Center Theatre Group News & Blogs

'Ain't Too Proud' Begins Performances at Ahmanson

Center Theatre Group — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 11:40:00 -0700

THE LOS ANGELES PRE-BROADWAY ENGAGEMENT OF

BEGINS PERFORMANCES AT CENTER THEATRE GROUP / AHMANSON THEATRE AUGUST 21 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2018

“Not just your imagination: ‘TEMPTATIONS’ MUSICAL ROCKS!” - SF Chronicle

The pre-Broadway run of “Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of The Temptations” at Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre will begin performances on Tuesday, August 21. The opening is set for August 24 at 8 p.m., and performances will continue through September 30, 2018.

Leading this production as the Temptations will be Derrick Baskin as Otis Williams, James Harkness as Paul Williams, Jawan M. Jackson as Melvin Franklin, Jeremy Pope as Eddie Kendricks and Ephraim Sykes as David Ruffin. “Ain’t Too Proud” will also feature Esther Antoine, Shawn Bowers, E. Clayton Cornelious, Rodney Earl Jackson Jr., Taylor Symone Jackson, Jahi Kearse, Jarvis B. Manning Jr., Joshua Morgan, Saint Aubyn, Rashidra Scott, Nasia Thomas, Christian Thompson, Curtis Wiley and Candice Marie Woods.

Before The Temptations became the greatest R&B group of all time (Billboard magazine 2017), they were just five young guys on the streets of Detroit. After getting discovered by Berry Gordy and signed to his brand-new label, Motown Records, it took them 24 tries before they finally had a hit song. The rest is history—how they met, how they rose, the groundbreaking heights they hit, and how personal and political conflicts threatened to tear the group apart as the United States fell into civil unrest. This thrilling story of brotherhood, family, loyalty and betrayal is set to the beat of the group’s treasured hits, including “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and so many more.

With a book by Kennedy Prize-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau and a score made up of The Temptations’ iconic hit songs, “Ain’t Too Proud” recently ended its record-breaking, world premiere run at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where it became the highest grossing production in that theatre’s nearly 50-year history. Two-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff directs, with choreography by Olivier Award winner Sergio Trujillo.

The creative team also includes Tony Award nominee Robert Brill (scenic design), Tony Award winner Paul Tazewell (costume design), Tony Award winner Howell Binkley (lighting design), Tony Award winner Steve Canyon Kennedy (sound design), Drama Desk Award winner Peter Nigrini (projection design), Edgar Godineaux (associate choreographer), Charles G. LaPointe (hair and wig design) and Steve Rankin (fight direction). Orchestrations are by Drama Desk Award winner Harold Wheeler with music direction and arrangements by Kenny Seymour.

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under Artistic Director Michael Ritchie, programs 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.

Bank of America is the season sponsor and Delta Air Lines is the official airline sponsor for Center Theatre Group’s 2018 – 2019 season at the Ahmanson Theatre.

Tickets for “Ain’t Too Proud” are available by calling (213) 972-4400, online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, or by visiting the Center Theatre Group Box Office located at the Ahmanson Theatre. Tickets range from $30 – $145 (ticket prices are subject to change). The Ahmanson Theatre is located at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, 90012.

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August 21, 2018

'Sweat' Opens at Taper

Center Theatre Group — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 11:40:00 -0700

CENTER THEATRE GROUP’S PRODUCTION OF “SWEAT” OPENS AT THE MARK TAPER FORUM

Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play Continues Through October 7

Center Theatre Group’s production of “Sweat” by Lynn Nottage will open at the Mark Taper Forum on Wednesday, September 5 at 8 p.m. Directed by Lisa Peterson, the 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning play is currently in previews and continues through October 7, 2018.

The cast includes, in alphabetical order, Kevin T. Carroll, Grantham Coleman, Will Hochman, John Earl Jelks, Mary Mara, Peter Mendoza, Michael O’Keefe, Amy Pietz and Portia.

The creative team includes set design by Christopher Barreca, costume design by Emilio Sosa, lighting design by Anne Militello, sound design by Paul James Prendergast and projection design by Yee Eun Nam. The production stage manager is David S. Franklin.

Filled with warm humor and tremendous heart, “Sweat” tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs, promotions and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight to stay afloat.

In his review of the Off-Broadway production for The New York Times, Charles Isherwood called “Sweat,” “Keenly observed and often surprisingly funny,” adding that “Ms. Nottage, a Pulitzer Prize winner for ‘Ruined,’ is writing at the peak of her powers.” Deadline’s Jeremy Girard called the play “ferociously engrossing” stating, “no play in recent memory has shed more light on the crises and tribulations of America’s great retrenched working middle class.”

