Center Theatre Group News & Blogs

A Journey of Passion

Center Theatre Group — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 13:45:00 -0700

1907

In Warsaw, Sholem Asch reads his new play, Got fun Nekome (God of Vengeance), for the founding father of modern Yiddish literature, I. L. Peretz. Disturbed by what he takes to be the play’s misrepresentation of Jewish piety, Peretz counsels Asch to burn it.

Got fun Nekome opens in St. Petersburg and Moscow, where it is celebrated, and then in New York where the left-wing newspapers defend its gritty sophistication, while the Orthodox papers decry it for fanning anti-Semitic stereotypes.

1914

With the outbreak of World War I, Sholem Asch leaves Europe for New York. After the war, he visits Europe and is shaken by the destruction of Jewish communities.

1921

The Emergency Quota Act severely reduces the number of immigrants permitted into the US from Eastern and Southern Europe.

1921–1922

A movement to prevent lewdness on the stage gathers force against popular farces on Broadway.

1922

Isaac Goldberg’s English translation of God of Vengeance opens at the Provincetown Playhouse in New York City before moving to the larger Greenwich Village Theatre.

1923

February 19—God of Vengeance opens on Broadway at the Apollo Theater. The passionate scene in the rain is cut from this production, changing the women’s relationship from one of love to manipulation.

March 8—Mid-performance, a police detective informs the cast and producer that they are under indictment for obscenity. The next morning, the company posts bail and returns to the theatre in time for the matinee.

March 8—The company of God of Vengeance goes on trial and is found guilty. The verdict is overturned on appeal.

1924

The National Origins Act restricts immigration even further; the Asian Exclusion Act lives up to its name. The Society for Human Rights is founded as the first organization in the US that seeks equality for homosexuals. Police pressure soon shuts it down.

1926

New York State passes the Wales Padlock Law, prohibiting plays “dealing with the subject of sex degeneracy or perversion.” This law, not declared unconstitutional until 1976, leaves LGBTQ characters to be portrayed as symbols of vice, corruption, and evil.

Early 1940s

Got fun Nekome is performed in the Łódiz´ Ghetto where an estimated 160,000 Jews are sealed off from the world.

1942

Nazi officials discuss the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question,” and the industrial genocide begins. With news of the murderous destruction of European Jewry, Sholem Asch forbids future performances of Got fun Nekome.

1943

Sholem Asch is the first Yiddish writer to be nominated for the Nobel Prize.

1956

Sholem Asch dies. His home in Bat Yam, Israel now houses the Sholem Asch Museum. Yale University holds his archive.

1974

Playwright Paula Vogel, then a 22-year-old graduate student at Cornell University, reads God of Vengeance at the suggestion of her professor.

1997

While a first-year student at the Yale School of Drama, Rebecca Taichman discovers God of Vengeance and writes her thesis on the obscenity trial.

2002

Under the leadership of then-Artistic Director Michael Ritchie, Donald Margulies adapts God of Vengeance for a Williamstown Theatre Festival production.

2010

Rebecca Taichman calls Paula Vogel to collaborate on a play about that obscenity trial, which would later become Indecent.

2013

Indecent receives a developmental production at the Sundance Institute Theatre Program.

2015–2016

The World premiere of Indecent is staged at Yale Repertory Theatre, followed by a production at the La Jolla Playhouse. Indecent opens Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre.

2017

Indecent opens at the Cort Theatre on Broadway, 94 years after the Broadway premiere of God of Vengeance.

Timeline includes contributions by Alisa Solomon. Sources/further reading: John J. Houchin, Censorship of the American Theatre in the Twentieth Century; Alisa Solomon, Re-Dressing the Canon: Essays on Theater and Gender, Nina Warnke “God of Vengeance: The 1907 Controversy over Art and Morality,” in ed. Stahl Sholem Asch Reconsidered; Zalmen Zyblercweig, Leksikon fun Yidishn teater

Center Theatre Group Invests in Broadway

Center Theatre Group — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 05:32:00 -0700

In a challenging entertainment landscape where Center Theatre Group is competing with deep-pocketed, for-profit companies, we are constantly searching for new ways to remain competitive and best serve our Los Angeles audience and community. Thanks to the initial generosity of some leadership supporters—The Ahmanson Foundation, Jerry & Terri Kohl, William & Ellyn Lindsay, and Laura & Jamie Rosenwald—we’ve established the Broadway Investment Fund to do just that.

