December | 2020 | Intimate Excellent

Ed Krieger, 2006.

by Stephen Sachs

A life in the theatre is filled with photographs. We who act, direct, write, compose, design, produce or publicize theatre make use of countless of photographs, in a career and a lifetime. Production stills, headshots, publicity photos, prints for posters, snapshots for marketing brochures. We post JPEGS of ourselves in plays and musicals on social media, upload pictures of past performances for grant applications, embed digital images into our portfolios. At the Fountain Theatre, in our archive room, we have catalogued a collection of photographs chronicling the history of our organization going back thirty years. Hundreds, probably thousands, of pictures. Black and white and in color. Most of them taken by one remarkable man: Ed Krieger.

I got heartbreaking word last week that Ed had passed away at home on December 16, 2020. He had been fighting health issues for the past year and a half, but remained in good spirits. Ed was an essential member of our Fountain Family for twenty-five years, and a beloved photographer for the Los Angeles theatre community for decades. And he was my friend.

Born in Chicago, Ed graduated from Gage Park High School on the South Side. He studied biology and theater at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. In 1985, he married Heather Blades, a graduate from UC Irvine. They each performed in plays and musicals throughout Southern California, appearing on stage together in 42^nd Street and The Pajama Game at Downey Civic Light Opera. They had two children, daughter Courtenay and son Will.

Whenever I gave Ed Krieger a call to shoot photos of a current production at my theatre, I was guaranteed two things. First, I knew I would get high quality stills that captured the theatrical essence and energy of our show, shot in a professional and easy-going manner. Second, I could bank on getting a flurry of theater stories from Ed, usually about the other shows he was shooting (and their companies), his own precarious exploits as a musical actor (auditions he failed, or the ones that he aced), and the blossoming careers of his kids. I loved seeing the joy spread on Ed’s face when he spoke about Courtenay and Will, he was so clearly proud of them.

The photographs of Ed Krieger have played a crucial role in the success of my theatre. For one quarter of a century, Ed pulled up in his van outside our building on Fountain Avenue, lugged his equipment into our theatre, and took millions of pictures of thousands of our theatre artists. Multiply that by fifty, by one hundred, by two hundred other theater companies throughout the Los Angeles area and you get an idea of the immense contribution this man has made to our livelihood, our business, and our art.

Production photos by Ed Krieger at the Fountain Theatre.

I imagine that of the dozens and dozens of Los Angeles theater companies who worked with Ed Krieger over the years, each and every one thought of Ed as their photographer, he was theirs. That is just how you felt about Ed. He was yours. He was like your favorite uncle, the one you loved, the one with the camera, who laughed and joked and told stories while he happily snapped photos of you and your family.

I pray that L.A. Stage Alliance reaches out to Ed’s family at the appropriate time to secure the massive archive of images Ed has captured with his camera, all now stored at his home.  In those stacks and stacks of cardboard boxes, in those miles of Kodak film, on those gigabytes of imagery, lies the history of us all. The work we have done, the art we have created, the lives we have changed, the friends we have found, the families we have made, and the city we have chronicled and helped put on the national map. Ed photographed that, for us all.  

At the request of the Krieger family, those wishing to honor Ed may make a donation in his name to The Actors Fund.

Stephen Sachs in the Artistic Director of the Fountain Theatre.             

Posted in artist, Arts, arts organizations, Drama, Journalism, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, Theater, theatre

Tagged Ed Krieger, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, photo, photographer, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre

by Stephen Sachs

I’ve been thinking about a poem by Mary Oliver. The entire poem is only two lines. That’s all it needs. It goes like this:

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.”

2020 has been a deep box of darkness. Our task is to learn to view sorrows as gifts. That’s a hard one. The poem encourages us to do something when sorrows come, challenges us not to sit back and do nothing about them. That is what I have learned from this year.

It is hard to receive boxes of darkness. At the bottom of my box, I have found the gift of gratitude. For things big and small. As this dreadful year comes to its close, it has brought me this gift born of darkness: To be without the intimacy of the Fountain Theatre for one year makes me grateful for it even more. I hope you feel the same. While our holiday gatherings may be smaller or grid-boxed on Zoom, our hearts will surely be filled with gratitude.

