L.A. Theatre Works

L.A. Theatre Works (LATW) is a not for profit media arts organization based in Los Angeles founded in 1984. The intent of the organization is to produce, preserve, and distribute classic and contemporary plays of significance. Along with its "live-in-performance" series (currently performed at the James Bridges Theatre on the UCLA campus), some productions are taken on national and international tours. Recordings of productions are posted on its website and available via Broadcast syndication as a weekly series on radio stations.^[1]

Actors that have appeared in L.A. Theatre Works productions include John Lithgow, Annette Bening, Hilary Swank, Anne Heche, Ed Asner, Alfred Molina, Marsha Mason, Jason Ritter, David Straithairn, Jobeth Williams, Paul Giamatti, Neil Patrick Harris, Laurence Fishburne, Jimmy Smits, Hector Elizondo, and Julie Harris among others.^[2]

History

The organization originally was known as “Artists in Prison,” and used theatre to facilitate creative expression by incarcerated men and women. In 1980 it changed its name to "L.A. Theatre Works" then in 1985 began producing and recording radio dramas. The founding members included Edward Asner, Richard Dreyfuss, Hector Elizondo, Harry Hamlin, Julie Harris, Amy Irving, Stacy Keach, John Lithgow, Marsha Mason, JoBeth Williams, and current Producing Director Susan Loewenberg, who joined together out of a desire to create a venue for stage acting in Los Angeles.^[3]

Between 1985 and 2012, L.A. Theatre Works has recorded over 400 plays. Titles include works by Arthur Miller, Oscar Wilde, David Mamet, Yasmina Reza, Tom Stoppard, Jon Robin Baitz, Kenneth Lonergan, Rebecca Gilman, Lynn Nottage, Shakespeare, Sophocles, Molière, and many others.

In 1997, L.A. Theatre Works received an NEA Media Arts grant of $100,000 to support a campaign to increase the nationwide audience for its theater library.^[4]

In 2005, L.A. Theatre Works launched its National Touring program, taking "live-in-performance" radio dramas to venues across the country. As of 2012, L.A. Theatre Works has visited over 200 civic and performing arts centers and university venues with numerous productions.^[5][6]

In 2011, L.A. Theatre Works began performing at the UCLA James Bridges Theatre, moving from the Los Angeles Skirball Cultural Center.^[7]

In 2011, L.A. Theatre Works began collaborating with Roundabout Theatre Company to broadcast productions from National Theatre Live in HD. These screenings are held at the UCLA James Bridges Theatre. The first of these screenings was The Importance of Being Earnest produced by Roundabout Theatre Company, starring Brian Bedford.^[8]

In 2011, L.A. Theatre Works completed its first International Tour of China with the play "Top Secret: Battle for the Pentagon Papers." ^[9]

In 2012, L.A. Theatre Works began releasing ebooks of its plays. These ebooks allow a user to listen to a recorded play while reading along with the text.^[10]

As of May 2012, L.A. Theatre Works' has a weekly public radio show in over 80 markets in the U.S., along with available online streaming at their website, which is hosted by Lowenberg and also contains bonus wrap-around content. L.A. Theatre Works' audio productions have received awards from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Writers Guild of America, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Audio Publishers Association, among others. Recordings are available in over 9,000 libraries throughout the U.S. and to the general public through the official website and from select retailers.

Artist Advisory Council

The Artist Advisory Council currently includes Edward Asner, Rosalind Ayres, Ed Begley, Jr., Hector Elizondo, Glenne Headly, Martin Jarvis, Stacy Keach, Shirley Knight, Marsha Mason, Richard Masur, Alfred Molina, David Selby, Eric Stoltz, JoBeth Williams and Charlayne Woodard. ^[11]

2014-2015 Season

Under Milk Wood, by Dylan Thomas

In the Heat of the Night, by John Ball and adapted by Matt Pelfry

Racing Demon, by David Hare

Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand

Intelligence-Slave, by Kenneth Lin

Tribes, by Nina Raine

Arthur Miller - A Life

Dirty Blonde, by Claudia Shear

I Am My Own Wife, by Doug Wright

The Whipping Man, by Matthew Lopez

Production History (by year)

