Regional Theatre Of The Week: South Coast Repertory Theatre in Orange County, CA

By: David Green

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the Internet, is excited to announce a new feature to its comprehensive regional coverage - the Featured Regional Theater of the Week! Each week, BWW will introduce its readers to a regional theater located in one of our (over 130!) coverage cities. By exploring these different venues, their history and showcasing the production seasons, BWW continues its commitment to expand our presence in communities and cities across the United States.

This Week's Featured Regional Theater: South Coast Repertory Theatre in Orange County, CA.

South Coast Repertory was founded 49 years ago in Orange County with the belief that theatre is an art form with a unique power to illuminate the human experience, the commitment to advance the art of theatre in the service of their community, and the aim to extend that service through educational, intercultural, and outreach programs that harmonize with their artistic mission. Over the past five decades they have become one of the most celebrated and honored regional theatre companies in America. Their string of awards include 83 Distinguished Achievement Awards from The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle (including a Special Award for Continued Excellence on their 30^th Anniversary in 1994), 470 Drama-Logue Awards, 19 BackStage West Garland Awards, 29 OC Weekly Awards, a 1995 Theatre LA Lifetime Achievement Award for Founders David Emmes and Martin Benson, and The 1998 Tony Award for Distinguished Achievement by a Regional Theatre.

In 1964, "South Coast Repertory" was a band of untested former theatre students launching an artistic odyssey on little more than raw talent and enthusiasm. Led by David Emmes and Martin Benson, they had emerged from college into the crossfire of a revolution in American theatre. Young theatre artists were out to break Broadway's hold over America's stages by founding independent professional theatres. They called theirs a "resident theatre movement," and by the early 1960s it was taking root in cities across America.

For years, everyone involved maintained full-time day jobs and worked nights and weekends without pay at SCR. They designed and built their scenery, sold the tickets, ushered, and — of course — acted. Among the first Acting Company members were Don Took, Martha McFarland and Art Koustik, joined over the next seasons by Richard Doyle, Hal Landon Jr. and Ron Boussom. These six became the theatre's Founding Artists.

Within two years, artistic and financial momentum had picked up and SCR converted a  5,000-square-foot Sprouse-Reitz Variety Store in Costa Mesa into a 217 seat theatre, moving from a local group to a regional force, maturing both artistically and organizationally. The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle (LADCC) gave SCR its first award in 1970 for "consistent achievement in production." In 1976, SCR joined the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and was able to contract members of Actors' Equity, the union of professional stage actors and stage managers.

Emmes and Benson formed a new board of community leaders to address the realities of funding, designing and building Orange County's first resident theatre facility. A gift of land on which the theatre would be built was made by the Segerstrom family. By 1979 the large rehearsal hall had been converted into the 161-seat Second Stage. South Coast Repertory had reached its long-sought goal: a two-theatre complex, owned and operated by the company itself.

It was also during the 1980s that SCR's interest in new play development moved to the forefront. A grant from the Foundation of the Dramatists Guild/CBS spawned an entire Second Stage Season of premieres, including work by Elizabeth Diggs and Romulus Linney. In 1988, SCR earned the highest recognition in regional theatre, the Tony Award for Distinguished Achievement, the thirteenth year such awards were bestowed.

During the 1990s, the theatre continued to expand. A national reputation for play development was solidified, helped by strong annual support from The Shubert Foundation. Writers were discovered, nurtured and then championed. Margaret Edson, whose Wit was a premiere at SCR in 1995, won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Donald Margulies, whose Sight Unseen and Collected Stories originated at SCR before meeting with New York success, won the 2000 Pulitzer for Dinner with Friends (which had premiered elsewhere but had an influential second production at SCR before its New York staging). Other playwrights who had multiple premieres at SCR also became familiar names in theatres across America: Amy Freed, Craig Lucas, Howard Korder, Keith Reddin, Octavio Solis and Richard Greenberg, who has had nine commissioned world premieres at SCR.

SCR has also introducEd Greenberg's The Violet Hour, Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel, Rolin Jones' The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, Donald Margulies Brooklyn Boy, which went on to a Broadway production; and such subsequently successful plays as Mr. Marmalade and Princess Marjorie by Noah Haidle; and the Pacific Playwrights Festival reading of Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize.

The year 2011 marked a major leadership transition for SCR: Marc Masterson became the theatre’s new Artistic Director, with Managing Director Paula Tomei serving as his co-CEO. Emmes and Benson moved into the roles of Founding Artistic Directors, from which they continue to share the wisdom and knowledge gained in their 48 years at the theatre’s helm.

In May 2012, SCR announced the upcoming slate of plays for 2012-13, the first full season chosen by Masterson, to be produced under his auspices. The Main-Stage season will include Alan Ayckbourn’s Absurd Person Singular, Bill Cain’s How To Write A New Book In The Bible, Henry David Hwang’s Chinglish, Noah Haidle’s Smokefall and Amanda Dehnert’s The Verona Project, which she will also direct. T he Julianne Argyos Second Stage will include Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, Stephen Adly Guirgis’ The Motherf**ker With The Hat, Samuel D. Hunter’s The Whale and a “yet to be announced” world premiere to highlight SCR’s Pacific Playwright’s Festival.

In addition, SCR’s Theatre For Young Audiences will present Robin Hood, Anastasia Krupnik and The Night Fairy, and, for the holiday season, the 33^rd annual production of A Christmas Carol. For more information on South Coast Repertory  or to purchase tickets to any of the productions go to www.scr.org.

Know of a theater we should feature? Send us your suggestion to romi@broadwayworld.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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