2017 | Center Theatre Group

In honor of our 50th Anniversary, we are mining our archives for gems that highlight important and interesting moments from throughout Center Theatre Group’s history. The following is an excerpt from a note by Founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson in the program for the 1978 World premiere of Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum. With Zoot Suit...

Evolving Stages

Zoot Suit is not merely performed in English and Spanish. The characters also speak caló, a patois or dialect that is one of the highly distinctive ways the pachuco has of projecting himself. According to one scholar, caló developed in barrios all around the country to give each region its own particular idiom and phrases....

A 'Zoot Suit' Glossary

Occasionally a work of art emerges that defines a cultural moment and points to its future. In 1978, audiences in the United States were privileged to see such a work: Zoot Suit, performed first in Los Angeles and nine months later on Broadway where theatre critic Jack Kroll described the play as a key event in the consciousness of a community. Wit...

The Consciousness of a Community and Beyond

As 2017 begins, we’re officially celebrating Center Theatre Group’s 50th Anniversary. We’ll be spending much of the year looking ahead to the next 50 years of theatre in Los Angeles and beyond, but we’re also honoring our past. From January – May, each of our issues of Performances will feature a timeline of one decade in our history. We'...

Zoot Suits, Performance Artists, and 50 years of History

On August 17, 1978, Los Angeles theatre, Latino theatre, and American theatre changed forever with the opening of Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum. “When the character of El Pachuco, memorably played by Edward James Olmos, swaggered onto the Taper stage, Chicano theatre became American theatre,” explained writer/director Luis Valdez. Valdez ca...

How 'Zoot Suit' Changed Theatre Forever