To: Theatrical Provocateur
From: Entertainment Muse
Date: Breezy Nights
Subject: Crossroads For Cultural Conversation

The Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center official season kicks off October 7- 9 with an opening weekend of performances and events featuring dynamic new jazz star Esperanza Spalding; iconic classical cellist Lynn Harrell; and folk legend Judy Collins.

"The Broad Stage in only its third season is already establishing traditions to be proud of," says Dustin Hoffman, founding chair of the artist advisory board. "The caliber of the artists has helped the dream of making The Broad Stage a crossroads for cultural conversation become true. The Broad is an intimate setting for the most gifted and well known artists and next season will introduce the "I Wonder…" series, a post-performance conversation moderated by the artists themselves and allowing community interaction by audience participation—the very essence of The Broad."

Renewing the passion and commitment to dance that was a highlight of its 2008 inaugural season, The Broad Stage welcomes the return of The Body Electric series, featuring Diavolo, String Theory, and Bill T. Jones, three of the leading, visionary contemporary dance companies touring today.

This season's range of theater offerings introduces a new musical, acclaimed solo performances and "The Broad Does The Bard" featuring Shakespeare's Globe Theater revival of their hit UK production of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and The Royal Shakespeare Company's commission of "The Merchant of Venice" starring Academy Award-winner F. Murray Abraham by Theatre for a New Audience, the first American company to be invited to the RSC's Complete Works Festival.

Lauded as a breakthrough in contemporary musical theater, The Broad opens the summer pre-season with "Daddy Long Legs," a new two character musical directed by John Caird, the Tony and Olivier Award–winning director of "Les Miserables" and "Nicholas Nickleby," and starring Broadway's Megan McGinnis ("Little Women," "Beauty and the Beast"). The popular and playful Impro Theatre makes a return engagement to The Broad with "Dickens Unscripted" (Nov. 20 – Dec. 19), a seasonal celebration of high spirits and holiday tea running at The Edye; and for one night only, Saturday, December 4, celebrity guests will join the company on the mainstage for "Jane Austen Unscripted," an evening of "breathtaking wit" and unexpected surprises that sold-out last season. Guests are invited to come in festive or regency costume to kick off the holiday gala evening in seasonal style.

Theatrical provocateur Peter Brook brings two of his characteristically memorable and artistically ambitious productions to Los Angeles (April 6 - 11, 2011). In "Fragments," imported from Europe by The Broad Stage, the legendary director weaves a quintet of short pieces by Samuel Beckett into a complete and compelling evening of "revealing humor and humanity." "The Grand Inquisitor," Brook's other unexpected adaptation, forges a surprisingly dynamic and disturbing monologue from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, turning the Spanish Inquisition into a pointedly relevant inquiry into today. Another solo theaterwork pushing the boundaries and filling the mainstage is "Alan Cumming: Uncut" (July 9, 2010) from award-winning stage and film actor/writer/director, a comedic yet topical evening of provocative monologues and music.

"All the worlds a stage. But ours have ocean breezes and free parking."

Plan your visits with the Broad Stage calendar.

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