Off Center Festival Off to a Great Start

The Car Plays © Steve Dawson

The Off Center Festival is giving Southern California music, dance and theater fans a lot to enjoy and to think about. The Car Plays has vehicles lined up on the Arts Plaza for series of 10-minute plays within the vehicles themselves – each with audiences of just two.

Doug Varone and Dancers in "Dressed" © Steve Dawson

Doug Varone and Dancers began their program discussing and demonstrating the creative process of their featured work in “Stripped” and return to perform the finished work in costumes and theater lighting for part two, “Dressed.” 

Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker © Steve Dawson

Belarus Free Theatre performed its politically powerful and thought-provoking Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker. This festival of innovative contemporary entertainment and culturally significant works continues January 28 through February 2 with indie bands Sea Wolf and The Donnies The Amys, Fleur Elise Noble’s 2 Dimensional Life of Her, Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s Word Becomes Flesh and more of The Car Plays. 

The Off Center Lounge © Steve Dawson

Every evening ends with audiences and artists gathering at the Off Center Lounge in Leatherby’s Cafe Rouge. 

Reggie Watts Adds High Voltage to Off Center Festival

© Doug Gifford

Reggie Watts returned to the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall (explaining how the name morphed from Bob Seger to Segerstorm to Segerstrom) and gave the Off Center Festival a real surge of power. It’s difficult to list all that Watts brings to his audiences – he sings, philosophizes, jokes, composes, muses, confuses and amazes. This was just day two of the two-week Off Center Festival. Upcoming are Belarus Free Theatre, The Car Plays, Doug Varone and Dancers, Fleur Elise Noble, Sea Wolf with The Donnies The Amys, and Marc Bamuthi’s The Living Word Project. 

© Doug Gifford

Each night, the Festival ends with audiences, artists and the creative teams mixing and mingling in the Off Center Lounge at Leatherby’s Cafe Rouge, located in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Watts seen here with some of his fans! Enjoy libations and the late night menu. 

For more information, please visit http://www.scfta.org/offcenter.

© Doug Gifford

© Doug Gifford

© Doug Gifford

© Doug Gifford

Not Just Horsing Around!

© Doug Gifford

Audiences coming to Segerstrom Center for the Arts to see War Horse can explore a winner’s circle of fun and fascinating facts on the Orchestra Level lobby. There is a special interactive exhibit that illustrates the artistry and history behind the show as well as WWI artifacts and uniforms. They will learn more about the magnificent “Joey” puppet created by Handspring Puppet Company, see behind-the-scenes footage featuring Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones - puppet designers for War Horse, try their hand at operating a puppet created in the style of “Young Joey” and learn from an American WWI soldier what life might have been like during “The War to End all Wars.” 

The WWI soldier is none other than Center Arts Teach artist Jon Monastero, a former history teacher and actor who brings historical characters to life and the puppetry artist is Arts Teach artist Rogue Artist Ensemble.

© Doug Gifford

© Doug Gifford

Off Center – Off To An Amazing Start!

© Doug Gifford

Segerstrom Center’s second Off Center Festival took off last night with concerts by Rival Sons and Robert Jon and the Wreck. A capacity crowd jammed into Samueli Theater for the kick-off event to the festival, that runs through February 2 and features bold contemporary theater, performance art, dance and music. Tonight – Reggie Watts will perform in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and Sea Wolf and The Donnies the Amys in Founders Hall on January 28.

© Doug Gifford

Leatherby's Cafe Rouge ❤ You for Valentine's Day

This Valentine’s Day weekend, Leatherby’s Cafe Rouge in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall will offer a special Nine at Nine for Ninety dinner option. This special nine-course meal will be available February 14 through 16, beginning at 8:30 p.m. with a complimentary sparkling wine reception followed by dinner at 9 p.m. Here’s a culinary tease: Dungeness Crab and Smoked Salmon with domestic caviar and champagne “air” for your first course, a choice of Beef Tenderloin or Australian Lamb Rack for your sixth and an irresistible Chocolate Passion Cremeux for your exquisite ninth course. 

Like a match made in heaven, the Nine at Nine for Ninety seating begins immediately after the cabaret performances by Broadway stars Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley in Samueli Theater. To learn more about the Mazzie/Danieley engagement and the Nine at Nine for Ninety menu, visit the Center’s website at http://www.scfta.org/home/Events/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1297.