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Ryan O’Neal, Ali MacGraw in ‘Love Letters’ coming to Wallis Annenberg

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It’s been 45 years since Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw starred together in “Love Story,” the 1970 romantic weepie that helped to turn both actors into megastars.

The passage of time will no doubt provide crucial subtext when O’Neal and MacGraw -- now in their 70s -- reunite on stage for a touring production of “Love Letters,” which is coming next season to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.

“Love Letters,” A.R. Gurney’s frequently revived, two-character play, is set to run Oct. 13 to 25 at the Wallis. The touring production will be a version of the recent revival Broadway revival that was directed by Gregory Mosher. (O’Neal and MacGraw didn’t star in the New York production.)

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The Wallis’ 2015-16 season will be larger in scale than past seasons, with about 30 more performances over the 2014-15 line-up, according to a company spokesman. The new season will also include a 50th anniversary celebration of choreographer Twyla Tharp and the local premiere of the play “The Revisionist,” by actor Jesse Eisenberg.

In addition, the season will feature the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s recent production of “Guys and Dolls,” directed by Mary Zimmerman, running Dec. 1 to 20.

The Tharp anniversary celebration (Oct. 1 to 3) is a touring production commissioned by the Wallis and four other organizations, including the Joyce Theatre in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington.

“The Revisionist” (March 29 to April 17, 2016)), which ran off-Broadway in 2013, tells the story of an American writer paying a visit to a Jewish cousin in Poland. No cast has been announced for the production, which Eisenberg wrote.

The season’s theater line-up includes a play about Simon Wiesenthal (Oct. 24 to Nov. 8) by Jenny Sullivan, and Anthony Giardina’s “The City of Conversation” (May 12 to 29, 2016), which was seen last year at Lincoln Center in New York.

Patti LuPone will return to the Wallis for a new concert, “Matters of the Heart” (April 1 and 2, 2016), and Christine Ebersole will headline a cabaret performance, “Big Noise from Winnetka” (Jan. 25 and 26).

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Other notable season offerings including the L.A. Dance Project (Jan. 29 to 30, 2016), featuring “Hearts and Arrows” by Benjamin Millepied; a dance piece by Debbie Allen, “Freeze Frame” (Feb. 5 and 6, 2016); and the Israel Philharmonic (Nov. 10 and 11), conducted by Zubin Mehta.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT

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