Center Theatre Group News & Blogs

Who Killed Franz Ferdinand?

Center Theatre Group — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 15:39:00 -0700

For Readers (Long Form)

The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark: If we were to recommend only one resource, it would be this book, which both Joseph and director Giovanna Sardelli read carefully while preparing for Archduke.The Sleepwalkers is the best book I’ve read in doing research for the play. It’s the single source I’ve looked at the closest besides conversations and research in Sarajevo and Belgrade, said Joseph.; Read More
The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman: This Pulitzer Prize-winning book is one of the preeminent resources on World War I. Not only is it revered for its historical prowess but for its attention to detail and to characters. Fans have described it as reading like a work of fiction—high praise for a 600-plus-page historical tome.; Read More

'Citizen: An American Lyric' Brings Healing Power to Block Party

Center Theatre Group — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 13:37:00 -0700

In 2015, Sachs told Finney he was considering adapting Citizen for the stage, and that she was the right director for the project. "I read it, and I went, 'Oh, this is my life,'" said Finney, recognizing her own experiences of "walking through and navigating those torrential waters of mainstream America when you are a person of color or 'other,' and what you have to swallow in order to survive."

Citizen premiered at the Fountain in August 2015; last summer, Finney directed it again at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, just one year after the city was devastated by a deadly assault that took the lives of nine African-Americans at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Every performance was followed by a discussion with the audience. "We felt it was necessary while that community was still healing and that wound was oozing," said Finney.

There will also be Stage & Audience Talks after every performance at the Douglas, where Citizen is onstage April 28 – May 7, 2017. Citizen touched audiences deeply in Los Angeles in 2015, but much has changed since then—for the cast and crew and for the audience. "As human beings we’ve been living our lives…we all evolve," said Finney of herself and the company. "At the same time, in those two years, there has been a transformation in the collective. I’m interested to see, now, how it’s going to land with our audiences. Because what was maybe specific to a tribe has now expanded…something has been awakened, because 'the other,' now, is everyone." The election, said Finney, "fractured what our belief system is about being an American and being a citizen, and what that culpability and responsibility is." She added, "Not only do you have to say, 'What does it mean to be a citizen?' But also, 'What does it mean to be a human being?'"

The re-staging at the Douglas offers an opportunity for the show to make a bigger impact in other ways as well. "My designer is excited because we have the height now onstage that we didn’t have in the [Fountain]. Our projections are going to have the impact that we wanted to have," said Finney.

"I think it’s a healing piece with a historical narrative, and we need it at this point in time," she concluded. "When you look at what we need as human beings, the three things, if you cut everything away, are: we need to be seen, we need to feel nurtured, and we need to feel safe. Citizen, I think, makes us aware and opens that space for that healing to begin."

Sondheim on our Stages

Center Theatre Group — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 17:45:00 -0700

‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’—1971

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum represents Sondheim’s first major work where he authored both the music AND the lyrics. Forum tells the story of a hapless Roman slave by the name of Pseudolus, his bid for freedom, and the star-crossed love affair between his master and a courtesan from the brothel next door. Featuring songs such as “Comedy Tonight” and “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid,” this is a light-hearted entry into a body of work, which is generally anything but. Forum brought “something for everyone” to the Ahmanson in 1971 and featured Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker
‘A Little Night Music’—1991

Lois Nettleton and John McMartin in A Little Night Music at the Ahmanson Theatre. Photo by Craig Schwartz.
Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, A Little Night Music takes place in Sweden around the beginning of the 20^th century. Focusing on a complicated web of romantic relationships, it creates a story in which couples change partners as often as the dancers of a waltz. This Sondheim classic features songs such as “Night Waltz” and “Send in The Clowns” in its exploration of love, life, and the follies of the night. A Little Night Music brought smiles to the Ahmanson stage in 1991 and featured Lois Nettleton, John McMartin, and Glynis Johns.
‘Candide’—1995

(L-R) Roland Rusinek, Constance Hausman, and Nancy Dussault in Candide at the Ahmanson Theatre. Photo by Jay Thompson.
In 1966, a recently transplanted New Yorker named Gordon Davidson directed the UCLA Theatre Group’s production of Leonard Bernstein’s operetta Candide, which had flopped on Broadway a decade earlier. Davidson’s production was a resounding success—so much so that it inspired Dorothy Buffum Chandler to invite him to Into The Woods, it featured actors playing their own accompaniment.
‘An Evening With Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin’—2009

Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin. Photo by Brigitte Lacombe.
Broadway legends (and frequent Sondheim stars) Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin played a limited engagement at the Ahmanson in 2009 featuring music from all over the Sondheim songbook (some of which they helped make famous). The Los Angeles Times described it as a sparely elegant master class in the art of conjuring emotional truth in dramatic song. Perhaps the only tragedy surrounding this one is that no recording exists of it…le sigh.
‘Follies’—2012

Jan Maxwell (center) and the cast of the Kennedy Center production of Follies at the Ahmanson Theatre. Photo by Craig Schwartz.
Follies tells the story of a reunion of four members (two couples) of the “Weismann’s Follies,” (a stand-in for the real-world Ziegfeld Follies) in the condemned theatre where they once performed. What follows is a melancholic trip down memory lane of a life in the theatre that—just like the unhappy couples—seems destined for ruin. Follies brought songs like “Broadway Baby” and “Losing My Mind” to the Ahmanson stage in 2012 and featured Jan Maxwell, Danny Burstein, Ron Raines, and Victoria Clark as the four leads, as well as the consummate Elaine Paige.

Educators Go 'Into The Woods' to Be Reminded That 'Children Will Listen'

Marcos Nájera — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 16:20:00 -0700

In this edition of Classroom Connections, we head

It’s a lesson the characters of Into The Woods discover as well. Sometimes, 'the path is straight, I know it well,' and sometimes we go 'into the woods, without delay. But careful not to lose the way. Into the woods, and who knows what may be lurking on my journey?!' Nakauchi repeated Sondheim’s lyrics. He added, “It's a perfect analogy for my philosophy. Now we can journey into the woods together.”

The music of the show also offers rich opportunities to teach choreography and movement, said Nakauchi.

“It could be an interesting concept to create a dance routine to one of the songs from the show,” mused Nakauchi. “I've actually always thought that either ‘Children Will Listen‘ or ‘Stay With Me‘ would make an incredible lyrical or ballet piece, and I'd love to challenge dance students to do so.”

As the evening came to a close, we all agreed that "Children Will Listen" also offered an important lesson to us as adults and educators.

We must always “model our best behaviors and practices to our students, as they often see more than what we realize,” said Nakauchi. “Our actions and words are noticed.”

Welcome to the Neighborhood

Center Theatre Group — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 10:44:00 -0700

The youngest company to collaborate with us on Block Party is Coeurage Theatre Company. Founded in 2009 by a group of graduates from California State University, Fullerton, their name is derived from the French word for “heart.” It is a quality they bring to all their productions. In fact, a 2016 American Theatre magazine story singled them out as among the most theatrical of the many theatre companies in Los Angeles.

Coeurage extends that heart beyond the stage to their audiences. Operating on a pay-what-you-want business model, they "exist to make impassioned theatre available to all audiences," said Coeurage Theatre Company Artistic Director Jeremy Lelliott. "We let every single patron who comes to our show choose their own ticket price for every single performance for every single production."

For our first Block Party, we’re taking a page from Coeurage’s book and offering a special Failure: A Love Story by Philip Dawkins, which is onstage at the Douglas through April 23, 2017. Failure tells the story of the Fail sisters and their ill-fated love affairs with the same man in a magical (and theatrical) Chicago of the 1920s.

For Lelliott, it represents a vote of confidence in the work that Coeurage is doing. "It’s pretty remarkable that Center Theatre Group is putting, literally, their money where their mouths are and pointing to [the L.A. theatre] community and saying, Hey, everyone. Look over here. We believe in what these people are doing."

The Fountain Theatre was founded in 1990 by co-Artistic Directors Deborah Lawlor and Stephen Sachs. From the beginning, they have been committed to presenting work that reflects the diversity of the city they call home. Located near a sleepy section of Hollywood, The Fountain Theatre makes its home near the corner of Fountain and Normandie.

For over 20 years, they have produced works from laudable playwrights such as Athol Fugard, Tanya Saracho, and Tarell Alvin McCraney (who is coming to the Taper soon with Citizen: An American Lyric.

