Broad Stage doubles offerings

Although many arts organizations are hunkering down and cutting budgets in light of the economy, the new Broad Stage in Santa Monica plans next season to feature twice the number of performances as it is presenting during its ongoing first season.

Dale Franzen, artistic director of the center, which is announcing its 2009-10 season today, said the new season would include 81 performances (some of them free), compared with the current season’s 40.

Franzen said that, although the economy hurt attendance during some performances last fall, many events have been sold out during the current season and that expanding the season increases much-needed ticket revenue. “We’re going in a different direction -- we’ve cut costs, but it’s better for us to expand,” she said. Next season’s operating costs will be cut in part because there are none of the first-season launching costs; also, many artists have cut their fees due to the recession. It is also less expensive to bring in performances for more than one night, which is happening more than it has in the inaugural season.

The season will open Sept. 4 and 5 with weekend performances by Mikhail Baryshnikov. He will perform with ballerina Ana Laguna in U.S. premieres of dances by Alexei Ratmansky and Benjamin Millepied.

Other highlights include appearances by Placido Domingo, conducting a zarzuela program; tenor Juan Diego Florez; the U.S. debut of pianist Ludovico Einaudi; tap dancer Savion Glover; and the introduction of the Broad Stage’s first multi-night theatrical runs.

The Broad Stage will participate in Gustavo Dudamel’s Americas L.A. Phil Festival by presenting the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela.

As with the debut season, next year’s schedule includes free family outreach programs and the “Under the Radar” series of more experimental, lower-priced performances at the Edye Second Stage.

For 2009-10, the Broad Stage is introducing a literary series titled “From Page to Stage” and is planning another series featuring Dustin Hoffman, the artistic chairman of the Broad Stage, in conversation with various artists. The Hoffman series is free to donors and will be available for single ticket sales beginning Aug. 1.

“The ‘I Wonder’ series is a chance to explore, be spontaneous and let artists get together and dream and process onstage in front of an interactive audience,” Hoffman said. “We, and they, are making this up as we go along.”

Franzen said the Broad Stage was offering its first theatrical runs in 2009-10 because of public demand: Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre will present 12 performances of “Love’s Labour’s Lost” Nov. 19 to 29, and Basil Twist performs his puppet version of “Petrushka” Feb. 4 to 7. At the Edye from Dec. 11 to 26 will be “Jane Austen Unscripted With High Tea,” featuring an improv troupe dressed as Austen characters but offering very un-Austen-like unscripted comedy.

Franzen added that the “From Page to Stage” literary series would present writers and their work in a setting with “theatrical elements.”

She said she believed the Broad Stage was filling a performing arts gap on the Westside. The facility also began offering free parking a few months ago, dropping an $8 charge, and will continue to in the upcoming season. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but people are saying to me they don’t even care what they see here, it’s so close to home,” she said. “I always go downtown; we can never replace Disney Hall or the opera, but we can add to it.”

For the complete 2009-10 schedule, visit the website www.thebroadstage.com.

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diane.haithman@latimes.com