“The Unicorn” is an odd idea for...

“The Unicorn” is an odd idea for a ballet. A unicorn appears in the middle of midtown Manhattan near Hell’s Kitchen. A television crew arrives, a mob follows and someone suggests making the beast a zoological curiosity.

“And the hunt begins,” said composer Lanny Meyers, who created the piece that makes a Long Beach Ballet world premiere at the Center Theater on March 16 and 17.

The ballet ends on an odd note as well: The unicorn, a symbol of peace and love, dies in a virgin’s lap. “Some view the unicorn as a Christ figure because the mob kills him and then regrets it afterward,” Meyers said. “The idea speaks to what’s going on in society right now.”

“The Unicorn” is a departure from the 8-year-old Long Beach Ballet’s usual repertoire of “Nutcracker Suite,” “Coppelia” or “Rite of Spring,” artistic director David Wilcox said. “It’s a new concept,” Wilcox explained, “a musical rock opera ballet.”

Composer Meyers, winner of five Emmy awards for television scores, wrote the 50-minute ballet after studying a medieval tapestry called “The Hunt of the Unicorn” in a New York City museum, The Cloisters.

On the same program, the ballet company will present two short works, “On Occasion,” a neoclassical suite of dances, and “Aymara,” a Peruvian folk ballet that premiered in Long Beach in 1986.

Tickets range from $11 to $21 with half-price admission for children. The Center Theater is at 300 E. Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach. Information: 427-5206.