Center Theatre Group News & Blogs

Evolving Stages

Gordon Davidson — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 11:39:00 -0800

Zoot Suit is a good example of the Taper’s dedication to the past and the future, and of the evolutionary process between the two. On the one hand Zoot Suit is the latest in a series of plays to move from developmental work in the Forum/Lab or the New Theatre for Now series, as part of which an earlier version of Zoot Suit was seen last spring. This is simply the most recent example of our nurturing American playwrights and our desire to prolong, when possible, the ephemeral life of a stage play by allowing it a second chance to develop and to find a new audience.

But Zoot Suit is also an entirely new kind of Taper play. It is the first in what we hope will be a series of works about Los Angeles—its social, cultural, and political history. While we have always attempted to make the Taper a theatre center for the entire community, Zoot Suit is perhaps the clearest indication yet of our commitment to the people and history of all Los Angeles. In the months and years ahead we will continue our effort to understand our role in the life of the city—and expand the role whenever possible.

Like many of you, I am not a native of this part of the country. I assumed, for some time, that Los Angeles had no real history—or, at least, none that was particularly interesting. There seemed to be so much emphasis on the here and now and the tomorrows that there was no time or place for the past. I was uninformed.

The cast of Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum in 1978.

Zoot Suit is loosely based on the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Mystery of 1942 and the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. When announcing this project last year, I suggested that these events were a largely unknown and neglected aspect of Los Angeles history. If this was accurate at the time, it is so no longer. The New Theatre for Now production of the play indicated that Zoot Suit has touched what might be called the collective unconscious of all Los Angeles. People seem to know, at least subliminally, about Sleepy Lagoon. While the exact details of that stormy period may have been forgotten, it still conjures up distinct images and intense feelings. The skeleton the play removes from the closet is fully clothed—in a zoot suit, of course.

The story behind the production of each play, its history, is also a fascinating one. Productions are suggested by directors, by agents, by our literary department, and by our familiarity with dramatic literature and works performed at other theatres around the country and the world. The reasons for presenting a particular play and its development from page to stage are seldom repeated from one production to the next. While all plays and productions change as they grow, the evolution of Zoot Suit has been particularly interesting. (Those of you who saw the earlier production can compare two stages of this development. Your presence at that production, and your reactions to it, contributed in an important way to the work you will see today!)

About a year ago I heard on the radio the story of the Zoot Suit Riots. That story, interesting in its own right, also seemed a possible dramatic subject, and one that might fit into my plans to commission plays about Los Angeles. Several days later I met with Luis Valdez about the possibility of his writing a play for us, and the Zoot Suit Riots were mentioned. As early as 1968 Luis had considered writing a play on the subject. Our meeting rekindled his interest, and the Taper commissioned Zoot Suit (thanks, in large part, to the generosity of a playwriting grant from the Rockefeller Foundation).

Like other historical events that pass into folklore, the murder trial and Zoot Suit Riots have become a kind of myth—a mixture of fact and fancy certain to elicit strong feelings when examined from any of a variety of perspectives. Luis has interpreted the events and aura of that era while focusing on the quandary of one young man. Because mere "facts" never speak clearly for themselves, Luis has consistently worked from the historical incidents toward the creation of a wholly theatrical and artistic work. Zoot Suit is a play of the imagination framed by, not rigidly fettered by, the actual events of the period.

(L-R) Rose Portillo, Daniel Valdez, Evelina Fernandez (partially seen), Edward James Olmos, Rachel Levario, and Mike Gomez in the World premiere of Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum. Photo by Jay Thompson

While Zoot Suit says much about relationships between Anglos and Chicanos—or rather, implies much—it is also a play about the search for identity, about rebellion against respectability, about the clash between generations in a Chicano family, and the clash between cultures in the society as a whole, about xenophobia during the early 1940s, about the war throughout the world—and the one in the barrios—about the power of the press, about cultural schizophrenia in a time of stress, about hysteria, racism, and the creation of stereotypes as a short-cut to understanding, and about the roles individuals assume in everyday life, then play out regardless of the consequences. Zoot Suit is as rich as it is varied. Seemingly limited to Los Angeles and the 1940s, it is really about the entire country throughout its history.

The association of Luis Valdez with the Taper has been extraordinary. The entire staff has felt the warmth of his presence. He has used the rehearsal process as well as anyone I have ever known, and has fully welcomed the support and assistance of his actors, designers, technicians, and the administrative and production staffs. The results of this cooperation are evident, I think, in the production we offer you. Luis has a unique capacity to use all of the theatre’s resources, and in so doing has taught all of us something about the art we so often call collaborative, but that too often is not. For his humanity, talent, and friendship, I am deeply grateful.