With vaccinations now underway, our boxes of darkness soon will lighten. I honestly believe that the Fountain Theatre will play an essential role in the healing of our community. As we look ahead to 2021, the Fountain has ambitious plans to move forward, both online and onstage. Creating productions that illuminate what it means to be alive at this time in the world and providing impactful arts education programs for students in underserved schools across Los Angeles. All COVID-safe.

Here’s a snapshot: Our new online platform, Fountain Stream will debut a 2021 season of plays and inter-active community programs. Using innovative video technologies, we will go beyond Zoom, to give you intimate high-quality theatre that makes you think and feel. We have expanded Fountain for Youth, our arts education initiatives, with Fountain Voices, an extraordinary in-school playwriting program designed by France-Luce Benson. Our ground-breaking cops/kids residency, Walking the Beat, will return in a glorious new digital format. And, most ambitious of all, we are hopeful that in the spring of 2021, we will launch our biggest adventure next year: a thrilling Outdoor Stage in our parking lot. Live theatre under the stars! Completely COVID-compliant. Stay tuned.

But for now, the Fountain — like every theater throughout Los Angeles and across the nation — remains closed. I don’t have to tell you things are hard. For the Fountain, our earned income has ground to a halt. The Fountain’s budget has dropped by over 50%. Our building remains non-operational, still standing proud on Fountain Avenue thanks to grants, federal loans, contributions, and the private giving by you, our Fountain Family. 

If you have already made a year-end donation to our campaign, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are the gift in our darkness box. Your love, friendship and support are the light that shines the way through these uncertain times. If you haven’t yet contributed, please consider doing so. Your generous holiday gift will help make the coming year possible. I am asking you to turn the sorrows of this year into a gift of gratitude. Out of darkness, light! 

Onward,

Stephen Sachs is the Artistic Director of the Fountain Theatre.

Posted in Art, Arts, Arts education, arts organizations, Drama, Education, Hollywood, Livestream, non-profit organization, Outreach Program, plays, poetry, Theater, theatre

Tagged contribution, donation, Fountain for Youth, Fountain Stream, Fountain Theatre, Fountain Voices, gift, giving, Los Angeles, Mary Oliver, Outdoor Stage, poem, poet, poetry, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre

Laura Maria Censabella

By France-Luce Benson

Laura Maria Censabella’s achievements are too many to even begin to name here. But if you are not familiar with her work, look her up. Now. And be sure to join us this Saturday for our final Saturday Matinee of the year, followed  by Fountain Theatre’s Holiday Party. Censabella will be our featured guest as we present her play Interviewing Miss Davis, based on her actual interview with Bette Davis many years ago.

What was it really like meeting Bette Davis? What do you remember from that day?

I remember it was boiling hot and I was sweating, and my curly hair had morphed into a ball of straw, so I was incredibly self-conscious.  Also, I was intimidated by Miss Davis’s poised and beautiful assistant.  When Miss Davis came in—and she did make an entrance–I was shocked by how diminished she was physically.  She had to kind of throw her hip as she walked, and her shriveled face made her look like a sharp-eyed bird—but I immediately realized that none of her spirit was diminished.  I had been told not to tell her I was a writer since her daughter was coming out with a tell-all book but at a certain point I couldn’t help it.  I kept asking her what my hours might be and she wouldn’t tell me because I think basically they were meant to be 24/7.  At that time I would get up at 5:30 a.m. to write before office temp jobs.  That hour and a half–or two hours–a day I had to write was sacred and all I wanted to know was would I be able to still have that.  And yet…I was so broke.  I’d had a few short stories published in tiny literary magazines.  I felt so small, and so scared that I would never be able to make my dreams happen.  I think Miss Davis could smell that.

How do you imagine your life turning out if you did take that job?

I don’t think I would have lasted a day. 

As someone who’s been teaching and facilitating writing groups for many years, what is the most important piece of advice you have for young writers?

There are an infinite number of ways to be a very good or great writer.  There are only a finite number of ways of being bad and you can learn what those things are and avoid them.

Do you believe the industry has changed for women since you first started writing professionally? How so? In what ways is the industry still behind in gender equality? What needs to happen?

