We are days away from the end of 2015 and “What a ride it’s been!” This year the greater Los Angeles Theatre Community discovered it was more than just the sum of its parts. We came to realize through, communication, collaboration, struggle and triumph, through art, commerce, discussion and criticism, that we are a broad and powerful voice capable of impacting the national stage. One ...

When a new baby is born, everybody gushes and compliments and speaks of the promise of youth. In most cases for the next 25-30 years, the only people that usually continue with that optimistic outlook is the parents, and they more out of hope then knowledge. So too can be said for a theatre movement. By virtue of all that went before it, the notion ...

FootLights is now ten years old. It started as a dream. The dream was to create a publication that would serve Los Angeles the way Playbill serves New York. A simple idea, hell, how hard could it be? Now ten years later, that question, that idea, has led to a magazine that serves a significant part of the Los Angeles intimate theatre scene. In those ...

The 2015 Ovation Awards was an impressive event. More than 1100 from the LA Theatre Community showed up to celebrate the accomplishments of our artists over the past year. Just as important to the celebration was the palpable sense that there was a new beginning to the LA Theatre Story, at least a new act with new opportunities. Yes there was a pallor of concern, ...

A page has turned in the volumes referring to the LA stage community. The Los Angeles Stage Alliance (LASA) has announced Steven Leigh Morris as its new Executive Director. Well known both locally and nationally for his passion about theater and his integrity about journalism, Steven recently founded Stage Raw  after 30 years with the local alternative newspaper, the LA Weekly.  In addition, when the ...

I’ve been enjoying all the great things in the media about the show “Hamilton” on Broadway (and love the soundtrack). It seems to be a pretty special show. But I’d also like to tell you why “Hamilton” is special in a bad way. It is such a phenomenon that ticket sales went through the roof. That’s a great thing. I’ve got no problem with that. ...

If Britain had defeated its colonies in the war for American Independence, we’d all be speaking English today. More soberly, the word “patriot” would have a very different historical connotation. In revolutionary-era colonial America, that word was up for grabs, to be applied to the side that eventually won. At the time, “Whigs” were rebels, and traitors to the crown, while “Tories” were loyalists to ...

Often in this space we talk about theatre as a community, and as a part of a community. But actually, theatre is more. In a very real and substantive way it is a part of the foundation of community and an integral block of our culture. What I mean is that there is such a deep intertwining of values, history and economics, that the mere ...

The standoff between Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) and its members moves on without any sign of shifting positions. The word from AEA is that they will not consider any changes to the plan they have promulgated, and the majority of the members continue to insist that their Union not only failed to heed the voice of the members, but is also endangering the theatre community ...

One of the warriors of the Pro99 movement recently posted a statement on Facebook that is not only worthy of repeating, but important to understand. William Salyers said, “Those who believe in art as an end unto itself will ultimately prevail for one simple reason: we will not quit. Those who believe in art as a function of commerce will eventually lose interest, because the ...