The Ford, Wallis and Soraya reveal new seasons: L.A. arts and culture this weekend

‘Tis the season of season announcements. I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, and before we jump into this weekend’s most compelling cultural events and our usual roundup of SoCal arts news, let’s take a quick look at upcoming offerings from the Ford, the Wallis and the Soraya, as well as the Broadway in Thousand Oaks series at Bank of America Performing Arts Center.

The Ford’s season

The lovely outdoor amphitheater across the street from the Hollywood Bowl is in its sixth season under management by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Performances scheduled from July 18 to Oct. 31 include dance, film, comedy, music, spoken word, theater and family programming. Highlights include Noche de Cumbia: Sonido Gallo Negro & É Arenas; an evening with Leyendas del Mariachi; Lula Washington Dance Theatre; Béla Fleck and the Flecktones; Australian pop star Betty Who with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; French-Moroccan pianist and rapper Sofiane Pamart; Mississippi blues player Christone “Kingfish” Ingram; and a screening of George A. Romero’s 1968 horror classic, “Night of the Living Dead.” Full schedule and ticket details here.

The Wallis for 2025-26

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills is leading its 2025-2026 season announcement with the Los Angeles premiere of Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theatre Company’s Broadway production of “English” by Sanaz Toossi. The play won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for drama and earned five Tony Award nominations including best play and best direction by Knud Adams. The season features the world premiere of “Hildegard,” based on the writings of composer Hildegard von Bingen and produced in collaboration with Los Angeles Opera and Beth Morrison Projects. Also of note: Trisha Brown Dance Company and Merce Cunningham Trust’s presentation of Brown’s “Set and Reset,” with visual design by artist Robert Rauschenberg and an electronic score by Laurie Anderson, alongside Cunningham’s rarely seen, comedic “Travelogue,” with music by John Cage. Full schedule and ticket info here.

“The arts play a vital role in how we come together — as neighbors, as storytellers, as citizens,” Robert van Leer, the Wallis’ executive director and chief executive, said by email. “We see each season as a conversation with our community, shaped by artists who are not only interpreting today’s world but helping us envision what’s next.”

The Soraya’s 15th anniversary season

The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts at Cal State Northridge opens with a weekend concert production of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish. A celebration of the Martha Graham Dance Company’s centenary will include Graham’s 1947 “Night Journey” and a world premiere pairing Graham and Leonard Bernstein, featuring the ensemble Wild Up performing founder Christopher Rountree’s newly commissioned arrangement of Bernstein, as well as William Schuman’s composition for “Night Journey.” The season also includes a Quincy Jones tribute concert, performances by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and pianist Ray Chen, as well as a 30th anniversary live-to-film concert of the Disney animated feature “Toy Story.” Full schedule and ticket info here.

Broadway in Thousand Oaks

Last but not least, this series includes crowd pleasers “Chicago,” “Kinky Boots,” “Blue Man Group” and “Mrs. Doubtfire.” Ticket info here.

Best bets: On our radar this week

Demetri Martin: ‘Acute Angles’

Performer and writer Demetri Martin enters the realm of painting and drawing this weekend in what’s billed as “a comedy show with no words.” Forty-two line drawings and acrylic works on canvas — including some darkly amusing meditations on stupid humans moving through modern life — will be on view in Martin’s first solo exhibition. Look for an interview with Martin by Times staff writer Karla Marie Sanford in the days to come.
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment, Sunday-May 31. Laconic Gallery, 1001 Broxton Ave., L.A. demetrimartin.com

‘The Straight Story’

Hrishikesh Hirway, creator and host of the Song Exploder podcast and a composer himself, will introduce Vidiots’ 35mm screening of the late David Lynch’s “The Straight Story.” For those who do not recall the 1999 film — a G-rated project from the director of “Blue Velvet” and “Wild at Heart” — it stars Richard Farnsworth in an Oscar-nominated turn as a 73-year-old man who, unable to find a ride to visit his estranged, stroke-plagued older brother, makes a six-week journey on his lawn mower.
4 p.m. Saturday. Vidiots, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd., L.A. vidiotsfoundation.org