When I was in my 20’s I was selected for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.  At that time I was one of only three women playwrights out of sixteen total playwrights.  The next year I was one of five women playwrights.  The last time I was selected for the O’Neill the majority of playwrights were women; however, most of us could not get our work produced.  Since then we can be thankful for the 2008 Town Hall called by Julia Jordan, Marsha Norman and Sarah Schulman out of which The Count was eventually born to document the number of women+ and BIPOC plays produced.  There is also the Kilroys List.  Because of these big initiatives and many smaller ones we’ve seen an uptick in the statistics of women being produced although at this rate it will take another hundred years to achieve parity, most especially for older women writers who may have been ignored when they were young and now face discrimination due to age which is why the action and advocacy group Honor Roll! was born. 

What have you been working on? Anything coming up you’re excited about?

A play based on my severely disabled aunt.  About the day late in life that she decided to stop being infantilized by her family and assert her own will and the price she paid for that–and the joy she experienced as well.   I’m also beginning to workshop my play Beyond Words, which is essentially a 30-year love story between a scientist who studies animal cognition (Dr. Irene Pepperberg) and her extraordinary research subject, the African Grey parrot Alex.  Together they opened a window into the animal mind.  The parrot is embodied by a human actor on stage.

What’s been keeping you sane?

I’ve had some very big personal challenges this year.  But knowing that we all are suffering in some way, that we’re united by this pandemic, that we’ve all lost dreams, livelihoods, family, loved ones to Covid, unites us as a world community and can, if we let it, increase our compassion for one another.

What gives you hope?

That Biden and Harris were elected.  Our very democracy has been at stake.  The lust for power has outweighed the very values this democracy stands for.  We’ve got to slowly rebuild faith in democratic institutions.  We have a very steep climb but at least we’re moving in the right direction.

Interviewing Miss Davis, Saturday, December 19 @ 5pm PST

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Writer Larry Powell.

By Terri Roberts

It was just last month that the Fountain Theatre announced it had joined forces with playwright Larry Powell, his producing partner Angelica Robinson, and their Tell Me a Story Productions to bring Powell’s exciting 12-part tragicomedy, The Gaze…No Homo to Fountain audiences. Presented via the theatre’s new digital platform, Fountain Stream, this episodic version of Powell’s live stage play has been reinvented for the digital age.

A set of three short-form episodes has premiered each Friday for the past three weeks. Now, The Gaze…No Homo comes full circle as the final set of episodes have been released. All episodes remain available for viewing on the Fountain Stream page until Dec 31.

To recap: The Gaze…No Homo centers around a young actor, Jerome Price (Galen J. Williams), as he tries to navigate his way through the increasingly uncomfortable rehearsal process of No Homo, a new play by emerging Black queer playwright Shaun Korey (Devere Rogers.) Korey is championed by Miranda Cryer (Sharon Lawrence), the straight White interim artistic director of the esteemed Evergreen Theatre Festival (“where the brightest and boldest new American voices are watered with wisdom, fed with fodder and nurtured with nourishment.”) Cryer is also the director of the world premiere of Korey’s new play.

This year, the festival has been consigned to a digital Zoomscape instead of the traditional seats-and-stage live theatre experience thanks to the COVID pandemic. In addition to the neophyte Price, No Homo features far more seasoned actors Kendrell Thompson (Eugene Byrd) and Buddy DuPois (TC Carson), and is stage managed by the experienced team of no-nosense PSM Sherry Grosse (Yvette Cason) and gender-fluid ASM Tee (Jason “Freckle” Greene.) There is much at stake here for everyone, and complicating matters is the growing dissent between Price and Cryer. As their abrasive relationship grows ever-more heated, the fate of the entire production becomes jeopardized.

The Gaze…No Homo was selected as a finalist in the prestigious 2020/2021 Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. It is the first in Powell’s The Gaze cycle of plays that examines the process of building culturally specific and queer works of color in certain historically white spaces. The Gaze tackles difficult topics like racism and  microagressions, and wrestles with the question, “Why strain to be free under a gaze fixed on your imprisonment, when it’s you who is holding the key?”