“For me, the Broadway Investment Fund is an opportunity that safeguards our future. In order to secure the best and brightest Broadway musicals for the audiences at the Ahmanson Theatre, Center Theatre Group must continue to support projects early in their development. Then, when the opportunity is right, be prepared to invest modestly in productions, thereby securing a ‘first right’ for shows touring through Los Angeles,” explained Center Theatre Group Producing Director Douglas C. Baker. “The Broadway Investment Fund gives Center Theatre Group a seat at the producers’ table that we would not have otherwise. I am forever grateful to our supporters for joining us in this exciting artistic effort.”

At the same time, this investment lends our backing to the artists we believe in and helps build lasting creative relationships for future projects, all while playing a part in creating a pipeline of bold new musical works on Broadway.

Currently, Center Theatre Group has investments in The Prom—which audiences and critics alike have been raving about and was nominated for the Tony Award^® for Best Musical—and Hadestown, which won eight 2019 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Other recent investments include Shuffle Along, which starred Audra McDonald, and American Psycho the Musical.

“It’s truly exciting to be a part of a great new musical at the earliest stages—in part because you never know what’s going to happen,” said founding Broadway Investment Fund donor and Center Theatre Group Board of Directors Treasurer William R. Lindsay. “As a real estate investor, I really enjoy having a hand in this kind of artistic investment, which ultimately has the potential to benefit our entire Center Theatre Group community.”

As any theatre lover in Los Angeles can attest, the Ahmanson is the city’s best house for musicals. In order to get the best musicals in the best house, we look to the continued support of our generous donors to join us in taking risks and getting behind the artists and shows we love from the very beginning.

Building a More Inclusive Company with TransCanWork

Center Theatre Group — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 05:32:00 -0700

These were a few of the questions asked and answered at recent trainings hosted by TransCanWork for Center Theatre Group staff. Inspired by the Skylight Theatre Company production of Rotterdam—which featured a trans character’s journey—we partnered with TransCanWork to help us make our company a more welcoming place for members of the trans community.

The trainings were also part of a larger, ongoing effort to create a culture of greater equity, diversity, and inclusion at Center Theatre Group.

In an effort to create an authentic and ongoing ‘community of learning’ at our theatre that acknowledges and seeks to repair injustices, we need look no further than the work on our stages to discover rich opportunities and partnerships to help us learn and create a more inclusive and representative organization. The themes and ideas in Rotterdam inspired us to learn more about what it means to be a trans person in today’s world and think about ways we can make our theatre and its operations more welcoming to the trans-community, said Center Theatre Group Director of Social Strategy, Innovation and Impact Leslie K. Johnson, whose responsibilities include serving as the theatre’s chief diversity officer.

TransCanWork hosted three trainings for staff members working on Rotterdam from departments across the company devoted to helping participants better understand the spectrum of gender and sexuality, debunking stereotypes and understanding the diversity within the trans population, and learning how to communicate in the most inclusive and sensitive way possible with trans people and about trans issues.

In addition to sharing facts like the adult trans population of the US today (1.4 million) and the percentage of American kids who identify as trans (0.7 percent), the training leaders walked staff through the difficult questions and decisions that arise in the process of transitioning that might surprise cisgender people (who identify and present as the same gender they were designated at birth).

They also led exercises in introducing yourself and your pronoun and offered other tips for creating more inclusive environments. The sessions concluded with staff members putting the training in action in the creation of work-related communications like casting notices and social media posts and role-playing conversations with patrons.

We have a philosophy of radical hospitality at the Douglas, which means that we want everyone to feel truly at home and just totally, completely welcome in our space, and the training was one more way to ensure that, said Center Theatre Group Audience Engagement Manager Jaquelyn Johnson, who oversees the Douglas Concierge staff.

We all really enjoyed how interactive the training was and how we were encouraged to ask questions—and even to say something wrong, because that’s how you learn. In the process we realized that we have an opportunity to improve the signage for our all-gender restroom at the theatre and to help people use it before the house is open. The training helped us to see blind spots like this and learn more.

Disney Musicals in Schools Spreads Magic across L.A.

Center Theatre Group — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 05:05:00 -0700

Since launching in New York City in 2009, Disney Musicals in Schools has impacted over 300 schools and tens of thousands of students all over the country. Disney Theatrical Group and Center Theatre Group just celebrated the end of our second year working together in Los Angeles. This year, five public elementary schools were selected to participate in a 17-week musical theatre residency. Each first-year school received performance rights to a Disney KIDS musical, educational support materials, and weekly visits from Center Theatre Group teaching artists to help them produce, direct, and choreograph their first show. In honor of the 10^TH anniversary of the program, Disney also invited all of the first-year schools to attend a professional musical production and gave additional grants to all schools.

