 | |
 | |
| Address | 10886 Le Conte Avenue Los Angeles,California United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°03′49″N118°26′41″W / 34.0636°N 118.4447°W /34.0636; -118.4447 |
| Owner | UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television |
| Operator | Geffen Playhouse Inc. |
| Type | Regional theater |
| Capacity | Gil Cates Theater: 512 Audrey Skirball Kenis Theatre:149 |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1929 |
| Opened | 1970s |
| Reopened | 1995 |
| Rebuilt | 2005 |
| Website | |
| geffenplayhouse | |
TheGeffen Playhouse is a not-for-profit theater company founded byGilbert Cates in 1995.
It produces plays in two theaters in Geffen Playhouse, which is owned byUniversity of California Los Angeles. The Playhouse is located in theWestwood neighborhood ofLos Angeles,California. It was named for donorDavid Geffen. The current executive director isGil Cates Jr.[1]
The Geffen Playhouse offers five plays per season in the Gil Cates Theater and three plays per season in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater, as well as producing special events in both venues.
The Geffen Playhouse was built in 1929 as theMasonic Affiliates Club, or the MAC, for students and alumni at UCLA. One of the first twelve structures built in Westwood Village, it was designed by architectStiles O. Clements.[2]
Its courtyard fountain is a piece fromMalibu Potteries. The pattern on the lower tier of the Geffen's fountain appears in theAdamson House dining room, while the pattern on the upper tier can be seen on the east exterior face of the dining room, bordering aMoorish arch window.
Originally named theContempo Theatre, and later theWestwood Playhouse,[3] the property was purchased byUCLA in 1993. UCLA's then-chancellor,Charles E. Young, appointedGil Cates, founder and former president of theUCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, as its producing director.
The theater was renamed in 1995 after media mogulDavid Geffen donated $5 million.[4] In 2002, the David Geffen Foundation made a $5-million lead gift towards an eventual $17-million capital campaign to renovate the theater. The Geffen reopened on November 16, 2005 with the main 500-seat theater retained and a new 125-seatAudrey Skirball-Kenis Theater added.[5]
In March 2010, the Playhouse's board of directors named the main stage the Gil Cates Theater.[6] Cates died in October 2011.[7] Gil Cates, Jr. was appointed executive director in 2015.[8]
Matt Shakman was appointed artistic director in August 2017, followed byTarell Alvin McCraney in September 2023.[9]
| |||||||||
| Academics |  | ||||||||
| Centers | |||||||||
| Campus | |||||||||
| Athletics |
| ||||||||
| Life | |||||||||
| Associated | |||||||||
| Topics | |||||||||
