Center Theatre Group Blog

We just caught internet wind of Patti LuPone’s fantastic response to a cell phone incident during a recent performance. Just one more reason why we adore this Broadway legend. Catch her and Mandy Patinkin live at the Ahmanson Theatre THIS WEEK ONLY and please, remember to turn off your cell phones and pagers!!

Bailey Pennick is Center Theatre Group’s Press Intern for Summer 2009. She is majoring in English at UC Berkeley.

Welcome to the Working Week

The week of June 8-12, 2009 is infamous through the halls of Center Theatre Group: twelve CTG employees were laid off last Tuesday and Wednesday purely for budget reasons.  This was my first week working as the Press Intern.  Most of my previous summer jobs were silly retail or food industry, but not this one.  The first moments working for Center Theatre Group initiated me into the (seemingly exclusive) club more commonly known as the adult work force, and the ugly truth that comes with membership.

With regards to work in general I believe that Elvis Costello said it best, “Oh I know it don’t thrill you, I hope it don’t kill you.”  This cynical sentiment was tested during my first few days.  As I sat at my desk, tearful employees would come through the Press office holding the dreaded brown envelope not ready to say good-byes.  At these moments the signature kindness of the Center Theatre Group broke through the dark clouds with long hugs and heart-broken tears; mostly assuring their friends that this was not the end.  Cutbacks, even necessary ones, always feel personal; especially in an organization that can be seen more as a close-knit family than as a business.  Everyone experienced salary cuts, everyone experienced the pain, and everyone came together to try and survive the storm together.

While the mood throughout the office was less than cheery, I continued to feel welcomed by the entire staff, which was touching and unexpected by me for obvious reasons.  I quickly realized that because I did accept an internship in the theater world, emotions ran particularly high all across the board.  The extremely sad moments were countered by the biting wit maintained by the CTG staff.  In an attempt to keep morale as high as it could be in the events of losing co-workers and friends, dark humored jokes and quips became the norm for office banter.  The consensus was that it was too soon.

As a fresh intern off from college for summer break, I know that I have not been here long enough to weigh in on the true importance of last week’s issues, but I do think that it is too soon to do a lot of things: too soon to have wounds completely healed, to make lay off jokes, to knock on wood.  Too soon to truly notice the absence of the valuable individuals that had to leave.

Audiences are raving about the unpredictable and hilarious spectacle that is Dame Edna’s My First Last Tour at the Ahmanson Theatre. Check out the scene from opening night, including interviews with actors Martin Sheen and Julian Sands, CTG’s Founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson, and plenty of audience reaction!.

Mike Sablone is CTG’s Literary Associate, starting left fielder and third-string shortstop for Dark Monday, the CTG softball team.

I was an absurdly lucky kid who got to go to Disney World a lot growing up. My grandfather, many, many, many years ago, won the lottery. And one of the gifts he gave to my family was yearly plane tickets to visit them in Florida, where they would hibernate for the winter. So every year my sister, brother and I would get a free trip. Because of this my parents would treat us to Disney World each year, a phenomenal gift.

I’ve lived in Southern California for three and a half years now, and have never felt the urge to go to Disneyland. But recently a friend said that a group of people were going so I asked if I could tag along to see the park through (somewhat) adult eyes.

Crucial bit of information you need to know about me: I am a complete wimp. I hate scary movies. I hate fast roller coasters. I’m not a huge fan of heights. Which makes Disneyland the best place for me to go, since there are plenty of rides for people like me.

So I spent the day exploring the storybook rides. You know, the ones that tell the old stories you know so well, like Winnie-the-Pooh, Snow White, Pinocchio, and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

Here’s the thing. I’ve been on these rides before. I’ve seen these movies, read these books. Not in a long time, mind you, but I think I remember most of these stories.

At least I thought I did. Because each time the safety bar came up at the end of the ride, I was scratching my head.

I had no bloody idea what story they were telling.

Seriously. The Snow White ride? Absolutely, positively incomprehensible. As far as I could tell the Snow White ride is about a woman who hangs out with some dwarves and is chased, for no apparent reason, by a woman who may or may not be a hideous witch. What happens to that woman? To either women? To the dwarves? No idea. The ride just ends.

