Center Theatre Group will stop programing the Mark Taper Forum and lay off 10% of staff. — Page 2

Center Theatre Group productions are lack-luster, at best. Too much "Woke". I come to the theater to be entertained, wooed, and walk away happy. I don't come to the theatre to be informed, educated and conscious of social injustice and racial inequality. I watch the nightly news on TV for that.

They should stop blaming Covid-19. Broadway in Hollywood, Pasadena Playhouse, S Coast Repertory, Laguna Playhouse, La Mirada Performing Arts Center, and Geffen Playhouse performs to average of 80% attendance capacity, weekly.

Yeah, "wokeness" is a conservative dog-whistle and a meaningless complaint. There’s a whole range of shows that didn’t sell, and almost every company has (rightfully) increased programming of work by & about diverse voices; those unsubscribing because of it are most likely a minuscule number of people.

A lot of theatres have had odd seasons the past couple of years because they were either planning for things that could pivot to virtual or reduced-capacity, and shows that had been developed for a long time that probably shouldn't have been in the same season together. You also had no hot new Broadway shows for a year and a half, the Pantages/Dolby get most of the BIG shows, and some patrons may be gravitating towards the offerings of Geffen or Pasadena.

I'm excited to see what the new AD can bring to it.

This clearly is very disappointing news. While I don't live in L.A., I travel there 3 or 4 times a year for various reasons and almost always include 1 or 2 CTG shows during my visit. The Taper is a wonderful place to see a show. Not a bad seat in the house. This coming week, I'll be down there and will see A Soldier's Play and Fetch Clay, Make Man at the Douglas.

While I applaud their desire to give voice to marginalized groups and those that struggle to get representation in contemporary theater, I could have told them when Transparent was announced it wasn't going to sell well. Given their financial situation, now is the time for meat and potatoes shows you know your audience will turn out for and not edgy world premieres that a large part of your core audience will simply not be interested in. Pasadena had a very successful season with mostly Sondheim classics that were extremely well done. I saw The King and I in May at La Mirada and the place was absolutely packed. There will be time to return to the more contemporary, edgier shows that should be given a voice, but you can't return to them if you don't have a season.

All these theaters could take a lesson of what not to do from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, an almost 90 year old company currently in crisis mode and struggling to survive. The recently departed Artistic Director was given free reign to program seasons operating with the philosophy of "i really couldn't care less what you, our core audience is interested in seeing. I'm going to program what I think needs to be programmed to give voice to who I think needs to be given voice. I'm also going to devote time and valuable resources to filmmakers and virtual reality projects that are in line with what I want to program instead of having a complete focus on getting butts in chairs in our theaters." And she did, with some new works and reimagining, reinventing, reinterpreting and redesigning Shakespeare and other classics to the point where they are barely recognizable. Not surprisingly, their ticket sales have cratered from a core audience that is clearly telling them "thanks but we're just not interested in seeing that." They just had a successful emergency fundraising drive to raise $2.5 million to allow them to get through this summer but their future beyond that is extremely unclear.

These folks would do well to remember the first principle of sales. Know your customer.

Updated On: 6/18/23 at 07:12 PM

Not talking about the Ahmanson, which is where Ghost Story and Lehman played. Talking about the TAPER - that's whose season has just been cancelled."

NOT TALKING TO YOU! I responded to another user. Duh?!