Spring brings sunny weather, flowers in bloom and, at the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, a new season full of speakers, music, theater and more. This quarter, Royce Hall and Freud Playhouse host a wide variety of performances by decorated entertainers, including La Santa Cecilia and David Sedaris.
The Center for the Art of Performance provides tickets for UCLA students for $15.
Peter Brook and Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord’s “The Suit”
April 9-13 and April 17-19, various times
Freud Playhouse
Award-winning director Peter Brook takes his talent to the Freud Playhouse this month in an adaptation of the South African story “The Suit.” Written by Can Themba and taking place in South Africa during apartheid, “The Suit” tells the story of a man who catches his wife in bed with a lover who leaves only his suit behind. The suit then becomes a symbol of his wife’s betrayal as the husband gets revenge on his beloved. Brook takes this story and enhances it for the stage, adding live musicians playing both African melodies and German classical strains to create an uncommon and enlightening theatrical experience.
La Santa Cecilia and David Wax Museum
April 11, 8 p.m.
Royce Hall
Hailing from opposite ends of the country but sharing a common thread in Mexican roots music, La Santa Cecilia and David Wax Museum share co-billing on the April 11 performance at Royce Hall. La Santa Cecilia, a band based in Los Angeles and hot off its Grammy win for best Latin rock, urban or alternative album, plays its version of a musical melting pot with influences as diverse as Bossa Nova, blues and mariachi.
While the frontman of David Wax Museum graces the stage with a jarana, a Mexican instrument similar to the guitar, the other main member of the band, Suz Slezak, can alternatively be seen with a fiddle and quijada, a percussion instrument made out of a donkey’s jawbone. The band reaches deep into the past, combining a love of traditional Mexican folk music with vintage Americana.
Chick Corea and Béla Fleck
April 24, 8 p.m.
Royce Hall
Mixing the classic jazz piano playing of Chick Corea along with the wildly innovative banjo picking of Béla Fleck, this performance garnered the duo a Latin Grammy win for best instrumental album in 2007, and they’re still going strong. Drawing from their mastery of genres as far apart as flamenco and gospel, these two storied musicians explore jazz and pop standards with a new life and a new sound.
Philip Glass: “Etudes” with Maki Namekawa and Sally Whitwell
May 4, 7 p.m.
Royce Hall
Few contemporary composers command the same name recognition and reputation of Philip Glass. “Etudes,” whose writing process took more than 20 years, consists of 20 pieces of music, each written for the solo piano. The work is a study by Glass in different aspects of the piano, deconstructing and reconstructing conventional sounds with his own individual style. The long period of composition resulted in a complete work that is simultaneously impressive in its breadth and tied to the larger themes prevalent in Glass’s work. Performances by Glass himself will be complemented with special appearances by renowned pianists Maki Namekawa and Sally Whitwell.
“An Evening with David Sedaris”
June 24, 8 p.m.
Royce Hall
David Sedaris’ last book, “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls,” the ninth book from the popular writer’s story and essay collection, shot to the No. 1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list when it was released. The humorist, author and comedian takes to the stage at Royce Hall after his nomination for best spoken-word album at this year’s Grammy Awards. Audience members who attend his “evening” will listen to Sedaris as he creates his own wry and self-deprecating image of life through anecdotes, works in progress and readings from both his recent and popular books. If they missed his performance at UCLA last year, or even if they didn’t, fans of his work will get insight into his creative process and hear their favorite stories, all delivered in his trademark squeaky voice.