Winnie-the-Pooh? I think it’s Pooh’s birthday. And then, this part is a bit weird but I’m pretty sure they give Pooh some acid or peyote and proceeds to trip through his party. Don’t worry kids, he comes down from it. At least I think he does, in that the last 20 seconds is back to being “real.” With this ride I couldn’t even understand what the characters were saying. The only thing that was clear was Eeyore, which is amazing as he doesn’t speak until the very end when he moans about his gift. Way to leave em wanting more.

So after a 20 something year hiatus, what did I learn upon my return to Disneyland? That the phenomenal storytelling that Walt Disney always relied on is nowhere to be found in his amusement park.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, I learned that I am a terrible, terrible person to take to an amusement park. Seriously, who wants to go to a happy, fun, delightful place with a dork in glasses who, when exiting a ride loudly says: “Can someone please explain the story I was supposed to be following?”

Even the toddlers looked at me with disdain. Serves me right.

Over at her blog, actress Julia Stiles offers her thoughts on Opening Night of Oleanna at the Mark Taper Forum. For more Opening Night goodness, check out the video footage from the party and festivities, including some great interviews with the many stars in attendance. David Mamet’s Oleanna plays until July 12 with Julia and Bill Pullman.

Opening night of Oleanna was a star-studded event. Watch reaction from actors and audience-members Chris Noth, Rose McGowan, Robert Loggia, and Jai Rodriguez, as well as interviews with Julia Stiles and Bill Pullman about the challenges in bringing this intense Mamet drama to the stage.

Click here to watch director Doug Hughes (Doubt) discuss the impact of David Mamet’s Oleanna, an intensely dramatic work on sexual harassment issues in academia. In this exclusive interview, Hughes tackles the major themes of the play and the relevance to today’s audience now witnessing the battle-of-the-sexes at the Mark Taper Forum.

President Obama and the First Lady have apparantly stirred up some controversy with their recent New York trip to see August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Charles McNulty dismisses the naysayers and applauds the President not only for his cultural interests but for a savvy selection.

Mike Sablone is CTG’s Literary Associate, starting left fielder and third-string shortstop for Dark Monday, the CTG softball team.

So you know how I go on and on and on and on and on and on about how the new plays and musicals we work on are in development, and just because we’ve had the world premiere doesn’t mean that our work is done?

(If the answer is no, punch yourself in the face, and then go along with me. Harsh? Yes! Fair? I think so!)

Two weekends ago I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the second production of a show that is near and dear to my heart.

BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON.

When we closed the show here we were thrilled with how the production looked and very happy with where the script was. Happy because we knew which parts were working the way we wanted them to, and which parts weren’t working as well as we wanted them to. By the time the show had closed, Alex Timbers (director, book writer), Michael Friedman (music and lyrics) and I had had numerous conversations about the next draft, cut chunks of the show, rearranged where musical numbers went, and generally were chomping at the bit to get it up again.

Saturday, May 16^th, 2009, I saw the show again at The Public in New York.

And I was blown away. The script is tighter, the jokes funnier, the exposition clearer. It was the show I always knew was there.

I am so incredibly proud of the work that Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman have done on this show. Two of the funniest, smartest, and most talented artists I’ve ever encountered continue to amaze me with this piece.

I’d be lying if I said to you that five minutes after the show ended, still grinning and elated from seeing the show, Alex and I didn’t talk about two or three moments that we still wanted to tweak.

Which is what makes this piece so thrilling. Even when it’s working the way we want it to, there are still small tweaks that we feel can make the show even better.

This show is everything I want theater to be. It’s young, it’s smart, it’s effing hilarious, it uses actual contemporary music to help elevate the story when it needs it, and it’s got a message, but most of all? It’s fun. Theater shouldn’t have to be work. Theater doesn’t have to be boring, bland vegetables all the time. Theater shouldn’t be something young people and kids should dread.

It can be so much more.

It can be BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON.