For years, the UCLA Center for the Art of Performance has been staging an eclectic and impressive array of programming, but for the 2017-18 season, they’ve announced they’ll be doing something they’ve never tried before. CAP UCLA is taking the show off campus and teaming up with the Theater at Ace Hotel for a special series of performances that infuse CAP UCLA’s typical shows with just a little extra Downtown edge.
Kristy Edmunds, the artistic and executive director of CAP UCLA, has been acquainted with the founders of Ace Hotel since the 1990s and they’ve finally found a project to collaborate on, bringing their mutual enthusiasm for contemporary art into the spotlight.
“It’s like ‘getting the band back together’ in some ways, and then figuring out what the set list is going to be,” she observed about the rekindled connection in a press release announcing the series.
So what will you be able to expect to see at Ace in the coming season? The full lineup will be announced on May 4, but the first shows to be announced are a conversation between Simpsons creator Matt Groening and his longtime friend, comedian Lynda Berry, a concert by jazz pianist Jason Moran, and a multimedia light-and-sound performance by the avant-garde composer Ryoji Ikeda. Taylor Mac, who wowed audiences and critics with his CAP UCLA-comissioned A 24-Decade History of Popular Music last year, will also be creating a new site-specific work to be performed at Ace.
“Kristy and CAP UCLA’s mission has always been about providing a supportive space for artists, and Ace has been welcoming musicians and friends to stay with us since we first open in Seattle in the '90s. This partnership and melding of minds coming together feels like a natural fit,” Kelly Sawdon, chief brand officer and partner in Ace Hotel and Atelier Ace noted.
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