Center Theatre Group News & Blogs

We've upgraded our website

Michael Ritchie — Tue, 31 May 2016 11:00:00 -0700

We're sporting a new look! https://t.co/LonHpiN9vx #LAThtr pic.twitter.com/rUdtZBzlNl
— Center Theatre Group (@CTGLA) May 28, 2016

We've also refined our email communication preferences. To ensure that you continue receiving tickets reminders as well as the most up-to-date information about our productions, programs, offers, and more, please visit our website, login to your account, and

On our new website you'll also find the ability to "News & Blogs" section where you can read about the inspiring work happening on our stages and around the community as we proudly continue our

We thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you soon as we celebrate 50 years!

Sincerely,

Michael Ritchie
Artistic Director

Designing an Experience for Parents

Jesus Reyes — Tue, 31 May 2016 01:44:00 -0700

Last year, we offered Community Sewing Circles, basic costume design classes led by teaching artist Manuel Prieto. They were so popular that we decided to expand them into the Designing Costumes for the Theatre series, workshops designed to introduce participants to the process professional costume designers go through to realize a design from the page to the stage. This time, we offered the series at parent centers at Boyle Heights schools and added an assistant teaching artist, Victoria Orantes.

Manuel, Victoria, and I had an amazing time with the parents. The workshops felt like being with family and sharing our passion for theatre and self-expression. Just like any family, every parent center group had the joker, the quiet one, the talkative one, the bossy one, and the nice one. The day we introduced measuring was a laugh fest, with parents joking about having one too many pieces of sweet bread or giggling while measuring the inner pant leg. There were moments of discovery, like when the teaching artists and I assumed that all the parents knew how to hand sew. Instead, we were led into their lives and heard their stories. One parent was the daughter of a seamstress. She had wanted nothing to do with sewing, but as she stitched away in class, she was reminded of her hard-working mother, and accepted the gift of sewing she had bestowed on her. And then there were the parents who were seriously talented—who flourished and made us all wonder, what if?

I also developed relationships with the dedicated coordinator at each parent center. The coordinator served as my liaison to the school and parents as well as the organizer and recruiter for the workshops. Keeping the coordinator excited ultimately was as important as keeping the parents excited, a lesson I learned when I had to make the hard decision to let one parent center go after too many sessions had to be canceled at the last minute. In order for any community program to be successful, it must be supported by the participants and the key coordinator. I must be willing to tweak a program or cancel it if the community is not ready to embrace it. Making hard decisions is part of the long-term investment we all make when developing relationships with community members. They do not indicate that the program is irrelevant, but rather that it is not the right time. Which means I have to continue to work to find the right partnerships.

But the parents at the four centers that stuck with us through the end of the Designing Costumes for the Theatre series took a ton of learning away from—about the work of costume design, how to use the professional design process at home, and what Center Theatre Group has to offer. They were challenged to participate in something new and foreign, and to experience theatre as something visible and accessible. And while the workshops were designed for the parents rather than the children, they ultimately benefit everyone. When their children interact with art, and perhaps even when some of them decide to make a career out of it, the parents will be able to share their knowledge of this art form, too. In addition to learning a variety of skills, they all came away from the series with costume designs they had researched, imagined, and drawn from Grey Gardens—The Musical.

I now have parents ask me if Center Theatre Group is coming back, when we are coming back, and what else will they learn. I know that each small interaction the parents have with theatre will pay off in the future. I know that they’ll remember fondly, as I will, the day they cut up magazines to create their first collage, the first costume they designed for a musical, and the lessons they learned about buying fabrics.

I can’t wait to be with them for the first time they step into Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre on July 8, 2016, to see Grey Gardens—the very same show they designed for.

