News And Blogs

Suddenly I’m in the cockpit / Suddenly everything’s changed … Suddenly there's nothing in between me and the sky. It’s impossible not to clap or pump your fist or cheer as Becky Gulsvig, who plays Beverley Bass in the national tour of Come From Away (at the Ahmanson November 28, 2018 – January 6, 2019), sings the story of how Bass became...

A Q&A with Captain Beverley Bass

Twenty-eight hours after leaving Paris, France for Dallas, Texas, American Airlines Captain Beverley Bass and her passengers and crew disembarked in the Newfoundland, Canada town of Gander, population approximately 10,000. “Most airline pilots will spend their entire career knowing about Gander but never landing there,” recalled Bass of the loc...

The Making of 'Come From Away'

Dear Community Member, This month we have two terrific productions onstage that—in very different ways—use the art of theatre to illuminate key moments in our American history.

Dear Community Member, If you’ve never been to Center Theatre Group before, I want to welcome you to what I hope will be a wonderful experience. For those of you who are returning…it’s nice to have you back here with us!

A Letter from Michael Ritchie: October 2018

The story of these young African American men navigating their identities, their music, and their role as artists at a time when the nation was in great civic and social unrest—I just think that speaks for now, said Dominique Morisseau.

Bringing Something New to The Temptations

If we traveled back 70 years in American theatre, a booming parade of sweeping love ballads and uplifting melodic celebrations would welcome us. It’s not dissimilar to the music onstage at the Ahmanson Theatre May 3 – June 10, 2018 for Soft Power, the new show from David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori....

From Revivals to Reconstruction

Tony-Award®-winning composer Jeanine Tesori is known for translating America’s most iconic musical styles to the stage with shows like Caroline, or Change and Fun Home. But even if you appreciate the blend of eras and references that fill her music, don’t call her work “pastiche.”...

Jeanine Tesori’s Musical Patchwork (not to Be Confused with Pastiche)

What does American musical theatre look like if all I have is a bunch of Youtube videos? This was one question choreographer Sam Pinkleton used to guide his process in choreographing Soft Power, David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s World premiere musical fantasia playing at the Ahmanson May 3 – June 10, 2018. The play’s “reverse appropria...

An All-American Dance Off

Playwright David Henry Hwang knows a thing or two about artistic tropes and stereotypes about Asians, a topic that several of his plays have thoughtfully grappled with. Yet Hwang admitted—in a conversation with Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie—that The King and I still holds a special place in his heart. There’s this com...

When Theatre Royalty Take On Real-World Royalty

To say that the creative team behind the World premiere of Soft Power—onstage at the Ahmanson Theatre May 3 – June 10, 2018—admires and respects one another is an understatement. It might be more suitable to say that Soft Power playwright and lyricist David Henry Hwang, composer Jeanine Tesori, director Leigh Silverman, and choreographer Sam...

Three's a Crowd, Four's a Collaboration

If you’re doing something new, there is always a sense of fear or foreboding, but you’re in new ground and you have to get out your machete and cut a new path, superstar composer Jeanine Tesori explained in an interview a few years ago....

Five Reasons Jeanine Tesori Inspires us to Go for our Dreams

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