News And Blogs

In Classroom Connections, Center Theatre Group invites groups of educators to enjoy a night out at the theatre—followed by a discussion of the show and where they found inspiration over food and drinks. The goal is to talk about the bridges we can build between the craft of theatre and the craft of classroom teaching.

'Archduke' Offers Students Lessons in Collaboration and History

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.

Look, I’d do anything for a sandwich because I know what a sandwich is, one poor, hungry man tells another in Rajiv Joseph's Archduke (onstage at the Mark Taper Forum through June 4, 2017). In Joseph's darkly comic take on the origins of World War I, global history hinges in part on three young Serbs' desire for sandwiches. Will they assassinate...

Five Serbian Sandwiches Worth Going to War For

Archduke, which plays the Mark Taper Forum through June 4, 2017, takes place in the days and hours before the event that is widely regarded as the beginning of World War I—the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Playwright Rajiv Joseph hopes that the play will get audiences thinking about World War I as not so distant or forei...

Wonder Woman, Uncle Sam, and ‘Archduke’

As a choreographer for theatre, Maria Torres creates movement and production numbers that propel the story forward or help transition between scenes. In this Working in Theatre video, Torres, who recently choreographed our 2017 production of Zoot Suit, explains what it takes to do the job well: an understanding of the piece’s story, content, and...

Great Choreographers Step Outside the Box

Rajiv Joseph’s World premiere Archduke, onstage at the Mark Taper Forum through June 4, 2017, is based on the event credited for launching World War I—the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. While The Great War has been endlessly studied and written about, the young Serbian men behind the assassination are largely a mystery. Archduke fic...

Who Killed Franz Ferdinand?

Fifty years to the week of Center Theatre Group’s beginning, and the opening of the Ahmanson Theatre and Mark Taper Forum, the Los Angeles Times marked our anniversary with three stories that look to our past, present, and future.

The ‘Los Angeles Times’ Marks our Golden Anniversary

In honor of our 50th Anniversary, we are mining our archives for gems that highlight important and interesting moments from throughout Center Theatre Group’s history. This “Note on the Play” by Founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson appeared in the program for our very first production, The Devils, which opened on April 14, 1967. The Devi...

Do Devils Exist

"It feels like I'm coming home to this theatre because in many ways my career began here back in 2009,” said playwright Rajiv Joseph of returning to Center Theatre Group with the World premiere of Archduke. "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was my first significant production,” he recalled. “We spent two consecutive spring times in Los Angeles...

From Baghdad to Sarajevo—And Back To Center Theatre Group

This theatre building represents a path by which a journey can begin: it is a tool, not the creative end in itself. By stimulating new work, by heightening the sense of participation of the audience, by evolving a style of acting and producing that can cope with the varied repertoire today’s audiences demand, we have set our sights on important g...

Our Controversial Beginnings

The name “Gavrilo Princip” may not mean much to you. After all, Princip lived a rather uneventful life in early 20th century Serbia…that is, until he shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, almost single-handedly setting into motion events that would lead to World War I and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Princip and “The...

Six High-Profile Assassins You’ve Probably Never Heard of