A 'Zoot Suit' Glossary

Center Theatre Group — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 16:26:00 -0800

Abusado: Shape up, wise up
Aguitala: Control yourself
Bato: Dude, guy
Borlo: Dance
Bribón: Wise guy
Cabrón: Bastard
Cálmenla: Calm down, cool it
Carnal/Carnala/Carnalillo: Brother/sister/little brother
Chale: No
Chango: Monkey
Chicas Patas: Chicano
Chingón: Big shot
Chula: Pretty girl
Es puro Basilón: It's only fun
Ese/Esa: Man, dude, hey man/woman, girl
Foquiar: Screw you
Gabacho: Anglo, gringo, paddy, white American
Hay te watcho: See you later, see you there
Huisa: Girlfriend
Jaina: Girlfriend, woman
Jefita/Jefito: Mother/father
La Jura: The law
Trucha la jura: Watch out, the cops!
Me la rayo: For sure, it's the truth, I swear
Menudo: Tripe soup
Mira!: Look!
Nel!: No! (More forceful than chale)
No te hagas gacho: Don't be guache
Órale: Hey, right on
Pedo: Hassle, excitement, "hot air"
Pendejadas: Stupidities, nonsense
Pendejo: Idiot
Pinche: Lousy
Ponte abusado: Wise up, get smart
Puro pedo: Bullshit
Puro relajo: Bullshit
Puto: Whore
Que desmadre: What a mess
Ruca: Wife, girlfriend
Ruco: Old
Simón: Yes
Sura: Soiled, unclean
Surote: Bad (good) dude
Te curas: Can you beat it
Verdolaga: Naïve, hick
Watcha!: Look!
Y qué: So waht?
Ya estubo: That's enough
Ya me estás cayendo gordo: You're being a pain in the ass
Ya pués: That's enough

Reprinted from the program for Zoot Suit’s 1978 World premiere.

The Consciousness of a Community and Beyond

Steven D. Lavine and Janet Sternburg — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 16:10:00 -0800

Luis Valdez, writer and director of Zoot Suit, speaks to this point when he says, I wrote Zoot Suit for an American audience, by which he means that the lives he is depicting should resonate beyond Chicano experience. When El Pachuco literally breaks through a giant newspaper to bound onto the stage in his black hat with its jaunty red feather, he is not only a man who wears a zoot suit of the 1940s. He is tempter, storyteller, shadow self, Aztec god, Mephistophelian devil, the embodiment of the conflicts of the play, the one who defines the play for us as real and stylized, historical fact and myth. The character refuses to be limited to any one definition; his identities are multiple.

Zoot Suit is a milestone in the artistic dialogue of the last quarter of the 20^th century because it lays claim to an unbounded theatre that gets its juices from a particular identity but reaches beyond that identity. To this day, the play implicitly poses questions that continue to define our era: to whom does an artist speak, from what community, and beyond?

Before 'Zoot Suit'

Even before Zoot Suit, Luis Valdez had established himself as the leading force in Chicano theatre. The son of migrant farmworkers, Valdez first realized his vision of a Chicano theatre in the fields of Delano, California. Founded in 1965 as the cultural arm of the United Farm Workers, El Teatro Campesino began its life by performing on flatbed trucks in the middle of the fields, its actors, subject matter, and audiences all drawn from the workers who were fighting for better conditions.

It was a theatre meant to inspire, and it did. By giving back life experience transformed by humor and satire, the Teatro provided the replenishment and encouragement that the striking workers needed. By laying claim to the truth that theatre could be made from one’s own life, the Teatro spoke to students and community groups who began a national movement. By the mid-1970s, close to 100 teatros were performing in the southwestern United States, addressing a broad range of Chicano political and social concerns. In this new century, we in the United States heard the ongoing life of that inspiration when Barack Obama adopted Yes, we can as his slogan, consciously using the motto of the United Farm Workers, Sí, se puede.

Photo by Craig Schwartz. (L-R) Gordon Davidson, Luis Valdez and Cesar Chavez in 1978.

'Zoot Suit'

The play is based on the Sleepy Lagoon Murder, the name that newspapers and radio commentators used to describe the murder of José Diaz, whose body was found at the Sleepy Lagoon reservoir in southeast Los Angeles, California, on August 2, 1942. The murder led to the criminal trial and conviction of 21 Latino young men. While the decision was later reversed on appeal, the trial itself lacked the rudiments of due process. The episode was seen as the precursor to the Zoot Suit Riots a year later when U.S. sailors and marines roamed the streets of Los Angeles, savagely attacking anyone wearing a zoot suit, that emblem of urban bravado mixed with extravagant style. More than 600 Latino youths were arrested.

It is a horrifying story of virulent racism. It is also the story of a human being, Henry Reyna, the protagonist of Zoot Suit, his face brimming with hope at the beginning of the play, the wide smile of Daniel Valdez (Luis’ brother, who played Henry in the original production) lighting up his working-class family even as they bemoan his decision to enter the Navy. By the end of the play, we have seen that face disfigured by beatings, transfigured by love, defeated by demons, both outer and inner, matured and saddened by grim determination, even as his future is still in question.

