Center Theatre Group News & Blogs

2017 Sherwood Award Finalists

Center Theatre Group — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 12:24:00 -0700

'Amélie, A New Musical' Press Kit

Center Theatre Group — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 18:58:00 -0700

Cast is Set for 'Amélie, A New Musical' at the Ahmanson

Center Theatre Group — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0700

FULL CAST IS SET FOR CENTER THEATRE GROUP’S PRODUCTION OF “AMÉLIE, A NEW MUSICAL” AT THE AHMANSON THEATRE DECEMBER 4, 2016 THROUGH JANUARY 15, 2017

Casting has been set for Center Theatre Group’s production of “Amélie, A New Musical” at the Ahmanson Theatre which begins previews December 4, 2016, opens December 16, and continues through January 15, 2017. In addition to the previously announced Phillipa Soo (Tony Award nominee for “Hamilton”) in the title role, the cast will feature, in alphabetical order, Emily Afton, Alyse Alan Louis, David Andino, Randy Blair, Heath Calvert, Adam Chanler-Berat, Alison Cimmet, Savvy Crawford, Manoel Felciano, Harriett D. Foy, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Tony Sheldon, Jacob Keith Watson and Paul Whitty.

Based on the motion picture written by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant, “Amélie, A New Musical” will have its Broadway premiere in 2017 with full casting, Broadway theatre and dates to be announced soon. Amélie captured our hearts in the five-time Academy Award-nominated 2001 French film. Now she comes to the stage in an inventive and captivating new musical directed by Tony Award winner Pam MacKinnon (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “Clybourne Park”), with a book by three-time Tony Award nominee Craig Lucas (“An American in Paris”), music by Daniel Messé (“Hem”), lyrics by Nathan Tysen (“The Burnt Part Boys”) and Daniel Messé, musical staging and choreography by Sam Pinkleton, musical direction by Kimberly Grigsby, vocal arrangements by Kimberly Grigsby and Daniel Messé, and orchestrations by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin.

“Amélie, A New Musical” features scenic and costume design by Tony Award winner David Zinn, co-lighting design by Tony Award nominee Jane Cox and Mark Barton, sound design by Tony Award nominee Kai Harada and projection design by Drama Desk Award winner Peter Nigrini.

The musical follows the mesmerizing journey of the inquisitive and charmingly shy Amélie who turns the streets of Montmartre into a world of her own imagining, while secretly orchestrating moments of joy for those around her. After discovering a mysterious photo album and meeting a handsome stranger, Amélie realizes that helping others is easier than participating in a romantic story of her own.

In 2015, “Amélie, A New Musical” had its critically acclaimed world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and topped “Best Theater of 2015” lists in the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times called it “… a sparkling musical comedy,” that “… slyly revels in the infinite possibilities of theatrical merrymaking … The score … flowers with originality.” Robert Hurwitt of the San Francisco Chronicle said, “A dreamy movie becomes a dream of a stage musical … wit crackles and charm fills the house, emanating from the book, lyrics and melodies. Director Pam MacKinnon creates a seamless blend of visual, narrative and performance delights.”

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, programming seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1600 to 2000-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.

Tickets for “Amélie, A New Musical” are available by calling (213) 972-4400 or online at CenterTheatreGroup.org, or by visiting the Center Theatre Group box office at the Ahmanson Theatre. The Ahmanson Theatre is located at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, 90012.

CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES

CRAIG LUCAS (Book). Craig’s plays include “Missing Persons,” “Reckless,” “Blue Window,” “Prelude to a Kiss” (Tony nomination), “God’s Heart,” “The Dying Gaul,” “Small Tragedy” (Obie Award), “Stranger,” “Prayer for My Enemy,” “The Singing Forest,” “The Lying Lesson,” and “Ode To Joy.” His movies include “Longtime Companion,” “The Secret Lives of Dentists” and “The Dying Gaul,” which he also directed. He wrote the libretti for “The Light in the Piazza” (Tony nomination), “An American in Paris” (Tony nomination), “Three Postcards” and the opera “Two Boys” (Metropolitan Opera). He directed the world premiere of “The Light in the Piazza,” Harry Kondoleon’s “Saved or Destroyed” and “Play Yourself,” and the film “Birds of America.” Craig has received three Tony nominations, the New York Film Critics Best Screenplay Award, the Sundance Audience Award, the Excellence in Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Steinberg Award, three Obies (one for direction), and the Laura Pels Mid-career Achievement Award from PEN; he has been a Pulitzer finalist.

DANIEL MESSÉ (Music and co-lyricist) is the founder and principal songwriter of the band Hem, which has garnered worldwide acclaim over the course of six studio albums. Starting as a DIY project out of Dan’s bedroom, Hem was signed to DreamWorks Records by legendary music producer Lenny Waronker and has been featured in every major media outlet including the “New York Times,” the “New Yorker,” NPR’s “All Things Considered,” “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” In 2009 the Public Theater tapped Hem to score “Twelfth Night” for Shakespeare in the Park (starring Anne Hathaway and Audra McDonald, directed by Daniel Sullivan) for which they earned a Drama Desk Award nomination. Daniel has written four shows for Theatreworks USA (including “Black Beauty” and “Nate the Great”) with collaborator Mindi Dickstein. They were the recipients of a Jonathan Larson Grant from the American Theatre Wing and were commissioned by Playwrights Horizons to write the full-length musical “Trip” through the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Commissioning Program.

NATHAN TYSEN (Co-lyricist) was represented on Broadway last season with the new musical “Tuck Everlasting.” Recent projects include “Stillwater” with band Joe’s Pet Project at Kansas City Rep. In 2014, Nathan was awarded both the Edward Kleban Prize for most promising lyricist and the Fred Ebb Award for excellence in musical theatre songwriting (co-won with Chris Miller). Work with Miller includes lyrics for “The Burnt Part Boys” (2009 Lucille Lortel nomination for Best New Musical), and “Fugitive Songs” (2008 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Revue), both of which have cast albums available at iTunes and Amazon. Additional work with Miller includes songs for “Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company,” as well as two circuses for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. Nathan was a contributing lyricist to the musical revue “Stars of David,” and has written material for the Broadway Inspirational Voices and BCEA's Gypsy of the Year. He has worked for over a decade writing and directing for the Lovewell Institute for the Creative Arts, helping to create over a dozen new musicals with young adults. MFA: NYU Tisch, BFA: Missouri State Univ.

PAM MACKINNON (Direction) won Tony and Drama Desk Awards and received an Outer Critics Circle nomination for her direction of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Other Broadway credits include Bruce Norris’ “Clybourne Park” for which she won an Obie Award and garnered Tony and Lucille Lortel Award nominations, David Mamet’s “China Doll,” Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance” and Wendy Wasserstein’s “The Heidi Chronicles.” Her many off-Broadway and regional credits include Bruce Norris’ “The Qualms” (Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Playwrights Horizons), Sarah Treem’s “When We Were Young and Unafraid” (Manhattan Theatre Club), Craig Lucas’ “The Lying Lesson” (Atlantic Theater Company), Horton Foote’s “Harrison, TX” (Primary Stages) and Itamar Moses’ “Completeness” (South Coast Repertory and Playwrights Horizons). Pam is an alumna of the Drama League, and the Women’s Project and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Labs, and is an associate artist at the Roundabout Theatre, as well as an executive board member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and board chair of the NYC downtown company Clubbed Thumb.

