December | 2016 | Intimate Excellent
It’s been a challenging year, hasn’t it? A year of change, division and loss And a year of hope, unity and bright accomplishments.
The Fountain Theatre ends 2016 soaring on the wind of uplifting achievements. Our world premiere stage adaptation of Citizen: An American Lyric has been chosen to be highlighted in CTG’s Block Party at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in April. Our premieres of Dream Catcher, My Mañana Comes and Baby Doll earned rave reviews and extended runs. Forever Flamenco sizzled this summer at the outdoor Ford Theatre. Bakersfield Mist returned to delight audiences through the holidays and is still running through January. We continued serving communities year round through our educational outreach programs. We broadened our long-term stability by partnering with new foundations and supporters.
For 26 years, The Fountain Theatre has provided a public space where a wide variety of citizens gather together to experience stories that illuminate what it means to be a human being.
The public discourse across our nation and on our stage in 2016 revealed many things. One being: words matter. What we say to each other, and how we say it, matters. As in the finest plays, language has power. Has impact. In soliloquy and in dialogue. On our intimate stage, and far beyond Fountain Avenue, our dialogue — our conversation — with YOU, our Fountain Family, matters.
Which words would you use to describe the Fountain Theatre? Which words express who we are, what we do? Co-Founding Artistic Directors Deborah Lawlor and Stephen Sachs share with you some words they’d choose. Take a look!
Posted in Arts, arts organizations, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, Outreach Program, performing arts, plays, Theater, theatre
Tagged 2016, baby doll, Bakersfield Mist, Block Party, Citizen: An American Lyric, CTG, Deborah Lawlor, Dream Catcher, educational outreach, Forever Flamenco, Forever Flamenco at the Ford, Fountain Theatre, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Los Angeles, My Manana Comes, Stephen Sachs
The Fountain Theatre has joined regional theatres across the country in The Ghostlight Project, a grass roots movement in the national theatre community demonstrating the need for social justice and inclusion for all citizens. Inspired by the tradition of leaving a “ghost light” on in a darkened theater, artists and communities will make or renew a pledge to stand for and protect the values of inclusion, participation, and compassion for everyone–regardless of race, class, religion, country of origin, immigration status, (dis)ability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
On January 19, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. in each time zone across the country, members of the theater community – from Broadway to regional theaters to high schools and colleges and community theaters – will come together to launch The Ghostlight Project. Gathering outside of theaters on the eve of the Presidential Inauguration, people will join in a collective, simultaneous action, together creating “light” for the challenging times ahead.
The Fountain Theatre joins the growing list of participating theaters nationwide. Other participants include The Public Theater (NY), Arena Stage (Washington, DC), Berkeley Rep, Dallas Theatre Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago), and many more. For a full list of participants click here.
January 19th is a moment of gathering within a larger resistance to intolerance at all levels. We aim to create brave spaces that will serve as lights in the coming years. We aim to activate a network of people across the country working to support vulnerable communities. This is not a substitution for protests or direct action, but rather a pledge for continued vigilance and increased advocacy.
We define “a brave space” as a space where:
- It is safe to be who you are, regardless of race, class, religion, country of origin, immigration status, (dis)ability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
- Diverse opinions, dissent, and argument are not only tolerated, but invited.
- Active listening and courageous exchange are fundamental values.
- Collective action, activism, and community engagement, both within and outside the walls of the theater, are cultivated, encouraged, and supported.
On January 19, 2017 at 5:30pm across time zones, we will gather with people in front of the Fountain Theatre, joining theaters and art spaces across the country. All are welcome. This collective action will signify an ongoing commitment to social justice in the coming years, taking a variety of forms and actions for individual artists and institutions.
More details will be coming soon. For more info on The Ghostlight Project go to the website or the Facebook Group page. Twitter hashtag #AllAreWelcome
Posted in Arts, arts organizations, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, performing arts, Social justice, Theater, theatre
Tagged Arena Stage, brave space, diversity, Fountain Theatre, gender, ghost light, Ghostlight Project, inclusion, January 19, light, Los Angeles, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Public Theater, race, regional theatres, sexual orientation, Social justice, theater, theatre
Holiday theatre-goers enjoyed a special treat last night at our smash hit production of Bakersfield Mist. After leaping to their feet in a standing ovation for the funny and thought-provoking performance, the crowd gathered upstairs in our festively-decorated cafe for a holiday party with the cast and company. Patrons brought unwrapped toys and gifts to be donated by Fountain staff to homeless children at the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles.
