ZOOT SUIT Extends for Third and Final Time at the Taper

Due to continued extraordinary ticket sales and resounding critical response, Center Theatre Group is announcing a third and final one-week extension for the run of Luis Valdez's "Zoot Suit" at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum. Performances will now continue through April 2, 2017, at the Taper. Written and directed by Valdez, "Zoot Suit" is presented in association with El Teatro Campesino.

Because of the unprecedented demand for tickets, and in order to ensure that the new dates are first made available to the Los Angeles community, the extended week dates will be sold in-person only at the Center Theatre Group box office located at the Ahmanson Theatre beginning Thursday, February 23 at noon and continuing through Friday, February 24 at 8 p.m. Tickets will become available online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org on Saturday, February 25 at noon.

"It's clear that Los Angeles has been awaiting the return of this iconic play by Luis Valdez since it was first premiered on our stage nearly 40 years ago," said Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie. "We felt it was important to truly honor that spirit and welcome the community to join us for one final celebration at The Music Center as the last remaining tickets go on sale. With the overwhelming response to this revival, tickets have been hard to come by, so it's our hope that as many Angelenos as possible can experience the legend that is 'Zoot Suit.'"

"We want to thank this gorgeous megalopolis of Los Angeles for embracing 'Zoot Suit' again after almost 40 years! I salute Michael Ritchie and all our creative team at Center Theatre Group for making possible this spectacular return to the Mark Taper Forum. We humbly look forward to advancing the New American Theatre from coast to coast," said Luis Valdez.

On November 18, 2016, Center Theatre Group celebrated the return of "Zoot Suit" with a community on-sale event in front of the Ahmanson Theatre on The Music Center Plaza in downtown Los Angeles. Featuring a buy one ticket get one free offer, Center Theatre Group welcomed over 500 people and broke the record for highest single day box office sales at the Mark Taper Forum with ticket revenues totaling $90,000. The Plaza event included zoot suit-wearing dancers, live music from the Ragsdale Quartet featuring Alexis de la Rocha and was live broadcast on KTNQ 1020AM and KRCD Recuerdo 103.9FM/98.3 FM.

As part of Center Theatre Group's ongoing mission to serve students and educators, its Student Matinee program will have welcomed nearly 3,000 students and educators to a performance of "Zoot Suit," including 63 school groups from grades 9-12 - 42 of which are Title 1 schools. The Center Theatre Group Student Matinees are sponsored by Macy's, Center Theatre Group Affiliates, Center Theatre Group Corporate Circle, JPMorgan Chase, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Wells Fargo Foundation, Renee and Meyer Luskin, Deena and Edward Nahmias, Eva and Marc Stern, the Artists and Educators Forum, The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation and The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation.

"Zoot Suit" was originally commissioned and developed by Center Theatre Group, playing for nearly a year in Los Angeles first at the Taper from August 6 to October 1, 1978, then at the Aquarius in Hollywood from October 10, 1978, through July 1, 1979. It went on to become Broadway's first Chicano play and was made into a major motion picture that became a cultural phenomenon.

Nearly 40 years after its world premiere, original creator Valdez once again fills the Taper's stage with a company of 25 actors, singers and dancers weaving fact and fiction together as they portray the events surrounding the infamous 1942 Sleepy Lagoon murder in Los Angeles. Filled with heart, sly wit and the infectious songs of Lalo Guerrero, "Zoot Suit" remains an urgent portrayal of the clash between generations in a Chicano family, the rifts between cultures in America and how racism and injustice can haunt a city and a society.

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation's preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles' leading nonprofit theatre company, programming seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1600 to 2000-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation's leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.

Tickets range from $25 - $125 (ticket prices are subject to change). The Mark Taper Forum is located at the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012.

Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz

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