REDCAT reaches out to community

In case you were worrying that REDCAT -- with its films from Tajikistan and Tunisia and its concerts dedicated to the likes of Harry Partch -- was going too mainstream, too Hollywood, the little experimental theater tucked inside Disney Hall is offering what it calls a summer laboratory for up-and-coming local artists.

“This is an attempt to do more than just rent out space,” says Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater executive director Mark Murphy. “We’ll provide rehearsal space, technical and design support, and marketing support -- which means we’ll hopefully provide the audience and not just leave the artists to their own devices. They can take creative risks without worrying what the box office is.”

REDCAT will launch the New Original Works Festival on July 15 and run it for three weekends. The seven programs are the result of more than 70 proposals. Murphy was looking for work that was vital and original, as well as “a mix of disciplines, ethnicities and scale.”

This year he saw a lot of solo work on cultural identity, “though most of the projects that rose to the top were collaborative and drew on several different art forms,” such as dance, theater and music.

“Giving a state-of-the-art, Frank Gehry-designed space to a group of local artists is a real pleasure. A lot of them are used to working in less well-equipped spaces,” Murphy says. Few venues, he says, mix the task of developing local talent with presenting international shows. “I hope it makes sense to people.”

Murphy’s basing what’s being called the NOW Festival on a similar series he ran at Seattle’s On the Boards, where he worked before coming to Los Angeles in 2002. “At least one program a year went on to tour nationally or internationally.”

Performers will include choreographer Hassan Christopher and the Company of Strangers plus director Ken Roht’s Orphean Circus on the opening weekend; dance artist Maria Gillespie, choreographer Deborah Cohen and the four-piece Cheng-Chieh Yu/Yu Dance Theater, July 22-24; and solo performer Lauren Weedman and “showcore” trio My Barbarian, July 29-31.

For tickets or information, call (213) 237-2800 or visit www.redcat.org.

-- Scott Timberg