SAM PINKLETON (Musical staging and choreography) is a New York City-based director and choreographer. As a choreographer his recent work includes “The Heidi Chronicles” (Broadway); “Machinal” (Broadway); “Pretty Filthy” (The Civilians); “Kansas City Choir Boy” (Prototype Festival, with Courtney Love); “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812” (Kazino); “Heisenberg” (Manhattan Theatre Club); “Significant Other” (Roundabout Theatre Company); “Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play;” “Fly By Night;” and “Stage Kiss” (Playwrights Horizons); “Marie Antoinette” (Soho Rep); “I Promised Myself to Live Faster” (Pig Iron/Humana Festival); “HAIR: Retrospection” (Kansas City Repertory Theatre); “The Understudy” (McCarter Theatre Center); “The Lightning Thief” (Theatreworks USA); “Spring Awakening” (Olney Theatre Center); and “Buyer and Cellar” (Barrow Street Theatre/tour). He is an associate artist with The Civilians and Wit-Cartel’s “ONTHEFLOOR.” Sam teaches “Bustin’ Moves” at NYU.

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October 17, 2016

Submissions Received for Center Theatre Group's Block Party

Center Theatre Group — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 19:41:00 -0700

CENTER THEATRE GROUP RECEIVES 76 SUBMISSIONS FOR INAUGURAL BLOCK PARTY AT THE KIRK DOUGLAS THEATRE

Center Theatre Group Will Remount Three Local Productions for Block Party Celebration

Selected Productions To Be Announced in December

Center Theatre Group received submissions from 76 local theatre companies from North Hollywood to San Pedro, Topanga to Sierra Madre for the inaugural Block Party: Celebrating Los Angeles Theatre at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Block Party will highlight some of the remarkable work being done on stages throughout Los Angeles by fully producing three previously staged productions. For a full list of the theatre companies who submitted an application to be considered, please download the PDF to the right.

Three productions will be selected for presentation at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, April 14 through May 21, 2017. Each production will have a two-week run with 11 performances and will be part of a three-month collaboration with Center Theatre Group. The visiting companies and their productions will receive the full support of Center Theatre Group and its staff in order to fund, stage and market each production. The three visiting companies invited to join Block Party will be announced in December.

“I’m excited to get artists and arts administrators we haven’t worked with before into our building,” said Center Theatre Group Associate Producer Lindsay Allbaugh. “More collaboration can only strengthen our community as a whole, and our community’s national reputation.”

Center Theatre Group accepted submissions for Block Party from intimate theatre companies in the greater Los Angeles area. Each company was able to submit one of its productions that opened between January 1, 2015, and August 12, 2016. With Block Party, Center Theatre Group hopes to strengthen relationships within the Los Angeles community, create additional avenues for the organization to become familiar with local playwrights, actors, directors and designers, and foster relationships between Center Theatre Group staff and the staff at theatre companies throughout Los Angeles.

Block Party receives generous support from Joni and Miles Benickes and Aliza and Marc Guren.

Center Theatre Group has a long history of pairing with local theatre companies including the Deaf West production of “Big River” which was produced at the Mark Taper Forum in 2002 and went on to Broadway before returning to the Ahmanson Theatre in 2005 as part of a national tour. More recently, Center Theatre Group partnered with Ebony Repertory Theatre for the remounting of “A Raisin in the Sun” (which played at the Douglas), 24th Street Theatre’s “Walking the Tightrope” (also at the Douglas) and other productions around the city such as “The Behavior of Broadus” (with Burglars of Hamm and Sacred Fools Theater Company) and “Birder” (with The Road Theatre Company).

The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd. in Culver City, CA 90232. Ample free parking and restaurants are adjacent.

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October 12, 2016

The Music Center and Center Theatre Group To Dim Lights For Gordon Davidson

Center Theatre Group — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0700

THE MUSIC CENTER AND CENTER THEATRE GROUP’S KIRK DOUGLAS THEATRE WILL DIM THEIR LIGHTS IN HONOR OF GORDON DAVIDSON ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2016

On Saturday, October 8 at 8 p.m., the four Music Center theatres – Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and Walt Disney Concert Hall – along with the Kirk Douglas Theatre, will dim their lights in honor of Gordon Davidson, Founding Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group. Gordon Davidson passed away Sunday, October 2, 2016.

