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Theater
[Inside] the Ford Shows How to Succeed in
Theater by Really, Really Trying
By Bill Raden Mon., Mar. 19 2012 at 10:00 AM
Categories: Culture, Public Art, Theater
Hydee Abrahan/Studio 1003
The magnificent Romance of Magno Rubio at [Inside] the Ford
When it comes to public support for theater in Los Angeles, it would be an
understatement to say that times are tough. Twenty-five years ago, when the city
lavished money on downtown's newly-launched LATC, Spring Street became the
epicenter of a dynamic and exciting theater scene that seemed to rival the
experimental and literary fecundity of New York's Off-Off Broadway movement of
the 1960s. Today it is a dispiriting ghost of its former glory -- made even eerier in
January when its two long-feuding tenants, the Latino Theater Company and the
Latino Museum of History, Art and Culture had their 20-year leases revoked by the
City Council.
Sure, local politics is a slippery business and budgetary belt-tightening has hit the
arts particularly hard, but is there something inherent to the government
funding/theater mix that dooms it to an oil-and-water relationship?
Don't tell that to [Inside] the Ford, the small theater affiliated with the Ford
Amphitheatre, on Cahuenga Blvd. near the Hollywood Bowl. On Saturday, the
theater will host Circle X Theatre Company's world premiere of Naked Before God,
writer-director Leo Geter's farce about pornography and religion. This will mark the
third year a Circle X show has made the cut of the [Inside] the Ford's four-yearold Winter Partnership Program, created by the Los Angeles County Arts
Commission.
Never mind that no other company has even returned for a second WPP season. The
Ford's support has helped Circle X grow from an interesting if itinerant actorsupported membership company into one of the city's most critically acclaimed
producers of small theater.
In fact, it would be no exaggeration to say that in its short life the WPP at [Inside]
the Ford has been responsible for some of the best shows produced in this town
during the period. It's a record that includes Circle X's award-winning Battle
Hymn (from the 2008-09 season) and highly praised Lascivious Something (200910), as well as Rogue Artists' popular puppet extravaganza, HYPERBOLE (2010-11),
Vs. Theatre Company's spectacularThe Mercy Seat (also 2010-11), and this season's
magnificent The Romance of Magno Rubio by PAE Live!
Bill Raden
Adam Davis and Heather Rigby of [Inside] the Ford
What is the Ford's secret in getting so right what LATC and the L.A. City Council
have bungled so badly?
I am seated in the Ford Amphitheatre's deserted concession barroom across the
table from WPP creators Adam Davis and Heather Rigby, the managing director of
productions and general manager of productions, respectively, for the L.A. County
Arts Commission. What is immediately striking about the pair is both their relative
youth and their infectious enthusiasm for creating quality theater. And it quickly
becomes apparent why their tenure has transformed the Ford into a lean, mean artsmaking machine and, perhaps, a model for how public arts money and governmentowned theaters can best be utilized in achieving excellence.
Davis explains that when he and Rigby were hired by Executive Director Laura
Zucker in 2006, they inherited an LATC-styled, winner-take-all program of long-term
residencies. "They really just kind of got the keys and got to do whatever they
wanted in the space. ... [But] we're the county, a county facility, and we're supposed
to work with all our constituents. So we said let's take away their residency and
open it up for competitive competition."
The result was that they evicted the five resident companies, including Circle X, and
replaced them with Winter Partnership, which is itself modeled on the Ford's
successful Summer Partnership, which between the months of June and October
fills the 1,200-seat outdoor amphitheater with music, dance and film events from
Los Angeles County-based arts organizations or producers.
The idea, says Rigby, "is that we want what's on our stage and who's in our audience
to reflect the diversity of Los Angeles County." So instead of giving the theater to
residencies or companies, the Winter Partnership would be about particular plays.
Davis and Rigby designed a revolving, merit-based program in which three
productions would be selected each year for the three available eight-week slots.
Selections are based on an extensive application process -- so demanding, in fact,
that of the original five resident companies, only Circle X has even had the
administrative wherewithal to bother filling them out. The applications are then
evaluated by a WPP panel that takes into consideration not only a group's
demographic suitability (i.e., meeting the Ford's diversity mandate) but also its
organizational ability and, perhaps most importantly, the quality of the play itself.
Davis says that it all comes down to artistic excellence. "That's the first thing we try
to look for when a group applies. You know, there's the budget and all of that, but if
they don't put on a good show, then we don't want them on. ... You know, how good
is the writing and how good is the show? And then what is the artistic
documentation they submit?"
To that end, the entire eight-person Ford staff, from box office assistants on up, are
constantly on the prowl during their off-time, scouring obscure storefront theaters
in a never-ending search for worthy contenders. "Our staff as a whole is passionate
about this program," Davis proudly boasts. "They actually really, really love working
with these companies. And also they make sure they understand theater and what's
going on out there and what can be seen."
The prize that awaits companies who successfully surmount WPP's rigorous
application hurdles and artistic vetting is eight weeks at one of the city's premiere
and high-profile 99-seat houses replete with state-of-the-art technical support. "Here
we have a space that is arguably one of the better 99-seat spaces in Los Angeles,"
Davis explains. "[It] could easily rent for $2,500 or $3,000 per week. So what we do
is instead of giving it rent-free and doing ticket-sales percentage, we give it to them
for $1,000 a week and we give them the season publicist, Lucy Pollak."
Even the $1,000 rent is taken from box office sales rather than up front, making
WPP a sweet deal for the lucky companies, a cultural treasure for Los Angeles
audiences, and a boon to L.A.'s small theater artists who have been all but forgotten
in recent years by the city's risk-averse, New York-centric institutional nonprofits.
"We're trying to build a relationship with local companies," Davis adds, "to let them
know that, yeah, you may not get accepted every year but we're here to help you."
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