Center Theatre Group Blog

Deputy Development Director Patrick Owen toured London and the Edinburgh Festival with Michael Ritchie and CTG donors. This is the blog he shared from the road.

Interested in traveling with other theatre lovers? To learn more about our upcoming donor trip to New York, please e-mail Becky Birdsong at bbirdsong@CenterTheatreGroup.org.

Friday, August 14, 2009
So excited to be in London with Michael Ritchie and Center Theatre Group donors. We kicked off the tour with a wonderful welcome dinner in the wine cellar of an old hotel.  Matthew Bourne was our special guest and it was thrilling to hear Matthew and Michael talk about creating great theatre.  The rest of the itinerary looks amazing…it’s after midnight and I must get to bed.  Can’t believe I am here!!!

Saturday, August 15, 2009
Wow!  An entire day of great theatre in London, great meals and hanging out with some great people.  What could be better?!  CTG Board President Martin Massman took me to see a new production of Peter Pan.  They have constructed a special theatre in the round in a big top tent in Kensington Gardens and the production artistry was amazing.  They project on all sides of the tent so during the flying scenes it is like a virtual reality ride at a theme park.  My favorite was Tick Tock the Crocodile which was a very big puppet with two performers in it.  Much of it was open, articulated fretwork that you could see through and the giant head would reach out into the audience and roar at kids in the front rows.

That was followed by a lovely dinner with the entire tour group and the play War Horse. Once again, puppetry was front and center with these amazing life-size horses that come completely alive on stage and a touching story about family, war, horses and love.  No words I write can do it justice.  I hope it comes to CTG!  Theatre is dark in London on Sundays so tomorrow we go to Buckingham Palace for cocktails…Buckingham Palace!

August 16, 2009

The group spent most of the morning touring London on our own and a group of us walked over to the London Eye. We all loved it with its amazing views of all of London and the surrounding countryside. In the afternoon, we came together for a private tour of Buckingham Palace. This is a tour that the general public cannot take and our tour guide not only shared many inside secrets about Palace life, but he had a wicked sense of humor as well.  When the champagne ended, we all assumed we would leave by the side entrance -the same way we entered. Imagine our total shock when we walked through the front door and into the front courtyard to be faced with hundreds of tourists peering through the gates to get a glimpse of us! They all oohed and ahhed and took our photos thinking that we were real royalty and that gave us all a good laugh.

August 17, 2009

Today was another marvelous day beginning with a private meet-the-artist session with Tom Morris, Director of War Horse. It was great to get so much inside scoop on this amazing production and how it came about. This evening we saw the most over-the-top, in-your-face entertaining musical -Priscilla Queen of the Desert. We were on our feet from start to finish. Michael says he hopes that we can get it for the Ahmanson when it eventually goes on tour. It’s been a real privilege hanging out with Michael, his wife Kate, and their daughter, Charlotte.  Kate talked to us one night at dinner about her life and how the entire Burton-Ritchie family live a life in the theatre.  I am learning so much, making such great friends and having an amazing time!

August 18, 2009

The time is going by too fast!  I hated to leave London, but it is great here in Edinburgh.  The city is positively electric with the energy of the Festivals.  I had not been in my room more than 5 minutes when I experienced my first Fringe Festival event - an open double decker bus going by below my window with a Caribbean marimba band performing on top! And then this morning when I headed out for my morning jog I came across two Fringe events happening in cafes over coffee!  But, I am getting ahead of myself.  We had the most lovely train ride up here through the English countryside, and then we went to see the Gate Theatre’s production of Brian Friel’s Faith Healer.  It was quite an experience to see great actors performing the script of a great Irish playwright. 

August 19, 2009

The day started with a great tour of Edinburgh.  Yves, our Scottish tour guide was funny and informative.  But the main highlights of the day were the lunch and a concert in Usher Hall with Esa Pekka Salonen and Yefim Bronfman. 

It has been great having Judy and Tom Beckmen as the Tour Chairs because they have been to Edinburgh and the Festivals often and know what to do and see, and most importantly…where to eat!  They first discovered Martin Wishart’s restaurant many years ago before it was “Martin Wishart’s ” - one of Edinburgh’s top restaurants.  We went to its most recent incarnation in Leith, the port area of Edinburgh near where the Queen’s Royal Brittainia Yacht is moored.  What a meal!  It would take me hours to describe each tasty morsel we enjoyed or to expound upon the wine pairings, but suffice it to say it was a gourmand’s feast unparalleled!  Even the haggis was delicious - a tiny little haggis dumpling about the size of a malted milk ball covered in a breading - heaven, sheer heaven!  Everyone went off on their own for the afternoon and then we came back together for the concert with Salonen and Bronfman.  While Usher Hall looks totally different inside than Disney Hall it was interesting to note they share one thing in common - a big pipe organ at the back of the stage and seating on the stage around this organ and behind the orchestra.  The concert was spectacular and afterwards we visited Salonen and Bronfman backstage in the dressing rooms - thanks to Judy and Tom’s connections.