“In keeping with the long-standing Broadway tradition, Center Theatre Group and The Music Center will dim our lights to honor the life and legacy of Gordon Davidson,” said Center Theatre Group Artistic Director, Michael Ritchie. “It is a small recognition of Gordon’s giant contribution to the city and the art form that he loved.”

“Gordon Davidson’s passion for the performing arts made an immeasurable impact on the Los Angeles arts scene and directly contributed to The Music Center’s success,” said Rachel Moore, president and CEO, The Music Center. “We will be forever grateful to him for his talent, dedication and pioneering spirit.”

From 1967 to 2005 Gordon Davidson was the Artistic Director of the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum at The Music Center. Davidson was also the Producing Director of the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre for 15 years, and the Artistic Director of the inaugural season (2004-2005) at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. In addition to redefining theatre in Southern California, he was one of the founders of the regional theatre movement and had a permanent impact on theatre throughout the country and the world.

Gordon guided hundreds of productions to the Taper stage while overseeing numerous special projects sponsored by the Taper. This work and his direction of many of the Taper plays were acclaimed both in Los Angeles and New York, garnering the Taper a Tony Award for theatrical excellence in 1977.

Gordon was born on May 7, 1933, and is survived by his wife, Judi; their children, Adam and Rachel; and five granddaughters.

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October 7, 2016

Center Theatre Group Launches TodayTix Mobile Lottery

Center Theatre Group — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0700

CENTER THEATRE GROUP PARTNERS WITH TODAYTIX TO LAUNCH MOBILE LOTTERY IN CELEBRATION OF 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Center Theatre Group has partnered with TodayTix to launch a Mobile Lottery for the Ahmanson 2016/17 Season. In honor of Center Theatre Group’s 50th Anniversary, TodayTix will offer $19.67 lottery tickets all season long at the Ahmanson Theatre to celebrate the year Center Theatre Group was born.

TodayTix will run the Mobile Lottery for Center Theatre Group’s 2016/17 Season at the Ahmanson Theatre including the following productions: “A View From the Bridge,” “Amelie, A New Musical,” “Fun Home,” “Into the Woods,” “Jersey Boys,” and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”

The daily Mobile Lottery will begin each night at midnight and close five hours before the designated performance. Lottery winners will be notified 3-5 hours prior to the performance and will have 30 minutes to claim and pay for their $19.67 lottery tickets in-app. Lottery winners will then be able to pick up their tickets from the Box Office beginning one hour prior to the performance.

Mobile Lottery participants must download the TodayTix app from the Apple Store, Google Play Store, or Amazon App Store and enter the Mobile Lottery in-app to win up to two tickets. The lottery ticket locations will be best available in a premium seating section. Winners and non-winners will receive confirmation emails, and non-winners will be encouraged to enter future lotteries or purchase non-lottery tickets at an exclusive discount. The Mobile Lottery launched September 22 for the Friday evening performance of “A View From the Bridge” and runs through the final performance of the Ahmanson 2016/17 Season. The Mobile Lottery will exclude all matinee performances.

"Center Theatre Group is thrilled to partner with TodayTix for our 50th anniversary season,” said Deborah Warren, Center Theatre Group’s Director of Marketing, “We hope that this enables more people to experience the incredible productions we have coming up at the Ahmanson Theatre – including six award-winning new plays, musicals, and beloved classics.”

"We're honored to launch this partnership and celebrate a fantastic 50th season at Center Theatre Group," said Brian Fenty, co-founder and Executive Chairman at TodayTix, "After 50 years of invaluable artistic contributions to Los Angeles and the theatre community at large, we're proud to join forces and make this anniversary season accessible to new audiences through the Mobile Lottery."

TodayTix is the first and only free mobile app for iOS and Android that provides access to the best prices on last minute theater tickets, booked same-day or within a week’s time. Operating in the world’s most iconic theater markets, TodayTix secures the best discounted and full price tickets available for the hottest shows in Los Angeles, New York City, London’s West End, the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington DC, Chicago, Boston and Connecticut. To learn more, please visit www.TodayTix.com or download TodayTix for iOS, Android and Amazon devices.