Party revelers enjoyed tasty holiday foods and yummy drinks. Guests included Fountain patrons, Fountain staff, the company of Bakersfield Mist, and members of the LA theatre community.
Bakersfield Mist continues its extended run through January 30th. The hit comedy/drama starring Jenny O’Hara and Nick Ullett has earned rave reviews everywhere and is highlighted as Critic’s Choice in the Los Angeles Times, hailed as a “delightful and provocative comedy.”
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Wishing you a safe and joyous holiday season, from our Fountain Family to yours.
Bakersfield Mist extended to Jan 30th
Posted in actors, Arts, arts organizations, cafe, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, Theater, theatre
Tagged Bakersfield Mist, comedy, Fountain Theatre, homeless, Jenny O’Hara, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, Nick Ullett, outreach, party, theater, theatre, Union Rescue Mission
‘Citizen: An American Lyric’ at the Fountain Theatre
The Fountain Theatre’s acclaimed and award-winning world stage premiere of Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine, adapted for the stage by Stephen Sachs, has been chosen by Center Theatre Group for the inaugural Block Party: Celebrating Los Angeles Theatre at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Directed by Shirley Jo Finney, Citizen will begin previews on April 28, open April 30 and close May 7.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with CTG on its first-ever Block Party at the Kirk Douglas Theatre,” said Sachs. “It’s particularly meaningful to us that ‘Citizen’ was chosen because racism and white dominance in America is as timely now, since the election, as it ever was. The project also reflects the diversity of our work at the Fountain Theatre.”
The Fountain Theatre’s world stage premiere of Citizen earned rave reviews and an extended run in 2015. The Los Angeles Times heralded it as “Powerful” and highlighted it Critic’s Choice. Stage Raw declared it “a transcendent theatrical experience,” later honoring Stephen Sachs with the Stage Raw Theatre Award for Best Adaptation.
The original cast featured Bernard K. Addison, Leith Burke, Tina Lifford, Tony Maggio, Simone Missick, Lisa Pescia. The extended run included Monnae Michaell, Karen Malina White, and Nikki Crawford.
A meditation on race that fuses poetry, prose, movement, music and the video image, Citizen: An American Lyric is a provocative stage adaptation of Claudia Rankine’s internationally acclaimed book of poetry about everyday acts of racism in America. Of Rankine’s Citizen, The New Yorker wrote that it was “brilliant… explores the kinds of injustice that thrive when the illusion of justice is perfected.” The New York Times wrote that “Rankine brilliantly pushes poetry’s forms to disarm readers and circumvent our carefully constructed defense mechanisms against the hint of possibly being racist ourselves.”
Center Theatre Group received seventy-six submissions for its new Block Party program and selected three local intimate theatre productions. It will also remount Coeurage Theatre Company’s production of Failure: A Love Story by Philip Dawkins, and Echo Theater Company’s production of Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel. Each production will have a two-week run presented April 14 through May 21, 2017.
The selected shows will receive the full support of Center Theatre Group and its staff in order to fund, stage and market each production. Full casting will be announced at a later date. Tickets will go on sale to the general public in February.
Posted in actors, African American, Arts, arts organizations, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, playwright, playwriting, race, racism, Theater, theatre
Tagged Bernard K. Addison, Block Party, Center Theatre Group, Citizen, Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine, Coeurage Theatre Company, CTG, Echo Theater Company, Fountain Theatre, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Leith Burke, Lisa Pescia, Los Angeles, race, racism, Shirley Jo Finney, Simone Missick, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre, Tina Lifford, Tony Maggio
The year is almost over . One thing 2016 made clear is the diversity of our country. Different cultures, communities, points of view. And a great need to understand, respect and connect with each other. We believe theatre serves a critical role in creating empathy and deepening understanding between people. We believe that by telling personal, human stories that dramatize lives from different communities, we stop seeing those cultures as “the other”. There is no “other”. There is only ourselves. Together.
Troy Kotsur and Deanne Bray are two fabulous actors and members of our Fountain family. You’ve seen them both on TV, in film, and on our stage. You were dazzled by Troy’s lead performance in our Sign Language/English world premiere of Cyrano. And before achieving the ground-breaking lead role in her own TV series, Deanne earned her first professional stage acting job at the Fountain Theatre twenty-five years ago. They now have an eager message to share with you. Take a look and enjoy!
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Posted in actors, arts organizations, Deaf, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, Theater, theatre
Tagged actor, actress, community, Cyrano, deaf, Deaf West Theatre, Deanne Bray, diversity, Fountain Theatre, hard of hearing, Los Angeles, sign language, Stephen Sachs, Sue Thomas, Troy Kotsur
Ann Noble, Liz Berman and John Prosky introduce the evening.
