The lineup includes a mix of dance, music, theater, and art exhibitions across the Malibu campus
Pepperdine University’s Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts unveiled its 2025-2026 season Wednesday, featuring 26 professional performances, 7 student concerts, and 6 student productions from August 2025 to April 2026, organizers said. The lineup includes a mix of dance, music, theater, and art exhibitions across the Malibu campus.
Highlights include performances by dance troupes Ailey II and Les Ballets Africains, ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro, flamenco guitarist Charo, and a tribute to Laurel Canyon music with Sounds of Laurel Canyon: A Back to the Garden Story Concert. Other acts feature Colin Hay of Men At Work, radio host Garrison Keillor with musical director Richard Dworsky, and a Christmas show by Kat Edmonson. The season also includes the Theatre Department’s production of The Good War, opening on Veterans Day with World War II stories from Studs Terkel’s interviews, alongside Bright Star, no one is coming to save us, and The Light in the Piazza.
Student performances will showcase young classical musicians like violinist Adé Williams and cellist Leland Ko, while the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art will host Hold My Hand in Yours, an exhibition exploring the hand as a symbol of labor and intimacy, featuring artists like Yvonne Rainer and Stephanie Syjuco.
Rebecca Carson, the center’s managing director, said the program aims to inspire the Malibu, Los Angeles, and Ventura County communities.
Season subscriptions are available now, with individual tickets on sale since July 8 at the box office, open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, or online at arts.pepperdine.edu/events. Parking fees apply near Smothers Theatre, with free shuttle service from the Theme Tower lot.