Our first-year schools—all Title I elementary schools—represented communities across Los Angeles County, and most have not been able to produce musical theatre projects of this scale in the past. In April and May, they put on at least one full community performance (and some as many as six!) at their schools, and selected one number to showcase at the Student Share Celebration.

Tulsa Street Elementary performs at the Student Share Celebration.

The afternoon at the Ahmanson began with all of the students coming together to sing “It Starts with a Dream,” a song written by Disney legend Alan Menken for the Disney Musicals in Schools program. Host Aimee Carrero, who voices the title character in the animated Disney series Elena of Avalor, introduced each school group. A pair of educators and teaching artists from each school team prefaced their students’ performances by sharing how the program has changed lives and communities. They all agreed that in addition to learning theatre skills, students have grown in myriad ways—gaining self-confidence and discipline as well as improving as readers, writers, and thinkers.

“One of our cast members is new to the country and did not speak any English on the first day of school. Today, he has a speaking role in our production,” said Paula Landau, the school coordinator at Saturn Street Elementary in Mid-City.

Added Amanda Velez-Buck, a teacher at Wild Rose School of Creative Arts in Monrovia, “Being part of this show is a first-time experience for many our students and staff. The affordability of taking singing, dancing, or acting lessons is outside what many of our students’ families can provide. Seeing the students thrive when they are encouraged to express themselves in the arts has been exciting and fulfilling.”

Sandra Mijarez, a teacher at Breed Street Elementary in Boyle Heights, said that the effects have not been limited to the students, either. “Teachers, students, parents, and administration alike, all discovered that we could accept a challenge, persevere, learn and still have a great time,” she said. “We all came away with a sense of family and community that is much stronger than before.”

The opening performance.

Indeed, this is central to Center Theatre Group and Disney Theatrical Group’s goals for the program, which encourages schools to become more independent and self-sustained over three years of collaboration. The hope is that the experience will build the foundation for a musical theatre program that will continue for many years.

“The ultimate benefit comes from the investment in the ongoing abilities of educators across our community,” said Center Theatre Group Director of Social Strategy, Innovation and Impact Leslie K. Johnson. “We are supporting these schools’ goals to have robust musical theatre programs for years to come.”

Young Artists Inspiring Young Artists

Center Theatre Group — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 04:43:00 -0700

As the Los Angeles home of the National August Wilson Monologue Competition, Center Theatre Group has helped hundreds of high school students from across our region hone their acting and storytelling skills. Each year, 12 of those students perform in the Los Angeles Regional Finals at the Mark Taper Forum, and a few advance to the nationals in New York. Just five years ago, Mackins was one of those students, and he continues to credit the training he received with helping prepare him for the rigors of Broadway.

“I remember the exact talkback I saw when [director, longtime Wilson collaborator, and August Wilson Monologue Competition presenter] Kenny Leon took us to see

That graduate drama student, Rebecca Taichman, who has been called “the foremost interpreter of the contemporary work of Jewish women onstage,” became obsessed by the story of God of Vengeance and what happened to it. That obsession, over the next two decades, would lead her to a collaboration with a famous playwright, the creation of a new play adored by audiences and critics around the country, her Broadway debut, a Tony Award^® nomination for Best Play, a Tony Award for Best Director, and now, a production at the Ahmanson Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, where Indecent is onstage June 5 – July 7, 2019.

But before all that, there was Sholem Asch and God of Vengeance. “Sholem Asch is in his 20s when he writes this extraordinary story of a family who runs a brothel in their basement. The father-slash-pimp is obsessed with the piety of his young daughter who lives upstairs above the brothel, and he’s shielding her from everything, basically,” explained Taichman. “He’s arranging a marriage with a Yiddish scholar for her, he forbids her from going down into the basement, and of course she finds her way down there, and she falls madly in love with one of the woman prostitutes.”

God of Vengeance became a hit across Europe and in 1923, was translated into English for a Broadway production. But its run was cut short after six weeks by the arrests of the cast and producer on obscenity charges. The trial transcript inspired Taichman to create a play called The People vs.The God of Vengeance; the script consisted of all found materials, and it became her graduate thesis.