It is Luis Valdez’s triumph both to give us a person whose fate matters to us as we watch his tragedy unfold, and also to create a new merger of naturalistic with expressionistic theatre so that Henry’s plight cannot be reduced to the story of one man. From the opening barrio dance it is clear that the inclusive stylization speaks to a new generation, for there among the Chicano youth is the Japanese-American dancer, Manchuka, and Swabbie, an American (presumably Anglo) sailor. El Pachuco extends the reach to African-Americans, singing, The Hepcats up in Harlem wear that drape shape/Como los pachucones down in L.A. Nothing like this had been seen on the American stage: an outpouring of energy, inventiveness, of tragedy mixed with comedy, of the Brechtian European tradition put into the bodies of urban street kids.

One defining moment is the encounter between Henry and El Pachuco when Henry is already in jail. Go into the barrio of the mind, El Pachuco whispers in his ear, forget the barrio, forget the family, offering the temptation of oblivion, of drugs. Henry speaks back to El Pachuco in what is far more than a simple rejection of temptation. He undergoes a series of dawning revelations: what begins as an accusation (You’re the one who got me here) becomes an acknowledgment of self: You’re my worst enemy, best friend. Myself.

Until this point, opposites have dominated the play as outward manifestations; when Henry is about to enlist, he is told, Forget the war overseas; yours is on the home front. Now the audience feels that the play is also serving the inner life, that Henry will no longer feel torn apart but rather, in the Walt Whitman sense, he will know that he contains multitudes.

The towering strength of the play is that it does not try to reconcile opposites but rather to admit them into a range of possibilities, perhaps most obviously so in its variant endings. There is the official tragic ending, in which an imprisoned Henry becomes a killer himself. Then there is another possibility: Henry is killed in the Korean War. Or he marries his sweetheart and raises his family in Los Angeles. Or…?

There are no answers and no inevitable future. These are possibilities that belong to all of us, existential choices and life trajectories that are real and possible, all part of the layered life of the play.

Center Right: Daniel Valdez with Rose Portillo and the cast of the World premiere of Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum. Photo by Jay Thompson.

'Zoot Suit' and Theatre in the Americas

Theatre in the United States has always sought its distinctive voice, one that defined it as separate from its European theatrical inheritance. What does it mean, that elusive notion of an American theatre? This was a question posed by Clifford Odets and Arthur Miller in mid-century America, answered through the prism of immigration, class, and the dangers of McCarthyism.

What does it mean to speak of the American experience? Or experiences? This is a question posed in the '60s and the '70s, when distinctiveness was emerging from the nation’s diversity, and racial, ethnic, and gendered groups put forth the claims of separate identities. In the '70s and '80s, previously unheard voices emerged, all challenging the narrow definitions of what theatre could be. Along with the development of Chicano theatre, African-American, Caribbean, feminist, and Asian-American artists were all entering into a productive fray, creating work that was shaped by the challenge of finding new artistic ways of representing identity.

In the work of Luis Valdez, we see something different: an explicit tension between community and the broader world. Valdez’s work presents a plurality of voices and points of entry that Valdez says is the American experience. That definition is why Valdez is especially pertinent to our time now. As Valdez put it in a 1988 interview in American Theatre magazine: I feel that the whole question of the human enterprise is up for grabs.

The question posed by Zoot Suit’s radical theatrical terms of 1978 is: what sort of alternatives exist in the United States, beyond racism and violence? Various possibilities are portrayed: the creation of an emblematic style such as that of the pachuco, heroic but self-destructive; the multi-ethnic composition of the defense committee that effectively worked with the families of the Chicano youth to win their appeal. Ultimately these possibilities are seen as insufficient to the immensity of the problem. Valdez again: I don’t think this country has come to terms with its racial question…and because of that, it has not really come to terms with the cultural question of what America is.

In the nearly four decades since Zoot Suit, much has changed, but the challenges it posed still stand, demanding a renewed vision of the United States and ultimately the Americas. The diversity of the United States and the connection among all the Americas are realities that can be ignored only through a willed blindness.

Have we begun to see a vision of a new multi-racial, multi-dimensional poetics? Yes, up to a point: influences between and among identities; the shedding of those identities entirely; the poking fun of old stereotypes and re-using them for a new mix; the new connections being forged between theatre in the United States and theatre of Central and South America. Zoot Suit continues to exert its pressure precisely because it articulated the vision; it walked the path between community and beyond, creating a trail that we are still on.

We dedicate this essay to Gordon Davidson (1933–2016), who nurtured Zoot Suit every step of the way. —SDL and JS

(L-R) Edward James Olmos and Daniel Valdez in the World premiere of Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum in 1978. Photo by Jay Thompson.

