THREE YEARS AGO, IN JULY 2019, I BEGAN MY TENURE AS CEO/MANAGING DIRECTOR

OF CENTER THEATRE GROUP. I had just started to get to know the city, the local artistic

community, our audience members and supporters, and the Center Theatre Group Board and

staff when the pandemic hit. But now, eight months since our reopening, I am heartened by

the support we have received for our work. Over 225,000 people have returned to the theatre

post-pandemic. Live theatre is indeed back.

The shows on our stages this July remind me why I wanted to be at Center Theatre Group. It

is the range of programming—from Broadway hits to intimate experiences—that makes

our company vital and exciting.

This season at the Ahmanson, we brought you work from Broadway and beyond. We saw the

spirited cast of A Christmas Carol, the energetic company of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,

the Tony Award®-winning Lehman Trilogy—which came to us right after its Broadway run—

the sensational cast of Hadestown, and the joyous cast of Come From Away; the Ahmanson

season has been truly noteworthy. Now, Dear Evan Hansen returns to the Ahmanson stage.

The show first played here in 2018 and was such a phenomenon that we immediately booked

it for a return engagement. This intergenerational story has touched so many people around

the world, raising incredibly important conversations about mental health.

Our annual Block Party at the Kirk Douglas Theatre has been a tradition for five seasons.

By bringing you shows from our colleague theatres around the city, we have brought new

work to our audiences and given these productions an encore opportunity to be seen more

widely. D’Lo’s To T, or Not To T?, which ends its run this month, was a wonderful way to bring

this series back after so long. Next month, Mike Birbiglia will return to Center Theatre Group

with the World premiere of his new show, The Old Man and the Pool. Birbiglia last appeared

on our stage in 2019 with the West Coast premiere of his award-winning show, The New One.

We are very excited to be announcing our new season programming soon and hope you will

join us again for another incredible lineup.

MEGHAN PRESSMAN
Managing Director/CEO
Center Theatre Group