Theatre West
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Theatre West is a prestigious theatre company in Hollywood, California. It is the oldest continually-operating theatre company in Los Angeles, established in 1962.
Originally conceived as a venue for working professional actors in the film and television industries to exercise their artistic skills in roles and material far different from what they were called upon to do in front of the camera, Theatre West first came together as an informal workshop led by Curt Conway. Among its early members were Joyce Van Patten, Naomi Caryl, Betty Garrett, Charles Aidman, Philip Abbott, Richard Dreyfuss, Jack Nicholson, Lee Meriwether, Martin Landau, Earl Holliman, Harry Dean Stanton, Sally Field, Beau Bridges, Carroll O'Connor, Harold Gould, and Marvin Kaplan. (More recent members include Chazz Palminteri, Ray Bradbury, Jim Beaver, Sherwood Schwartz, Pat Harrington, Cecily Adams, Anne Haney, and William Blinn.)
One of the company's earliest and most successful productions went on to become a Broadway hit and a treasured perennial of the American theatre. Spoon River Anthology, Charles Aidman's masterful dramatization of poetry of Edgar Lee Masters, was developed in the Theatre West workshop, was transferred to television, and since 1963 has been performed in thousands of productions around the world.
More recently, Chazz Palminteri's A Bronx Play was developed in the Theatre West workshop, produced by the company, moved to Off-Broadway and then became a feature film, A Bronx Tale, directed by and starring Robert De Niro.
A vital part of the company is Storybook Theatre, an acclaimed program of original musical plays for children. Begun in 1984, Storybook Theatre has been honored with commendations from the United States Senate and House of Representatives in addition to scores of local theatre and civic awards and commendations.
The company is a democratic membership company, run by an artistic board of directors elected by the membership. In addition to producing plays, the theatre presents workshops for actors, writers, musical comedy performers, and students of Shakespeare. Membership is primarily by audition (for actors) and script submission (for writers). Current artistic moderators for the workshops are Mark W. Travis and Drew Katzman (actors), Doug Haverty and Christine DiGiovanni (writers), Betty Garrett (musical comedy), and Matt Ritchey and Rebecca Lane (Shakespeare). The managing director is John Gallogly. The theatre is located at 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, in Hollywood, California.[1]
Category: Theatres in California