About the Authors

Steven D. Lavine and Janet Sternburg (husband and wife) have long worked at the forefront of cultural change.

Steven D. Lavine is president (1988 – present) of the California Institute of the Arts, where he has created opportunities for educating multidisciplinary artists in bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees, as well as creating national models for the creation of new work through CalArts’ performance space, REDCAT, and for the forging of new relationships among an arts college and its communities through the Community Arts Partnership. Lavine is also the co-author of Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display and Museums and Communities. He is proud to note that Luis Valdez served on the Board of Trustees at California Institute of the Arts from 1990–1996.

In 1970, Janet Sternburg, writer and photographer, discovered an unopened box at National Educational Television containing videos of early actos; these became the basis for her 1970 feature documentary El Teatro Campesino, broadcast nationally and shown at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. In 1980, W.W. Norton published her now-classic book The Writer On Her Work; Julia Alvarez, in her introduction to the 20^th anniversary edition, wrote, "It was a first: seventeen women laying claim to rooms of their own in the mansion of literature." Sternburg is also the author of two books of memoirs, White Matter and Phantom Limb. A monograph of her photography, Overspilling World, has been published in 2016 by Distanz Verlag with a foreword by Wim Wenders.

Five Tales of Scandal, Conspiracy, and Murder in the Art World

Center Theatre Group — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 10:24:00 -0800

Bas Jan Ader

In Search of the Miraculous by Bas Jan Ader.
Bas Jan Ader was a conceptual artist in the second half of the 20^th century known for work that was both intensely personal and dangerously whimsical. In one set of videos, he recorded himself struggling against gravity, only to eventually fall with both comedy and actual pain. In another, he mined his own tragic past, calling forth images of his father’s death in World War II and the unexpressed grief he experienced as a result. However, what Ader is probably most famous for is his final work. The plan was to sail solo across the Atlantic in a 13-foot craft, sandwiching the journey between two concerts of sea shanties sung by children. But three weeks after he set sail, Ader's empty boat was found off the coast of Portugal. Ader himself was nowhere to be found. In the years since, many theories have been put forth. From the mundane (Ader was simply swept overboard in crossing) to the tragic (he planned to commit suicide as a part of the work itself), and even the conspiratorial (he still lives in hiding).
Mark Lombardi

Gerry Bull, Space Research Corporation and Armscor of Pretoria, South Africa, c. 1972-80 (5th version) by Mark Lombardi
Mark Lombardi has been called the first great artist of the 21^st century because his work was as informational as it was artistic. Those in the accounting world may be familiar with "interlocks"—diagrams used to illustrate connections between different elements in complex systems. Lombardi elevated these utilitarian diagrams to the status of high art by creating interlocks that highlighted illicit connections between the now-defunct Bank of Credit and Commercial International (BCCI), The World Finance Corporation, President George W. Bush, and other American federal agencies. In the spring of 2000, Lombardi was finally finding success. His work was starting to be widely exhibited, he was making money, and he was just days away from an opening that was set to feature his largest interlock yet. But in March, just one day before his birthday, he allegedly hanged himself from a pipe in his apartment. The fact that many of his most sensitive interlocks (especially those dealing with President George W. Bush) have since disappeared has raised more than a few eyebrows in subsequent years.
Ana Mendieta

Alma Silueta en Fuego by Ana Mendieta.
If you’ve ever taken a performance art course, chances are that you are quite familiar with the work of this late Cuban artist. Mendieta, the daughter of a Cuban revolutionary, remembered finding firearms hidden everywhere in her father’s house. During this time, he was even imprisoned by Fidel Castro on the charge of treason. Mendieta’s work was thought by many to be deeply informed by this trauma. She often incorporated the human body, pagan rituals, and violence to create a controversial and uncompromising aesthetic. In 1985, she married her long-time partner, minimalist sculptor Carl Andre. The two had a famously rocky relationship, and during one of their frequent spats Mendieta fell (or was pushed) out the window of their 34^th-floor apartment in Greenwich Village. Andre was subsequently tried and acquitted of Mendieta’s murder, maintaining to this day that his wife committed suicide.
Mary Pinchot Meyer

Mary Pinchot Meyer
The life and death of artist Mary Pinchot Meyer sounds like something out of a spy novel. This one-time mistress of John F. Kennedy stood at the very top of the 1960s D.C. social scene. Harvard intellectual and psychedelic drug researcher Timothy Leary claimed in his autobiography Flashbacks that Meyer was using drugs to convince the D.C. elite to de-escalate the Cold War. Sadly, one of the lesser known facts of Meyer’s life is that she was a celebrated abstract painter of the Washington Color School. Her work often melded bright bold colors with abstract shapes to create images that were at once flat and vibrant. In 1964—while taking a walk after her morning painting session—Meyer was gunned down by a man in a Georgetown park. A man named Ray Crump was originally accused of the crime, but lack of evidence and motive eventually led to his acquittal. However, the Leary rumor, the lack of convincing motive, and the tardiness with which first responders arrived on the scene has caused some to believe that Meyer was not the victim of a random act of violence—but a CIA assassination.
Vincent Van Gogh

