L.A. Theatre Works is a non-profit media arts organization based in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

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History

Founded in 1974, the organization was originally called “Artists in Prison,” and used theatre as a means to provide a voice to incarcerated men and women who were traditionally unheard and underserved. In 1980, they changed their name to L.A. Theatre Works, and, in 1985, they came to the realization that recorded plays could be both a valuable teaching tool and a way to promote civic engagement by diverse constituents. They became a “virtual” theatre company — lifting theatre from its earthbound roots to new media platforms as well as terrestrial and satellite airwaves—as they began producing and recording radio drama

Radio drama

Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...

s. This has enabled them to exponentially widen their outreach to audiences county and nationwide. Susan Albert Loewenberg is the Producing Director of this company.

Summary of Overall Organization

L.A. Theatre Works currently operates six primary programs. Through The Play’s the Thing, their live, in-performance radio theatre series at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, LATW records 10 – 14 new productions each year in audio theatre productions. All productions become part of both our national Radio Broadcast Series and our extensive Audio Theatre Publishing Division that includes more than 400 titles—the largest library of its kind in the world—distributed both digitally and conventionally to the public, schools, and libraries nationwide. LATW’s Audio Theatre Collection is currently available in over 8,000 schools and libraries, and it has received awards from the Audio Publishers Association, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Publisher’s Weekly, Writer’s Guild of America, American Library Association, the Grammy Awards, and many others. Through our National Outreach Programs, Alive and Aloud and Library Access, more than 4,000 schools and community libraries nationwide receive selections from our Audio Theatre Collection and accompanying educational materials free of charge each year. Since its inception in 2005, our National Touring Program has brought radio drama to audiences in over 125 cities across the country. Our newest initiative, The Play’s the Thing for Higher Education, will provide colleges and universities with a collection of 300 digitized plays within a searchable database for use by scholars, instructors, and students nationwide.

Artist Advisory Council

Their Artist Advisory Council consists of the following people: Edward Asner, Rosalind Ayres

Rosalind Ayres

Rosalind Ayres is an English actress. Active since 1970, Ayres may be best known by a wide audience for her role was in the 1997 film Titanic, in which she played Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon....

, Ed Begley, Jr.

Ed Begley, Jr.

Edward James "Ed" Begley, Jr. is an American actor and environmentalist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He is best known for his role as Dr. Victor Ehrlich, on the television series St...

, Hector Elizondo

Hector Elizondo

Héctor Elizondo is an American actor. Elizondo's first major role was that of "God" in the play Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award...

, Glenne Headly

Glenne Headly

Glenne Aimee Headly is an American actress of film, stage and television.-Early life:Glenne Headly was born in New London, Connecticut and her first years were spent living under the care of her mother in San Francisco and her maternal grandmother in Pennsylvania...

, Martin Jarvis, Stacy Keach

Stacy Keach

Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...

, Shirley Knight

Shirley Knight

Shirley Enola Knight is an American stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, in 1960 for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and in 1962 for Sweet Bird of Youth....

, Marsha Mason

Marsha Mason

Marsha Mason is an American actress and television director.She received four Academy Award nominations as Best Actress for her performances in Cinderella Liberty, The Goodbye Girl, Chapter Two, and Only When I Laugh. She is also known for starring in the 1986 film Heartbreak Ridge.-Life:Mason was...

, Richard Masur

Richard Masur

Richard Masur is an American actor who has appeared in more than 80 movies during his career. From 1995-1999, he served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild . Masur sits on the Corporate Board of the Motion Picture & Television Fund.-Biography:Masur was born in New York City to a...

, Alfred Molina

Alfred Molina

Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...

, Charles Robinson

Charles Robinson

Charles Robinson may refer to:*Charles Robinson , English politician, MP for Canterbury*Charles Robinson , physician and politician in Ontario, Canada*Charles Robinson , British book illustrator...

, David Selby

David Selby

David Lynn Selby is an American character and stage actor. He has worked in movies, soap operas and television. The naturally black-headed Selby is best known for playing the roles of Quentin Collins on the ABC-TV serial, Dark Shadows , and as the evil and compassionate...

, Eric Stoltz

Eric Stoltz

Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...

, JoBeth Williams

JoBeth Williams

JoBeth Williams is an American film and television actress and director, and current President of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation.-Early life:...

 and Charlayne Woodard

Charlayne Woodard

Charlaine "Charlayne" Woodard is an American film, stage and television actress and playwright. She has written four plays, titled Pretty Fire, Neat, In Real Life, which she starred in, and "Flight"....

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