she is also a woman of strength, a woman with her own “Style.” So, when she was given the reins, after her father’s and step mother’s passing, Wallis sought not to ride it, but rather to build on it, her way.

As a trailblazer, she has provided accessibility, paths for all to enjoy life in ways never before imagined. By transforming the five-acre, historical Marion Davies beachfront property in Santa Monica, the public can enjoy a private, well cared for, easily accessible beach day at the Annenberg Community Beach House. Wallis created the first universally accessible treehouse in Torrance, which is the national prototype. As a devoted pet owner, Wallis, wanting to enhance the bond between people and their companion pets, created PetSpace which provides accessibility and interactive study, as well as support for adoptable pets. She also spearheaded Proposition 12, the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act, in the state’s general election in November of 2018, easily winning the measure.

The recently-opened Wallis House is a project of Aviva, a grantee of Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation. The facillity provides transformative bridge housing for single mothers, their children and their pets. In 2018 the Wallis Annenberg Soccer Stadium for women and men opened at UCLA. And of course, Wallis’s desire to support the arts is seen through the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. In providing the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City, Wallis enables the community to be exposed to art, history and experiences captured through the lens, otherwise not seen. These are just a few of the many changes to our Los Angeles community Wallis directed in her quest to support social injustices, female empowerment, and an overall better quality of life for all.

With the population living longer, Wallis recognized the need for a center in Los Angeles for the aging, “so older Americans can keep learning, growing and giving back,” she says. Of the new Rem Koolhaas-designed community center, the Wallis Annenberg Center for Purposeful Aging, Senior Rabbi Steve Leder of Wilshire Boulevard Temple explains, “It is her genius to locate it in the City’s newest and arguably one of the most important modern masterpieces in Los Angeles. Her intention is to rebrand in people’s minds what it means to grow older in this country.”

Most would agree that all of Wallis’s transformative contributions emanate from her compassion, innovation, and insightfulness. It’s a “Style” all her own. When Wallis’s father passed, the Foundation reported it had given away over $2 billion to educational establishments and art institutions. Today the Foundation has distributed over $5 billion and has made more than 14,000 grants worldwide.

Wallis is smart, decisive, instinctual and knows how to leverage real change. Because of her commitment to build and strengthen our Beverly Hills and Los Angeles communities, and her desire to support “our” community newspaper, she granted us this special time.

There is a plethora of philanthropic causes that you support, many of which help to transform people’s lives. Can you provide insights as to what makes a potential project resonate with you?

Well, for starters, they transform my life too. It’s a tired old cliché, “It’s better to give than to receive.” But these things become clichés because they’re true.

Now, how do I choose projects to support? It starts with a deep connection to the cause. I have to give from my heart, first and foremost. Which is why I’ve been focused on issues like women’s empowerment, engaging people in the visual and performing arts, strengthening the human-animal bond. Things that really matter to me.

Beyond that, I try very hard to not simply throw money at problems, no matter how worthy they are. Even for a foundation as large as Annenberg, that would never make a dent in the problem. Think about an issue as sprawling as girls’ education in the developing world, or animal welfare. No foundation could write a big enough check. You couldn’t squeeze enough zeros on it!

So at Annenberg, we do something different: we invest in innovators. Rule-breakers. People who are creating brand new models for change. That way, their example can be copied, and leveraged, creating change on a scale no philanthropist could ever afford. That’s our approach, and I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to achieve.

As a visionary and an innovator, how has this process evolved over the years?

If I look back at my philanthropy, the greatest evolution may be this: We started out supporting new models for change, as I mentioned. Over time, we’ve learned to create some of those models ourselves. Look at The Wallis, right in the heart of Beverly Hills. By creating a world-class center for the performing arts, we preserved and restored the old Post Office – a real part of Beverly Hills history. We established a new venue for great performances and productions. And we found a way to engage the whole community – to enable them to actually practice the arts. I think, if I may be so bold, that it redefines what an arts center can be. We still support other people’s ideas, in fact we do it every day. But now we’re a little less afraid to come up with them ourselves.

Our community is very thankful that you created the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts as it has greatly impacted our City. Have your goals been met? Can you explain more about the Grow @ The Wallis and Grow @ Annenberg programs?