Self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh
The Dutch post-impressionist lived a life that has become the stuff of legend. As the traditional narrative goes, Van Gogh—a depressive at the best of times—was fed up. He (famously) sold only two paintings in his lifetime, cut off his ear after a failed love affair, had little to no friends, and—after completing one last unappreciated masterpiece—shot himself in the stomach to end it all. It is a narrative made famous by the 1956 film Lust For Life, in which a young Kirk Douglas portrays the heroically underappreciated genius. It is also a narrative that a pair of historians challenged in their 2011 biography of the artist. According to their research Van Gogh did not commit suicide but was accidentally shot by a young man named Rene Secretan. Sixteen-year-old Rene was the son of a wealthy community member. Van Gogh was a tramp the community tolerated as best they could. According to the historians, Rene took a shine to the artist, pranking him at every turn like an adolescent punk. According to them, Van Gogh’s murder was a prank gone horribly wrong—a fact the late artist allegedly covered up in order to protect the teenager. If this tale sounds far-fetched to you, then you are not alone. Far from being the definitive account of Van Gogh’s death, this theory has spurred deep debate about who the artist really was as well as the motives of the historians in question.

Zoot Suits, Performance Artists, and 50 years of History

Michael Ritchie — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 13:39:00 -0800

We’re delighted to have produced Zoot Suit and Angels in America. With a top-notch creative team and Phillipa Soo in the title role straight from Hamilton, Amélie was an event we were honored to be a part of at this early stage.

We are pleased, too, to be welcoming Tim Crouch back to the Kirk Douglas Theatre’s Adler & Gibb. Tim is also the theatrical genius behind 2011’s The Author, a unique immersive experience; we know Adler & Gibb will be just as exciting for you. Adler & Gibb is a co-commission with London’s Royal Court Theatre, and we’re very happy to have them as our partner on this and on future projects we’ll be announcing soon.

Corporate Circle Attends Community Impact Panel

Kristin Yamaka — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 16:25:00 -0800

At the age of 13, Katharine Lauffer was Center Theatre Group’s youngest ever August Wilson Monologue Competition, where she had the opportunity to perform her monologue on the Mark Taper Forum stage. Katharine spoke of how her experiences with Center Theatre Group helped her develop as a person and define her identity. She is currently pursuing a degree in acting at CalArts.

Angelina Finau made many of us shed a tear with her stories. She had never performed onstage—aside from participating in her high school speech and debate team—when she took a risk and entered the 2013 August Wilson Monologue Competition. From a pool of approximately 300 students, she became one of 12 regional finalists onstage at the Mark Taper Forum. Angelina recalled how the process, which included free workshops and team-building activities, built her self-confidence and showed her that people like her can succeed at anything they commit to. It was a defining moment in her life. This past summer, Angelina also participated in the Center Theatre Group’s Student Matinee program. She is now working at Center Theatre Group on an 18-month fellowship sponsored by Theatre Communications Group in the role of Community Partnerships Associate. Mentored by Center Theatre Group Community Partnerships Director Jesus Reyes, Alejandra is exploring various career opportunities, building leadership skills, and pursuing her passion of collaborating and connecting with community groups around theatre.

All three of these remarkable young women shared stories of change that would not have been possible without Center Theatre Group. The programs they participated in changed the way they see themselves and the world, provided experiences that created new confidence in their abilities, and built important soft skills for them to become enthusiastic citizens and effective leaders of the next generation. Through their stories, we were able to better understand the collective scale and impact of the Corporate Circle’s contributions to the important programs that Center Theatre Group offers to students and the community.

Tim Crouch Explains Himself (Kind of)

Center Theatre Group — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 10:25:00 -0800

Crouch talked about what he sees as the difference between writing and acting—and what thrills him about both aspects of theatre—in a 2014 interview with Time Out Beijing:

As a performer, success or failure feels more immediate. You can smell it in the room. As an actor, you know whether people are with you or against you, and there you are, putting yourself on the line. A writer has a bigger job to do because he needs to think on a larger scale about the play itself, about the ideas it is trying to communicate. With writing, the need is to sublimate the ego for the sake of the play. With performing, the ego is present and is vulnerable. Writing is the hardest thing, because you start with nothing—an idea of a moment you want to see, or a story you want to tell. In a way, the acting is the easy bit. But writing allows acting to exist, and the writing exists after the performance is over. Performing is an immediate thrill while writing makes for a longer lasting pleasure.