August 20, 2009

Today we had a private audience with Joyce McMillan.  To my mind she is a Scottish treasure - very involved in the political world, a writer for the Scotsman newspaper and a lover of the arts, particularly theatre.  She is an incredibly intelligent woman, and warm and witty and down-to-earth.  We learned so much from her about Edinburgh, Scottish and British politics and the Festivals.  June and Gary Hughes said they could think of nothing more delightful to do than to spend the day with her.  But the day just got better when we went to Carol Colburn Hogel’s lovely Georgian town home in the heart of Edinburgh for lunch.  A more warm and gracious host could not be found and she made us all feel so at home plus her Australian cook made an amazing lunch buffet.  From there we had some free time before gathering to see Catwalk Confidential in the Fringe Festival followed by The Tattoo.  But the real attraction of the evening was the “wearin’ of the kilts”.  Michael, Gary Hughes, Ken Kaplan, David Boyle, Eric Garen and I rented kilts and “kilted up” for the evening.  Charlotte Ritchie, Nancy Garen and June Hughes joined in the fun by the “wearin’ o’ the tartans”.  We all enjoyed the experience, and both Catwalk Confidential and the The Tattoo were great performances to see.  We have two days left and I can’t imagine that it can get any better!

August 21, 2009

Today we had exclusive meet-the-artists with 5 different creatives who are involved here at the Festival.  Many people went off and saw Fringe shows and we finished the day with the Royal Ballet of Flanders’s version of Ulysses.    Oh, and then an intrepid group went off to a late night jazz club.  Just a typical day with Michael Ritchie and CTG at the Edinburgh Festival!  Today we start with a drive into the country for scotch tasting and lunch on the River Esk.  Yes, scotch on our corn flakes!  Tonight is our final show, Faust by the Romanian National Theatre.  Everyone - everyone - we have talked to on this trip has said that this is the show to see at this year’s Festival, and one of the artists we met yesterday was the director so we are primed and ready for this 100 cast members, environmental theatre taking place in a wharehouse! 

August 23, 2009

I woke up and looked outside my window to rain-washed streets and a dark cloudy morning sky over Edinburgh on this our departure day.  I can’t believe the trip is over.  It all went so fast.  But that is what happens when you are having the time of your life.  Our final day yesterday was as amazing as all that had preceded it. 

We started with scotch tasting out in the country at the Glenkinchie Distillery.  Tons of fun as was the lunch that followed at the Glasshouse Restaurant, a converted mill, on the River Esk.  I had to wonder if they paid the man who was standing in the river fly fishing so us tourists could “ooh” and “aah” over the picture postcard-ness of it all.  Then in the evening we went to see the Romanian National Theatre’s version of Faust directed by Silviu Purcarete.  It was out by the airport in a large warehouse space and it was a huge vast spectacle.  I really can’t do it justice in print, but we were told it would be one of the highlights of the Festival and it was.  Just to give you a hint - at one point the set broke open to expose a sort of carnival set behind it and the audience got up and walked into this carnival which was a feast of sights and sounds and fireworks and men driving forklifts on which were suspended actors doing acrobatics…and that hardly does it justice - as Michael said, “I loved it!”  

Through a series of coincidences on the way back into town we had three women who were not part of the tour catch a ride with us.  As we dropped them off near their hotel, our tour guide realized that one of them was the concert pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja - only at the Edinburgh Festival can you pick up a hitchhiker who is a world-class musician!  We closed the tour with lively cocktails and a little late night nosh back at the hotel.  There was a warm, convivial atmosphere in the room and it was clear we had all gotten to like one another quite a bit.  Michael said a few words and I realized that what he said was so true - that what we would all remember most is the friendships we had made on this trip.  I can’t wait for the next one!!!

 What kind of holiday gift do you get the guy who has everything?

Normally, we would say, “Nothing.” But several of the staff were in the giving spirit and thought that Michael Ritchie deserved something extra special this year.

They knew that they wanted to give him something that was personal. Something that represented the things that he loves. And in this environmentally correct era, they wanted a gift that could be reused or that was recycled. And it had to be cheap.

