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Cultural Programs

Performing Arts
The UCLA Center for the Performing Arts presents a wide range of arts and artists
at Royce Hall, the Wadsworth Theater and Schoenberg Hall.


UCLA-Live is a dynamic program of The Center for the Performing Arts (part of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture). Recognized internationally as a leading performing arts institution, UCLA-Live’s mission is to educate, entertain and challenge audiences. Among the largest university arts presenters in the United States, they present an average of 200 performances to an audience of more than 150,000 every year. Concert hall divas, world-class chamber orchestras and hip-hop dancers share the season — and sometimes the stage — with post-modern dancers, world music superstars, contemporary storytellers, and rock ’n’ roll mavericks. Western European and American art forms such as jazz and folk traditions, and performing arts of non-western cultures are offered. UCLA-Live’s programs occur in a number of venues on UCLA’s campus and beyond, including the historic Royce Hall. The 2007 spring calendar features the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s Mozart Festival, Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras, and The Gospel According to Leonard Cohen, in which singer-songwriter Perla Batalla leads an all-star lineup of artists in a special concert, showcasing the inspirational side of this legendary songwriter. The Gyuto Monks Tibetan Choir return to UCLA-Live by popular demand and the seven women of Sweet Honey in the Rock, an a cappella ensemble, celebrate the sacred music of the African American church — spirituals, hymns, gospel — as well as jazz, rap, reggae, doowop and blues.

Visit www.uclalive.org for more information.

The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television is unique in that it brings together the arts of theater, film and television in one academic institution. Consistently ranked among the leading institutions in the nation, the School is made up of the Department of Theater and the Department of Film and Television. The Festival is the School’s annual showcase of student work. It is a weeklong celebration of film, video, new media, animation, and screenwriting. The Theater Department presents a series of major productions open to the public in The Little Theater, the Ralph Freud Playhouse and the 1330 and 1340 studio theaters, located on campus in Macgowan Hall. The 2007 season includes The Libertine, by Stephen Jeffreys, a biographical drama about John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, one of the major poets of the 17th century, better known in his own lifetime as a womanizer, drinker, atheist, pornographer and political rebel; The Inspector General, by Nikolai Gogol, a ridiculously far-fetched story of a town full of corrupt government agencies and selfish, backstabbing, citizens, and Side Show, The Ray Bolger Musical Theater Production which is based on the true story of Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins who became a singing and dancing vaudeville act in the 1930’s. Nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Musical. For more info, visit www.tft.ucla.edu. For tickets go to www.tickets.ucla.edu or call the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310-825-2101.

Venues include:

FREUD PLAYHOUSE, located at the northeast part of campus, seats 586.

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE: 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood (310-208-5454). Built in 1929 at the edge of Westwood to serve as UCLA’s Masonic Temple, and for over forty years housed everything from concerts and tea dances to a US Army barrack during World War II. In the 1970’s it was transformed into the Westwood Playhouse, and in 1993, it was purchased by UCLA. Following a major donation from the David Geffen Foundation, the theater was renamed the Geffen Playhouse in 1995. Their 2006–07 season includes the World Premier of Wishful Drinking, written and performed by Carrie Fisher, George Gershwin Alone, Music & Lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, about George Gershwin’s interior life, and Heroes, the American Premiere direct from London, about World War I vets trapped in an army hospital by wounds they can’t or won’t recover from, and their dreams of escaping. The Geffen also offers The Saturday Scene, children’s theater classics and world-class music for families on Saturday mornings at 11:00. Visit www.geffenplayhouse.com for more info.

ROYCE HALL, one of the buildings of the original 1929 UCLA quadrangle, houses classrooms, offices and a public auditorium which seats 1,850.

SCHOENBERG MUSIC BUILDING, named after the 20th century composer Arnold Schoenberg, houses the Department of Ethnomusicology, the Department of Music and the Department of Musicology. The building includes a recital hall and main concert Hall, both of which are fully equipped for audio and video recording.

SCHOENBERG HALL, seating 528, offers a variety of evening performances of music, dance and drama. Tickets may be purchased through the UCLA Central Ticket Office, 310-825-2101.

VETERANS WADSWORTH THEATER, located two miles from the UCLA campus on the grounds of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The Wadsworth has a moderate sized stage, which is ideal for dance, music and performance art, film screenings, lectures and symposia. The 2007 season includes the musicals Altar Boyz and The Putnam County Spelling Bee.