Visual art has played a role in Crouch’s creations since his first play, My Arm, the story of a man who decided at age 10 to place his arm above his head—and has kept it there for 30 years, making him a modern art hero. Crouch’s follow-up, 2005’s An Oak Tree, was inspired by a piece of conceptual art at the Tate Modern, and involves a new actor joining Crouch onstage each night—without having read the script beforehand. In 2007, Crouch wrote a very funny account for The Guardian about the show’s New York run, which featured a variety of well-known actors including Frances McDormand, Joan Allen, and Mike Myers. Among its fans was Kelly Ripa, whose husband Mark Consuelos appeared one night, and who wanted to make a film of the show:

I said that what distinguishes An Oak Tree is its unique theatricality: it can’t be transposed into any other medium. They assured me it was this theatricality they wanted to capture. They talked of filming it live again and again, and then editing so the nature of the play in performance is revealed…They mentioned film festivals and Kelly talked passionately about TV being the only art form most Americans ever see. She said she could get any actor we wanted—Cate Blanchett, or Harvey Keitel. I said that if we were to use big names, we would also have to use a couple of complete unknowns. They agreed, and we had another bottle of wine. The next day, full of enthusiasm, I wrote a long email to the writers in LA. I’m still excited about my film career, but I haven’t heard a word since.

Luckily, he’s had other reasons to travel to Los Angeles, including in 2011 for The Author, which eliminated the stage from the Douglas and had actors sitting amidst audience members. The audience also plays an important role in Adler & Gibb, Crouch explained in a 2014 interview about the show:

I try to make theatre that places the audience at the centre of its processes. This is not audience participation in the traditional sense—no one will be brought up on stage. As with most of my work, the audience can expect a piece that invites, to some extent, their role as co-authors. Space is left for the audience’s input—contradictions that require an audience to resolve. The play is complete but remains as open as I can make it. This openness is there to allow the audience entry. This sounds heavy duty, but it’s very playful in its engagement.

That playfulness is evident in the website Crouch created for the eponymous Adler and Gibb, an artist named Janet Adler and her lover Margaret Gibb. He told The Guardian what he’s aiming for with these characters:

I want you to believe that they might have existed, but they are real only in as much as they are the idea of something real contained in something else. This is the root of every actor's journey: a search for the ‘real’ in their character, even if their character has never seen the light of a real day. Much of my writing tries to unpack the conflicts in that state. Adler & Gibb balances the lives of my invented artists with the story of an actor who goes to unethical extremes to convince her audience that she is someone other than herself.

The Movies to Musicals of 2017

Center Theatre Group — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 12:46:00 -0800

'Anastasia'

A decade after the animated musical hit movie theatres, Anastasia heads to Broadway with music and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, a book by Terrence McNally, and direction by Darko Tresnjak (who brought
Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been wowing audiences on the West End since 2013 and moves to Broadway this spring with new direction by Jack O’Brien (who was most recently at the Ahmanson in 2015 with Pretty much every decade has brought a new adaptation of Freaky Friday since Mary Rodgers published the original 1972 novel about a mother and daughter who switch bodies one Friday the 13^TH, to hilarious results. Barbara Harris played the mother and Jodi Foster the daughter in the 1976 film; Shelley Long and Gaby Hoffman played those roles respectively in the 1995 television movie; and Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan took their turn in the 2003 feature. Heidi Blickenstaff and Emma Hunton are the latest stars to step into these roles, and each other’s shoes—this time live and with music—at La Jolla Playhouse beginning January 31, 2017.
'Frozen'

It’s going to be a very cold August in Denver: the insanely beloved Frozen is Disney’s latest entry into their animated movie-to-musical roster, making its World premiere at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts before heading to Broadway in spring 2018. Songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are back, as is writer Jennifer Lee. Lopez has said they are writing 10–12 new songs for the show, explaining to Playbill last year, the elements of the movie that are really kind of not theatrical, like close-ups and action sequences, all of that needs to be done through musical storytelling. That’s that area where you really have to be creative, in terms of some restructuring and some rethinking and just, hopefully, smart choices.
'Groundhog Day'

The results of Groundhog Day 2017 will be moot by April 17, 2017, when the musical version of Groundhog Day opens on Broadway. Bill Murray played weatherman Phil Connors in the 1993 movie about a man who has to relive February 2 over and over again. That role is played by Andy Karl (who appeared in 9 to 5 at the Ahmanson) in the musical. The book comes from original screenwriter Danny Rubin, while the Matilda the Musical creative team of director Matthew Warchus, composer & lyricist Tim Minchin, and choreographer Peter Darling has joined forces on another new stage adaptation.
'Mean Girls'

We don’t know much yet about the Mean Girls musical, but it’s safe to say it will be fetch. The World premiere is scheduled for a fall 2017 at the National Theater in Washington. The creative team includes Tina Fey, who wrote the screenplay, Lorne Michaels, who produced the film and will produce the show, composer Jeff Richmond (who is also Fey’s husband), director Casey Nicholaw, and lyricist Nell Benjamin. At Wednesday matinees we wear pink…?
'The Spongebob Musical'

No Broadway dates have been set yet for the musical based on the Nickelodeon show about a sponge who lives on a pineapple at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, but it is scheduled to be onstage some time later this year after a World premiere in Chicago. The score includes songs from a variety of musical stars, contemporary and classic, including Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Cyndi Lauper, The Flaming Lips, John Legend, Sara Bareilles, and T.I. Is Broadway ready for a sponge? Aye-aye, captain!

