Media Alert

February 2, 2015

Contact: Jessica Wolf 310.825.7789

jessica.wolf@arts.ucla.edu

CAP UCLA Presents Gabriel Kahane’s ‘The Ambassador’

an Exploration of Los Angeles through Song

Two performances Feb. 27-28 at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse

Free public programs explore themes of Los Angeles as artistic muse

Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA presents the Los Angeles premiere of

songwriter Gabriel Kahane’s theatrical stage work “The Ambassador” Thurs-Fri Feb. 27-

28 at Freud Playhouse on the UCLA campus. Tickets ($19-$39) are available now at

cap.ucla.edu, Ticketmaster or the UCLA Central Ticket Office.

In “The Ambassador,” Kahane draws inspiration from a multitude of sources to tell

intimate, human stories set against the backdrop of Los Angeles architecture and

popular culture. From “Die Hard” to the architecture of Richard Neutra and R.M.

Schindler, from “Blade Runner” to the fiction of James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler,

and from fires, riots, and earthquakes to the many Americans who have looked to

Southern California as a panacea, “The Ambassador” exposes the underbelly of LA

through the lens of a dozen street addresses.

Directed by John Tiffany (“Once,” “Black Watch,” “The Glass Menagerie”) and co-

commissioned by CAP UCLA, “The Ambassador” features Kahane (vocals, guitar,

piano, Wurlitzer), Rob Moose (electric guitars), Casey Foubert (bass, electric guitars), Ted

Poor (drums), Alex Sopp (vocals, keyboards, flutes), as well as string players Laura

Lutzke, Nathan Schram, and Andrea Lee. The work is designed by Christine Jones

(“Spring Awakening,” “American Idiot”) with lighting by Jane Cox, model design by

Brett Banakis and projections by Josh Higgason.

In keeping with Kahane’s thoughtful exploration of Los Angeles as an artistic and literary

muse, CAP UCLA also presents a series of Art in Action programs designed to deepen

the audience’s connection to the work, the Center and the artist, beginning with “Los

Angeles Sings Itself,” a special performance/discussion event hosted in collaboration

with the History Department at UCLA on Tues Feb. 24 from 4-7 p.m. in the Royce Hall

rehearsal room. Free and open to the public.

Following a brief overview of his methods as a research-based songwriter Kahane will

engage in a dialogue with UCLA History faculty member Brenda Stevenson in response

to his song "Empire Liquor Mart (9127 S. Figueroa St.)", an account of the 1991 shooting

death of Latasha Harlins, which was inspired in part by Stevenson's book The Contested

Murder of Latasha Harlins. The two will explore the boundaries between artistic and

academic scholarship, in an effort to dismantle assumptions about the domain of

research.

Additional “Dig Deeper” activities before and after the performances in the

Macgowan Hall courtyard explore themes related to Kahane’s sonic treatise on the

City of Angels. Prior to both performances CAP UCLA will present “The Nature of L.A”

short-film screenings and interactive installations that invite audiences to ponder shared

experiences of life in L.A. Following the Feb. 28 performance of The Ambassador David

Kipen of iconic east side book store Libros Schmibros will host “Ten Million Aphorists in

Search of a City,” a lively discussion of quotations about Los Angeles -- which ones get

us right, which ones get us wrong and, perhaps most importantly, which ones deserve

more attention.

Kahane will also visit a class of UCLA students from multiple majors to discuss his creative

process. He will also present selections from “The Ambassador” in a Feb. 27 matinee for

local high school students, presented by CAP UCLA’s K-12 education outreach program

Design for Sharing.

The Center’s presentation of “The Ambassador” is supported in part by the Kevin Jeske

Young Artist Fund, Henry Mancini Tribute Fund and National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional support provided by an Anonymous donor.

“The Ambassador” was commissioned by BAM for the 2014 Next Wave Festival, Center

for the Art of Performance at UCLA, and the Laguna Beach Music Festival.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

With the release of his major label debut, “The Ambassador” (Sony Music Masterworks,

June 3), Gabriel Kahane turns his gaze toward his birthplace with his most focused effort

to date.

The album follows Kahane’s critically acclaimed “Where are the Arms” (2011), hailed by

The New York Times for its “extravagant poise and emotional intelligence.” As a

composer of concert works, Kahane has been commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the Los

Angeles Philharmonic, Kronos Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, and Orpheus

Chamber Orchestra—with whom he toured his WPA-inspired “Gabriel’s Guide to the 48

States” in 2013. Equally in demand as a theater composer, his musical “February

House,” with playwright Seth Bockley, was produced in 2012 at the Long Wharf Theater

in New Haven and at the Public Theater in New York City. A fellow of the MacDowell

Colony and Yaddo, Kahane has performed or recorded with artists including Sufjan

Stevens, Rufus Wainwright, Chris Thile, Brad Mehldau, Jeremy Denk, and more.

English theater director John Tiffany served as the associate director of the National

Theatre of Scotland from 2006–12, where he directed international productions

including “The Missing,” “Elizabeth Gordon Quinn,” “The Bacchae” (Lincoln Center

Festival, 2008), Black Watch (Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director; St. Ann’s

Warehouse, 2007, 2011), and Alan Cumming’s “Macbeth” (Broadway, 2014). Tiffany

won Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his direction of “Once”

(currently on Broadway), and directed the acclaimed recent Broadway production of

“The Glass Menagerie.”

TICKET INFORMATION

General tickets ($19-$59) are available at cap.ucla.edu, all Ticketmaster outlets, by

phone at 310.825.2101 or in person at the UCLA Central Ticket Office located in the

southwest corner of the James West Alumni Center. Student rush tickets, subject to

availability, are offered at $15 one hour before show time to all students with valid ID.

PRESS REVIEW TICKETS/PHOTO PASSES/INTERVIEW REQUESTS

Contact Jessica Wolf at jessica.wolf@arts.ucla.edu/

IMAGES

Available for download at cap.ucla.edu/press-images. Register for access.

ABOUT CAP UCLA

Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA (CAP UCLA) is dedicated to the

advancement of contemporary performing arts in all disciplines — dance, music,

spoken word and theater, as well the emerging digital, collaborative and cross-art

platforms inspired by today's leading artists and creators. CAP supports the creation,

presentation and critical dialogues vital to the ongoing innovation and expressive

potential of artists whose work, whether vibrantly emerging or internationally

acclaimed, forms the dynamic and evolving heritage of contemporary performance.

Based in UCLA's iconic Royce Hall, CAP UCLA is the university's public center for the

presentation of the performing arts and contributes to the cultural life of the campus

and greater Los Angeles, promoting civic dialogue and creative inquiry. Through an

annual season of performing arts programs and extensive community-engagement

events — including artist fellows and residency programs, K–12 arts education (Design

for Sharing), student mentorship (Student Committee for the Arts), and art-making and

experiential activities (Art in Action) — CAP UCLA advances the importance of art in

society by celebrating and deepening the connection between artist and audience.

###