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MUSE/IQUE Presents
Ray Charles: Ray Charles's Message to America
March 21 – 23, 2025
Ticket Price (all-in pricing including fees)
Starts at $40.25
Friends Ticket Presale
Presale: January 30, 2025
Single Tickets
On sale: February 6, 2025
MUSICAL EXPERIENCE AT THE MARK TAPER FORUM, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MUSE/IQUE.
In MUSE/IQUE’s roaring season opener at the Mark Taper Forum, we explore how Ray Charles’s diverse musical genres, influences, and collaborators all culminated in his landmark recording of “America the Beautiful.” Featuring the inimitable Brandon Victor Dixon and DC6 Singers Collective on vocals.
For the first few decades of his career, Ray Charles electrified us with his genius knack for blending gospel, blues, jazz, rock and soul.
Then, in 1972, the ultimate musical trailblazer did something even he’d never done before: he infused his work with an anthemic message of empathy at a time when we really needed it. With his album A Message From the People, and its cornerstone reinterpretation of “America The Beautiful,” Charles expressed his own vision of America—confronting our contradictions and lighting a path back toward our ideals.
In this rousing performance, MUSE/IQUE brings to life Charles’s remarkable career, with genre-spanning hits like “Hit the Road Jack” to “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and more, and the crucial role his music has in shaping our collective vision of America. Through our favorite Charles classics, MUSE/IQUE Artistic & Music Director Rachael Worby and a brilliant array of artists take us on a deeply personal, yet universally resonant, journey through patriotism, citizenship, and the enduring hope for a better future.
CTG:FWD
According to Ray is part of CTG:FWD. Created by Artistic Director Snehal Desai, CTG:FWD is a series of special events and programming at the Mark Taper Forum, the Kirk Douglas Theatre, and throughout the greater Los Angeles area.
Spring 2025 CTG:FWD programming at the Mark Taper Forum is made possible through the generous support of the S. Mark Taper Foundation. Additional funding is provided by gifts to the Artistic Director Discretionary Fund.
Showtimes
Click on the button below to view a calendar with all of our available performance dates and times.
Calendar-
Mar 21, 2025
7:30 PM
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Mar 22, 2025
2:30 PM
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Mar 23, 2025
2:30 PM
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Mar 23, 2025
7:30 PM
About MUSE/IQUE
MUSE/IQUE is a member-supported, nonprofit performing arts organization making radically engaging live music experiences accessible for all. Built on a tradition of community and collaboration, we create events that feature an eclectic mix of artists and artistic disciplines in unconventional locations—spaces where art typically does not happen. MUSE/IQUE creates transformative musical adventures and illuminates the music that shapes our lives. By reimagining the traditional format of the live classical orchestral experience, Artistic Director Rachael Worby seamlessly blends musical performances with researched curation. Our mission is to build empathy and expand imaginations through transformative live events and strong partnerships with fellow nonprofit organizations in Pasadena and the greater Los Angeles area.
Show Details
MUSE/IQUE Presents
ACCORDING TO RAY
Ray Charles’s Message to America
Presented as part of CTG:FWD
S. Mark Taper Foundation
2024/25 season programming at the Mark Taper Forum is made possible through the generous support of the S. Mark Taper Foundation.
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In MUSE/IQUE’s roaring season opener at the Mark Taper Forum, we explore how Ray Charles’s diverse musical genres, influences, and collaborators all culminated in his landmark recording of “America the Beautiful.” Featuring the inimitable Brandon Victor Dixon and DC6 Singers Collective on vocals.
Learn More