The Cinematic Sensation that Was ‘Amélie’

Center Theatre Group — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 11:39:00 -0800

Its fans included President Jacques Chirac, who called watching the film at the Elysée Palace, where he hosted a special screening, “one of the best evenings of my life.” Prime Minister Lionel Jospin championed Amélie Poulain as justifying state support for the French film industry. French actress Audrey Tautou, who was cast in the title role with just a few feature credits under her belt, quickly became a recognizable celebrity. (Interestingly, the role had originally been written for the English actress Emily Watson).

But even as it raked in rave reviews and francs at the box office, Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain was also courting controversy. Weeks after it was released, the 2001 Cannes Film Festival opened, showing five French films in competition, and seemingly snubbing Jeunet’s film. (Rumor had it that the movie was deemed “not serious.”) Redemption came quickly, however, when in September the movie (now titled, in English, Amélie of Montmartre) won the AGF People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, that festival’s most important award.

That fall, less than two months after 9/11, Amélie (again retitled) opened in the United States. Elvis Mitchell’s New York Times review called it “fabulous…a sugar rush of a movie”; Roger Ebert echoed that sentiment, calling the film “a delicious pastry…You see it, and later when you think about it, you smile.” America must have had a sweet tooth in that particular moment: Amélie grossed over $33 million, setting box office records for a French film and becoming one of the highest grossing foreign language films of all time. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly named the film poster to its list of the top 25 film posters of the past 25 years. In 2010, the American Society of Cinematographers named Amélie the best-shot movie of the 2000s.

The effects of Amélie made it outside the doors of movie theatres and into the world of Montmartre, the Paris neighborhood where the story is set. The Café des Deux Moulins, where Amélie works in both the movie and stage versions, became a tourist attraction, as did the greengrocer where she shops. Montmartre has gentrified in the ensuing years, but guided Amélie tours continue to stop at the sites featured in the movie for fans who find themselves vacationing in Paris.

Luckily, Los Angeles fans of the movie can save themselves a plane ticket and a hotel—Montmartre and Amélie remain at the Ahmanson for a few more weeks

Meet the 2017 Richard E. Sherwood Award Finalists

Center Theatre Group — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:05:00 -0800

Tell me about your latest project

Jenny:: A Beautiful Day on the Banks of the Greatest of Great Lakes by Kate Benson, directed by Laramie Dennis at Theatre of NOTE. It's the West Coast premiere of a new take on a family’s a Thanksgiving holiday in the Midwest, which is told in the form of a funny sports broadcast with no particular time period, no props, and no actual set. However, the costumes themselves will be fully realized and represent full family members. It's a challenge since the production will put a great deal of focus and attention on costumes to tell story, but there are also over 20 characters with only 10 actors who cannot leave stage or change.
Pablo:: Destiny of Desire by Karen Zacarias, directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela (a co-production between South Coast Rep and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago). I get to work with an amazing ensemble to create an unapologetic telenovela—to play with operatic bold gestures and more twists and turns than one could think possible. Two words: heighten and authentic. I get to tap into the basic human needs of pleasure, both in the personal but perhaps more importantly, the shared experience one has with the rest of the audience. I think there are enough Brechtian moments in the show that the constant game of manipulation versus alienation becomes its own pleasure, system of meaning, and portal into political commentary.
Keith:: A few weeks ago, I was at REDCAT engineering The Source, a new music-theatre work, with production/video designer Jim Findlay. Jim and I have worked closely over the past year and a half developing Mallory Catlett’s William Burroughs exploration Decoder 2017, in which Jim is performing and I’m designing video, so it’s a nice change of pace to shuffle roles. Up next I’ll be working with Zoe Moore and Marissa Chibas at The Bootleg, and getting ready to bring Phantom Limb Company’s Memory Rings to BAM, following a successful run at CAP UCLA this past April.

Who are your influences?

