I have the utmost respect for Charles McNulty. I think he's one of the best theater critics in the country but I think he's off base here. He makes some good points but there are also some cheap shots and his general skew towards a preference for newer, more experimental works I think really affected his objectivity. Is the current season at CTG's 3 theaters weak? Yes, of course. But we spent literally 2 months bashing them when it was announced in the spring and in my mind that was enough. Now, since obviously the season isn't going to magically become something different, continually haranguing them for it month in and month out is just beating a dead horse. I thought last season was particularly strong with Ahmanson shows like Ain't Too Proud, Evan Hansen, Come From Away, Indecent and Falsettos. McNulty's cherry picking The Play That Goes Wrong to try to make a point about shows people didn't want to see seems really unfair. The Taper had one of its strongest seasons in years including works by POC playwrights like Lynn Nottage's Sweat, Luis Valdez' Valley of the Heart and Ruben Santiago Hudson's moving Lackawanna Blues. I'm no math major but POC voices represented 60% of last year's Taper season and along with School Girls at the Douglas, McNulty's point that Ritchie is only taking a chance on lesser known works by white voices like Tracy Letts seems nonsensical.
Ritchie has a balancing act I don't envy in having to balance reaching out to younger potential customers and cultivating the next generation of theater goers by supporting new voices and edgier productions while still ensuring a healthy dose of the huge Broadway hits his core audience of older attendees wants to see. His accusations of Broadway shopping ring hollow as this isn't some experimental 99 seat theater in North Hollywood like Echo Theater Company which McNulty's been fawning over constantly because of one production they did in April. Ritchie's got 2000 seats he's got to fill at the Ahmanson every night and that ain't gonna happen with a new experimental play no one has ever heard of.
There are some valid criticisms. The Douglas is dark way too much. Only a couple of 4 week long productions in an entire season is crazy for such a good space. That can be used more effectively to send new works on their way. And although works by August Wilson and Culture Clash show up regularly and works by Rajiv Joseph, Lynn Nottage and Tarell Alvin McCraney have been featured in recent seasons, more can be done to showcase the work of women and POC playwrights as so much good stuff is being written. Most of all, they've got to fare better in competition with the Pantages for major Broadway hits. My sense is they lost out this season on some big shows they thought they had and were caught off guard without a good back up plan. Figuring out how to be the launching site for a larger number of pre Broadway runs will also be key. I don't buy arguments about traffic or parking as being major factors. Plentiful $9 parking right below the theaters is about as convenient and cheap in downtown L.A. as you're going to find and truthfully, traffic has been "this bad" for years but people have still made the trip cause it was a show they wanted to see. Having shows people want to see will cure all ills.
Clearly, the overall premise that CTG is not achieving its full potential, is not as successful as it should be and better, more well rounded seasons at all of its theaters is required is very fair. However, on balance, I felt McNulty was excessively harsh, hitting them when they're down so to speak for a season we all agree sucks and acting like that is typical of what they've brought to the party in the last decade.
Updated On: 10/15/19 at 08:27 PM