After a couple of drinks at happy hour (where the entire budget for this project was used), one member of the group stumbled upon the idea of redoing the small bathroom in his office. Scratch that, it’s actually a water closet. Small that it may be, it is functional.

So, this intradepartmental group came up with the brilliant idea of using remnants from the new Taper to re-carpet Michael’s bathroom. Everybody here knows how much Michael loved the Taper renovation, especially the multi-colored, circular-designed carpet. It fit all of our criteria (mainly that it was free) and a plan was hatched. The biggest challenge was to find a time when Michael was not around for at least three hours. After recruiting his assistant to find some available times, the date was set and the remnants were secured. While everyone else was on vacation, one member of the Production staff created the blueprint on cardboard and proceeded to install it in the wee hours of December 26th.

In the spirit of sharing some behind-the-scenes news with you, we have attached some before and after photos of the infamous water closet. Rumor has it that Michael likes how the carpet looks better in his bathroom than in the Taper.

There are three kinds of people in the world. Those that see the glass as half empty. Those that see it as half-full.

And then there are the Irish. They just see a half a glass.

Usually of whiskey.

Neither optimists nor pessimists. Pragmatists.

As my mean, little, off-the-boat Irish Grandmother used to say…”’Tis what ‘tis.”

(Which was ironic because after she died we discovered that somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean, between Killarney and Boston, and on her way to her exciting new life as a house servant, she miraculously shaved 6 years off her life. Apparently having reached old-maid status at the ripe age of 28 in Ireland, and unwilling to join the convent, she was tossed out of the house (and country!) by Great Grampa Maurice and told to find her own way. So in order to increase her odds of landing some dullard as an American husband she recreated herself as a blushing, young, 22 year old lass.)

So in my grandmother’s case it was more like “’Taint what ‘tis.”

Anyway (new subject!), I didn’t record any thoughts as a child. Diaries were for girls. (“Dear Diary, today Arianna looked at me funny. I will tell her to stop that.”) And I didn’t keep a journal, either. Journals were for adventurers. (“Today’s sightings: 17 otter, 3 muskrats, 6 deer, 1 large moose, many squirrel, a beaver family. And some Injuns.”)

I had (and still have) a penis, so a diary doesn’t feel right. And my life’s greatest adventures consisted of playing with matches in the woods behind Bobby Brindisi’s house, so a journal is suspect. But as I understand it, you kids today have come up with this thing called a “blog.” And I have been asked to inaugurate the new Center Theatre Group blog. And to welcome you. I am touched. You are welcomed.

However, I have to admit that I have been skipping all of the “Blog Meetings.” I have conveniently had a crisis erupt about ten minutes before each scheduled blog meeting that demanded my immediate attention. And then (even more conveniently) I would sit at my desk and go to espn.com. or broadwaystars.com and read other people’s blogs. (Hey, everybody else was busy at the Blog Meeting, it wasn’t as if I was going to be needed for anything.) (Do you think I write with too many parentheses?) (Am I thinking out loud?) (Do these pants make me look fat?) And, having missed all the meetings, I am not sure what this blog is really supposed to be. I know that we had an in-house contest to name the blog and are now calling it something witty like “Backstage Pass.” I also know that as a Non-Profit (take that, Massman!) we didn’t give a cash prize to the winning entry because we can’t afford it. So I really don’t know why anyone spent time on that contest. But lots of staff members did. When they could have been working. Or reading espn.com. (Late vote from me…I prefer “Chewing the Scenery”). But now that I have captured your attention here at “Backstage Pass!” I’d like to lay out some simple ground rules for this particular blog.

So let’s circle back to my opening about the three kinds of people and apply it to this blog. We will not be eternal optimists (“Order your tickets to Minsky’s immediately, it promises to be a HUGE hit!!!!”). Nor will we bore you to tears with our natural theatrical pessimism (“FedEx is late. Again. My job is really, really hard and nobody appreciates me”).

What we will do is to give you a peek behind the curtain. To let you read about, and respond to the way we pass the days and nights here at CTG putting on plays. All aspects will be covered, and many voices will be heard. We hope for honesty and humor, and interesting info and gossip to come your way. Much like our company softball team, we cannot promise perfection, but we can certainly guarantee enthusiasm. Hopefully, you’ll learn a little bit more of us, and we of you. And maybe I’ll get a few things off my chest, as well. As my college pal Bowie used to say “If this belt could talk…”

So, in closing…welcome. Come back. Throw some words our way. Let’s have a conversation.

And remember to order your tickets to Minsky’s. It promises to be a huge hit.

Seriously.

Michael Ritchie is the Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group.

Photo by Joe Pugliese.