WILTERN THEATER: 3790 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles (corner of Wilshire and Western Blvds.) The Wiltern is used for a large variety of events including: rock/pop concerts, dance performances, award shows, television tapings, and stage productions. The historic Wiltern Theatre originally opened on October 7, 1931 and is an excellent example of Art Deco. The orchestra seats were removed as part of a large renovation project in 2003, allowing for a large, standing-room-only space for 2,200. The upward slanting, five-tiered floor is ideal for crowd interaction, and balcony seating is still available.

The UCLA Film and Television Archive contains over 220,000 films and television programs, and 27 million feet of newsreel footage from the turn of the century through the 1960s. The Archive serves the past, present, and future by assuring that the audio-visual records of our century survive to be enjoyed and studied for generations to come. It is the world’s largest University-held collection of motion pictures and broadcast programming. Over 10,000 television commercials dating from 1948 to the mid 1980s are also available. Viewing requests can be made in person in 46 Powell Library or by calling (310) 206-5388. Visit http://www.tft.ucla.edu/ for more information on the School of Theater, Film and Television.

The Department of Film and Television sponsors the UCLA Festival in mid-June. Festival is a weeklong extravaganza of student work in animated and live-action film, television, digital media, screenwriting, producing and live theatrical performance. Events are held at the UCLA James Bridges Theater, the UCLA Freud Playhouse, the Writers Guild of America West Theater and the Directors Guild of America Theatre. Call (310) 825-2661 for information.

The UCLA Film and Television Archive present a year-round calendar of nearly 400 film and video programs which are open to the public at the James Bridges Theatre. General admission tickets are $7; students and seniors are $5.

  • The Archive dedicates selected Sundays to movie matinees for the entire family (Kids’ Flicks). This year’s selections include To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and The Miracle Worker (1962). Refreshments are served during intermission.
  • Contemporary independent films, rare silents and beloved Hollywood classics screen year-round at the Archive. Movie stars from Clara Bow to Gary Cooper, screen legends from D.W. Griffith to Alfred Hitchcock, mavericks from Oscar Micheaux to John Cassavetes — all have been featured in Archive programs celebrating the many themes, genres, studios and talents in American moviemaking throughout the ages. Archive Treasures is dedicated to recreating the classic “night at the movies” that drew peak audiences during the heyday of the Hollywood era. Each program will team newsreels and shorts with choice selections from the Film and Television Archive, and present original and restored prints in their full glory on the silver screen — the way they were meant to be seen.
  • For more than 20 years, the Archive has been at the forefront of introducing US audiences to important new filmmakers and movements worldwide. The Archive also continues to host screenings where audiences have the opportunity to meet acclaimed filmmakers and discuss their work. Visit http://www.cinema.ucla.edu for more info.

    The Graduate Student Association sponsors the Melnitz Movies, offering screenings of some of the great classics plus award-winning foreign films and current hits. All movies are FREE and are shown at the James Bridges Theatre (Melnitz 1409) unless otherwise noted. Tuesday and Thursday screenings are at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available at the Melnitz Box Office the day of the screening, one hour before show time. The 2006–07 season includes the thriller Zodiac, Body Heat, Harold and Maude, Little Miss Sunshine, and more. Check the listings to see which movies include a Q & A session with the director. Visit http://gsa.asucla.ucla.edu for more information.


    MUSIC DEPARTMENT
    UCLA provides an unusually wide range of opportunities for participation in musical expression. The choral organizations include the UCLA Chorale and the University Chorus. The Opera Workshop provides an opportunity to participate in major productions and programs of opera highlights. Programs include faculty and student recitals and performances of high artistic accomplishment in various genres, as well as visiting artists of national and international renown. Tickets may be purchased through the UCLA Central Ticket Office (see below).

    Ethnomusicology, the study of the music of the world, is now in its fourth decade at UCLA. The program is supported by a unique world musical instrument collection. Close relations are maintained with the UCLA Folklore and Mythology Program, the World Arts and Cultures Program, and the UCLA Museum of Cultural History and the Wight Art Gallery. The 2007 schedule includes concerts by the Ensembles of Mexico, India, Bali, Korea, China Ensemble plus the UCLA Jazz Ensemble. For more information, contact the Department of Ethnomusicology at 310-206-3033 or visit www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu

    For 24-hour information on all UCLA cultural events, directions to venues, parking instructions and direct ticket purchase, call the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310/825-2101 or visit the CTO website: http://www.tickets.ucla.edu/.


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