In a transfer sure to shock Los Angeles theatergoers, the Middle Theatre Group (CTG) introduced Thursday that it’s canceling plans for a 2023-34 season on the Mark Taper Discussion board, one of the vital houses for brand spanking new performs within the metropolis, if not the nation, as a result of extreme monetary considerations.
The group’s two different theaters, the Ahmanson and Kirk Douglas Theatres, will proceed with their seasons as regular, with 2023-24 packages to be introduced shortly, the announcement mentioned.
The programming suspension on the 736-seat Mark Taper will start after a present world premiere musical, “Clear,” wraps up its run on June 25. Two different exhibits that had already been introduced may have their runs canceled or postponed. The world premiere of “Faux It Till You Make It,” set to start Aug. 2, is being referred to as off, though the org mentioned “we plan to function it) in a future season.” In the meantime, a touring manufacturing of “Cambodian Rock Band” set for the Mark Taper has been canceled outright.
Though the announcement didn’t embrace any particular information about staffing cuts, the Los Angeles Instances reported shortly earlier than the press launch went out that CTG will likely be reducing about 10% of its full-time workers because of the funding disaster. CTG’s managing director and CEO, Meghan Pressman, advised the Instances that the group’s finances deficit is within the thousands and thousands of {dollars}.
The discharge famous that CTG “continues to really feel the aftereffects of the pandemic and has been struggling to steadiness ever-increasing manufacturing prices with considerably decreased ticket income and donations that stay behind 2019 ranges. We’re nonetheless dealing with a disaster in contrast to every other in our 56-year historical past. It’s on this surroundings that now we have to take the extraordinary step of pausing a good portion of CTG programming starting this summer time and persevering with by way of the 2023/24 Season, in addition to taking vital restructuring measures to construct a vibrant and sustainable group that may navigate this new paradigm.”
The CTG mentioned that the venue won’t be utterly darkish through the subsequent yr, as it’s “modern, non-traditional” and “community-centered” occasions to placed on within the theater whereas regular programming is suspended.
Essentially the most profitable play to be produced because the theater returned after the pandemic was the acclaimed “Slave Play,” which bought out its complete run. Different productions haven’t been so lucky, though the Mark Taper had continued to behave as a launching place for exhibits that go on to New York, like final yr’s “King Richard,” which is now wrapping up a run on the Manhattan Theatre Membership.
Elaborating on the issues which are dealing with most theaters within the nation, Pressman advised the Instances, “With this announcement, we’re saying, partially, ‘theater will not be again,’ and the No. 1 factor individuals can do is go to their native theater. If we’re going to actually come again we’d like individuals to behave sooner than they’ve been to indicate that they care about dwell performing arts.”
