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Photo courtesy of UCLA LIVE “Slava’s Snowshow”

Your ticket around the world

BY KAREN NELSON
UCLA Today

Armchair travelers: Rejoice and sit back.

Starting this fall, cultural tourists can embark on a world tour without leaving the venerable seats of Royce Hall and the Freud Playhouse.

From Taipei to North London, Brooklyn to the Bayou, Morocco to Brazil, Dublin to Tel Aviv, the new UCLA Live season will lead them to hard-to-reach corners of the globe to revel in groundbreaking performances in international theater and dance, spoken word, and music of all forms. English novelist Zadie Smith, known for her critically acclaimed books “On Beauty” and “White Teeth,” launches the voyage on Sept. 15, and the whirlwind trip continues non-stop into May 2007.

The artistic lineup is the brainchild of UCLA Live director David Sefton, the former British impresario from London’s Royal Festival Hall, who took over performing arts programming in 2000. To plan each season’s tour, Sefton is an exuberant, worldwide explorer on a mission during the off-season.

This year, he’s traveled to China, Poland, the United Kingdom and France, with stops in Paris and a festival in Avignon. Most seasons are compiled from performances he has seen over the years, originating from various locations and sources.

“My goal is to showcase the best artists and highest quality work available, spanning the spectrum from historically excellent to remarkably innovative,” Sefton said. “We want audiences to go beyond any previous artistic experience and to know that they can look to us to see things that they won’t find anywhere else.” The work has its challenges — Sefton often jokes that he sees the “rubbish” so audiences don’t have to.

Among the events that made the cut for the current season are world, U.S., West Coast and Los Angeles premieres, along with exclusive presentations and commissions. Sefton is particularly passionate about the International Theatre Festival, a successful initiative he began when he arrived at UCLA.

Photo courtesy of UCLA LIVE “The Peony Pavilion”

Now in its fifth year, the festival kicks off on Sept. 29 with China’s Suzhou Kun Opera Theater of Jiangsu Province in the 400-year-old romantic epic, “The Peony Pavilion,” followed by Heather Woodbury’s “Tale of 2Cities,” and the West Coast premiere of “Mabou Mines DollHouse,” based on Ibsen’s text and directed by Lee Breuer.

Expect a virtual blizzard to hit in December and January via a stunning special theater offering that Sefton has wanted to present for years. “Slava’s Snowshow,” a magical creation of famed Russian clown Slava Polunin, is a tragicomic spectacle of falling snow, fog and bubbles that runs for 31 holiday performances in Royce Hall.

UCLA Live’s dance series features a blur of international talent in action. Highlights include the U.S. premiere in May of “Sacred Monsters” by Rudolf Nureyev protégé Sylvie Guillem of London’s Royal Ballet and British-Bangladeshi choreographer and dancer Akram Khan.

The journey continues with performances ranging from classical to jazz, country to contemporary, world to pop. Coming to campus will be country music leg-end Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, former Beach Boy Brian Wilson, jazz guitarist John Scofield and gospel diva Mavis Staples in a tribute to Ray Charles, and a rare, large-venue performance by Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band.

UCLA staff and faculty get a 15% discount in most cases. Visit www.UCLALive.org.