Center Theatre Group Awarded Grant From S. Mark Taper Foundation

Center Theatre Group has been awarded a grant by the S. Mark Taper Foundation, the Los Angeles-based foundation with a strong legacy of commitment to and support of local not-for-profit and arts organizations, including Center Theatre Group.

The S. Mark Taper Foundation continues its support of Center Theatre Group with a $1 million grant distributed over multiple years and allocated to the re-opening of the Mark Taper Forum and a return to regular season programming at the venue, which was on pause for the 2023/24 Season. Center Theatre Group's new season is the first fully programmed under Artistic Director Snehal Desai. The 2024/25 Season is called “One CTG. One LA.” and speaks to Desai's vision to welcome audiences from across all of LA's diverse neighborhoods and communities to our venues, and to see that incredible diversity reflected on our stages and in the shows that we program and produce. This electrifying new season will commence on October 9, 2024 with the official opening an all-new production of Green Day's American Idiot, produced in collaboration with Deaf West Theatre, and performed simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken English. The show will mark Desai's Center Theatre Group directorial debut. Additionally, the season at the Mark Taper Forum will include the world premiere of Larissa FastHorse's comedy Fake It Until You Make It in January, and a thrilling, noir-inspired adaptation of Hamlet from acclaimed writer/director Robert O'Hara in May.

"The mission of the S. Mark Taper Foundation is to enhance the quality of lives of Angelenos by supporting nonprofit institutions, such as Center Theatre Group,” said Amelia Taper Bolker, President of the S. Mark Taper Foundation. “We see live theatre as an essential part of our community and are proud to support Snehal and Meghan in telling the stories of this great city on the greatest stage in all of Los Angeles—which bears the same name as our foundation's founder—the Mark Taper Forum.”

The S. Mark Taper Foundation grant follows last year's generous support of Center Theatre Group at a time when the organization was looking for new ways to re-open the doors of the Mark Taper Forum during a year-long pause in regular season programming at the iconic venue. That grant of $250,000 was in support of the company's Spring 2024 CTG:FWD programming at the Taper, an initiative created by Desai that featured a series of special events, short-run shows, community gatherings, and legacy projects.

“CTG:FWD was originally created with the intention to continue to activate the Mark Taper Forum during the theatre's 12-month pause of season programming for the 2023/24 Season. Out of that initial kernel of an idea grew an extremely successful slate of programming that celebrated our community and our legacy, and we could not have done it without the outpouring of support from our friends at the S. Mark Taper Foundation,” said Center Theatre Group's Artistic Director Snehal Desai. “Now, they have stepped up again in an even bigger way by helping support us in our return to full season and subscription programming at the Mark Taper Forum, where we'll be producing bold and ambitious productions with the very best local and national artists working in theatre today. My hope is that there is always something for every Angeleno at Center Theatre Group every season.”

“We are beyond grateful to the S. Mark Taper Foundation for their incredible gift that will go a long way in supporting not only our work at the Mark Taper Forum, but our organization's very mission, which is grounded in a belief that theatre is a cultural force with the capacity to transform both lives and society itself,” said Center Theatre Group's Managing Director/CEO Meghan Pressman. “Thanks to their generous support, we have the opportunity to be that cultural force here in Los Angeles and beyond.”

Pressman added, “At a time when not-for-profit theatres across the nation are facing financial challenges, the S. Mark Taper Foundation stepped up to ensure a viable and sustainable future for the theatre sector in Los Angeles, and specifically, Center Theatre Group. We hope their generosity might inspire others to also support theatre at this critical juncture.”