As we wrap up our exclusive showing of The Gaze…No Homo on the Fountain’s digital stage this month, Powell reflected back on the journey his show has taken over this past tumultuous year, and ponders the future and what he hopes it will bring.

TR: What was it like working with the Fountain Theatre this past month to present this digital reinvention of your play?

LP: If this piece can bring awareness to theatres that have been serving communities across the globe for years and who have had to close their doors due to the pandemic, I am pleased. I feel like we’ve done that at The Fountain, and that makes me proud.

TR. Would you consider another collaboration with the Fountain in the future?

LP: Of course! I would love one of my plays to be on the Fountain stage!

TR: No Homo is the first play in The Gaze cycle of plays. What is your vision for the entire cycle? How many plays are included in The Gaze? Are any of them written yet and what themes do they explore?

LP: Right now, I know there are three plays. They chart Jerome, the protagonist, as he grows older and older. I am going to start working on a new version of the second play next year. This play will focus on how we hold on to new awareness of ourselves in our art and life once we make the initial reclamation of our time and imagination. What challenges do we face? What questions do we have in that space of new consciousness?

TR: Will No Homo be presented on stage again when we return to live performances? Or will it live now as a digital presentation? What about future installments in The Gaze cycle? What form will they take?

LP: Yes. It is important to me that I continue to diversify how an audience can experience my stories. So, in every way a play can be experienced, I will lean into. A stage play, Screenplay, Teleplay, #Digiplay, Audioplay, VR play, Animated Play…. to me, it all starts with “the play.” All different structures, skill sets, and audiences but definitely all sourced in telling a story around a fire in the village.

TR. Has the success of this digital adaptation of The Gaze…No Homo encouraged you to adapt any of your previous works for digital platforms? If so, what ones?

LP: Yes and All.

TC Carson in “The Gaze.”

TR. Was the choice of the cycle name The Gaze a conscious choice, to play on The Gays, or was it a happy coincidence?

LP: The best titles have double, triple meanings. The first play was always called “No Homo” because of the play within the play. Once I started to see the story as a cycle of works, I needed a title that spoke to a larger, more general container. The reason The Gaze sticks is because it still specifies the queer black experience as it pertains to its relationship to an oppressive gaze.

TR: You said in your Theatre Talk interview with Stephen Sachs that 2020 was a “profound year,” and you talked about “collective grief.” How have the events of 2020 shaped you as an artist? How do we, as theatre artists, as citizens, as a country, grieve our many losses this year and use them for a higher purpose?

LP: I have learned it’s important to give those loved ones, and the things we have lost, space. What I mean by that is silence and the stopping of this abusive obsession with “gotta keep going!!” Grief is a love language. We must take the time to learn it and to speak well and often. That means something different for each of us, and that’s important. We become more courageous in grief because it usually takes us to a place of surrender that opens us up to higher visions of our purpose in the world. It can, at least …if we let it. So, if you work to make firm boundaries around the space you carve out for grief … the gifts you find there are life-enhancing and heart-strengthening.

TR. What form do you prefer? Live stage or the digital small screen? Why?

LP: Well, I love the stage first. Always. That said, a story told is a story told. There are people who will run to the digital screen quicker than they would to the live stage. I want to meet both of these groups of people where they are — and I believe it is my calling to love as many forms of storytelling as possible.

TR: What’s next for you?

LP: More joy. More understanding. More peace. More love. More opportunity. More creation. More surrender. More gratitude. And always, more learning.

Terri Roberts is a freelance writer and the Coordinator of Fountain Friends, the Fountain Theatre’s new volunteer program. She also manages the Fountain Theatre Café.

Posted in African American, arts organizations, Black Lives Matter, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Gay, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, playwright, racism, Theater, theatre

Tagged Angelica Robinson, black, Devere Rogers, Eugene Byrd, Fountain Stream, Fountain Theatre, Galen J. Williams, gay, Jason “Freckle” Greene, Larry Powell, playwright, Sharon Lawrence, Stephen Sachs, TC Carson, Tell Me a Story Productions, Terri Roberts, The Gaze, Yvette Cason

Posted in actors

Tagged actress, digital, Fountain Stream, Fountain Theatre, Larry Powell, racism, Sharon Lawrence, streamin, The Gaze, theater, theatre

By France-Luce Benson

The Fountain Theatre is proud to be participating in the L.A. County Arts Internship program, the largest paid arts internship program in the nation. Established in 2000 by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, the program provides undergraduate students with meaningful on the job training and experience working in nonprofit arts organizations.

