News And Blogs

We can’t wait to showcase the work of three multi-talented artists at our inaugural L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival: New Plays Forged in L.A. on June 23, 2018. Sylvan Oswald, Dan O’Brien, and Zakiyyah Alexander are among the 89 playwrights who have participated in Center Theatre Group’s L.A. Writers’ Workshop since 2005. Before we stage r...

Meet the 2018 L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival Playwrights

There are some theatregoers who argue that despite added hassle, the act of going to a theatre and watching a play in-person is virtuous and the very cornerstone of the art.

A Few of The 2018 Tony Nominees We’re Rooting For!

If we traveled back 70 years in American theatre, a booming parade of sweeping love ballads and uplifting melodic celebrations would welcome us. It’s not dissimilar to the music onstage at the Ahmanson Theatre May 3 – June 10, 2018 for Soft Power, the new show from David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori....

From Revivals to Reconstruction

Tony-Award®-winning composer Jeanine Tesori is known for translating America’s most iconic musical styles to the stage with shows like Caroline, or Change and Fun Home. But even if you appreciate the blend of eras and references that fill her music, don’t call her work “pastiche.”...

Jeanine Tesori’s Musical Patchwork (not to Be Confused with Pastiche)

What does American musical theatre look like if all I have is a bunch of Youtube videos? This was one question choreographer Sam Pinkleton used to guide his process in choreographing Soft Power, David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s World premiere musical fantasia playing at the Ahmanson May 3 – June 10, 2018. The play’s “reverse appropria...

An All-American Dance Off

Playwright David Henry Hwang knows a thing or two about artistic tropes and stereotypes about Asians, a topic that several of his plays have thoughtfully grappled with. Yet Hwang admitted—in a conversation with Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie—that The King and I still holds a special place in his heart. There’s this com...

When Theatre Royalty Take On Real-World Royalty

Hana S. Kim loves the cultural cross-pollination of Los Angeles art and artists—which is one of the reasons why Center Theatre Group chose this talented live performance set and projection designer as our 2018 Richard E. Sherwood Award recipient....

The 2018 Richard E. Sherwood Award Goes to Hana S. Kim

Quick: What city is home to the world's best, most diverse community of playwrights? The answer is becoming increasingly clear: Los Angeles.

Playwrights on Fire

How do you become a carpenter at a theatre company? What union does a box office staff belong to? When do most dancers get their big breaks? What kind of degree do you need to be a projection designer?

Welcome to the Working in Theatre Portal

To say that the creative team behind the World premiere of Soft Power—onstage at the Ahmanson Theatre May 3 – June 10, 2018—admires and respects one another is an understatement. It might be more suitable to say that Soft Power playwright and lyricist David Henry Hwang, composer Jeanine Tesori, director Leigh Silverman, and choreographer Sam...

Three's a Crowd, Four's a Collaboration

From ancient Greek tragedies to the Japanese Noh and Kabuki styles that developed in the 14th and 17th centuries to the English Renaissance traditions we know best from Shakespeare (see: Twelfth Night, a man playing a woman playing a man), gender-swapping has been integral to the history of theatre. Way back when, the reason why was simple: women w...

Roles of a Different Bent