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SNEHAL DESAI
Center Theatre Group’s new Artistic Director looks to celebrate the Los Angeles community onstage in its next act.
By Jessica Doherty
What does Snehal Desai look forward to as he joins Center Theater Group as its third Artistic Director?
“We are in this incredibly multicultural city that has a rich history and legacy,” he said. “L.A. covers a large, diverse geographic region with many cultural enclaves embedded throughout. What we came to miss over the last few years are the spaces where all our different communities can come together in person. It is this opportunity to bring us all together through storytelling that celebrates our shared humanity that I look forward to the most as CTG’s next Artistic Director.”
As Snehal Desai joins Center Theatre Group, he hopes to explore what this means for the many communities and stories that can be found throughout the city. “How can we support local artists and uplift stories that are uniquely L.A.?,” is a question that has been top of mind for him as he makes his transition to CTG.
Desai is the first Artistic Director of color for Center Theatre Group and his experience as both a queer man and a person of color have helped him bring new perspectives to the institutions he has worked with. In all of his work, he thinks of the community it serves. “I view myself as a community builder through the arts and by producing artistic works that create a dialogue on the larger issues and questions of our times. What has brought me the most joy as an artistic leader is introducing audiences to artists whose work inspires, challenges, and moves us in new and innovative ways.”
He is assuming the helm of Center Theatre Group at an inflection point in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Desai believes that this is a critical time for the company to stay committed to programming and developing bold work that is responsive to the times we live in but also centers laughter, joy, and continues on page 8
Board Of Directors
2022-2023 honorary chairman
Lew R. Wasserman† (1913-2002) chairperson
Kiki Ramos Gindler president
Amy R. Forbes vice presidents
William H. Ahmanson
Miles Benickes
Gail Berman-Masters treasurer
William R. Lindsay secretary
Stanley Iezman
†Deceased board of directors
Harry Abrams
Jonathan Axel
Pamela Beck
Thom Beers
Jana Bezdek
Betsy Borns
Diana Buckhantz
Dannielle
Campos Ramirez
Wendy Chang
Jill Chozen
Sarah Clossey
Christine Cronin-Hurst
Bradford W. Edgerton, MD
Cecilia Estolano
Noah Francis
Gary Frischling
Ron Gillyard
Patricia Glaser
Manuela Cerri Goren
Max Gousse
Robert Greenblatt
Jason Grode
Aliza Karney Guren
Paul James
Gerard McCallum II
Louise Moriarty
Kari Nakama
Jamie Patricof
Meghan Pressman
David Quigg
Kristine
Louis Reynal
Jeffrey C. Reynolds
Edward Ring
Laura Rosenwald
Elliott Sernel
Glenn A.
Sonnenberg
Sandra Stern
Marsha
Tauber Sallai
Bonnie Vitti
Matthew Walden
Kim McLane
Wardlaw
Shana C. Waterman
Richard Weitz
Hattie Winston emeritus directors
Harold Applebaum
Ronald J. Arnault
Judith Beckmen
Brindell
Roberts Gottlieb
Susan Grode
Phyllis Hennigan
Stephen F.
Hinchliffe, Jr.
Richard Kagan
Walter Mirisch†
Diane Morton
Edward B. Nahmias
Bruce L. Ross past presidents
Lew R. Wasserman†
Marshall Berges†
Armand S. Deutsch†
Walter Mirisch†
Henry C. Rogers†
Richard E. Sherwood†
J. David Haft†
Lawrence J. Ramer†
Stephen F. Hinchliffe, Jr.
Phyllis Hennigan
Richard Kagan
Martin Massman†
William H. Ahmanson
Kiki Ramos Gindler community. “Whether you love musicals, classics, new works or more family-friendly shows, we will present a diverse body of work that we hope will appeal to all Angelenos whether you go to the theatre once a week, once a month, or once a year.”
Desai’s studies and work have since taken him across the country and overseas. He grew up in Pennsylvania, lived in Atlanta when he was an undergraduate at Emory University, lived in New Haven while attending the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, and later worked in both New York and London. In 2013, he moved to Los Angeles and three years later became the Artistic Director of East West Players (EWP), the nation’s oldest and largest Asian American theatre company. Over his seven seasons at EWP, he produced and directed the Los Angeles premiere of Allegiance with George Takei in association with the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, critically acclaimed productions of Next to Normal and Assassins, and new works including Anna Moench’s Man of God and Inda Craig-Galván’s The Great Jheri Curl Debate He also led collaborations between East West Players and Center Theatre Group including Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord which was presented at the Kirk Douglas Theatre earlier this year as well as the world premiere of David Henry Hwang’s Soft Power in 2017.
“As a hyphenated American, what I have always been interested in is that collision—between eastern and western traditions that are embodied in us and our lives as Asian Americans,” he said.
While at East West Players, Desai and the company were “trying to break apart the monolith of the diaspora,” and “constantly asking ourselves, who have we not heard from our stage? Whose story has not been told and what communities have not been invited into our space?”
Compared to the theatre scenes in other regional markets, he finds that the close-knit nature of the Los Angeles theatre community allows the opportunity for more collaboration and cross-pollination of the audiences and artists from the myriad of companies. In addition to Center Theatre Group, he worked with Pasadena Playhouse, Rogue Artists Ensemble, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, The Robey Theatre Company, The Fountain Theatre, API Rise, the Japanese American Cultural Community Center, and TAIKOPROJECT.
Desai also finds that the city is becoming a hub for the intersections of many industries—especially with the expansion of film and television into streaming. And, in the coming years, those industries will only continue to grow along with the city’s global impact. Center Theatre Group’s 60th anniversary falls between the years in which Los Angeles will host the World Cup and the Summer Olympics and Paralympics.
Associate Artistic Director Lindsay Allbaugh on the dark magic and dangerous feminine power that underscores Our Dear Dead Drug Lord at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.
By Jessica Doherty