CAROLINE, OR CHANGE REPLACES WONDERFUL TOWN

LOS ANGELES -- The West Coast premiere of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, a new musical with book & lyrics by Tony Kushner, music by Jeanine Tesori and directed by George C. Wolfe, will replace the recently cancelled tour of Wonderful Town as the first production of Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre's 2004-2005 season. The show, which recently closed on Broadway, will open Nov. 14 and run through Dec. 26, 2004.

CAROLINE features original cast members Tonya Perkins (who received a Tony Award nomination as Best Actress in a Musical) and Anika Nori Rose (winner of the 2004 Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical).

CTG artistic director Gordon Davidson explained, "When the national tour of Wonderful Town was cancelled...we immediately attempted to mount the production ourselves. It was important to us to deliver the show as promised to our subscribers. But, without a touring company and the show continuing its Broadway run, Wonderful Town was no longer available for us to produce ourselves."

After its eight-week run in L.A., CAROLINE will then transfer to San Francisco as part of a Best of Broadway season.

CAROLINE won rave reviews from most New York and national theatre critics. For further information call (213) 628-2772 or visit TaperAhmanson.com

JACKIE MASON SIGHTING

LOS ANGELES -- Jackie Mason will bring his latest one-man show, his seventh, to the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills for six performances only, Dec. 7-12, 2004. JACKIE MASON FRESHLY SQUEEZED--it was conceived in Florida, evidently--will move on after its limited national tour to open on Broadway in March of 2005.

"I am excited about getting back to what I do best and what my audience like best," said Mason. "I am writing new jokes every day and soon I'll be telling them every night. Just me...one Jew talking and that's it."

Topics to be satirized include same-sex marriages, stock market fraud, celebrities on trial, the epidemic of new diets and, in an election year, "politics, politics and more politics."

The L.A. production of JACKIE MASON is presented by Broadway/L.A. and is an optional attraction on its current 2004-2005 season. Wilshire Theatre is located at 8440 Wilshire Blvd. For tickets and information call Ticketmaster or visit BroadwayLA.org

RIGBY SOARS IN 100th ANNIVERSARY OF PETER PAN

LOS ANGELES -- Cathy Rigby takes flight in the 100th anniversary of James M. Barrie's PETER PAN at the Pantages Theatre for a two-week-only engagement, Nov. 9-21, 2004. Producing is Broadway/L.A.

Rigby's name is synonymous with PETER PAN, having played the part on Broadway, on a major national tour in the 1990-91 season, in the revival in 1998 and in the Emmy Award-winning A&E Special.

The score, a joint effort by Moose Charlap, Carolyn Leigh, Julie Styne and Betty Comden & Adolph Green remains a favorite of children and adults alike. The all-new production is staged by Glenn Casale, choreographed by Patti Colombo, with musical direction by Craig Barna. John Iacovelli designed the sets, Shigeru Yaji the costumes, Tom Rzika, lighting. Flying illusions are by ZFX, Inc.

Pantages Theatre is located at 6233 Hollywood Blvd. Call (213) 365-3500 or (714) 740-7878 or visit BroadwayLA.org

LE MIZ HOLIDAYS IN L.A.

LOS ANGELES -- LES MISERABLES will play a special holiday enegagement Dec. 2, 2004-Jan. 1, 2005 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. Presented by Cameron Mackintosh, the musical has won 50 major awards internationally, including the 1987 Tony Award for Best Musical. The Broadway production ended its 16-year run in May, 2003, making it the second longest running show in Broadway history. The national tour is the only production of LES MIZ currently on tap in the United States.

The touring show is a carbon copy of the original production still running in London. It arrives with the trademark 34-foot turntable, two barricades that weigh over 12,000 pounds, over 1,000 costume pieces, 5 fog machines, 422 lighting instruments, 18 orchestra members, and 36 cast members.

LES MIZ was adapted from the French (Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alan Boublil) by Herbert Kretzmer, with additional material by James Fenton. It was first directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.

For tickets and information call Ticketmaster or visit the Pantages box office (6233 Hollywood Blvd).

MATTHEW BOURNE'S NUTCRACKER!

In a co-presentation with UCLA Live at Royce Hall, Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre will mount Matthew Bourne's production of NUTCRACKER! in a holiday production, Dec. 16, 2004-Jan. 2, 2005.

The glittering new show is set to Tchaikovsky's much-loved score. Olivier Award-winning designer Anthony Ward's sets and costumes combine with inventive choreography, promising a fresh serving of traditional Christmas fare.

From a Dickensian orphanage to the kaleidoscopic fantasy of Busby Berkeley musicals, Bourne's Nutcracker! is packed with his trademark wit, pathos and theatrical magic.

Bourne will be represented with another show during the course of CTG's new season, PLAY WITHOUT WORDS (April 11-May 29, 2005). Devised by Bourne and designed by Lez Brotherston, the dance/theatre piece is based on Joseph Losey's film adaptation of Robin Maugham's The Servant.

The movement-based narrative deals with 1965 Chelsea, a fashionable London neighborhood whose privileged facade masks a struggle for power, territory and sexual domination. One British critic called it "funny, sexy, brilliantly stylish and blazingly original."

Other upcoming CTG attractions include Deaf West's award-winning production of the musical Big River and Peter Hall's production of As You Like It, starring the director's daughter, Rebecca, who has been hailed as "a young British actress of glittering freshness and uncanny intuition...anyone whose heart doesn't embrace this uncertain, gorgeous, gallumphing girl probably doesn't have one." (Feb. 7-March 27, 2005)

For tickets and information call (213) 628-2772 or visit TaperAhmanson.com