Tuesday night at the Fountain was one of those evenings that reminds us of the transformative power of theatre. Why we do what we do. It was also a night about working together. Not only for the incarcerated young men on stage from Rancho San Antonio Boys Home who performed the new play they wrote via the Antaeus Odyssey Workshop. But also for the two LA intimate theatre companies who partnered to make the evening possible.
The Odyssey Workshop is an educational outreach program launched by Antaeus Theatre Company that uses theatre techniques to teach creative writing to young adults from high-risk environments. “This is such an important program for all of us at Antaeus Theatre Company,” says Antaeus Co-Artistic Director Bill Brochtrup. “It’s truly a life-changing event for the young men participating — and for the audiences who are lucky enough to see them.”
Because construction on the company’s new venue in Glendale is not yet complete, Antaeus needed to find a theatre to host its one-night performance of the Odyssey Workshop. They reached out to the Fountain Theatre. We immediately agreed to welcome Antaeus and its program into our home.
Antaeus actress Ann Noble and Fountain Associate Producer James Bennett greet guests.
The coincidental timing of Tuesday night’s performance was not lost on anyone. The very next day, Actors Equity Association terminated the 99-Seat Plan, replacing it with a controversial and unpopular new Agreement that divides and separates the once-unified LA intimate theatre community into competing categories and factions.
The shared event at the Fountain Theatre was all about cooperation.
Antaeus actress and board member Dawn Didawick commented, “I wish some of our union representatives could be required to attend events like these in order to learn what Los Angeles theatre artists give to their community.”
“There’s been so much rancor and divisiveness with Actors Equity over their elimination of the 99-Seat Plan,” says Fountain Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs. “Tuesday night is an example of what happens when two LA intimate theatre companies, each very different in their programming and organizational structure, cooperate together for the sake of being of service to those other than themselves.”
Fountain Producing Director Simon Levy agrees. “Art does change lives. Theatre opens hearts and connects us to The Other. Bravo/bravissima to Antaeus for this great program. And a standing O to the young men who opened their hearts and allowed themselves to be vulnerable… because it changes us.”
Following the performance, the night was ignited by a lively reception in our upstairs cafe which seemed to exemplify the spirit of the evening. There was food, drinks and a cacophony of raucous chatter and laughter. Students enjoying family and friends intermixing with Antaeus members mingling with Fountain staff. A room packed with a wide variety of diverse people and two uniquely-styled theatre companies. Everyone together, for the same common purpose, becoming one.
Isn’t that what it’s all about?
Posted in actors, Arts education, arts organizations, Drama, Education, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, Outreach Program, performing arts, Theater, theatre
Tagged 99-Seat Plan, Actors Equity Association, Ann Noble, Antaeus Theatre Company, arts organizations, Bill Brochtrup, educational outreach, Fountain Theatre, James Bennett, John Prosky, Liz Berman, Odyssey Workshop, Rancho San Antonio, Simon Levy
Actor John Prosky teaches young men at Rancho San Antonio
They come from all over Southern California. From a wide range of backgrounds, for a variety of reasons. Many have no where else to go. Each has a unique story to tell. And for the young men at Rancho San Antonio Boys Home in Chatsworth, the Odyssey Artists’ Workshop is an opportunity to use theatre as a vehicle to express their personal stories.
On Tuesday, December 13 at 7pm, the Fountain Theatre will host the culmination performance of a new play written by the incarcerated young men of Rancho San Antonio, made possible through the program launched by members of Antaeus Theatre Company.
“At the heart of the Fountain’s artistic mission is our commitment to giving voice to those who may not otherwise be heard,” says Fountain Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs. “We are happy and proud to host this program which embodies that artistic and social philosophy.”
Rancho San Antonio is a non-profit multi-service residential agency serving court-ordered adolescent boys. The primary goal of the agency is to provide an opportunity for rehabilitation of the total person through a balanced physical, social, spiritual, psychological, and educational experience. It focuses on personal responsibility, values clarification, and changing anti-social behaviors. Some of the programs provided include: individual, group and family counseling, drug treatment, educational services and emancipation assistance.
The Odyssey Artists’ Workshop is a creative writing and theatre program for young adults from high-risk environments. The workshop teaches the structural elements of non-fiction writing as well as theater performance skills through the component of Shakespeare. The students craft and perform an original theater piece of their personal stories interwoven with selected characters and themes from Shakespeare’s plays.
How did the Workshop get started?
