CENTER THEATRE GROUP’S GOING PRO CAREER FAIR WILL FEATURE KRISTINA WONG AND LUIS ALFARO AS PLENARY SPEAKERS
This annual free event is designed to help current college and graduate students and early-career individuals have access to the skills and networks they need to thrive in the theatre industry.
Current college and graduate students as well as early-career individuals and college, university, and trade tech educators are invited to register and attend Center Theatre Group’s Going Pro Career Fair. This free event will be at the Los Angeles Theater Center (LATC) in Downtown Los Angeles from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 15, 2023. Speed mentoring appointments are also available online from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 16, 2023.
Going Pro Career Fair will feature conversations about ways the theatre is evolving both on and off the stage, workshops to guide the next generation of theatre practitioners in their professional development, and in-person and virtual networking opportunities. Free professional headshots and one-on-ones with a speed mentor will also be available by appointment. Speed mentoring will give participants an opportunity to sit down for an informational interview with a professional working in their career of interest.
To register and for information about this event, visit centertheatregroup.org/goingpro.
The deadline to register for the Going Pro Career Fair is April 13 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time. The last day to request a Virtual Speed Mentoring appointment is April 10.
This year’s theme is “May You Live in Interesting Times: When Your Life Becomes Your Art.” Performance Artist, Comedian, and Writer Kristina Wong and Performance Artist, Writer, Theatre Director, and Social Activist Luis Alfaro will speak to the participants of the career fair. They will discuss the creative process and share their expertise with using art as a vehicle to document real-life experiences.
“As the largest regional theatre in Los Angeles, we believe in fostering lifelong connections within the theatre community,” said Center Theatre Group Creative Workforce Initiatives Director Nico Rosario. “The Going Pro Career Fair is a great way to invest in the upcoming
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generation of theatre professionals and give them the tools they need to thrive in this industry.”
Some of the participants for the Resource Fair include: BLKLST, LA Anti-Racist Theatre Standards (LA ARTS), Backstage Casting, Actor’s Equity Association, Make-Up & Hair Stylist Guild Local 706, and SAG-AFTRA.
In addition to the plenary with Wong and Alfaro, workshops and panels are “What is Theatre? Explorations into the Evolution of Performance” with Sara Lyons (Writer and Director) and Lauren Ludwig (Writer and Director); “Come One, Come All! Making Accessible Theatre” with Dominique Beltran (Vaudeville Valley Troupe) and Jeremie Loncka (Prison Project at The Actor’s Gang); “Being Seen: Representation in the Los Angeles Theatre Community” with José Luis Valenzuela (LATC) and Bruce A. Lemon Jr. (Watts Village); “Your Best Selfie: Making the Perfect Audition Self-Tape” with Carene Mekertichyan (Independent Shakespeare Co.); “To MFA or Not to MFA?” with Christine Breihan (Loyola Marymount University); and “The Creative’s Guide to Finance: How To Budget for Your Life and Your Work” with Camille Schenkkan (Center Theatre Group and Cal State LA). The day will end with an ice cream social, providing participants the opportunity to network with their peers.
Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under the leadership of Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, and in collaboration with the four Associate Artistic Directors, Lindsay Allbaugh, Tyrone Davis, Neel Keller and Kelley Kirkpatrick, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1,600 to 2,100-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions, and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics, and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.
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April 5, 2023
BIOGRAPHIES:
Kristina Wong is a performance artist, actor, comedian, writer and elected representative in Koreatown Los Angeles. Following its highly acclaimed premiere at New York Theater Workshop, “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord,” was a New York Times Critics Pick. Wong was then named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Drama (2022). “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord” also garnered a veritable awards sweep this year including The Drama Desk Award, The Lucille Lortel Award and The Outer Critics Circle Award. Wong’s other works have been presented across North America, the UK, Hong Kong and Africa. She’s been a
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guest on late night shows on Comedy Central, NBC and FX. As a published writer, Wong’s work is included in Routledge’s “Contemporary Plays by Women of Color.” Wong wrote the introduction for “The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide To Mask Making, Radical Care and Racial Justice” published by University of California Press. She also had Artist Residencies at MacDowell, Hermitage, Montalvo and Ojai Playwrights Festival. Wong’s work has been awarded with grants from Creative Capital, The MAP Fund, Center for Cultural Innovation, National Performance Network, a COLA Master Artist Fellowship from the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, nine Los Angeles Artist-in-Residence awards, Center Theatre Group’s Sherwood Award, the Art Matters Foundation, and the Joan D. Firestone Commission from En Garde Arts. She is currently developing a new work during her three year Artist-in-Residence at ASU Gammage and as a Social Practice Fellow at the Kennedy Center. Other major projects include “Wong Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Going Green The Wong Way,” “The Wong Street Journal,” and “Kristina Wong for Public Office.” Other career highlights include the Visionary Award from East West Players, “Local Hero Of The Year” nominee from KCET/ PBS, Asian Pacific Honoree from Fuse TV and the Best Of Arts Los Angeles issue from LA Weekly. kristinawong.com
Luis Alfaro is a Chicano playwright born and raised in Downtown Los Angeles, he has received fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; United States Artists; Ford Foundation Art of Change; Joyce Foundation; Mellon Foundation and is the recipient of the PEN America/ Laura Pels International Foundation Theater Award for a Master Dramatist. He was the inaugural Playwright-in-Residence for six seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (2013-2019); Playwright’s Ensemble at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre (2013-2020); Inaugural Latinx Playwrights at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (2021); and Ojai Playwrights Conference member since 2002. His plays include “Electricidad,” “Oedipus El Rey,” “Mojada,” which have been seen at regional theatres throughout the United States and Europe. Luis spent two decades in the Los Angeles Poetry and Performance Art communities. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California (USC).
