Center Theatre Group News & Blogs

Center Theatre Group and More Host Virtual Going Pro Career Fair

Center Theatre Group — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 16:27:00 -0700

CENTER THEATRE GROUP, USC, UCLA, CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY AND LA STAGE ALLIANCE PRESENT THE VIRTUAL GOING PRO CAREER FAIR ON SATURDAY, APRIL 18

All Aspiring Theatre Professionals Can Access Free Workshops and More From Their Phone, Computer or Tablet

Center Theatre Group invites all aspiring theatre professionals to participate in the virtual Going Pro Career Fair on Saturday, April 18, 2020, starting at 9:30 a.m. Co-presented by USC School of Dramatic Arts; the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television; Chapman University College of Performing Arts; and LA STAGE Alliance, the free event will now be conducted in a virtual format which is available for all to access from their personal devices (phone, computer or tablet). While the event is free, reservations are recommended in order to receive updates about the fair and how to log on. To RSVP or for more information, please visit CTGLA.org/GoingPro. Reservations will be accepted through Thursday, April 16 at 5 p.m.

“When it became clear we needed to restructure the Going Pro Career Fair as a virtual event, we reached out to the dozens of theatre professionals, higher education partners and workshop facilitators who had already signed on to be a part of the day, asking them to re-imagine their participation for a completely digital format,” said Center Theatre Group Next Generation Initiatives Director Camille Schenkkan. “We’re deeply grateful for the resiliency and flexibility of our community. We’ve been able to translate an in-person event with 400+ guests into something that’s equally exciting: a totally virtual experience, with many parts open to anyone who wants to participate.”

The Going Pro Career Fair is intended to help current undergraduate and graduate students prepare for a professional theatre career; however, the virtual fair is open to any and all interested parties. This year, the fair will focus on people: from agents and managers to artistic collaborators. Attendees will learn how to cultivate their network, make informed business decisions and celebrate their own artistry. To provide insight on these topics, the following workshops and panels will be offered in a virtual format:

Intro & Resource Roundup – 9:30 to 10 a.m.
The People You Hire Panel: Agents, Managers & More – 10 to 11 a.m.
Finding Your Collaborators Panel: Making Theatre with Friends (Or Not) – 11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Conflict Resolution for Stage Managers & Others – 12:15 to 1:15 p.m.
100% That Boss: Entrepreneurship for Artists – 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Success and Self-Care for Artists – 2:45 to 3:45 p.m.

In addition to the virtual workshops, which are available to everyone, the Going Pro Career Fair will also provide the following exclusively to current undergraduate and graduate students:

Speed Mentorship – 12 to 4 p.m. – Students who RSVP in advance can sign up to participate in a 20-minute virtual meeting session with a working arts professional. Sessions will be filled on a first come, first served basis.
Self-Tape Auditions – Organized by LA Stage Alliance, there will be 100 slots for students to provide self-tape auditions to be seen by producers and directors from Los Angeles theatre companies. These slots will be filled first by currently registered students with any remaining openings filled on a first come, first served basis for those who RSVP.
Free Headshot Sessions – Center Theatre Group will provide 150 free mini-headshot sessions over the course of two days. Priority will be given to students who registered early. Sessions will take place later in the spring, with exact date to be announced.
Free Backstage Subscription – Students who RSVP to the Going Pro Career Fair will receive info on how to claim a free year-long subscription to Backstage. The offer is only available to new subscribers.

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Ritchie, Managing Director Meghan Pressman and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1600 to 2100-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.

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March 24, 2020

'Once on This Island' Calendar Release

Center Theatre Group — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 15:34:00 -0800

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

April – May 2020

EVENT:

“Once on This Island”

Book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens

Music by Stephen Flaherty

Choreographed by Camille A. Brown

Directed by Michael Arden

DESCRIPTION:

Winner of the 2018 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, “Once on This Island” is the sweeping, universal tale of Ti Moune, a fearless peasant girl in search of her place in the world, and ready to risk it all for love. Guided by the mighty island gods, Ti Moune sets out on a remarkable journey to reunite with the man who has captured her heart.

DATES/TIMES:

Previews Tuesday, April 7 at 8 p.m.

Opens Wednesday, April 8 at 8 p.m.

Through May 10, 2020.

Regular Performances (April 9 – May 10): Tuesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. No Monday performances.

Exceptions: No public performance on Thursday, April 30. Added 2 p.m. performance on

Thursday, May 7. No 6:30 p.m. performance on Sunday, May 10.

TICKET INFO:

Ticket prices: $35 – $145 (subject to change) and are available online at CenterTheatreGroup.org, by calling Audience Services at (213) 972-4400 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Office. Groups: (213) 972-7231. Deaf Community: Information and charge, visit CenterTheatreGroup.org/ACCESS.

LOCATION:

Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre

At The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012

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March 4, 2020

Cast Announced for 'The Antipodies' at the Mark Taper Forum

Center Theatre Group — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 12:31:00 -0800

CAST IS SET FOR ANNIE BAKER’S “THE ANTIPODES” MARCH 26 – APRIL 26 AT THE MARK TAPER FORUM

The cast is set for Pulitzer-winning playwright Annie Baker’s sharp new comedy, “The Antipodes,” at the Mark Taper Forum March 25 through April 26, 2020. Directed by Machel Ross based on Lila Neugebauer’s original direction of the world premiere at Signature Theatre, leads the Center Theatre Group production opens April 1.