Jenny:: One influence for me has always been Frida Kahlo, as she found new ways to transform her world and physical pain though her art, which helped me to do the same. I read a book about her life when I was I was eight years old, and discovering that her culture identity was also similar to mine brought me comfort and acceptance of my own mixed background. My mother has also been a great influence in my life. Although she passed away when I was 18, her perseverance to come to America and have a better life for herself and for her family always amazed me and instilled in me a strong work ethic and desire to accomplish my dreams. Other influences are costume designers such as Eiko Ishioka, Denitsa Bliznakova, and Kara Harmon. Overall, Culture Clash, El Teatro Campesino, and the playwright Josefina López have been major inspirations and influences.
Pablo:: My influences change constantly as I learn more about other people’s work in different disciplines of art and life itself. In any case, I often return to an early influence in my lighting life. While working in the film industry, the simplicity and boldness of cinematographer Harris Savides made a big impression on me. He used to tell me, “I don’t light actors, I light emotional environments that the actors can inhibit.” I always take the whole stage into account, not just where the actor is standing. Everything the audience can see is an opportunity to communicate meaning or a visceral experience.
Keith:
: While working in New York’s downtown theatre scene, I definitely picked up a performance and design vocabulary from companies like Radiohole, Elevator Repair Service, and Big Dance Theater. I count video designer Tal Yarden as a mentor. For inspiration I always go back to the well of cinema, and to video artists like Nam June Paik and Gary Hill.

What excites you most about working in L.A.?

Jenny:: Despite the Hollywood film/TV-work-only misconception of this city, in the theatre community, we are a family no matter what. We have less ego than any other city I have worked in, which truly allows for genuine art making. I believe everyone is striving to make art here and they are not just out for themselves. Everywhere from the small 99-seat companies like Son of Semele and Theatre of NOTE to bigger houses like Center Theatre Group and the Geffen Playhouse, I am always met with artists first and foremost, including the production managers, front-of-house managers, company managers, ushers… Everyone in every capacity believes in the art being made and places a lot of heart into their work.
Pablo:: The diversity of people and projects that one gets to participate with/on. Such a range enables me to push my own boundaries and to learn from so many other artists.
Keith:: I love the cross-pollination of disciplines here. Film and television are huge, of course, and there’s a real overlap between the gallery scene, theatre, dance, and music worlds. It makes for an audience that’s really open to brand-new experiences, and the intersection of commercial and independent worlds makes an arts career relatively sustainable here.

Tell me about the first theatre peice you ever worked on.

Jenny:: It was in sixth grade for a class assignment. At the time I did not know much about theatre. My group wrote a skit about a pet shop with exotic animals, and at first we stuck to real animals we knew about, but our teacher pointed out we could make up our own animals because in theatre anything could happen. This excited me and my group, so we created mystical animals. I made a whole fire water dragon body suit (with the help of my mom, of course). My dragon could blow fire under water; this involved a spray bottle of food-coloring-dyed water that sprayed out at the audience, which in the end a lot parents weren’t happy with because kids went home with dyed splattered clothes. But my classmates loved it, and that’s all that mattered. I think my teacher took a point off our grade because of that.
Pablo:: In elementary school in Teopisca, Chiapas, Mexico, I was the only blond kid in school. I am not sure if it was the first piece I ever worked on, but [each year,] I would be asked to participate in the re-enactment of the battle of 5 de Mayo in which the Mexican army defeated the French. Obviously I was part of the French army. I remember thinking that I just wanted the French to win one year because I was tired of losing.
Keith:: Growing up I always acted in school plays, but I first tried on a design hat in undergrad, dabbling in lighting and sound. My first video design was for an Edgar Allan Poe project (directed by Caitlin Doughty, founder of The Order of the Good Death), that I also sound designed. It featured live projections of silent 16mm films that I shot on a Bolex. It was exciting to make the image into a dimensional and performative act, taking up the air of a small black box theatre with the rattle of the projector. It harkened back to audience experiences at the very first film exhibitions—an experience of something ghastly and wondrous and technological—a world Poe envisioned but never beheld.

What are the first three questions you ask a new collaborator?

Jenny:: I usually ask first what music they listen to and what music feels close to the show in question. This helps me establish a mood because I think music communicates more than what a person can exactly point to.; The second question is about where the world is set. Is it based in reality or is it surreal/minimal? This will inform me how much attention will be placed on costumes and how much I need to think about scaling back so that they harmonize with the entire design of the show. I also find out if the show has been done before, and if so, what the new challenge and angle is.; A third question I ask is how many actors will be cast and whether or not roles are double cast. Sometimes I am surprised to find that even with the right number of actors, there are times when multiple actors are still playing one character at the same time (such as a recent version of The Tempest that I designed where Ariel was played by three girls).

Pablo:

The questions change with different people but questions I like to ask are…

What happened to the last lighting designer? Why are you looking for one?

Is there an image or a photo that you find as inspiration for the piece? (This helps me see where they are aesthetically, so I know how to proceed.)

Often directors will tell me that they want the look to be "out there," cool, dynamic, or weird. Then I’ll ask, “What does weird mean to you?” First, because I am interested in that word and second, because I want to know how far into experimentation we can go. Sometimes the answer is white top light.

Keith:

Of directors…

Why this piece/why now?

Can the show still work without video? (I love talking directors out of using video if it’s not essential.)

What do you want the audience to walk away with?

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