Latino Theatre Initiative

Three decades ago, a predominantly Latino neighborhood was torn down to make way for the Los Angeles Music Center. Since that time, with rare exceptions, a Latino presence hasn't been very visible on the site. Only 2% of Mark Taper Forum subscribers are Latino. And only one play by an American Latino writer--"Zoot Suit" in 1978--has been presented at the Taper. This weekend may mark an end to that era.

Between 1992 and 2005, Los Angeles theater audiences witnessed a cultural experiment that mirrored their rapidly changing city. Those were the years of Center Theatre Group's Latino Theatre Initiative, a wide-ranging effort by the city's leading theatrical entity to create "culturally based" artworks aimed to contribute to "a broader definition of American identity" and help build a new, more diverse theater audience. The story of how those ambitious goals did (or didn't) get translated from the page to the stage has been published in an 84-page photo-illustrated book, "The Latino Theatre Initiative/Center Theatre Group Papers, 1980-2005.

Contrary to the impression that may have been left by Don Shirley (Theater Notes, Aug. 17), the Mark Taper Forum's Latino Theatre Initiative is active and ongoing. Although we may not currently have a generous grant, the program continues to be a success because we are now integrated as resident artists into the Taper. Now the great work begins. LUIS ALFARO and DIANE RODRIGUEZ Directors, Latino Theatre Initiative Los Angeles

Contrary to the impression that may have been left by Don Shirley (Theater Notes, Aug. 17), the Mark Taper Forum's Latino Theatre Initiative is active and ongoing. Although we may not currently have a generous grant, the program continues to be a success because we are now integrated as resident artists into the Taper. Now the great work begins. LUIS ALFARO and DIANE RODRIGUEZ Directors, Latino Theatre Initiative Los Angeles

Don Shirley's profile of Luis Alfaro and Diane Rodriguez, the new co-directors of the Latino Theatre Initiative at the Mark Taper Forum, prompted me to offer some insight about the first year of the initiative under the direction of Jose Luis Valenzuela, and in LTI's formative stages, aided by Josephine Ramirez (Theater Notes, Jan. 22). During the last year this initiative, which is designed to develop audiences, helped produce an unprecedented three mainstage Latino productions, two sold-out Latino-themed special events, assisted in the phenomenal ticket sales for "Bandido" (45% of single-ticket buyers were Latino)

Between 1992 and 2005, Los Angeles theater audiences witnessed a cultural experiment that mirrored their rapidly changing city. Those were the years of Center Theatre Group's Latino Theatre Initiative, a wide-ranging effort by the city's leading theatrical entity to create "culturally based" artworks aimed to contribute to "a broader definition of American identity" and help build a new, more diverse theater audience. The story of how those ambitious goals did (or didn't) get translated from the page to the stage has been published in an 84-page photo-illustrated book, "The Latino Theatre Initiative/Center Theatre Group Papers, 1980-2005.

A special benefit matinee performance of "Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk" will be held at the Ahmanson Theatre on Saturday. Proceeds will help Center Theatre Group's four major playwriting programs: Blacksmyths, the Asian Theatre Workshop, Other Voices and the Latino Theatre Initiative. Gregory Hines is honorary event chair. Tickets are $125 and include a post-show party. Information: (213) 972-7660.

Luis Alfaro is finally going to see one of his own works produced by the Mark Taper Forum, where he has worked since 1995 (not counting an ushering stint there in the '70s). "Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner" will be part of the Taper, Too season, in April at the Ivy Substation in Culver City. Plays by MacArthur Foundation grant winner Alfaro have been produced around the country, but only two have been produced in L.A., both by Playwrights' Arena.

* Theater. Second annual "Pacific Playwrights' Festival," workshop productions and staged readings of works by Rogelio Martinez, Jose Rivera, Jonathan Ceniceroz, Eduardo Andino, Richard Greenberg, Marlane Meyer, Donald Margulies, Nicky Silver and Tom Donaghy, plus mainstage premiere of John Glore's "On the Jump," opens June 10 at 8 p.m. at South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Call for schedules. $8 for readings, $12 to $18 for workshop productions; "On the Jump," $28 to $43.

Several area events are scheduled to mark Mexican Independence Day and Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month. Among them: * Thursday at 8 a.m. at downtown's Pershing Square, Mayor Richard Riordan and City Council members will launch the local celebration of Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month, proclaimed a national commemoration by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. The ceremony will include the unveiling of the largest book of L.A. history. On Sept.

Don Shirley's profile of Luis Alfaro and Diane Rodriguez, the new co-directors of the Latino Theatre Initiative at the Mark Taper Forum, prompted me to offer some insight about the first year of the initiative under the direction of Jose Luis Valenzuela, and in LTI's formative stages, aided by Josephine Ramirez (Theater Notes, Jan. 22). During the last year this initiative, which is designed to develop audiences, helped produce an unprecedented three mainstage Latino productions, two sold-out Latino-themed special events, assisted in the phenomenal ticket sales for "Bandido" (45% of single-ticket buyers were Latino)

Three decades ago, a predominantly Latino neighborhood was torn down to make way for the Los Angeles Music Center. Since that time, with rare exceptions, a Latino presence hasn't been very visible on the site. Only 2% of Mark Taper Forum subscribers are Latino. And only one play by an American Latino writer--"Zoot Suit" in 1978--has been presented at the Taper. This weekend may mark an end to that era.

More than three years after buying the Doolittle Theatre in Hollywood, the Ricardo Montalban Foundation is assembling a team of consultants to program and operate the would-be Latino arts center, which will be renamed after actor Montalban next spring. Diane Rodriguez, co-director of the Mark Taper Forum's Latino Theatre Initiative, will put together the Montalban's initial artistic plans.

The civil unrest that devastated Los Angeles in spring 1992 and lighted a fire under the city's police department and political establishment also sounded an alarm to L.A.'s major cultural institutions: They needed to diversify their programming, expand their audiences, and step up their outreach efforts toward a population undergoing rapid demographic change. Over the past 20 years, institutions such as LACMA, the L.A. Phil, the Getty and L.A. Opera have attempted to attract larger audiences, particularly younger ones, from the region's growing Mexican American, Central American, Asian American and other ethnic-minority populations.