‘Tango’ will open season at Wilshire

The Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills has launched an inaugural three-show subscription season, opening Feb. 29-March 2, 2008, with the return of “Forever Tango,” Luis Bravo’s dramatic revue tracing the history of the tango with an Argentinian cast.

A stop by the first U.S. national tour of “Whistle Down the Wind” follows April 22-27, featuring music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Jim Steinman, who wrote songs for Meat Loaf. The show, which began on London’s West End but has been extensively retooled since its unsuccessful 1996 pre-Broadway tryout in Washington, D.C., is written by Patricia Knop, Gale Edwards and Webber, based on the novel by Mary Hayley Bell and the 1961 film. The setting has been changed from England to 1959 Louisiana.

The season ends with “Love, Janis,” a musical on the life of 1960s rocker Janis Joplin, based on the book of the same name by the singer’s sister, Laura Joplin. It will run May 29-June 1.

For more information, call (323) 655-0111.