News And Blogs

"You're listening to "30 to Curtain," a Center Theatre Group podcast. I'm Doug Baker, Center Theatre Group's Producing Director and I'll be your guest host for this episode. I work closely with Artistic Director Michael Ritchie to bring productions to our three theaters, the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre. Joining us fo...

30 to Curtain: Kevin McCollum and 'The Play That Goes Wrong'

"Welcome to '30 to Curtain,' a Center Theatre Group podcast. I'm Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group. For each episode of this podcast, we talk with some of the talented artists working with us across our three stages, the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Our guests on this episode are pla...

30 to Curtain: Lucas Hnath and Les Waters

"Welcome to '30 to Curtain,' a Center Theatre Group podcast. I'm Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group. For each episode of this podcast, we talk with some of the talented artists working across a three stages, the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, and Kirk Douglas Theatre. Our guest on this podcast is Sir Matthew Bourne, who...

30 to Curtain: Sir Matthew Bourne

On February 19, 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which imprisoned over 100,000 Japanese Americans—about two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens—in one of 10 internment camps across the country’s westernmost states.

Ten Camps, One Executive Order

There are some theatregoers who argue that despite added hassle, the act of going to a theatre and watching a play in-person is virtuous and the very cornerstone of the art.

A Few of The 2018 Tony Nominees We’re Rooting For!

How do you become a carpenter at a theatre company? What union does a box office staff belong to? When do most dancers get their big breaks? What kind of degree do you need to be a projection designer?

Welcome to the Working in Theatre Portal

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

How does a new (play with a) musical get made? To quote Soft Power, It Just Takes Time. In this case, that’s four years, 13 readings and workshops, and the partnership of a crackerjack creative team of American theatre all-stars. But before all that, there was breakfast, as Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie and playwright Dav...

Four Years, Two Breakfasts, and One Big Commission

What is it about 'The Red Shoes' that attracts you as a story to adapt for dance? It’s the story that Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger fashioned around Hans Christian Andersen’s story of The Red Shoes for their seminal 1948 movie that really attracted me. The Andersen fairy tale is a little difficult to relate to today with its the...

How 'The Red Shoes' Came to Life

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’

Dry Land is such a beautiful play. And what I think it does really well is that it captures—in this subtle, insightful way—the pain and vulnerability of being a young woman in America, said Alana Dietze of the work she is directing at the Kirk Douglas Theatre as part of our inaugural Block Party, onstage through May 21, 2017....

Finding ‘Dry Land’ with Alana Dietze & Block Party