2015 | Center Theatre Group

What does a recent rash of TV shows focusing on religious subjects such as Breaking Amish, Big Love, and Reza Aslan’s upcoming Believer reveal about our fascination with the collision of deeply held beliefs, doubt, and different perspectives on religion?...

Reality TV, 'The Christians' and Exploring Belief

Why is a massive cross dominating the stage of the Mark Taper Forum, and why is a choir belting out hymns? These are two ways The Christians, which plays the Taper through January 10, 2016, is immersing audiences in an evangelical church where they play the congregation. At the pulpit, a pastor questions a core tenet of Christianity, organized reli...

In 'The Christians' L.A. is The Choir

Straight White Men playwright and director Young Jean Lee talks with Center Theatre Group Associate Artistic Director Diane Rodriguez and UCLA Center for the Art of Performance Executive and Artistic Director Kristy Edmunds about how their theatres came to co-present her show at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. “You guys were sort of lying in wait [to g...

Young Jean Lee on Bringing 'Straight White Men' to L.A.

With Straight White Men playing the Kirk Douglas Theatre through December 20, 2015, Center Theatre Group took to the streets of Culver City to find out what ideas and images the show’s title brings to mind, and how Angelenos define privilege. We also asked playwright Young Jean Lee to explain why she chose this provocative identifier for her play...

When I Say 'Straight White Men,' L.A. Says...

When I was younger, I was supposed to be a preacher, but I decided it would be too much responsibility. I didn’t want to worry about other people’s souls. I switched to pre-med, but I didn’t want to worry about other people’s bodies. And so, I switched to playwriting.

"The Christians' Playwright Lucas Hnath on Revealing the Invisible

When audiences step into the Mark Taper Forum to see playwright Lucas Hnath’s The Christians, they may do a double take. The stage is being transformed into a megachurch’s pulpit (with a full choir) for the play, which opens with a sermon from a pastor that will divide his congregation....

Lucas Hnath Wants to Talk About Faith—But Not His Own

Playwright. Director. Singer. Filmmaker. Korean-American. Feminist. Experimental. Adventurous. Provocative. Young Jean Lee and her boundary-pushing, genre-bending, radically inclusive work is impossible to place in any one box. So who is the playwright and director behind Straight White Men, which plays the Kirk Douglas Theatre November 20 through...

Who is Young Jean Lee?

Rock ’n’ roll and musical theatre, Kansas City and Los Angeles, the Pacific Palisades and “Malibu,” and Center Theatre Group donors and artists came together for an unforgettable evening under a 100-plus-year-old oak tree on a Saturday night this fall. The occasion: a CTG benefit to celebrate and support the opening of Todd...

Courtney Love and Todd Almond Rock Out for Donors

What does it mean to be successful—as a man, a father, or a son? Male playwrights have grappled with this question for over 2,000 years, ever since Sophocles dramatized Oedipus’ murder of his father, King Laius in Oedipus Rex. Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men, which plays the Kirk Douglas Theatre November 20 to December 20, 2015, carves ou...

'Straight White Men' Takes Aims at Father-Son Drama

Part Mayan and Aztec, part electric, part rock opera, part mariachi, and part East L.A., the music of Popol Vuh: Heart of Heaven spans centuries and continents. So does the story it tells: the Mayan myth of the creation of the world. A collaboration between Center Theatre Group, famed Chicano theatre company El Teatro Campesino (ETC), and the...

The Creating, Colliding, Cosmic Musical Worlds of ‘Popol Vuh: Heart of Heaven’

Last year, Americans spent over $27 billion to rent the 2.5 billion square feet of self-storage that blanket the nation—that’s more cash than the NFL, NBA, and MLB made last year, and enough square footage to cover Downtown Los Angeles 15 times over. But how many of us feel like we have what we need? And need what we have? These ar...

Do Your Objects Own You, Or Do You Own Your Objects?