“I had been teaching acting and dramatic writing in the lock-down juvenile camps of LA County for a while, ” says actor John Prosky, recently seen at the Fountain in our west coast premiere of Tennessee Williams’ Baby Doll. “In 2009, Kitty Swink at Antaeus Theatre Company asked me if I would like to put a Shakespeare program together at Rancho San Antonio. Kitty introduced me to artist and educator Liz Berman who had been teaching a writing program there and we decided to join our programs about 6 years ago. And Odyssey Artists’ Workshop was born.”
The Workshop now teaches at Rancho San Antonio, Homeboy Industries, Van Nuys High School, Learning Works Charter in Pasadena. It starts at New Village Charter in January.
For actor Prosky, the impetus to launch the program was personal. “After working in TV and Film for more than a decade, ” he says, “I began to wonder if I was really contributing anything to the world. Plus, I was Jesuit trained and they beat into me the idea of service. I get much more from this program than the students do.”
What happens in a typical 10-week Workshop period?
“We pick a character arc or text from a play we think a particular student population will respond to and then we perform that arc for them through scenes and soliloquies using professional classical actors,” he explains. “Then we invite the students into the plot with writing prompts, improv and other acting exercises based on what they just saw. The populations we work with tend to be highly polarized by gang affiliation and/or race, so we also spend a great deal of time on ensemble building exercises. We also do mask work and are staging a short story written by a guy on death row in San Quentin, Jarvis Jay Masters, from his book Finding Freedom.
For the young men at Rancho San Antonio, the 10-week Workshop experience is more than artistic. It is also therapeutic.
“We are not trained therapists or social workers by any means,” admits Prosky. “But all these theater exercises on a young mind that has experienced trauma is healing. I tell these guys often that if you tell your story, you will gain wisdom, strength, and a lesson, but more importantly, we as listeners to your story will gain wisdom strength and a lesson.”
“What happens to a young mind that has experienced abuse, neglect, and addiction is that a sense of empathy gets damaged. The wrong role models and a lack of empathy leads to crime. Makes sense. But the young brain is repairable. I’ve seen it over and over. These acting storytelling-exercises coupled with a lot of ensemble building techniques begins to give them back their empathy. Towards the end of the ten week session racial and gang barriers in the room begin to break down. Once they have gone through the crucible of performance, they are a new kind of gang; an ensemble.”
John Prosky and Lindsay LaVanchy in Baby Doll at Fountain Theatre
Because construction for Antaeus Theatre Company’s new venue in Glendale is still underway, Prosky turned to the Fountain to host this culmination performance. The Fountain Theatre immediately accepted. Prosky couldn’t be happier.
“I am so grateful to The Fountain Family for the use of their theatre for this culmination. Having just done Baby Doll at The Fountain, I felt like the positivism, love, and respect I experienced there made it the perfect place for these young men.”
The Odyssey Artists’ Workshop culmination performance will be on Tuesday, December 13, at 7pm at the Fountain Theatre. The event is free. Seating is limited. Please RSVP to Robin Campbell at [email protected] or (818) 506-5436.
Posted in actors, Arts education, Drama, Education, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, Outreach Program, performing arts, plays, Shakespeare, Theater, theatre
Tagged Antaeus Theatre Company, baby doll, Chatsworth, Finding Freedom, Fountain Theatre, Homeboy Industries, incarcerated, Jarvis Jay Masters, John Prosky, Kitty Swink, Liz Berman, Odyssey Artists’ Workshop, Rancho San Antonio, Shakespeare, Stephen Sachs, Tennessee Williams
Veteran actors Jenny O’Hara (Transparent and The Mindy Project) and Nick Ullett (As the World Turns, The Big Bang Theory) are the kind of real-life married couple with whom you just love being with and hang around. They are smart, funny and finish each other’s sentences and punch lines like a longtime comedy team. They are also passionate and dedicated artists, committed to creating work that is important and excellent. Which is why the Fountain Theatre is their theater home in Los Angeles.
Nick and Jenny are currently on stage at the Fountain starring in our revival of the smash hit comedy/drama Bakersfield Mist. The acclaimed production is Critic’s Choice in the LA Times and has been extended by popular demand to January 30th.
Take a look at this personal message to you from Jenny and Nick. You’ll see why we love them like we do, and you’ll understand why supporting the Fountain Theatre matters.
Our home is your home.
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Posted in actors, arts organizations, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, Theater, theatre
Tagged actors, actress, As the World Turns, Bakersfield Mist, Fountain Theatre, Jenny O’Hara, Los Angeles, Nick Ullett, The Big Bang Theory, The Mindy Project, Transparent