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Theater thrives
in Long Beach
By Alisha Gomez
Daily Forty-Niner
The lights dim,
the curtain comes up and out come actors and actresses who
put on the best show of whatever play they are performing
night after night. Welcome to the theaters at Cal State Long
Beach and Edison Theatre in downtown Long Beach.
Each semester the
theaters host a variety of plays for students to see. The
University Theatre, in the Theater Arts building, seats 400
people with a traditional stage that separates the audience
and actors. It has all of the same equipment any other professional
stage would, such as a counterweight system, light controls,
sound controls and a projection booth.
The Studio Theatre,
also located in the Theater Arts building, seats 175 to 237
people. The theater includes a flexible stage to accommodate
proscenium, thrust and arena forms.
Proscenium is one
in which the stage is separate from the audience. Thrust form
is one in which the stage projects into the auditorium so
the audience is seated on both sides. The arena form is a
stage where the audience is seated on at least two, if not
three or four, sides of the acting area.
The Player's Second
Stage Theatre seats 90 people and is equipped with a full
lighting system, high quality sound control and a three-channel
production conference phone system.
The Creative Drama
laboratory seats 60, has two acting laboratories, is equipped
with basic sound and lighting controls and has a modular unistrut
ceiling for drapes or scenic panels. The laboratory also includes
a lecture and performance space, seating 35 on permanent risers
for formal presentation of new play scripts in Readers Theatre
style.
This semester,
the University Players, entirely made up of students, will
perform: "Twilight” from March 1 through March 16 in
the Player's Second Stage; "Peer Gynt” from March 15
to March 23 in the Studio Theatre and "Closer Than Ever”
from April 5 to April 20. Check with the Richard and Karen
Carpenter Performing Arts Center for ticket information and
location of "Closer Than Ever.”
Downtown Long Beach
bustles with the Edison Theatre, a relatively new theater
that opened in 1998. The theater, which seats about 99 people,
has a computerized lighting system, comfy dressing rooms,
a quaint lobby and an intriguing pit and trapped floor space.
Its seating configurations are extremely flexible. It is the
home for the Cal Rep season from August through May.
Cal Rep is an independent
theatre company that includes student artists, professional
guest artists, and faculty. Some student-artists are in the
MFA theatre program at CSULB.
Upcoming plays
include "Elfrieda's Story,” starting Feb. 22 through
March 16 and "Pilgrims April” from April 26 through
May 18. Call the Edison Theatre at (562) 985-7000 for ticket
information.
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