1990-1991

Once A Bright Fire; The Misanthrope; World War II; Behind the Veil; The Key, Tone Clusters, and Greensleeves; Tea; Phantasie

1991-1992

The White Plague; The Writing Game; Composition; The Master and Margarita; Heaven and Earth ; Cheap; Undue Influence; In the Moonlight Eddie; Questa; Final Passages; Intimacy ; Oyakoshinju: Deathbond ; Serious Money; Bad Axe; The Living End; A Telegram From Heaven ; Absent Forever; Pericles; At Long Last Leo; Say Zebra; Mastergate, A Play on Words; Exchange; Buk; My Visits with MGM

1992-1993

Mayhem: The Invasion; Bang the Drum Slowly; Tears of Rage; Moonlight and the Crimson Thread; Golf With Alan Shepard; Fuente Ovejuna (it Serves Them Right); Make and Break; Incunabula, Incunabulorum; Of One Blood; Park Your Car in Harvard Yard; To Distraction; The Swan; Earth And Sky; Unquestioned Integrity: The Hill Thomas Hearings; The Truth Teller; The Baby Dance; The Extra Man; Tea

1993-1994

The Waldorf Conference; Johnny on a Spot; Mothers; Leocadia; The Writing Game; J. Edgar!; Fallen Angels; Man of the Moment; Death And The Maiden; Steambath; The Cocktail Hour; My Virginia; Mrs. Klein; Pilgrimage to Beethoven; The Brothers Karamazov; Private Lives; The Perfectionist; Smart Choices For The 21st Century

1994-1995

War of the Worlds; The Devil's Deciple; The Third Man; Jump at ahe Sun; Talking Heads; Second City Allstars; It's Not a Fair World; Later Life; Table Manners; Atomic Bombers; The Value Of Names; Long Ago and Far Away; Bogaazan!; Murder in the First

1995-1996

This Town; A Woman of No Importance; Precious Sons; The Southpaw; Halcyon Days; Camping With Henry And Tom; The Road to Mecca; Mimi's Guide; Mrs. Warren's Profession; Living Together; Voir Dire; Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting; M. Butterfly; Present Laughter

1996-1997

State Of The Union; Broken Glass; Ballad Of Yachiyo; The Lucky Spot; An Ideal Husband; Three Viewings; The Idiot; Nora; Round And Round The Garden; Counsellor-at-law; Quartermain's Terms; Guns; Forty-two Stories; Wild Amerika; Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting (Washington Theatre on the Air); The Gin Game (Washington Theatre on the Air); The Devil's Disciple (Washington Theatre on the Air); The House of Blue Leaves (Washington Theatre on the Air)

1997-1998

Mizlansky/Zilinsky; How I Learned To Drive; The Imaginary Invalid; The General From America; I Sent A Letter To My Love; A View From The Bridge; Sheindele; Time Flies; A Fair Country; The Young Man From Atlanta; Additional Dialogue: An Evening With Dalton Trumbo; Thank You, Jeeves; Black Water; Blithe Spirit; The Heiress (Washington Theatre on the Air); All My Sons (Washington Theatre on the Air); Working (Washington Theatre on the Air)

1998-1999

An American Daughter; Six Degrees Of Separation; The Diary Of Anne Frank; The Doctor's Dilemma; The Odd Couple; The Colored Museum; Working; Anna Christie; After The Fall; The Sisters Rosensweig; Lady Windermere's Fan; Pretty Fire; Denial; Spread Eagle; The Substance Of Fire (Washington Theatre on the Air); As Thousands Cheer (Washington Theatre on the Air); The Diary Of Anne Frank (Washington Theatre on the Air)

1999-2000

Hayfever; Agnes of God; The Playboy of The Western World; The Rose Tattoo; The Prisoner of Second Ave; Cakewalk; A Huey P. Newton Story; Just Between Ourselves; Prelude to a Kiss; Monticello; Aliens in America; Another Time; Neat; American Appetites

