News And Blogs

Creating a new benchmark for Broadway, Hadestown demanded that theater make space for diverse voices. The show’s modern premise reflects the values of our changing culture through a transformative musical experience that reimagines Greek mythology. In 2019, it garnered 14 TONY nominations, winning eight of them, including Best New Musical. Critic...

Diversity and the Dynamic Women Behind 'Hadestown'

Could Hadestown writer and composer, Anaïs Mitchell have subconsciously predicted key elements of the world’s most devastating global crisis? The show’s world is one of suffering. Power and wealth reign supreme; the poor go hungry; seasons are unstable, and love is lost. In the real world, COVID-19 wreaks havoc, systematic racism forces persis...

'Hadestown’s' Hope and Healing Powers

Eleven Participants Are Part of the Inaugural Group That Recognizes and Supports Excellence in Emerging Leaders As we continue to look at our organization and see how to grow and improve, and in response to Center Theatre Group’s “Commitments to Change,” the organization launched the CTG Leadership Circle, a program intended to uplift, celebr...

Center Theatre Group Launches CTG Leadership Circle

Jack Thorne’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol is staged unlike any other version of this story before it. The critically acclaimed, Tony Award®-winning production, originally conceived and directed by Matthew Warchus, is as beautiful and enchanting as you would expect a holiday extravaganza to be. Warchus wanted to transform this iteration of A...

The Making of Music and Lighting in Jack Thorne’s 'A Christmas Carol'

From musicals to stage plays to miniseries and films, adaptations of A Christmas Carol continue to be produced, performed, and patronized. During Christmastime, homes are decorated, specialty dishes are made, carolers sing, photos are taken with Santa, gifts are purchased, and A Christmas Carol is enjoyed. Charles Dickens’ classic story of a co...

The Magic of 'A Christmas Carol' Lives On

With America preparing for its annual 4th of July celebration—albeit in a physically distanced way, perhaps unlike any time before—it must be remembered that the meaning of independence has never been equally applied to all Americans. This point is clearly taking center stage in the national dialogue, especially leading into this year’s Indep...

Exposing America's History Onstage

Center Theatre Group was lucky enough to bring Los Angeles audiences a number of works from the great playwright Terrence McNally at both the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre. Some of the most talented actors in the world spoke his words on our stages, including Nathan Lane and Richard Thomas in The Lisbon Traviata and Audra McDonald and Z...

Remembering Terrence McNally

Sting—yes, that Sting—believes in the power of women. “Women are very important in this play—men have messed it up, we really have,” the Grammy®-winning songwriter, musician, and actor said in an interview last year about the musical he created and stars in, The Last Ship. “This is one of the main tropes of the play: it’s women who s...

'We Need More Women in Power'

Here at Center Theatre Group, we’re no strangers to showcasing spectacular love stories by way of musical theatre. The Ahmanson, in particular, has visited the crossroads of song, dance, and romance continuously since its first season more than 50 years ago through today with The Last Ship....

When Love Takes Center Stage

The Last Ship—onstage at the Ahmanson January 14 – Febuary 16, 2020, is set in Sting’s hometown of Wallsend, Tyne and Wear: a town in North East England with a rich history of not only shipbuilding, but community action. The show is set in 1986; strikes and unrest have roiled British industry for some time, and, under the leadership of Prime...

A Community of Strength: the Compelling History Behind Sting's Hometown

Mike Birbiglia made his Broadway debut last fall with The New One, but he is probably already on your radar thanks to his Off-Broadway shows (including Sleepwalk with Me and My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend), his films (he wrote, directed, and starred in Don’t Think Twice and acted in features including Trainwreck and The Fault in Our Stars), his stan...

All of Us Are in a Room with Mike Birbiglia