For further information about Center Theatre Group’s TodayTix Mobile Lottery, please call (213) 628-2772 or visit www.CenterTheatreGroup.org. The Ahmanson Theatre is located at the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012.

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October 5, 2016

Jon Robin Baitz's “Vicuña” Cast Is Set And Rehearsals Are Underway

Center Theatre Group — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 22:46:00 -0700

The cast is set and rehearsals are underway for the world premiere of Jon Robin Baitz’s “Vicuña,” with previews beginning October 23 and opening set for October 30, 2016, at Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre. Directed by Robert Egan, “Vicuña” plays through November 20.

The cast includes, in alphabetical order, Linda Gehringer, Brian George, Harry Groener, Ramiz Monsef and Samantha Sloyan.

Influenced by the evolving political landscape, this brand new satire focuses on a brash presidential candidate on the rise—a blustering real estate tycoon and reality TV star—and the world-renowned tailor he coerces into serving him. “Vicuña” delves beneath the overstitching, through the weave and into the true power of the power suit. A suit may or may not make the man but it can definitely be revealing. A timely take on our rollicking political scene from Pulitzer finalist Baitz.

The scenic design for “Vicuña” is by Kevin Depinet, costume design is by Laura Bauer, lighting design is by Tom Ontiveros and original music and sound design is by Karl Fredrik Lundeberg. Casting is by Meg Fister and the production stage manager is Brooke Baldwin.

Plus join us for a special election night performance with complimentary post-show drinks in our lobby bar on November 8. The lobby will be open both before the 8 p.m. performance and after the show with election results on our lobby monitors.

Tickets for “Vicuña” are available by calling (213) 628-2772 or online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org. Tickets range from $25 – $70 (ticket prices are subject to change). The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd. in Culver City, CA 90232. Ample free parking and restaurants are adjacent.

September 30, 2016

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Center Theatre Group Mourns Loss of Gordon Davidson

Center Theatre Group — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 20:47:00 -0700

CENTER THEATRE GROUP MOURNS THE LOSS OF GORDON DAVIDSON

Center Theatre Group mourns the loss of its Founding Artistic Director, Gordon Davidson, who passed away Sunday, October 2, 2016. Plans for a memorial event will be announced in the coming days.

“Gordon Davidson was one of the most renowned and respected artistic directors in regional theatre, in large part because he was one of the original founders of the entire concept,” said Center Theatre Group Artistic Director, Michael Ritchie. “He led Center Theatre Group for 38 years and produced one of the broadest arrays of plays, particularly new plays, of any theatre in the country. Without his prolific vision for Center Theatre Group 50 years ago, the theatrical landscape in Los Angeles, and the country, would be very different. He remains one of theatre’s great leaders and I was proud to call him a mentor, friend and colleague.”

From 1967 to 2005 Gordon Davidson was the Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center of Los Angeles. In addition to his role at the Taper, Davidson was the Producing Director of the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre for 15 years, and the Artistic Director of the inaugural season (2004-2005) at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. In addition to redefining theatre in Southern California, he was one of the founders of the regional theatre movement and had a permanent impact on theatre throughout the country and the world.

Under Gordon, the Taper was distinguished by having two of its plays “The Kentucky Cycle” and “Angels in America” (Part One – “Millennium Approaches”) receive in consecutive years the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, the first time for plays produced outside of New York. “Angels in America,” when subsequently produced on Broadway, also received in consecutive years two Tony Awards for Best Play, for Part One and Part Two – “Perestroika,” respectively. In fact, in 1994 when “Perestroika” won the Tony Award, three of the four plays nominated for Best Play were Taper plays (with “The Kentucky Cycle” and “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” joining “Perestroika”).

Davidson’s direction of “Children of a Lesser God” (which received two Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, including Distinguished Production) brought him a Tony Award nomination (one of four nominations for the play) and a New York Drama Desk Award nomination (one of five). “Children of a Lesser God” won three 1980 Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Actor and Best Actress.