Fun Facts

77 parents/guardians participated in the series
6 parent center coordinators organized the sessions
4 parent centers participated, all within a 2-mile radius
Parent centers were located at a primary school, an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school
The series consisted of 8 sessions per center for a total of 32 sessions
Topics covered in each session included costume terminology, research, measuring, hand sewing, fabric selection, sketching, color theory, collage, script analysis, rendering
Participants were invited to a private reading of excerpts from Grey Gardens at
Jesus Reyes — Mon, 09 May 2016 20:31:00 -0700

I began to write these blog posts as a way to archive and share the progress, stories, and process of working with the Boyle Heights community. The chronicles were intended to inform my fellow community workers in Los Angeles and around the country, but with each chronicle I also think about new ways of working with community members, how to adapt programs, how to best communicate with participants, and how to listen. While reflecting on what has happened, I discover how deep each interaction with the community really is.

This year we are offering new and expanded programs for Boyle Heights residents that offer access to theatre through three pathways: a passive manner—as audience members—and by participating. People learn in different ways, and so our programs are designed to allow them to participate on their own terms.

This year we continue with Costume Displays at Benjamin Franklin Library, Malabar Library, and Robert Louis Stevenson Library. These exhibits—which feature costumes from recent productions along with some information on how they are designed and made—are a simple and striking way for library patrons to engage with the theatre Center Theatre Group produces and presents. They are perfect for shy and inquisitive people who prefer to learn passively. Each library is also host to monthly Play Readings of works in English and Spanish that we present in partnership with smaller local theatre companies. The libraries attract families, students and adults seeking a place to work, meet, and access resources. And the Free Theatre Workshops at our costume shop introduce participants to techniques used by theatre professionals—like lifecasting to produce molds of our body parts and using the ancient Japanese technique of shibori to dye fabrics—that can be replicated at home. These hands-on experiences make theatre immediate and tangible.

My outreach and programming strategy has remained the same: use what is there, target the driver, and maintain momentum. Last year, I discovered the parent center at Carmen Lomas Garza Primary Center, and I found out that every public school in Boyle Heights has a dedicated parent center. These centers are gathering places for parents and caretakers where they interact socially, support the school, and receive resources like career development and skill building. The parent centers are very similar to what libraries have become, and they felt like a natural fit for our community programs. So we partnered with four parent centers for a bilingual series, Designing Costumes for the Theatre. It has been amazing to meet parents, grandparents, and others from different corners of Boyle Heights and watch them grow into community costume designers.

I’m eager to share the next set of Boyle Heights Chronicles and introduce the participants, teaching artists, local artists, staff, and what else I’ve learned along the way. Stay tuned for the next adventure.

Waiting for Elmo and the New York Critics with Parodies Inspired by Samuel Beckett

Brendan Haley — Fri, 06 May 2016 20:22:00 -0700

1. Waiting for Elmo

This fun-loving lampoon of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is part of Sesame Street’s Monsterpiece Theatre and is “a play so modern and so brilliant that it makes absolutely no sense to anybody.” At only three minutes long, Waiting for Elmo may be a substantially smaller time commitment than its source material, but it still manages to capture much of the spirit of Beckett’s original work.

2. The Onion

"In what was surely a conscious decision by Mr. Beckett, the white, uniform, non-ruled pages, which symbolize the starkness and emptiness of life, were left unbound, unmarked, and untouched..."

In 2006, to honor of the centennial of Beckett’s birth, the satirical news publication turned its sardonic sights on the playwright’s fondness for minimalism. “Scholars Discover 23 Blank Pages That May As Well Be Lost Samuel Beckett Play” is completely false and more than a little unfair, but we can’t help but suppress a snigger at their gumption.

3. The Complete Lost Works of Samuel Becket as Found in a Dustbin in Paris in an Envelope (Partially Burned) Labeled: Never to be Performed. Never. Ever. Ever! Or I’ll Sue! I’ll Sue from the Grave!!!

While the verbose title of this 2001 parody may cause the hackles of some Beckett aficionados to rise, this odd love letter to the Irish playwright is surprising affectionate. Made up of a cycle of vaguely absurdist short works delivered at patter-song pace, its aim is to evoke some of Beckett’s best qualities—his unflinching eye, his dark sense of humor, and his hope—while exploring issues that are unequivocally American.

