The YMCA and Center Theatre Group partner to offer free tickets, make live theater more accessible
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Set us as preferred Snehal Desai grew up in a small town in rural Pennsylvania.He took swimming and tennis lessons at his local YMCA, but more importantly, he holed up in its cozy reading nook.
(His mom had to drag him out for swim.) Almost every American, Desai thinks, has a YMCA story.But not every kid is necessarily there for the sports.As the artistic director of Center Theatre Group, Desai is now overseeing a partnership with the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles (which also goes by the Center for Community Well-Being) to bring live theater to the city through a collaboration called “Every Age.
Every Stage.”“This is an opportunity for folks to get to know us at their local Y, and then for us to say, ‘Hey, actually, we would love for you to see more of what we’re doing.Come join us at the theater,’” Desai said.
“And to set up an environment that feels welcoming for folks who maybe have never come to the theater or to CTG or the Music Center for the first time.”A few planks make up this new platform: Y nights at CTG, “¡Sí Se Puede!” performances at the Y, as well as theater workshops and creative career mentorship.Beginning next year, CTG will bring theater workshops led by local professional teaching artists to YMCAs around the city.
The initiative will also offer mentorship and hands-on exposure to careers in stagecraft, design and production for Y members from ages 16 to 24, and talk-backs connecting live theater to the Y’s civic leadership programs.Y nights at CTG will allow YMCA members to access free tickets to select performances: “The Music Man” on Nov.3, “Destiny of Desire” on Nov.
17, “Fiddler on the Roof” on Feb.16 and “John Proctor Is the Villain” on March 23.
“¡Sí Se Puede!” at the Y, on the other hand, will bring CTG’s community tour of the story of activis...