Pre-Broadway 1776 and More Postponed at Center Theatre Group

Center Theatre Group has announced the postponement of several upcoming productions.

Among the deferred productions is the pre-Broadway engagement of of A.R.T.'s 1776 at the Ahmanson Theatre. CTG now hopes to secure the Diane Paulus-directed production for an Ahmanson engagement as part of the 2021/22 Season, immediately following its Broadway run.

Also postponed are King James at the Mark Taper Forum and Sakina's Restaurant at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. An already postponed engagement of Once on This Island is now aiming for an opening in the 2020/21 Season.

In light of venue closures due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the company has furloughed roughly half of its staff through August 9. Furloughed employees will continue to receive health benefits, while the remaining staff face potential pay cuts or slashed scheduled.

Show cancellations, ticket refunds, as well as the loss of the company's annual gala have created an estimated $6 million deficit for the nonprofit.

The company hopes to re-open its venues in the fall, which was scheduled to include engagements of the Tony-winning Best Musical, Hadestown, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Lehman Trilogy, The Prom and Les Misérables. Come From Away, Ain't Too Proud and Dear Evan Hansen were also slated to make their return in fall 2020.

A statement from the company says:

"We are truly in unprecedented times. The COVID-19 crisis is something we have never seen in our lifetime, in the world at large and in its implications for our theatre community.

Given the uncertainty about public gatherings and when such activities will be safe to resume, due to circumstances beyond our control we must postpone our upcoming productions of "1776" at the Ahmanson Theatre, "King James" at the Mark Taper Forum and "Sakina's Restaurant" at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

We remain committed to re-opening our theatres in the fall, including with our full Ahmanson 2020/21 Season and our soon-to-be-announced Taper and Douglas seasons."