In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Nottage’s play “Ruined” received an Obie, the Lucille Lortel Award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play. Her other plays include “Intimate Apparel” (New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play), “Fabulation or, The Re-Education Of Undine” (Obie Award), “Crumbs from the Table of Joy,” “Las Meninas,” “Mud, River, Stone,” “Por’knockers” and “Poof!” Nottage’s numerous awards include the 2007 MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant,” the National Black Theatre Festival’s August Wilson Playwriting Award, the 2004 PEN/Laura Pels Award for Drama and the 2005 Guggenheim Grant for Playwriting, as well as fellowships from the Lucille Lortel Foundation, Manhattan Theatre Club, New Dramatists and New York Foundation for the Arts. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild, an alumna of New Dramatists and a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama, where she is a visiting lecturer.

Tickets are available online at CenterTheatreGroup.org, by calling Audience Services at (213) 628-2772 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Office (at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles). Tickets range from $30 – $99 (ticket prices are subject to change). The Mark Taper Forum is located at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012.

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August 31, 2018

Rehearsals Have Begun for 'School Girls' at Douglas

Center Theatre Group — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 11:30:00 -0700

REHEARSALS HAVE BEGUN FOR “SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY” AT CENTER THEATRE GROUP’S KIRK DOUGLAS THEATRE

Jocelyn Bioh’s Acclaimed New Play Will Run September 2 Through 30, 2018

Rehearsals have begun for the hit MCC Theater production of “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” by Jocelyn Bioh. Directed by Rebecca Taichman, the production will begin previews September 2, open September 8 and continue through September 30, 2018, at Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Following the Los Angeles run at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, the MCC production of “School Girls” will have an encore run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York from October 16 through November 25, 2018.

The cast for “School Girls” includes, in alphabetical order, MaameYaa Boafo, Latoya Edwards, Paige Gilbert, Joanna A. Jones, Abena Mensah-Bonsu, Mirirai Sithole and Myra Lucretia Taylor. Due to scheduling conflicts, Zainab Jah will no longer be part of this production. Zenzi Williams will now play the role of Eloise Amponsah.

The creative team includes set design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Jen Schriever, sound design by Palmer Hefferan, dialect coaching by Deborah Hecht and casting by Telsey + Company/Adam Caldwell, CSA, William Cantler, CSA, Karyn Casl, CSA. Laura Wilson is the production stage manager and Ayisha Hunt is the stage manager.

Paulina, the reigning queen bee at Ghana’s most exclusive boarding school, has her sights set on the Miss Universe pageant. But the arrival of Ericka, a new student with undeniable talent and beauty, captures the attention of the pageant recruiter—and Paulina’s hive-minded friends. Jocelyn Bioh’s buoyant and biting comedy explores the universal similarities (and glaring differences) facing teenage girls across the globe.

Jesse Green of The New York Times said, “The nasty-teen comedy genre emerges wonderfully refreshed and even deepened by its immersion in a world it never considered.” The New Yorker’s Hilton Als called Jocelyn Bioh “a latter-day Restoration comedian,” adding “‘School Girls’ comments on the times—in this case, on our fascinating era, in which so much debate centers on the body, especially the female body.” And, in his review in The Hollywood Reporter, Frank Scheck concluded, “‘School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play’ is a ferociously entertaining morality tale that proves as heartwarming as it is hilarious.”

“School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” had its world-premiere at MCC on November 2, 2017. The 2017-2018 award season garnered four Lucille Lortel Award nominations including wins for Outstanding Play, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for Mirirai Sithole, and Outstanding Costume Design for Dede Ayite. It also received a 2018 Drama Desk Special Award for Ensemble, the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for Playwright, the Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award and nominations for Best Play by The Drama League and from the Off Broadway Alliance.

Jocelyn Bioh is a Ghanaian-American writer and performer. NYC acting credits include “In the Blood” (Signature Theatre, Drama Desk Nomination), “Everybody” (Signature Theatre, Lortel nomination), “Men On Boats” (Playwrights Horizons), “An Octoroon” (Soho Rep), “Neighbors” (The Public) and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” (2015 Tony Award for Best Play). Her plays include 2015 Kilroys’ List selection “Nollywood Dreams” (part of 2017 The Cherry Lane Mentor Project), “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” (2017/18 MCC Theater, Lortel Award, OCC John Gassner Award, Hull-Warriner Award, Drama Desk Nomination, Drama League Nomination, Off-Broadway Alliance Nomination, Kilroys’ List 2016), “African Americans” (2011 Ruby Prize Finalist), “Goddess” (book writer) and “The Ladykiller’s Love Story” of which she conceived the story and wrote the libretto with music/lyrics by CeeLo Green. She is a commissioned playwright with Manhattan Theatre Club, Atlantic Theater Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Second Stage Theater. She is a resident playwright at Lincoln Center and is a 2017-18 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence with MCC Theater. She has a BA in English and Theatre from Ohio State University and an MFA in Playwriting.

Tickets for “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” are available by calling (213) 628-2772, online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, at the Center Theatre Group Box Office at the Ahmanson Theatre or at the Kirk Douglas Theatre Box Office two hours prior to performance. Tickets range from $25 – $72 (ticket prices are subject to change). The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd. in Culver City, CA 90232. Free three hour covered parking at City Hall with validation (available in the Kirk Douglas Theatre lobby).