4. Waiting for Guffman

This 1996 Christopher Guest film takes more than its name from Waiting for Godot. Just as Beckett’s tramps continually wait to keep an appointment with a man who may or may not exist, Waiting for Guffman follows a small-town theatre company as they patiently—and impatiently—wait to be reviewed by a New York film critic who has more than a little bit in common with Godot.

5. The Actor’s Nightmare

In 1981, Christopher Durang made every actor’s nightmare a reality for one very unlucky accountant in this short comic play. An unassuming and clueless man named George finds himself onstage—in front of a paying audience—and forced to perform a play that he has never rehearsed, heard of, or agreed to be a part of. What is the play? Checkmate—a fictional combination of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Happy Days, and Endgame (trashcans included!).

6. McSweeney’s

"London, 1954. One of the earliest known parodies of Beckett’s existentialist classic was penned by the venerable drama critic Arthur Bryce."

“On the Occasion, give or take, of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the first staging, in Paris, of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, a few representative selections from the annotated Treasury of Waiting for Godot parodies” is a list of fictional parodies of Beckett’s work, delivered with McSweeney’s signature tongue-in-cheek drollery. But who wouldn’t want to watch Waiting for Bedpan?

Los Angeles Theatre's Next Generation

Center Theatre Group — Tue, 03 May 2016 20:11:00 -0700

This is why Center Theatre Group is working to equip young people with as much information and as many resources as possible as they set off on their journey. This spring, we held two open-to-the-public fairs—the College & Career Fair for the Arts (for high school students) and the Going Pro Career Fair (for college undergraduate and graduate-level students)—for students from all over Southern California to learn about what it takes to build a career in theatre.

“We're really focused on diversity,” said Camille Schenkkan, Center Theatre Group's Next Generation Initiatives Program Manager. “If you're in high school, you can probably name five careers in theatre. If you're in college, you may be able to name 20. But at Center Theatre Group alone, there are dozens of different jobs in theatre. We want to show more options to students and provide information to help them learn how they can make a living doing what they love.”

On February 6, 2016, over 30 colleges, universities, and organizations came to The Music Center Annex for our College & Career Fair for the Arts. Hundreds of teenagers (some accompanied by the adults in their lives) roamed around tables outside the building to ask representatives questions about their programs, grab literature with more information, and enjoy art-making projects as well as a free food truck lunch. We also invited students to step inside one of our rehearsal rooms for workshops designed to provide a variety of perspectives on the different avenues that lead to a career in theatre. Local experts tackled paying for college, explaining the complicated FAFSA (Federal Application for Student Aid), student loans, preparing applications, scholarship options, and financial aid. Professors and coaches who audition students for college theatre programs discussed the audition process and offered tips and strategies to prepare. Actors and designers shared their own educational journeys to help students consider degree programs and majors. And active members of the Los Angeles theatre community discussed the lay of the land—and how aspiring theatre artists, artisans, and professionals can break onto the scene.

On April 2, 2016, we partnered with LA STAGE Alliance, the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, and the USC School of Dramatic Arts to present our Going Pro Career Fair at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Colleges and university students visited resource tables to speak with local unions, graduate programs, and other organizations, attended "speed networking" sessions for 20-minute one-on-one mentoring meetings with working professionals, made connections at a mixer, and got introduced to a variety of career pathways at more specialized workshops. Professional actors, playwrights, designers, directors, theatre professionals, and multi-hyphenate artists who wear many different hats talked about their paths at the workshops, and offered guidance on subjects like whether graduate school is worth it and what they wished they had known at the outset of their careers.

Schenkkan believes that talking to professionals also helps take some pressure off students. “They think every decision now will shape their career,” she said. “But life experience can be as important as what you studied. Everybody has a really different path.”