News And Blogs

Forget about show-stopping finales. In Jersey Boys, the smash-hit musical about the rise and fall of The Four Seasons, the pinnacle of excitement comes about 45 minutes into the first act. That’s when back-to-back presentations of three of the group’s biggest hits—Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, and Walk Like a Man—are greeted with enough th...

What Really Happened—Rick Elice Talks about the "Jersey Boys" Phenomenon

No one needs to tell a native Angeleno that car culture is rooted deep in Los Angeles. As immortalized in George Lucas’s American Graffiti, cruising is forever enmeshed with youth culture and music. Inspired by the cruisin’ oldies of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons—and Bob Gaudio's red "Caddy" convertible—in Jersey Boys (onstage at the A...

Top Five Cruising Boulevards of L.A.

When Center Theatre Group began at The Music Center in 1967, and Founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson oversaw our works at the Mark Taper Forum, Tony Award®-winning producer Elliot Martin, another early leader of the organization, led the Ahmanson Theatre’s programming. Martin, who passed away on May 21, 2017, began Center Theatre Group’...

Our Theatre: Faces of the Future

It’s pretty easy to identify a boy band. Are five guys between the ages of 13 and 30 standing near each other, wearing matching outfits, and harmonizing? Are they wearing a lot of hair gel? If the answer to all of these questions is a yes, chances are, you’ve spotted a boy band. In honor of the arrival of our favorite boy group—Frankie Valli...

Boy Bands to Swoon Over from the 1960s to Now

In a certain sense, quests for a full belly set much of the action of Into The Woods (onstage at the Ahmanson Theatre through May 14, 2017) into motion. The Baker and his wife have been cursed with childlessness ever since his father stole vegetables from the garden of their neighbor, the Witch. Little Red Ridinghood wishes for a loaf of bread to b...

At Stephen Sondheim's Table

Stephen Sondheim is about as close to a living legend as you can get. The composer/lyricist of nearly 20 musicals has explored everything from the demon barber of Fleet St. to the fairy tale characters of Into The Woods (which plays the Ahmanson Theatre through May 14, 2017). In our 50-year history, Center Theatre Group has produced many of Sondhei...

Sondheim on our Stages