The cast includes, in alphabetical order, Andrew Garman, Arye Gross, Josh Hamilton, Alex Hurt, Emily Cass McDonnell, Brian Miskell, Louis Ozawa, Matthew Rauch and Nicole Rodenburg. The creative team features scenic design by Laura Jellinek, costume design by Kaye Voyce, lighting design by Tyler Micoleau and sound design by Bray Poor. The choreographer is David Neumann, the illusion consultant is Steve Cuiffo and the production stage manager is David S. Franklin. Casing is by Telsey + Company and Michael Donovan.

A play about people telling stories about telling stories by the playwright that The New York Times has called “one of the freshest and most talented dramatists to emerge Off Broadway in the past decade,” “The Antipodes” follows nine characters thrown together in an undefined writers’ room.

Ben Brantley of The New York Times called “The Antipodes,” “Annie Baker’s in-all-ways fabulous new play about professional fabulators in pursuit of the ultimate yarn.” Adding, “Directed with a time-blurring seamlessness by Lila Neugebauer … ‘The Antipodes’ leaves you glowing with a wondering satisfaction. I mean the happy satiety that comes from being in the hands of a real right-brain/left-brain author who channels her ineffable instincts with a master artisan’s practical skills.”

Annie Baker’s other plays include “John” (Obie Award for Collaboration, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations for Best Play), “The Flick” (Pulitzer, Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Obie Award for Playwriting, UK Critics Circle Award for Best New Play), “Circle Mirror Transformation” (Obie Award for Best New American Play, Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), “The Aliens” (Obie Award for Best New American Play), “Body Awareness” (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Play/Emerging Playwright) and an adaptation of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” (Drama Desk nomination for Best Revival), for which she also designed the costumes. Her plays have been produced at over 200 theatres throughout the U.S. and in over a dozen countries. Other honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, Steinberg Playwriting Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, the Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library and a MacArthur Fellowship.

Tickets for “The Antipodes” 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 $25 – $110 (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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March 3, 2020

Center Theatre Group Names National Finalists for 2020 AWMC

Center Theatre Group — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 13:13:00 -0800

CENTER THEATRE GROUP NAMES THREE LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FOR 2020 AUGUST WILSON MONOLOGUE COMPETITION NATIONAL FINALS IN NYC

Top Two Students Will Participate in National Finals on Broadway on May 4

Center Theatre Group has named Kyle Branch, Tyla Uzo and Fletcher Jones as the top performers of the August Wilson Monologue Competition (AWMC) Regional Finals held at the Mark Taper Forum on February 25, 2020. Branch and Uzo will go on to represent Los Angeles in the national finals on May 4, 2020.

Kyle Branch of Los Angeles County High School for the Arts has placed first in the regional competition, earning a $500 scholarship; Tyla Uzo of Ramón C. Cortines High School of Visual and Performing Arts took second place with a $400 scholarship; and Fletcher Jones of Ramón C. Cortines High School of Visual and Performing Arts took third place and a $300 scholarship. Both Branch and Uzo will also receive a paid trip to New York City to perform on the stage of the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway. They will compete in a semi-final round with 28 other students from cities around the country. Fifteen of those students will be selected for the national finals while the other 13 will be part of a performance montage. Jones will serve as the Los Angeles alternate.

This is the ninth consecutive year that Center Theatre Group hosted the Southern California component of the national monologue competition. The program is designed to inspire and educate Los Angeles youth using monologues from August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle,” a 10-play cycle that details the complexity of the African American experience in the 20th century.

Branch, Uzo and Jones were selected from a pool of 12 regional finalists representing nine local high schools within Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. As preparation for the national component of the competition, the top two selected students will receive master classes to workshop their monologues.

AWMC kicked off this season with a preliminary audition that featured 122 students in 10th, 11th or 12th-grade from 30 different high schools in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Fifty-four of those students advanced to a semi-final audition held at The Music Center Annex in December 2019 where the aforementioned 12 regional finalists were selected to move forward.

Center Theatre Group also offers an in-school residency as part of the larger August Wilson Program. The August Wilson In-School Residency is a semester-long program that provides Title 1 students with an in-depth study of the work of August Wilson. This year, classes from Ánimo Leadership Charter High School, Carson High School and Roybal Learning Center are taking part in the residency. The students and teachers from each school attended the AWMC Los Angeles Regional Finals as part of their residency experience, witnessing the power of theatre as their peers bring August Wilson’s characters to life.

AWMC is a national program presented by Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company and Jujamcyn Theaters and hosted in cities throughout the country, including Atlanta; Boston; Buffalo, New York; Chicago; Dallas; Greensboro, North Carolina; Los Angeles; New Haven, Connecticut; New York; Norfolk, Virginia; Pittsburgh; Portland, Oregon; San Diego; and Seattle. Each city runs its program differently and each experience is designed to provide intensive learning opportunities for high school students to study and practice the craft of acting through the work of August Wilson.

Center Theatre Group’s August Wilson Program is presented by the Center Theatre Group Affiliates. The August Wilson Program receives generous support from the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund and the Rosenthal Family Foundation as well as support from The Michael Shaw Jacobs Fund, Lawrence P. Frank Foundation and Sascha Brastoff Foundation.

Center Theatre Group honors its long-standing relationship with August Wilson through its August Wilson Program, as well as through its continued production of Wilson’s work. Center Theatre Group has presented nine of Wilson’s plays, including two world premiere productions of his work. Most recently, Wilson’s “Jitney” had a successful run at the Mark Taper Forum in 2019.

More information on Center Theatre Group’s August Wilson Monologue Competition can be found at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org/AugustWilson.

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March 2, 2020