Citizen is an adaptation of Claudia Rankine’s book by the same name, and uses interviews, first-hand accounts, and poetry to explore racism in the United States. Stephen Sachs (who also wrote the adaptation) is excited to bring this production to the Douglas stage. "[Center Theatre Group] is being incredibly generous to open its doors, and its resources, to allow us as theatre artists to expand our artistic vision of what the piece could be," he said. Catch Citizen: An American Lyric onstage at the Douglas April 28 – May 7, 2017.

The Echo Theater Company is a playwright’s theatre company. Since 1997, they have presented 48 World premieres by playwrights like Sarah Ruhl, Adam Rapp, Tommy Smith, and Sheila Callaghan ( who also wrote Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel for Block Party. Written when Spiegel was only 21 years old, it tells the tale of two high school seniors, an unwanted pregnancy, and the obstacles facing young women in America. As an added bonus for those who missed it the first time, this represents an opportunity for Los Angeles audiences to see the 2016 Ovation Award-winning production for Best Production of a Play (Intimate Theatre). Closing out the party, Dry Land plays the Kirk Douglas Theatre May 12–21, 2017.

Our 50th Anniversary, A Sondheim Classic, and a Celebration of L.A. Theatre

Michael Ritchie — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 17:23:00 -0700

Over the past 50 years, we haven’t thought about what we do as taking place in a monument or a temple but as part of a community—both local and national. The work onstage this month represents both those communities. At the Kirk Douglas Theatre, we’re hosting Into The Woods to Los Angeles audiences—a reinvention of classic fairy tales from one of contemporary theatre’s great ensemble companies.

Thank you for being part of our community as we turn 50.

The Journey of 'Failure: A Love Story' from a Softball Field to the Douglas

Center Theatre Group — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 16:37:00 -0700

“Failure interweaves poetry and prose and a little bit of music. For a director, it’s like a playground because you can take it and make it your own,” said Matthews.

The show’s journey to the Douglas, however, had unconventional beginnings.

“When we first did Failure, we did it at this tiny little theatre in the middle of a park, next to a softball field. During tech, someone got hit by a softball. We were very fortunate and very lucky to have a fantastic audience that found us and came to see the show. It’s so exciting for us, and I think L.A. theatre as well, that we are able to take this tiny little show that no one knew too much about, and expose it on a bigger level. We couldn’t be happier,” said Matthews.

While an incredibly limited budget and less than optimal rehearsal space can debilitate the development of a show, Matthews and his team turned obstacles into strengths.

The play itself is a big party. It’s a celebration of love and death and life and loss.

“When we did this production a year and a half ago, we were in a tiny classroom with some carpet and folding chairs, just grabbing whatever we could to make it happen. One thing would become an oar and then it would become a banister,” said Matthews. “I had no idea if [Block Party] was going to be a go or not. This was our tiny little show that we did on maybe 10 cents, dental floss, and a prayer. But we knew it was so beautiful and there was something about it that moved people.”

Though the show is pure joyful entertainment, it cloaks complex themes within its exuberance.

“The play itself is a big party. It’s a celebration of love and death and life and loss. It’s all interwoven together—how we celebrate our life, which makes death a little less scary as well, because you are crossing over into another celebration,” said Matthews. “A lot of us, my friends and myself, have been through a lot of loss and a lot of grief, so for us Failure was very special. It was healing for a lot of us, for myself especially. Being able to share this experience and what it was on another platform brings a lot of joy to a lot of people,” he said.

The catharsis Matthews has experienced through directing Failure has informed the way he hopes audiences feel after the show.

“I want audiences to feel that letting go is OK, and to celebrate the life that you have and the death that will come. I know that sounds morose and out there, but that’s really what the play is about. It’s coming in feeling one way and coming out with a bit of a different perspective on how precious and beautiful life is. With where we are right now in the world, and with our political climate, the show provides a bit of a respite and a sanctuary. It lets you feel things that you really want to feel right now without having to worry too much about other things for a good hour and 40 minutes. And it provides closure as well.”

The ‘Los Angeles Times’ Marks our Golden Anniversary

Center Theatre Group — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 17:13:00 -0700

In an in-depth profile, Artistic Director Michael Ritchie noted that the anniversary is valuable for giving the organization an opportunity to imagine what’s next. He discussed finding new synergy with Hollywood and deepening our connections with the city’s intimate theatre scene through programs like original Zoot Suit to our upcoming production of Head of Passes:

I love the idea that tomorrow is gonna be the best show ever,” he says. “Because every night, every experience, is unique. There’s an alchemy that goes on between performers and the audience. It’s a kind of magic.

