WM: Will Loft Ensemble be able to survive the pandemic? Are you taking any special steps to help keep your company alive? WM: When was the company formed and who were the people behind it? Why did they feel it was necessary to put together another intimate theatre company in L.A.? WM: How has the company been financed? Are there, say, one or two big donors? Or is it supported by dues-paying members and box-office earnings? WM: How many plays has the company produced since its inception? How many of them have been originals? Have any of the latter gone on to be produced elsewhere? WM: Have you always worked out of your small theatre in North Hollywood? Do you own or rent this space? WM: Has the company ever received any financial help or other kinds of support from the city of Los Angeles? And/or from the film or TV industry? If so, please describe it. WM: What kind of contract with Actors Equity do you work under? Are AE’s recent regulations concerning the intimate theater scene in L.A. a good or bad thing? WM: The pandemic aside, what do you see as the key to your survival in the years to come? WM: What’s the best thing about running a small theater company in L.A? What’s the worst? It would be good if you could describe a producing experience that still makes you laugh when you look back on it. WM: What are the last things you’d like to say to the theater-lovers who will be reading this interview? [END]
AC: We certainly hope so. We stay connected with our members with scheduled Zoom meetings and phone check ins regarding creativity, health, and needs. It’s really important to us that our members are safe but also supported. We are also thinking about exciting ways that we come back from this.
AC: We started in 2006 in the Downtown Arts District. There were 5 of us that started Loft. I always wanted a place where artists can do whatever they want. That’s why I started Loft, to try to help others in the best way I knew how.
AC: We are primarily funded as a dues-paying company and through box-office sales and nominal donors. We have had to do some major fundraising for location changes, but primarily we are supported through dues and box office. Last year we were grateful to receive funding from the Sawyer Sweeten Foundation, the Rosenthal Family Foundation and the RAR Family Foundation to support our move to the NoHo Arts District.
AC: We have done over 70 shows since the company began, with about 50 of them being world or west coast premieres. We have taken some to NY Fringe and Hollywood Fringe and some of our members have taken their shows to other spaces years later.
We rent our spaces in the Noho Arts District. We were in the DTLA arts district for just under 10 years, then Sherman Oaks for 3 plus years and now Noho for the last year. We completely renovated all 3 spaces, Noho being the biggest with a 75 seat mainstage and a smaller 35 seat blackbox.
AC: I wish I could say yes but no, we have not. Aside from some of our members being working actors who make larger donations from time to time, we have been completely self sufficient.
AC: We operate under Equity's Membership Company Rule. We are grateful to be able to keep our AEA company members doing work they want to do. The loss of the 99 seat waiver was greatly disappointing and had an extraordinary impact on the intimate-theater ecosystem in LA.
AC: I believe it’s about creating an experience. Not just typical theater. And especially now. I believe people will want to go out again, but maybe not with a large crowd for awhile. So it’s up to us to alter the experience and make it more personal while giving audiences more space. We are also exploring what a digital future looks like. Ultimately, Loft will do whatever it takes to keep creating.
AC: The family we have created is the best. By far and will always be. The worst is the lack of financial security. We have so many talented people and minds and when given a little we take it a long way. We built a pirate ship once. That is always incredible to me. A pirate ship was on stage in our space. We were producing the West Coast premiere of Long Joan Silver by Arthur M. Jolly in 2017. It's a take on “Treasure Island” where all the pirates are female identifying and in opposition to the men in power. The pirates out sword, out fight and out wit all the power archetypes. At the time one of our co-technical directors was Mitch Rosander and he was absolutely committed to building a pirate ship on stage. It was absolutely stunning. There was a masthead, a crow's nest, a ratline...the works. No matter what went wrong along the way Mitch would say "I got it! I got it!" and would figure out a solution.
AC: We are a theater of action. We get things done. We love a good quote just like the rest of you, but we promise to put those quotes to use and do something amazing when we are allowed to return. While we are working to keep digital content available, theater is about a direct give and take between artist and audience. There is no substitute. And Loft is ready see your faces and hear your laughter again, or for the first time, and we will do everything we can to make sure you have an experience that can only happen with us.
