Finding center in L.A. theater

Charles McNulty nailed it in his article regarding Michael Ritchie’s lack of vision [“Our Local Theater Lacks Direction, Leadership,” Oct. 20]. As a 40-year subscriber to the Taper, I recently relinquished my front row seats due to annual disappointments. Despite such loyal longevity, no one called me or said goodbye. It didn’t matter at all.

When Gordon Davidson retired, I kept the faith that Ritchie would be a close follow to his predecessor. Alas, he has not been. It used to be based on thinking from the outside, rough theater, on its way to Broadway, if lucky, world premieres, that’s how L.A. theater should be. In the last five years, there have been one or two decent choices, yet my ticket prices doubled this year. Pam Lacey Santa Ana

I can only relate my own experience as an artist working with Center Theatre Group and its artistic director, Ritchie, on the commissioning and development of our recent show, “Soft Power,” which premiered at CTG in 2018 and just opened at the Public Theater in New York. In 2014, Ritchie offered me a commission and production slot for the Mark Taper Forum, which I gratefully accepted. While commissions are nice enough, a guaranteed slot represents real faith in an artist.

Over the intervening years, my project grew in size and scope, from a “play with some songs,” to gaining Jeanine Tesori as our composer, to a full musical, to realizing we would need a 23-piece orchestra. The original story also included a President Hillary Clinton character. After the 2016 election, Ritchie requested a phone conversation with Tesori, our director, Leigh Silverman, and me. The three of us fully anticipated that Ritchie would politely postpone this unwieldy, experimental project.

Instead, he suggested moving our show, then still being written, from the Taper to the larger Ahmanson, to accommodate the orchestra. My collaborators and I, who have worked in the theater for many decades, believe this to be arguably the bravest act of producing we have experienced in our careers. For me, this represents a concrete example of CTG’s commitment and courage to create bold new works for L.A. and the American theater. David Henry Hwang Brooklyn, N.Y.

McNulty criticizes the Center Theatre Group, saying it prefers looking to New York than “its own back yard.” He fails to note a terrific program CTG began recently to support and the Los Angeles theater community. In Block Party, productions from Los Angeles’ smallest creative spaces are given encore productions in CTG’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, exposing them to larger audiences. In addition, the program offers guidance to the selected companies in marketing, development, etc. David Bickford Los Angeles