Danny Feldman is experimenting in real time with how to make theater matter again.
At a time of widespread retrenchment in the American theater, Feldman has gone big and bold at Pasadena Playhouse, where he is the artistic leader. He devoted the first six months of 2023 to the Sondheim Celebration, a hugely ambitious and successful festival honoring the late Broadway lyricist and composer. As a result, subscription memberships are up and the theater’s artistic reputation has never been higher.
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A Tony award further validated Feldman’s gambit, confirming a Times headline: “The best theater in L.A. right now? It’s in Pasadena.”
But while risk has brought reward, Feldman, 44, knows better than to take anything for granted. The playhouse was on the brink of insolvency when he took over in 2016, still in search of stability after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010.
“One bad season, and we’re in a bad place again,” he cautioned.
Feldman doesn’t need to look far for a harsh reminder to remain humble. Even before Center Theatre Group announced last year that it was halting programming at the Mark Taper Forum, once the city’s flagship venue for ambitious drama, Pasadena Playhouse has been filling the void left by its downtown rival, which recently announced that it is reopening in the fall.
Building on the work of his predecessor Sheldon Epps to diversify programming, audience and institutional culture at Pasadena Playhouse, Feldman is committed to producing new work from historically underrepresented communities. Living up to the playhouse’s mission of “making theater for everyone” means deepening connections with local audiences. Feldman points to a Sondheim Celebration production of “Into the Woods,” a collaboration between Pasadena Playhouse and high school students and teachers from the Pasadena Unified School District, as a way toward restoring the pride of communal ownership.
“For two decades, we’ve been hearing that the regional theater model doesn’t work,” he said. “The answer always seems to come down to more money. We need the government and donors to give us more. We’re working on that, but I’m interested in exploring what new models for the country and L.A. might be.”
Feldman admits that he doesn’t have “a five-point plan,” but he’s confident that it’s going to take big swings like the Sondheim Celebration to revitalize the theater-going habit. “This is the time to push,” Feldman said. A Sondheim lyric from “Into the Woods” is urging him on: “Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor.”