Jona Yadidi’s application stood out from the dozens we received. A student at Occidental College, Jona’s impressive resume includes event planning, directing and producing musicals for Camp Ramah, and the Glee club. But it was her interview that really blew us away. Her eloquence, sincerity, and passion for spiritual service, theatre, and social activism intrigued and delighted us.

Please join us in welcoming Jona Yadidi to The Fountain Family:

Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself: I am a first-generation American, I can speak 5 languages (Hebrew, Italian, Farsi, Spanish, and… English) , and I taught myself to play the ukulele during quarantine this summer.

What drew you to the Fountain: The commitment y’all have to social justice and promoting diversity on stage.  I am dedicated to using theater as a vehicle for community dialogue and engagement and as a tool for more inclusivity and understanding.

What do you hope to gain out of this experience: A general understanding of how a non-profit theatre company works in Los Angeles and the impact that art makes, especially now that we’ve moved into a digital space. I am about to graduate college soon and enter “the real world” and as someone who wants to go into arts education and community engagement, I think my experience at the Fountain will give me a clear vision and direction for my future.

What is your hope for the future of theatre: To make theatre more accessible to all types of audiences and to have those audiences represented on stage. To dismantle the elitism that comes with ticket pricing with more initiatives like “pay what you can”. As well, we have to make sure that what we are producing not only includes, but supports and uplifts BIPOC communities that are normally not represented onstage. As an Iranian woman myself, I rarely see Iranian representation in theatre and I know I’m not alone in this sentiment. We need to have more BIPOC artists involved in all aspects of theatre; on stage, directing, producing, writing material, on theatre staff, and as board members. For more information on this initiative, please check out: https://www.weseeyouwat.com/

What are your goals: I would love to become the head of the education department or community engagement department for a non-profit theatre company (just like you France-Luce!). I think the power in theatre is rooted in educating high school students and the community around us on what different productions represent because the options in theatre are really limitless.

What are you most thankful for this year: My incredible support system of friends and family. It’s really been an unpredictable year full of ups and downs and I wouldn’t be able to get through it without those I have by my side keeping me strong.

The Fountain Theatre thanks the LA County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture for its Arts Internship Program.

Settle in with your favorite beverage on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET when the Fountain Theatre winds up 2020 and its monthly Saturday Matinee series with an Old Hollywood-themed holiday party filled with joy, games, and — of course — an online playreading. Admission is free at fountaintheatre.com.

Venerable actress Karen Kondazian, a lifetime member of the Actors Studio and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award-winner best known for her work in the plays of Tennessee Williams (with whom she was a personal friend), takes on the role of Hollywood legend Bette Davis in Interviewing Miss Davis by award-winning playwright Laura Maria Censabella.

After the reading, stick around for party games and a celebration of friends, fellow artists and the Fountain’s all-important audience. Bring something glamorous! (optional)

Inspired by a true event in Ms. Censabella’s own life, the one-act is set in 1985 as Davis interviews a new personal assistant (Wonjung Kim) upon learning that her current, beloved assistant (and nurse) Jacqueline (Aleisha Force) is leaving.

“I was just out of college and very, very broke — no furniture, a folding chair, folding table, mattress on the floor, and I was working for someone who said I’d make a great assistant for Bette Davis,” Censabella explained in an interview. “I went to the interview but was very conflicted because I wanted to be a writer and at the same time I wanted instant validation, and I felt like if I became Bette Davis’s assistant, I would have that.”

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Posted in actors, arts organizations, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, Livestream, Los Angeles, movies, new plays, non-profit organization, Online, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre

Tagged actress, Aleisha Force, Bette Davis, Hollywood, Interviewing Miss Davis, Karen Kondazian, Laura Maria Censabella, movie star, Wonjung Kim