The Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre presented in association with Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center debuted Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet at the Ahmanson on Sunday January 28, 2024. This is the North American Premiere and it will run through Sunday, February 25, 2024. CLICK HERE to read the review.
Romeo and Juliet Ahmanson
The music is by Terry Davies, based on the original score by Sergei Prokofiev. It is directed as well as choreographed by Bourne in collaboration with the New Adventures artistic team. See below for additional info, and to purchase tickets.
Romeo and Juliet garnered universal critical acclaim when it premiered in 2019. It now returns to the New Adventures repertoire alongside Bourne’s world-renowned dance theatre productions.
Matthew Bourne
Bourne’s new version gives Shakespeare’s timeless story of forbidden love a scintillating injection of raw passion and youthful vitality. Confined against their will by a society that seeks to divide them, our two young lovers must follow their hearts as they risk everything to be together.
Bourne said, “I had resisted creating a new production of Romeo and Juliet for many years wondering if there was anything new to say in a much-performed work. In 2019, I found that inspiration in a countrywide young talent development project that surrounded the original production. Working alongside my usual creative team, but with a team of young artistic associates and a young cast of super talented emerging dance artists, we created something relevant, questioning and deeply moving … but also, an unexpected hit show.”
Matthew Bourne is renowned for shattering stereotypes, in addition to exploring and pushing boundaries in dance. Key to his creative approach is the creation of work from familiar titles that are accessible to audiences unfamiliar with dance. However, Bourne’s aim is not to simply re-tell a well-known story, but instead put his own spin on the narrative that provokes the audience to think, feel, and consider the story in a new light.
Monique Jonas and Rory Macleod in ‘Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet’. Photos by Johan Persson (@perssonphotography)
New Adventures
This adaptation of Romeo and Juliet by New Adventures is bursting with youth, vitality and Bourne’s trademark storytelling. Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most enduring pieces of writing. It tells the tragic tale of two lovers who must follow their hearts as they risk everything to be together.
The production is directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, collaborating with the New Adventures Artistic team. The team includes: Etta Murfitt (Associate Artistic Director), Lez Brotherston (Set and Costume Design), Paule Constable (Lighting Design), Paul Groothuis (Sound Design) and Arielle Smith (Associate Choreographer) with Terry Davies’ thrillingly fresh orchestrations of Prokofiev’s dynamic score.
New Adventures is an iconic and ground-breaking British dance theatre company, famous for telling stories with a unique theatrical twist. Matthew Bourne — who is the only British director to have won the Tony Award for both Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical for his work on “Swan Lake”— and New Adventures has delighted, inspired, and nurtured people of all ages and backgrounds: audiences, artists, and the next generation of dancers, reaching thousands worldwide every year. New Adventures has received numerous international awards as well as 12 Olivier Award nominations, including 6 wins. Since 1986, Bourne has created 13 full-length productions and a triple bill of short works. This award-winning repertoire has inspired and thrilled millions worldwide.
Performance Schedule
January 28 to Sunday, February 25, 2024; Tuesday through Friday evenings at 8:00pm; Saturdays at 2:00pm and 8:00pm; Sundays at 1:00pm and 6:30pm; Note: Sunday, January 28 is at 8:00pm; Special Thursday Matinee, February 22 at 2:00pm; No performance Wednesday, February 5 or Sunday Evening, February 25 at 6:30pm
Tickets
Admission begins at $35; Tickets for Matthew Bourne’s “Romeo and Juliet” are available through CenterTheatreGroup.org, Audience Services at (213) 972-4400 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Offices (at the Ahmanson Theatre) at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012.
Age guidance: 14+ The production contains loud sound effects including a gun shot and has flashing lights in sections (not strobe). The production contains scenes of a disturbing and a sexual nature, including stabbing and strangulation. More details can be provided if required.
What: Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet
Where: Ahmanson Theatre, 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90012
When: January 28 – February 25, 2024; Tuesday thru Friday – 8pm; Saturday – 2pm and 8pm; Sunday – 1pm and 6:30pm
Website: https://www.centertheatregroup.org/
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