News And Blogs

The Center Theatre Group rehearsal rooms have been the site of many thrilling artistic breakthroughs over the past five decades, but audience members generally have had to use their imagination if they want to know what really happened there. Luckily for our patrons, we offer at least one opportunity to visit the room where it happens and get a gli...

Go Behind the Scenes Before the Performance

The mix of business, artistry, and personal responsibility that comes with a creative career in theatre can be tricky to master, especially for young, emerging professionals. As part of our efforts to support an ever-growing and increasingly diverse theatre community in Los Angeles, Center Theatre Group hosted our first Workforce Readiness Symposiu...

Making Working in Theatre Work for Everyone

It’s easy to take the cold weather attire and accents of the characters of Sweat to mean that the problems they face are endemic to industrial East Coast towns. Yet the reality for so many Angelenos is all too similar to that of the Reading, Pennsylvania working-class characters in Lynn Nottage’s searing play (onstage August 29 – October 7, 2...

Different Coasts, Same Problems

On a Saturday morning in June, a multigenerational group of friends and family gathered around sewing machines and bolts of colorful fabrics at Center Theatre Group’s The Shop.

Stitching Together Craft, Family, and Community in Boyle Heights

A peace pipe. A vial of arsenic. A mango-wheat beer. A necklace that can ward off evil spirits. An intricately carved jewelry box.

From Product Design to Props

Theatre thrives on patronage; not just from audiences, but from donors and institutions who have a stake in keeping the stage lights on. In the spirit of artistic philanthropy, The Blue Ribbon—The Music Center’s premier women’s support organization—celebrated 50 years of giving by hosting a series of events spotlighting the resident compani...

L.A. Playwrights Get Blue Ribbon Certified

How do you become a carpenter at a theatre company? What union does a box office staff belong to? When do most dancers get their big breaks? What kind of degree do you need to be a projection designer?

Welcome to the Working in Theatre Portal

At first glance, the words jazz and politics do not necessarily sound like harmonious ideas.

Can Music Make Democracy?

Theatre makers around the country are grappling with cultural appropriation and nontraditional casting right now. But the Asian American speakers at a recent Community Conversation are also coming to terms with their own “internal crisis” about beloved (but problematic) classics like Miss Saigon and The King and I....

Orientalism and the Portrayal of Asian Americans in Musicals

Why don’t we see more Asian Americans onscreen and onstage with accents that aren’t played for laughs? Is it OK for a Japanese actress to play Korean or Taiwanese? And why, if they live in New York City, don’t the characters on Friends have any friends who aren’t white?

The Politics of Casting

A recent survey by statewide arts education coalition createCA found that only 26 percent of middle and high school students in California have access to music, theatre, dance, and visual art—access that is required by state law. The numbers for theatre in particular are bleak: just 4 percent of students across the state are enrolled in theatre c...

Building a Brighter Future For California Educators