2000-2001

Twilight's Last Gleaming; Member of the Wedding; The Rainmaker; The Autumn Garden; The Voysey Inheritance; Lost in Yonkers; Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight; Radio Mambo: Culture Clash Invades Miami; The Cherry Orchard; Shadowlands; The Caine Mutiny Court Martial; God's Man in Texas; Zoot Suit; True West; Eleanor (Washington Theatre on the Air); The Caine Mutiny Court-martial (Washington Theatre on the Air); American Appetites (Washington Theatre on the Air); ; Seven Days In May (Washington Theatre on the Air); Barefoot In The Park (Washington Theatre on the Air); A Lesson Before Dying (Washington Theatre on the Air)

2001-2002

Betrayal; The Country Girl; Bordertown; The Lion in Winter; Marvin's Room; Synergy; Incident at Vichy; Middle Of The Night; Spinning Into Butter; Dinah Was; Orson's Shadow; The Credeaux Canvas; The Best Man (Washington Theatre on the Air); The Heidi Chronicles (Washington Theatre on the Air); Dinner With Friends (Washington Theatre on the Air)

2002-2003

The Grapes of Wrath (play); Sight Unseen; The Foreigner; On the Waterfront; Proof; Misalliance; In Real Life; Speed The Plow; Going To St. Ives; Tape; Once In A Lifetime; Falsettos; Desire Under The Elms; Breaking The Code

2003-2004

Adam's Rib; Design For Living; Oedipus the King; An Immaculate Misconception; Our Lady Of 121st Street; Dugout Iii; Fifth of July; "Master Harold"...and the Boys; Chavez Ravine; Pack of Lies

2004-2005

Fabulation; Becket Or The Honor Of God; Twentieth Century; Frozen; Sixteen Wounded; Fired; Antigone; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Anna in the Tropics; Blue/Orange

2005-2006

A Tale of Charles Dickens; McReele; Twelve Angry Men; Top Girls; Arms and the Man; The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial; Romance; Fired Again; The Real Dr. Strangelove; Bunbury

2006-2007

Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright; Jesus Hopped the "A” Train; Mary Stuart; Two Cities, Two Voices: The Watts Tower Project; Two Cities, Two Voices: Taking Flight; The Busy World is Hushed; The Ruby Sunrise; The Man Who Had All the Luck; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Sonia Flew; Biloxi Blues; Moving Bodies (Radio Play)

2007-2008

The Life Of Galileo; Stick Fly; Major Barbara; Secret Order; The Paris Letter; Top Secret: Battle For The Pentagon Papers; Boats On A River; Speech and Debate (play); Summer and Smoke; Broadway Bound; Top Secret: Battle For The Pentagon Papers (National Tour); Relativity (Radio Play)

2008-2009

The Rivalry; The Real Thing; Beloved Clara; Odyssey of Love; Ceremonies in Dark Old Men; Betrayed; This is Our Youth; Art (play); War Of The Worlds & The Lost World; The Importance of Being Earnest; The Physicist

2009-2010

Once in a Lifetime; Gross Indecency: The Trials Of Oscar Wilde; Crumbs From the Table of Joy; Awake and Sing!; California Suite; RFK: Journey to Justice; The Constant Wife; Side Man; She Stoops to Conquer; Doctor Cerberus; The School For Husbands (Radio Play); The Imaginary Cuckold (Radio Play); Tartuffe (Radio Play); End Days (Radio Play); Henceforward (Radio Play); The Bungler (Radio Play); War Of The Worlds & The Lost World (National Tour); Great Tennessee Monkey Trial (National Tour; Lucy (Radio Play); Arcadia (Radio Play)

2010-2011

ENRON (play); A Raisin In The Sun; The Graduate; The School For Scandal; Becky Shaw; Death Of A Salesman; Three Sisters (play); Dracula (1924 play); Lobby Hero; New Jerusalem; The Real Dr. Strangelove (National Tour); The Unexpected Man (Radio Play); Sorry Wrong Number (Radio Play); Trifles (Radio Play); Macbeth (Radio Play); The Rivals (Radio Play); Photograph 51 (Radio Play)

2012-2013

A Doll’s House; Completeness; Copenhagen (play); Buried Child; Next Fall (play); Frost/Nixon (play); Opus (play); Hamlet (Radio Play); Romeo and Juliet (Radio Play)

References

External links

• L.A. Theatre Works official website