Some people believe the Declaration of Independence mentions “the pursuit of happiness” precisely because it can’t be achieved because it’s a goal we’ll always be striving for. I feel the same way about our Foundation’s goals. Women’s equality. Economic opportunity. Engagement with the arts. These are journeys, not destinations. I don’t think we’ll ever meet them.

But we’ve done some wonderful things. My son Gregory created Grow @ Annenberg, and I’m incredibly proud of what he’s done. It supports everything from health to education to humanitarian efforts around the world – again, not simply by writing checks, but by supporting new approaches, by helping them to grow. Grow @ The Wallis is, I think, what really distinguishes The Wallis from a typical performance space. The whole community is welcome there – not just as an audience, but as participants, as the stars themselves, if you will. For too many people, the arts are some dusty relic on a shelf, something that’s totally irrelevant to everyday life. So we try to find ways to reach out and grab people. To say, the arts are about you, right here, right now. And it can be the fuel, the inspiration, for anything you want to do in your life. I know it has been in mine.

You spent your childhood in Philadelphia and in Washington D.C.  Is there a moment with your mother that you look back on, remembering fondly, or a lesson you learned from her you want to share?

My mother was a woman who taught by example. So much of the way I live my life comes from her, probably in ways I don’t fully understand. For one thing, she was a private person who also had a public role, and had to balance the two, which she did with incredible dignity and grace and strength. And I took note of that. She showed me how you can live for yourself, and be very clear and strong about that, but also use the platform you have to help others, to get things done. You can have a public side without living as a celebrity, without
turning your life into a reality show. That’s what she did, and that’s what I try to do.

What is the best advice your father ever gave you as a young girl? What would he say to you if he was sitting with you right now and discussing your work with the Foundation?

If he were sitting here now, he’d probably say: make sure you don’t do it the way I did. Do it your own way. And I think that’s right. You have to be who you are, and do your work in the way you’re comfortable doing it. I’m delighted that my children are so engaged with the Foundation too. But they find their own projects, their own ways to give –such as Gregory’s work with Grow @ Annenberg.

We all know the line from Luke, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” My father believed that; he lived it. He raised me to live it too. But there are a million ways to live it.

Other than immediate family members, what person or persons have had the most profound influence on your life?

There are so many I could mention. So I’m going to mention just one. His name is Leonard Aube, and alongside me he ran the Annenberg Foundation for 12 years before his passing in 2015. He helped me give over $2 billion to more than 2,500 nonprofits globally, and made an enormous difference on every issue you could name. He was the Lennon to my McCartney, the Gilbert to my Sullivan, the yin to my yang – the perfect philanthropic partner. But above all, he had a joy, an infectious excitement about helping people that made him totally unique. Just being in a room with him, you felt the world was going to get better, that very day. He was an extraordinary man. With a mischievous sense of humor too. We could use a lot more Leonard Aubes, I’ll tell you that.

What is your favorite restaurant in Beverly Hills? Your favorite clothing designer? Your favorite hotel to stay in, or to dine in Beverly Hills, or in the surrounding areas? Do you have a favorite bakery or confectionery?

Those are hard questions for me to answer – not because I don’t love a good cookie, or a beautiful dress, for that matter. But at this point, I really like to be at home with the people I love, and with my pups. Beverly Hills has the best in just about everything – from Spago, which is still terrific, to Nate ‘n Al’s, which the Azoffs wonderfully saved from oblivion, to Harry Winston’s, where you could probably find a diamond the size of a suitcase. I love it all – but I get the greatest joy from the things you can’t buy. Another cliché, I know, but for another one that just happens to be true.

What books are currently on your night table, or books that you have greatly enjoyed?

I have so many on my night table right now, I think I need another table. But here’s one that I find delightful. It’s a wonderful book of fictional letters by the actor Mary Louise Parker called “Dear Mr. You,” which is about human relationships, really – with family, with friends, with random people on the street. The writing is very evocative and beautiful – and it’s a really insightful book about the people we cherish and the ones we don’t. I also found Susan Orlean’s new bestseller, “The Library Book,” to be surprising and moving and utterly riveting, and also a wonderful piece of local history, about the Central Library fire in 1986. It’s quite a page-turner, which isn’t always the case when you’re writing about a public library!