The Times also reached out to actors, playwrights, and directors and asked them to share their favorite Center Theatre Group memories. Matthew Broderick recalled meeting Charlton Heston in his dressing room and (in a separate incident) getting food poisoning during a performance of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, which premiered at the Taper in 1992:

It amazed me throughout the project that the Taper opened its door to all kinds of talent and perspectives from the communities around the city. As a result of that, throughout the project I felt an enormous generosity coming from the citizens of Los Angeles, in all kinds of ways, who wanted me to know their story and their city. The Taper’s radical hospitality at that moment made it possible.

And Phylicia Rashad recalled how the organization helped the actors in our 2016 production of

(Center) Marilyn Lightstone and the cast of The Dybbuk. Photo by Steven Keull.

The Dybbuk or Between Two Worlds is a play by S. Ansky written in the early part of the 20^th century. It draws on Jewish folklore to tell the story of a young woman, her impending marriage, and her possession by the angry spirit of the man who was supposed to be destined to marry her. The Dybbuk possessed the Mark Taper Forum stage in 1972.

'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

(L-R) Hamish Linklater, Mark Deakins, Jennifer Dundas Lowe, and Kathryn Meisle. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

The bard’s classic tale of hapless lovers, meddling fairies, and an actor-turned-donkey has actually played the Ahmanson twice. The first time A Midsummer Night’s Dream brought the fae to Los Angeles was in 1973, courtesy of the Royal Shakespeare Company and under the direction of the legendary Peter Brook. Shakespeare’s Athens returned in 1999 and featured Kelly McGillis, Brian Murray, and Richard Thomas.

'The Tempest'

Anthony Hopkins and Stephanie Zimbalist in The Tempest. Photo by Jay Thompson.

Another entry by William Shakespeare, The Tempest (his final play) brought the world of Prospero, Ariel, and Caliban to the Taper in 1979. Unlike the first two entries in this list, which draw heavily on pre-existing folklore, The Tempest is a fairy tale of Shakepeare’s own devising. As an added bonus, this production was directed by John Hirsch, and featured Sir Anthony Hopkins as the aged wizard, Prospero.

Matthew Bourne's 'Swan Lake'

The company of Swan Lake. Photo by Bill Cooper.

The first entry on the list by Sir Mathew Bourne (who will be returning to the Ahmanson stage next season with

(Center) Clinton Derricks-Carroll and the cast of Sleeping Beauty Wakes. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

This musical adaptation of the classic fairy tale was produced in association with Deaf West Theatre Company. Rather than simply re-telling the Grimm Brothers’ version of a young princess, a spindle, and a fairy godmother with a grudge, Sleeping Beauty Wakes tells two stories: the first is set in a traditional fairy tale landscape while the second is set in a contemporary sleep-disorder clinic. Both worlds share the same themes and lessons, exploring how stories inform the real world—and vice-versa. Sleeping Beauty Wakes rocked the Douglas stage in 2007.

Matthew Bourne's 'Sleeping Beauty'

Liam Mower in Sleeping Beauty.

What’s better than a modern retelling of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet? How about a modern retelling of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet with vampires? Sleeping Beauty completed Bourne’s trilogy of reimagined Tchaikovsky ballets (alongside Swan Lake and The Nutcracker), bringing the macabre to this classic tale of love and lethargy. Sleeping Beauty floated across the Ahmanson stage on vampire wings in 2013.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Cinderella'

(L-R) Adrian Arrieta, Paige Faure and Blakely Slaybaugh in the national tour of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Photo by Carol Rosegg

By now, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical is almost as ubiquitous as the original source material. Featuring lush visuals, some very magical costumes (which costume designer William Ivey Long won a Tony^® for), and classic songs like “In My Own Little Corner” and “Impossible/It’s Possible,” this Tony-nominated revival brought the magic of a fairy godmother to the Ahmanson stage in 2014. As an added bonus: Fran Drescher made us love to hate Cinderella’s step-family as Madam all over again.