‘White Rabbit Red Rabbit’

Nassim Soleimanpour’s “cold read plays” are performed by actors who don’t receive the script until showtime. For the Iranian playwright’s “White Rabbit Red Rabbit” at the Fountain Theatre, the additional wrinkle is that the production’s star is changing every night. Sandra Tsing Loh served as the unrehearsed actor on opening night, following the script’s instructions and ultimately presiding over an evening of charades dreamed up in advance by an oracle. “The less I tell you about it, the better,” Times theater critic Charles McNulty said in his review, adding that “mystery is built into the theatrical experience.” “Sound of Metal” and “Sing Sing” actor Paul Raci takes centerstage Friday, Sharon Lawrence stars May 26 and Joshua Malina is on June 7, in addition to the stalwarts of L.A. theater in the cast rotation.
Through June 22. Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., L.A. FountainTheatre.com

Culture news and the SoCal scene

Ana Maria Martinez as Margarita Xirgu and Daniela Mack as Frederico Garcia Lorca in the Los Angeles Opera production of Osvaldo Golijov’s “Ainadamar” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

(Cory Weaver / L.A. Opera)

Times classical music critic Mark Swed caught a Sunday matinee of L.A. Opera’s “Ainadamar” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, followed by the U.S. premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s new “Dream Requiem” performed by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, “which proved an ideal companion to ‘Ainadamar,’” Swed writes in his dual review. “Ainadamar” is about the 1936 political execution during the Spanish Civil War of poet Federico Garcia Lorca, examined through the final minutes of actor Margarita Xirgu’s life. Swed describes the opera as “one of the century’s most gratifying” and notes that it, as well as “Dream Requiem” (featuring recitations of Lord Byron’s “Darkness”), have poets at their core.

“The Life of Pi,” now playing at the Ahmanson Theatre, completely won over Times theater critic Charles McNulty. In a glowing review, McNulty applauds the mechanics, performances and set design of the play, which plumbs the depths of spirituality through magical realism brought to bear onstage. An adaptation of Yann Martel’s 2002 Booker Prize-winning novel about an Indian teen who survives a shipwreck in the company of a fierce and majestic Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, the show reveals that “truth is not necessarily the same thing as wisdom,” McNulty writes.

Craft Contemporary Executive Director Rody N. Lopez, left, with Sara Wells and Noah Wyle.

(Craft Contemporary)

Craft Contemporary raised $100,000 at its 60th anniversary gala honoring founder Edith R. Wyle, who died in 1999, and artist Bari Ziperstein. In case you didn’t know, Wyle’s son is actor Noah Wyle, the “ER” veteran who has legions of new fans for his starring turn in the Max medical drama “The Pitt.” Noah attended the gala with his wife, actor Sara Wells, and other Wyle family members. The 1960s-themed dinner included a silent auction featuring work by Harrison McIntosh, Jerome Ackerman, Jane Bennison Howell, Ramekon O’Arwisters, Gertrud and Otto Natzler, and Kyungmi Shin. Ziperstein was presented with the Visionary Award.

The Getty Center is allowing guests to luxuriate on its lovely grounds and enjoy its exhibits later this summer, with extended hours beginning June 17. The new hours will be 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and on Sundays. On Saturdays, the museum will remain open until 9 p.m., and parking after 6 p.m. will be free. Bar service will be expanded to include an evening cocktail program in an outdoor seating area near the arrival plaza. As always, admission is free but requires a timed-entry reservation.

DTLA Alliance, in partnership with the city of Los Angeles, Street Art for Mankind and Council District 14, have commissioned three massive murals to be painted in downtown L.A. by local artists in advance of the FIFA World Cup, the Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Collectively, the art project — which will eventually include 12 works — is being dubbed “Big Art. Bigger Dreams.” The first three murals are by David Flores (on the Los Angeles Athletic Club), Emily Ding (on the Figueroa Eight) and Shamsia Hassani (a triptych on the Bloc).

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

Langer’s Deli by MacArthur Park may be having a tough time in its longtime home, but it still has the best pastrami dip sandwich in the city.