The Center in Anne Rice's latest novel

It seems acclaimed best-seller Anne Rice, author of Interview with the Vampire and The Life of Christ series, is a fan of the Center. In her most recent release, Angel Time, Rice included mention of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, as well as the Pacific Symphony and Leatherby’s Café Rouge. The book’s central character, assassin Toby O’Dare, muses in this excerpt:

Often, undisguised, I drove over to nearby Costa Mesa to hear the Pacific Symphony. I liked it, the contrast, moving from the stucco arches and rusted bells of the Inn to the immense Plexiglas miracle of the Segerstrom Concert Hall, with the pretty Cafe Rouge on the first floor.

In a personal email to the Center, Rice called the Concert Hall “gorgeous ... a beautiful and special place,” adding that she often incorporates personal experiences into her novels. Said Rice:

It was natural for me to have my hero in this new novel visit the hall. I was so taken with the performance of [the Pacific Symphony’s] The Rite of Spring that I wrote it into the book, and expanded on it fictionally, having the hero hear the composition early in his life, and then again at the Hall.

Thank you for your praise, Ms. Rice. We look forward to the next book.