Here’s my wish list for greater LA theater in 2011:
DANGEROUS BEAUTY officially opens in Pasadena on Feb. 13.
…that Pasadena Playhouse returns in triumph from its 2010 bankruptcy.
OK, it already returned, in the sense that it raised a lot of money and presented two shows in the last part of 2010. But “in triumph” is a quality that was missing from Ed Asner’s interminable solo performance as FDR and Leslie Uggams’ pleasant but hardly groundbreaking nightclub act Uptown Downtown. The next scheduled production, the new musical Dangerous Beauty, is much more ambitious and (I hope) promising. But nothing else has been announced for the new year – not even the important continuation of Furious Theatre’s younger-audience-attracting work in the upstairs Carrie Hamilton space. I’ll retain those hopes for Dangerous Beauty, but let’s not allow the future of the playhouse to hinge on this one production – that’s more pressure than any single production should have to bear.
…that A Noise Within’s new 300-seat theater, also in Pasadena, opens next fall – and that some other theater company is permitted to use its Glendale digs. Chances that A Noise Within will open on schedule in Pasadena are good, considering the track record of this classical rep company and the remarkable success of its recession-era fund-raising so far. Could some other company possibly move to the former Glendale Masonic Temple next fall, after ANW departs? I’m told that the building owners have their own development plans for the building. But it would be a shame for any established midsize venue to disappear from the overall theatrical scene. A lot of people are already in the habit of going to that address for theater. I certainly hope those people all follow ANW to Pasadena, but perhaps some less established company could persuade the owners to allow theater to continue on Brand Boulevard, at least temporarily (depending on the imminence and viability of the building owners’ plans). Perhaps a very different kind of programming could attract new audiences as well as some of ANW’s fans. It would be great to be able to continue combining dining or shopping with theater in that bustling part of Glendale.
David Emmes and Martin Benson prepare to open South Coast's Fourth Step theater in 1978
…that South Coast Repertory and Laguna Playhouse announce worthy new artistic directors soon. Last February, when South Coast’s founding duo, Martin Benson and David Emmes, announced their eventual departure, we were told that a decision on a replacement was expected by September. Then, when Andrew Barnicle – who was artistic director of Orange County’s second most important company, Laguna Playhouse – announced his own departure from Laguna in August, I initially wondered if Barnicle might have been tapped for the South Coast job. Certainly he has more experience dealing with Orange County audiences as an artistic director than any other potential candidate. But of course a lot of other considerations go into the decision at South Coast. Many of the most talented artistic directors or would-be artistic directors throughout the country would probably like that job. Anyway, here we are on the eve of 2011, and we still haven’t heard any news on who will be the artistic director of either theater.
…that Center Theatre Group starts producing new LA-oriented work. I won’t belabor this hope again; I discussed it at length here.
…that LA theater is bustin’ out all over in June. During nearly two weeks, from June 14 to June 26, the Theatre Communications Group conference will attract most of nonprofit theater’s movers and shakers from around the country to LA. The event will coincide with the new RADAR LA festival of new cutting-edge theater, as well as the second annual Hollywood Fringe Festival. Even if an LA theater company isn’t participating in any of these events officially, it should consider whether its public profile might benefit from producing something that month – or, alternatively, whether any such efforts might be drowned out by the general hurly-burly.
…that June might be the moment when more people nationwide become aware of the breadth and depth of LA theater, which has a reputation that lags far behind the facts on the ground. The latest indication of LA theater’s low profile is Travel and Leisure magazine’s annual (un-scientific) survey, “America’s Favorite Cities,” in which readers are asked to rate cities in various categories (this year, 35 cities in 33 categories) on a scale of 1 to 5. One category is called “Theater/Performance Art”. By any reasonably well-informed standard, LA would rank among the top three or four cities in this field – after all, the sheer number of professional productions here is greater than in any other metropolitan area in the US, possibly except New York, thanks to our enormous talent pool. But apparently LA theater is still one of the best-kept secrets among Travel and Leisure readers. When respondents rated cities where they don’t live, LA ranked 21st, just after Austin. Among those who rated their own home towns, LA ranked even lower – 24th, right behind San Juan, Puerto Rico.
New York – no doubt aided by the vast Broadway publicity machine as well as by the abundance and quality of its theater – ranked first among both residents and visitors. Among visitors, Providence was in second place – who would have guessed that the Rhode Island city’s Trinity Rep has such an extensive nationwide fan club among Travel and Leisure readers? Minneapolis/St. Paul placed second among residents. LA trailed the likes of Savannah (#7) and Salt Lake City (#13) among visitors, and both Portlands (Maine’s was #12, Oregon’s was #18) among residents.
If it’s any consolation to LA, San Diego – home of the Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse and San Diego Repertory – scored even lower among both visitors (#23) and residents (#28). Such theater centers as Costa Mesa (home of South Coast Rep) and Ashland, Ore. (Oregon Shakespeare) weren’t big enough to make the list of cities under consideration – although perhaps a few voters considered these cities as parts of LA or Portland, respectively. And the theater scene wasn’t the only part of LA’s arts community that was dissed in this survey – even Gustavo Dudamel, Placido Domingo, the Getty, LACMA and MOCA weren’t enough to lift LA’s overall “culture” ranking higher than #29.
…that someone in LA produces Rolin Jones’ The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, which premiered at South Coast Repertory in 2003 and went on to great acclaim elsewhere. Why hasn’t it been produced in the county where it’s set? (I wrote this also in my hopes-for-2010 list, a year ago; the fact that no sign of an LA production of this play appeared in 2010 is a testament to my vast influence).
…that a moratorium on new musicals about charismatic preachers/con men lasts for at least a year, in the wake of Nightmare Alley at the Geffen and Leap of Faith at the Ahmanson.
…that the LA Times, after running lengthy 2010 status reports on some of the area’s biggest nonprofit theaters and some of the smallest, finally devotes attention to the area’s tier of midsize theaters. Let me refresh your memories on this subject here, here and especially here.
…that the West Coast Ensemble – one of 2009’s top season producers but almost dormant in 2010 – and the recently homeless City Garage return to action soon in new quarters. (Late news flash: West Coast is planning to present a Gypsy at the Egyptian Arena in 2010)… And that the new Atwater Village Theatre proves to be a hospitable home for the formerly itinerant Circle X Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA, which will officially open the new space on Jan. 29 with the premiere of Nicholas Kazan’s Mlle. God.
