News And Blogs

On February 27, 2017, a century of the African-American experience came to life on the Mark Taper Forum stage through the words of August Wilson and the voices of Los Angeles high school students. Since 2011, Center Theatre Group has served as the Southern California home for the national August Wilson Monologue Competition. Each year, over 100 stu...

A Journey of a Century Begins With a Single Student

“Where do cultural leaders come from?” asked Center Theatre Group Director of Social Strategy, Innovation and Impact Leslie K. Johnson. “They’re not just born; they’re made.” Yet training for young people in the arts—especially at the high school and college undergraduate level—typically focuses on transforming them into artists, no...

A Pipeline For Young L.A. Arts Leaders

Center Theatre Group Carpenter Kate Harrow builds, loads in, repairs, and strikes scenery for shows at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Downtown Culver City. Watch her review plans, work with wood, and handle a pretty big saw in our latest Working in Theatre video. She also talks about her education at USC, her big break in summer stock, and what it’s...

The Carpenters who Set the Scene

Disgraced is a play that everyone seems to be talking about across the country, from my family in Chicago to many friends here in L.A. I had heard about how the play dealt with contemporary faith and religion head-on. So when I received an email about Center Theatre Group’s Youth Theatre Forum for Disgraced on June 17, 2016, I got excited. Who do...

Students Discuss Faith, Identity, and ‘Art Activism’

On a Thursday afternoon in early June, an anonymous Downtown L.A. conference room was transformed into a 1920s recording studio on Chicago's South Side filled with music executives, musicians, a legendary blueswoman, and her entourage. The room’s walls had been covered in lists of images and ideas about theatre, music, and American history, and i...

L.A. Educators Immerse Themselves in August Wilson

On May 2, 2016, local high school students Damaris Vizvett and Samuel Christian performed onstage at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre in the August Wilson Monologue Competition National Finals. Vizvett, who earned first place in the Los Angeles Regional Finals, took second place, winning a $1,000 college scholarship and a $750 cash prize....

2016 August Wilson Monologue Competition National Finalists Head to NYC