The Fountain Theatre Opens Outdoors

To kick-off 2021, The Fountain Theatre received approval from the City of Los Angeles to install a temporary outdoor stage to present live performances and other events during the pandemic.

“Pandemic permitting, we hope to open our first outdoor production by late spring or early summer,” says Fountain artistic director Stephen Sachs. “We’re planning an exciting Los Angeles premiere that dramatizes urgent social issues using the Fountain’s signature bold and theatrical approach.”

Installed in the parking lot of the theatre, the new outdoor performance area will be able to accommodate up to 84 audience members. It will feature seven rows of chairs, each six feet apart, as well as 12 high-top tables positioned six feet apart for use by patrons from the same “bubble” households. Every aspect of the outdoor performance area will meet COVID-19 safety guidelines.

Since the weather has been mild this winter, outdoor theater can be performed in a safe environment.  According to Sachs, “The most painful aspect of the past ten months has been the separation from our patrons and the disconnection from our art form. Until our indoor theater reopens, the outdoor stage will be a thrilling performance venue and a hub for our educational and community engagement programs. The outdoor stage will be the centerpiece as we re-emerge in 2021. It galvanizes our vision moving forward.”

Several generous supporters made the outdoor stage at The Fountain Theatre possible, including Karen Kondazian, the Vladimir and Araxia Buckhantz Foundation, Rabbi Anne Brener, Carrie Chassin, and Jochen Haber, Miles and Joni Benickes, and the Phillips-Gerla Family.

L.A. City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell and Mayor Eric Garcetti are supporters of the theatre’s mission to create, develop, and publicly produce plays that reflect the diversity of Los Angeles, and to serve young people through educational outreach programs, and to enhance the lives of the public with community engagement activities.

For three decades, the Fountain has earned acclaim and admiration nationwide, been honored with more than 200 awards for artistic excellence, and is a leader in the L.A. theater community. The organization is proud to count reflecting the company’s successful history of partnering with City government.

In addition to being a Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs grant recipient for decades, the Fountain launched a groundbreaking program that brings celebrity actors to L.A. City Hall to perform one-night free public readings in the City Council chambers.

For more information about the Fountain Theatre, go to www.fountaintheatre.com.