In L.A., The Future Is Bolder, Tastier, and More Welcoming

The Atlantic

7 hours ago

When Danny Feldman took over Pasadena Playhouse in 2016, the historic theater near Los Angeles was on life support, emerging from bankruptcy but unable to fund a full season. Yet Feldman sensed an opportunity to spur change. 'When you're in those moments of vulnerability, there's a certain freedom,' he says. 'You might as well shoot for the stars and dream big.'
Pasadena Playhouse's precarious financial position, he knew, was not entirely unusual. Across the country, regional theaters are staging fewer shows, scheduling fewer performances, and laying off staff. For Feldman, a Los Angeles native who previously led L.A.'s Reprise Theatre Company and New York's Labyrinth Theater Company, addressing this systemic challenge meant answering a universal, fundamental question: How do you make theater matter in the 21st century? 'My experience with theater in general—and this includes Broadway as well as regional theaters all over the country—is that we've lost our way. I think in many ways, we've become elitist,' he says.
To ensure a future for Pasadena Playhouse, and to point the way forward for regional theater nationwide, Feldman knew he had to make theater as accessible and appealing to as many people as possible. To do that, he started by lowering the barrier to entry, offering $35 rush tickets, free shows for K–12 students, and an expanded roster of public access programs. He made sure that the theater's programming reflected a diversity of voices and styles, staging everything from experimental comedy (Kate Berlant's one-woman show, Kate) to revivals of classics (Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog). He also worked to transform the Playhouse into a flexible space, ripping out seats on multiple occasions for experimental formats and fostering a party atmosphere to attract different audiences, particularly younger ones. 'We make theater for everyone. And what that means in practice is that we want everything—the stories we tell, the people we have in our seats, and the artists on our stage—to represent the full spectrum,' he says.
It was a fitting approach for a theater with a history of invention. Founded at the urging of community members in 1917, Pasadena Playhouse became a cradle of innovation: It launched one of the United States' first acting schools, premiered works by Tennessee Williams, and hosted a star-studded list of other playwrights and performers, from Eugene O'Neill to George Bernard Shaw and Martha Graham. 'We challenge assumptions here. It's in our DNA,' Feldman says. 'We don't just do things the way other people do things. We stop and say, 'What are we trying to do here? What's the assignment?' And that often leads to risk-taking.'