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August 17, 2018

Cast Announced for 'School Girls' at the Douglas

Center Theatre Group — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 16:44:00 -0700

CAST ANNOUNCED FOR “SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY” AT CENTER THEATRE GROUP’S KIRK DOUGLAS THEATRE

Jocelyn Bioh’s Acclaimed New Play Will Run September 2 Through 30, 2018

Center Theatre Group has announced the casting for the hit MCC Theater production of “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” by Jocelyn Bioh. Directed by Rebecca Taichman, the production will begin previews September 2, open September 8 and continue through September 30, 2018, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

The cast for “School Girls” includes, in alphabetical order, MaameYaa Boafo, Latoya Edwards, Paige Gilbert, Zainab Jah, Joanna A. Jones, Abena Mensah-Bonsu, Mirirai Sithole and Myra Lucretia Taylor. The creative team includes set design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Jen Schriever, sound design by Palmer Hefferan, dialect coaching by Deborah Hecht and casting by Telsey + Company/Adam Caldwell, CSA, William Cantler, CSA, Karyn Casl, CSA. Laura Wilson is the production stage manager and Ayisha Hunt is the stage manager.

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August 2, 2018

Rehearsals Begin for 'Sweat' at the Taper

Center Theatre Group — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 16:44:00 -0700

REHEARSALS BEGIN FOR “SWEAT” AT THE MARK TAPER FORUM

Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play Begins Previews August 29 Opens September 5 and Continues Through October 7

Rehearsals have begun for Center Theatre Group’s production of “Sweat” by Lynn Nottage. The 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning play will be presented at the Mark Taper Forum August 29 through October 7, 2018. Directed by Lisa Peterson, the opening of “Sweat” is set for September 5.

The cast includes, in alphabetical order, Kevin T. Carroll, Grantham Coleman, Will Hochman, John Earl Jelks, Mary Mara, Peter Mendoza, Michael O’Keefe, Amy Pietz and Portia.

In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Nottage’s play “Ruined,” received an Obie, the Lucille Lortel Award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play. Her other plays include “Intimate Apparel” (New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play), “Fabulation or, The Re-Education Of Undine” (Obie Award), “Crumbs from the Table of Joy,” “Las Meninas,” “Mud, River, Stone,” “Por’knockers” and “Poof!” Nottage’s numerous awards include the 2007 MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant,” the National Black Theatre Festival’s August Wilson Playwriting Award, the 2004 PEN/Laura Pels Award for Drama and the 2005 Guggenheim Grant for Playwriting, as well as fellowships from the Lucille Lortel Foundation, Manhattan Theatre Club, New Dramatists and New York Foundation for the Arts. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild, an alumna of New Dramatists and a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama, where she is a visiting lecturer.

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August 8, 2018

Center Theatre Group To Offer Free Tickets For Theatregoers 25 Years Old and Younger

Center Theatre Group — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 16:44:00 -0700

CENTER THEATRE GROUP TO OFFER FREE TICKETS FOR THEATREGOERS 25 YEARS OLD AND YOUNGER

FreePlay Tickets Available For the First Preview of All Center Theatre Group Productions at the Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre Tickets Will Be Free at the Box Office $5 Per Ticket Handling Fee Required For Phone or Online Reservations

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie announced the new FreePlay program. Anyone who is 25 years old or younger will be able to reserve free tickets to the first preview of all Center Theatre Group productions at the Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre. Reservations are free if made in-person at the box office. There will be a $5 per ticket handling fee to reserve online at CTGLA.org/FreePlay or over the phone by calling (213) 628-2772.

“Center Theatre Group’s mission focuses on introducing the largest possible audiences, from all across Los Angeles, to theatre,” said Ritchie. “Through programs like FreePlay, we are making a direct effort to welcome new theatregoers by lowering any perceived barriers of our organization or live theatre overall. It’s imperative that we strive to create a more vibrant Los Angeles with a stronger cultural fabric that supports such accessible experiences.”

Reservations will be made available approximately two weeks before the first preview of each production – people who would like to receive emailed notifications of each production’s availability can sign up at CTGLA.org/FreePlay. Beginning Friday, August 17 reservations will be available for “Sweat” at the Mark Taper Forum (first preview on August 29) and for “School Girls” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (first preview on September 2).

Patrons will be allowed to reserve two FreePlay tickets. Tickets will be distributed at will call on the day of the performance and each person utilizing a FreePlay ticket must be 25 or under with a valid ID. Tickets must be picked up from the box office no less than 30 minutes prior to curtain.

For more information on FreePlay, please visit CTGLA.org/FreePlay. For general ticket information, please visit CenterTheatreGroup.org, call Audience Services at (213) 628-2772 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Office (at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles). The Mark Taper Forum is located at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012. The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd. in Culver City, CA 90232.

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August 17, 2018