News And Blogs

When Alex Alpharaoh was two months old, he and his 15-year-old mother were almost killed in a bomb blast in La Limonada, a shantytown in Guatemala City. To escape the violence, they began their journey to the United States, where they would start their lives anew in Los Angeles, albeit in the shadows, undocumented.

Out of the Shadows and onto the Stage

Ritchie’s Tenure as Only the Second Artistic Director of Los Angeles’ Largest Nonprofit Theatre Organization Will Have Spanned 17 Years

Michael Ritchie to Retire as Artistic Director on December 31, 2021

As a direct response to the pandemic interrupting Center Theatre Group’s community programs such as our free workshops and library play reading series, Community Partnerships Director Jesus A. Reyes devised a virtual solution—the Community Stories project. “All in-person community programs have taken place at sites throughout Boyle Heights, b...

Meet the Playwrights Behind the Community Stories Project

Despite a year of shutdowns and the closure of venues around the country, theatre has survived, and art continues to go on. That’s why we are honored to announce that Center Theatre Group has selected two winners of the Dorothy and Richard Sherwood Award—D’Lo and Mikaal Sulaiman, both multi-talented theatremakers, artists, and changemakers. �...

Meet the 2021 Sherwood Award Winners: D’Lo and Mikaal Sulaiman

“It was great because it wasn’t just for me–this is for us. This is for Black people. I hear a story that I see myself reflected in, and it’s right here. And that’s really special.” —Bruce Lemon, Co-Artistic Director of Watts Village Theater Company

In Not a Moment, But a Movement, 3 Theatres Join in the Pursuit of Elevating Black Artists

For Kemp Powers, 2021 has already been quite the year—and it’s only February. After over two decades of writing, Powers has finally had the chance to experience what so many aspiring creatives can only dream about with the celebration of two debut screenplays. “It’s been surreal, to be honest. It’s weird to have your work out there in th...

Playwright Kemp Powers takes Hollywood by storm before turning to our Digital Stage

In Elephant Room: Dust from the Stars, an eclectic triad of magicians turned astro-nots take you on a virtual trip through time and space. You’ll arrive in the distant year 2020 against a dystopian backdrop of near total planetary collapse—a mysterious plague ravages the earth, temperatures are heating up, chaos rules the streets, democracy han...

The Journey to the Elephant Room

“I’m trying to hook up my headphones. They’re being a little testy,” says actress Sabina Zúñiga Varela during the first virtual rehearsal of Mojada, one of the three Greek plays Chicanx playwright Luis Alfaro has adapted. “This is going to be part of the process,” replied Juliette Carillo, the director. “Dealing with our little tech...

From the Streets of L.A. to the Digital Stage

Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month! Throughout the years, Center Theatre Group has produced many shows that celebrate Hispanic, Latinx, and Chicano history in California, including Zoot Suit (1978, 2017), Chavez Ravine (2003, 2015), Valley of the Heart (2018), and more. These particular productions were presented in partnership with our artisti...

Scenes From the Vault—Popol Vuh: Heart of Heaven

Before its Academy Award-nominated film adaptation in 1984 and its Broadway debut in February this year, A Soldier’s Play by Charles Fuller opened the Mark Taper Forum’s 16th season in 1982....

Scenes From the Vault—A Soldier's Play

Soft Power was the latest in David Henry Hwang’s long-running relationship with Center Theatre Group, which includes the World premieres of Flower Drum Song in 2001 and Yellow Face in 2007 at the Mark Taper Forum....

Scenes From the Vault—Soft Power