BONUS: 'The Very Persistant Gappers of Frip'

(L-R) Olivia Killingsworth, Tom Beyer, Lena Gwendolyn Hill, and Sonja Alarr in The Very Persistant Gappers of Frip. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

This musical adaptation of George Saunders’ classic children’s book may not be a classic fairy tale, but it is certainly more than a little magical. It tells the story of the seaside village of Frip—whose entire economy is based on goats’ milk. The only problem? Little orange pests (called “gappers”) that constantly attach themselves to Frip’s goats, haulting all milk production. The Very Persistant Gappers of Frip was part of our inaugural season at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2005.

Do Devils Exist

Gordon Davidson — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 10:44:00 -0700

John Whiting’s play, The Devils, is based on Aldous Huxley’s historical narrative, The Devils Of Loudun, published in 1952. The two works are complementary, providing separate but related insights into the complexity of human experience. Fusing religion, psychology, and metaphysics, each explores the mysterious experiences of the mind in a dramatic study of man struggling with the devils of his own soul.

The events, in the years 1623 to 1634, surrounding the immolation of Father Urbain Grandier of St. Peter’s Church in the French provincial town of Loudun are true. The world of 17^th-century France, of Europe, and indeed the new Americas, was one of political and religious unrest, producing fear, persecution, and torture in the name of justice and salvation. The reality of witchcraft and possession was an accepted one. Polish Jews were fighting their dybbuks; England, in the wake of the Reformation, was ferreting out religious non-conformists; and in Salem, Massachusetts, feelings which would later erupt in the infamous witch trials were already brewing.

The witches being hunted were defined as “persons who hath conference with the Devil, to consult with him or to do some act.” And anyone considered to be dealing deliberately with the Devil was assumed guilty of a capital crime and faced capital punishment. Behind this absolute law stood an ancient and traditional belief that the Devil, the supreme embodiment of evil in this world, was the sworn enemy of God and sought to wrest the human soul from its natural Heavenly Father.

The cast of The Devils.

In Loudun, as elsewhere, religious activities were affairs of state. Under Louis XIII and his powerful Cardinal Richelieu, l’eglise, like l’etat, c’est moi. If the ordinary and uneducated citizenry feared possession and joined in persecutions, at least their ignorance and fright were human and pitiable; but among the nobles of church and state, activities in a daemonic controversy had the ring of expedient absolutism.

Each culture shapes its demons, like its deities, according to special needs and notions. That evil is characteristic of man, entering into every choice he makes, is a conclusion which all ages have reached. The Devils is about the force of evil as it exists today in man. Both Huxley and Whiting believed that every natural tendency generates its own opposite. The play is about the corruption—political and human—of these forces. Love turns to hate, innocence to depravity, indulgence of the senses stimulate reflective intellect and the virtues of truth and mercy become falsehood and inhuman cruelty.

The Devils is a religious play—a fable of good and evil which is closer to the Greeks than to Freud. It is a metaphysical play in which the problems of why we live and how we live, coupled with an unending and necessary search for God take rightful precedence over social and political problems.

The play has the classic Christian architecture of temptation, fall, and redemption. Father Grandier and Sister Jeanne are genuinely tragic figures caught up in forces outside and greater than themselves. His weakness is that of the flesh; her weakness that of the soul. Jeanne risks her soul’s damnation to bring about Grandier’s destruction; Grandier risks his by trying to bring about his own. Both are searching for God.

And above all it is a lyrical poetic play which John Whiting said speaks of the reality of evil. Whiting once wrote, “I no longer believe the old view that anyone is basically good. He is open to either good or evil. It is up to him which he chooses.” The appearances of doing good are often profoundly deceptive. Souls are saved by the Holy not by the busy. Those who crusade not for God but against evil leave the world worse rather than better, for by thinking of evil we create occasions for evil. What is inside us, not around us, causes our corruption.

Today most organized religions are in various stages of re-evaluation and adjustment to meet the challenges of our times. Jewish as well as Christian thought has been reshaped by existentialism. Martin Buber, one of the major Jewish thinkers, poignantly revealed what it means to be human in an inhuman time. Life is not only a problem but a mystery. We know God, as we do other human beings, by confronting Him. God can be addressed, but not expressed. The problem is not to know about God, but to know God. “He who seeks God apart from God,” Buber warns, “will find him only as the Devil.”

Frank Langella in 'The Devils.'

Center Theatre Group News & Blogs

Who Killed Franz Ferdinand?

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