Taichman was fascinated by Asch because “he sort of threw every explosive issue into this one concoction. He proved throughout his life to be someone who really elicited controversy constantly.” She also loved his text. “If we hadn’t stumbled across the obscenity trial, I would have tried to stage the play,” she said. “It’s an extraordinary, complicated story about so many different things. It’s this beautiful lesbian love story written by this man. And it’s about the hypocritical nature of religion and piety; there’s a very damning portrait of a rabbi in that play. And it’s a questioning of the wrathful nature of God.”

Taichman wanted to tell the story of Asch and God of Vengeance, but she wasn’t quite sure how. “I left school feeling like I had to caretake this memory or somehow try, the best that I could, to keep this memory alive,” she said. Years later, she had her chance when the Oregon Shakespeare Festival offered her a commission and a friend suggested she ask Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel to be her collaborator.

“It turned out she knew the play very well, and it meant a great deal to her. It was sort of like finding another Trekkie. She had an equal-sized obsession,” said Taichman. “My memory is I almost hadn’t completed the sentence, and she said yes. And then we embarked on this extraordinary process in which I learned a tremendous amount from her. And she was the perfect person to write a story that was much bigger than anything I had dreamed of.”

Vogel expanded the story Taichman had begun to stretch far beyond the obscenity trial. “It would tell the story of the birth of the play, from 1907, through the moment when Asch would forbid its production in the ’50s. It was a way to look at this massive swath of history through the lens of one piece of art.” That history includes the decline of Yiddish, rising anti-Semitism, American immigration reform, and the Holocaust.

“At its heart, Indecent is about love winning over forces of hate. And a struggle for that. It sort of barely does. But tragically, really, I think this is a fight that continues throughout all our history,” said Taichman. “The story of God of Vengeance and of Indecent is also the story of immigrant populations coming to America and really being rejected and being scared, feeling they had to assimilate and fast. This play representing them on American stages was very dangerous. At the moment God of Vengeance opened in New York, massive immigration reform was happening, just like it’s happening here, where the doors were getting locked.”

That part of the story has only become more relevant since Indecent was first produced in 2015. “The story that Indecent is telling becomes more everyday, and resonates with what we’re going through in a more and more obvious way,” said Taichman. “My hope is that every person who walks into the Ahmanson will be profoundly moved by the story, that it will motivate people to keep fighting against the forces of hate that are taking over our culture, and that it will invite you to sort of tumble into this exquisite love story.”

Forging Plays, Building Community

Center Theatre Group — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 16:54:00 -0700

At a certain point, however, a playwright needs an audience. That’s where Center Theatre Group’s L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival: New Plays Forged in L.A.—which takes place on June 29, 2019 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre—comes in. Established last year, the Festival features public readings of three bold and original new works by Los Angeles playwrights who have taken part in Center Theatre Group’s 2017/18 L.A. Writers’ Workshop, is currently writer-supervising producer on the television series Get Shorty, and has had works produced on regional stages around the country including Steppenwolf and Long Wharf Theatres. She’s bringing Campaign—a play about toxic masculinity, male trauma, and bagel bites—to the Festival.

“I wrote the play in an extended fit of rage following the 2016 election,” she explained. “I think leading up to this new election, there’s a brand new context for the piece that I’m excited to explore.”

For Jacqmin, who moved to Los Angeles from Chicago a few years ago, the Festival is also coming at a pivotal moment in her playwriting career. “I still feel like I haven’t figured out the kind of playwright I am in Los Angeles,” she said. “Out here, I know what kind of TV writer I am, what kind of video game writer I am. I feel like my plays have never been more true to who I am, and what I want to explore, but I also see their future less clearly. …So having a workshop and being in the room with actors and being empowered in a very different way than I am on set, that’s golden.”

Morisseau, who was anointed a MacArthur “Genius” last fall, arrives at the Festival fresh off her Broadway debut, having written the book for 2016/17 L.A. Writers’ Workshop, and is set amidst the Civil War and on a university campus today. The woman at its center is a slave, and Morisseau was inspired by what she saw, and didn’t see, in contemporary stories of slavery. “I never see what the women are doing other than being victims, and so I wanted to see: what else are they doing?” she said. “They survived. They’ve got to be doing some other stuff than just waiting to be told what to do and doing it.”

Morisseau credited the L.A. Writers’ Workshop with helping her find a community of playwrights here while giving her unparalleled creative freedom.

“One of the special things about the group is we’re there strictly because Center Theatre Group makes so much space for the wide range of our creative exploration,” she recalled. “We were all able to support each other’s different ideas and help each other cultivate the different stories we wanted to tell on our own.”

Yockey, a