In 1977, Davidson won a Tony Award for his direction of “The Shadow Box,” which also won the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for Best Play for its author, Michael Cristofer. In that same season, Davidson was the recipient of an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Director for “The Shadow Box” at the Morosco Theatre and “Savages” at the Hudson Guild Theatre, and an Obie for his direction of “Savages.” Earlier he had received two Margo Jones Awards for his work in encouraging new plays and playwrights.

Davidson also staged The Phoenix Theatre productions of “Murderous Angels” and “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine,” winning an Obie Award and a Tony Award nomination for the latter play, and he was honored with a New York Drama Desk Award for “In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” staged at Lincoln Center. “The Shadow Box,” “Savages,” “Murderous Angels,” “Oppenheimer” and “Catonsville” premiered at the Taper under Davidson's direction, whose other credits there include “The Devils,” “Who's Happy Now?,” “Rosebloom,” “Henry IV, Part I,” “Mass,” “Hamlet,” “Too Much Johnson,” “And Where She Stops Nobody Knows,” “Getting Out,” “Black Angels,” “Terra Nova,” “Children of a Lesser God,” “The Lady and the Clarinet,” “Chekhov in Yalta,” “Tales From Hollywood,” “The Hands of Its Enemy,” “Traveler in the Dark,” “The Real Thing,” “Ghetto,” “Dutch Landscape,” “Unfinished Stories," “Nine Armenians,” “QED” and “Stuff Happens.”

For the Ahmanson Theatre, he directed a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” at the Doolittle Theatre, and after supervising the remodeling of the Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center, he staged the 30th anniversary production of “Candide” in November 1995 as the first production in the new Ahmanson.

He directed the first play presented in the new Kirk Douglas Theatre – the world premiere of “A Perfect Wedding.”

The Taper was the co-producer of the theatre portion of the Olympic Arts Festival in Los Angeles in the summer of 1984. Davidson directed the West Coast premiere of Arthur Miller's “The American Clock” for the Taper's 1984 Repertory Festival, which was a participant in the Olympic Arts Festival.

For television, he directed “It's the Willingness” by Marsha Norman for the PBS Visions series. He also directed the feature film version of “Catonsville” and the television version of “Who's Happy Now?” for the NET Theatre in America series. In 1976 he directed “Otello” for the Israel Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta conducting. In 1985, Davidson directed the world premiere of Thea Musgrave's “Harriet, The Woman Called Moses” for the Virginia Opera Association. His staging of Leonard Bernstein's “Mass” opened the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and he directed “A Midsummer's Night's Dream” for the LA Opera.

In Los Angeles, Davidson was honored by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle with a Special Award for his outstanding contributions to American playwrights and three Distinguished Direction Awards. He also received a LADCC Award for the Taper's New Theatre For Now In the Works festival. He was given The Governor's Award for the Arts in 1990 honoring his contributions to the performing arts in California, and in 1997 the Founders League of the Music Center of Los Angeles County honored him for 30 years of artistic leadership. He was also awarded the 1993 Casting Society of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Honorary Gold Card membership into IATSE, Local 33, and the “Mr. Abbott” Award for Lifetime Achievement, among many other awards.

In January 2000 Davidson was inducted in to the Theater Hall of Fame on Broadway.

Davidson was appointed to the National Council on the Arts by President Clinton and was a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He served as president of Theatre Communications Group and the League of Resident Theatres, and was a board member of several arts organizations including the Non-Traditional Casting Project. He received honorary doctorates from Brooklyn College, California Institute of the Arts and Claremont University Center.

He regularly served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, as an artistic advisor for the Fund for New American Plays, and he was a member of the advisory boards for the Cornell Center for the Performing Arts and the Jewish Theatre Association.

Gordon was born on May 7, 1933, and is survived by his wife, Judi; their children, Adam and Rachel; and five granddaughters.

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October 3, 2016

Gordon Davidson Memorial

Center Theatre Group — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 20:45:00 -0700