You have four children and five grandchildren. Can you describe a perfect family day?

We like to be together, above all – to take a nice walk on the beach, to watch some sports, or maybe binge a great TV show. The simple pleasures, really. You won’t find us hang-gliding or free soloing, or anything like that. A nice brunch and a stroll is much more our style.

Where do you go to do your best thinking?

I do my best thinking right by the ocean. Because the ocean reminds me that there’s an eternity out there – and that we’re lucky to play the tiniest part in it. It’s humbling, and grounding, and I think that’s a good state of mind when you’re trying to think.

What is your biggest fear?

To paraphrase FDR, my biggest fear is not conquering my fears.  I see life as a journey toward being completely comfortable with who you are, and what you do. A journey toward oneself, really. And if you can truly be yourself, then what is there to fear?

People may be surprised to learn that you are a sports fan. Which sports and teams are your favorites to watch? Is this experience something you shared with your father?

I’m a very big sports fan, bigger than I care to admit sometimes. The outcome of a good football game can really affect my mood. And I know I’m not alone in that.

The Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren once said that he always turned to the sports page first – because it records people’s accomplishments. Whereas the front page has nothing but man’s failures. I agree with that. Sports is a realm of human exceptionalism. Of people who do the things we wish we could do. Plus it’s just plain exciting to root for your team. Mine happens to be the Rams. It is something that I shared with my father – though I probably care about it more than he did.

Photography, a passion of yours, is described as a moment in time, never to be replaced or redone Is there a moment in
your life you wished was photographed, so you could visit it again and again?

Probably seeing my children for the first time, meeting eyes with them. What’s great about the best photography is that it takes you deep inside the emotion of a moment. It lets you see beneath what is happening. It’s like a window into the soul. I can’t even imagine how my eyes must have sparkled and shone on those honest-to-God birthdays.

It is clear that the bond between humans and their animals is very meaningful to you. We have seen this with PetSpace. Can you share why you are interested in this area, which resonates with so many of us?

The comedian Elayne Boosler had a great quote about this. She said: “If you’re not covered in dog hair, your life is empty.” I totally agree. I mean, how many humans in our lives stay wholly in the moment – no grudges, no guilt, just total acceptance of who we are, and only the purest emotion and instinct to guide them? I’ve been an animal lover all my life, it’s that simple. I think it’s worth the cost of a lint brush, a million times over, to have all that joy and love and comfort. And I want to share it with others too.

Of all the things you have accomplished, and continue to pursue, what are the projects that are most meaningful to you?

So many of them are. The Annenberg Space for Photography. The Wallis. The PetSpace. AltaSea. The work we do to help other non-profits succeed. I could go on and on. But I can wrap a little ribbon around it, in this way. For many years, L.A. had been seen as a second-class city. In the arts, in higher education, in civic spirit, in every way really. And I understand why. Some people have a hard time believing you can find real grit and substance in the town that produced “Beverly Hills 90210.” But the truth is, L.A. is as diverse, as creative, as driven, as dynamic a city as you will find on this earth. I’m proud that so many of my efforts – at USC, at The Wallis, at LACMA, in areas as wide-ranging as marine biology and sustainability and international diplomacy – have helped to improve that image, to show that LA has always been a force to be reckoned with.

As a visionary, what are your philanthropic goals or dreams for the future?

I’ve been so incredibly lucky with my philanthropy, with the things I’ve been able to achieve, with a lot of help of course. It’s enough for three lifetimes, really. So my only goal – and I’d say it’s quite an ambitious one – is to keep it up.

From one Philadelphia born woman to another, who chose home to be here in Los Angeles, similarly drawn in through UCLA, thank you for giving me the honor of this interview.

Your wealth of knowledge, life experience, ingenuity, generosity, and unwavering desire to help humanity is awe-inspiring, and a testament to the extraordinary lady you are. For all of us whose lives you’ve changed for the better, for all of the animals who can’t speak the words, and for all of us who are learning from you how to create positive change… we say thank you.

With admiration and appreciation,

Lisa Bloch

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