Photos: The top Southern California arts and culture headlines of 2014

The venerated opera company’s surprise announcement in March that it was closing after five decades was met with a public outcry and internal backlash. A bitter struggle saw the ousting of the opera’s longtime president, Ian Campbell, and a rebirth of the company, albeit on more modest terms.  (David Ng / Los Angeles Times)

After the turmoil of the Jeffrey Deitch years, MOCA found some semblance of stability in 2014. The museum named Philippe Vergne as its new director and welcomed back board members who had defected under the previous administration.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

ohn Adams’ opera is more than two decades old, but the Metropolitan Opera’s first-ever staging this year generated national attention when the company canceled a planned simulcast to cinemas. The actual staging in New York was met with public protests at Lincoln Center.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown L.A. opened five decades ago in 1964, inaugurating what would become the city’s largest performing arts institution.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named Kerry Brougher as the new head of its planned movie museum. The appointment was praised by art-world insiders, who cited Brougher’s experience at MOCA and the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

In a surprise move, Executive Director Lou Moore departed the organization she helped to build from the ground up. Her resignation, which she blamed on a difference of vision with the board, left the center scrambling just weeks before the opening of its second season.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

A highly anticipated production of Harold Pinter’s “The Birthday Party” unraveled after a feud between director William Friedkin and actor Steven Berkoff. The production was called off two weeks before the start of preview performances.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Before the opening of an exhibition devoted to the popular children’s character at the Japanese American National Museum, The Times broke the news that Hello Kitty isn’t a cat -- a cartoon character, a little girl, a friend, yes, but not a cat. The Internet went crazy.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)