East LA Classic Theatre

Los Angeles, California

East L.A. Classic Theatre (ECT) was originally established in 1992 as a forum for classically trained Latino artists to investigate the classics in culturally specific productions. ECT current productions are Much Ado About Nothing (Mariachi Style) set in the early California Ranchero period and Romeo and Juliet (A Zoot Suit Musical) placing the feud between the Capulets and Montagues into the era of the Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots. By incorporating significant historic settings aligned with California state education standards, ECT consistently offers a well-rounded educational and performing arts field trip for students of all grades. Early ECT productions were performed in local schools auditoriums. By 2000, ECT grew into a fully professional theater company, performing in historic venues in Los Angeles and elsewhere.  ECT produces up to 20 performances annually to more than 18,000 students and provides literacy skills improvement programming to Los Angeles area public schools through an artist-in-residency project, Language in Play. Language in Play residencies are designed to supplement standard methodologies with innovative teaching in and through the performing arts. These residencies are held outside traditional classroom settings to bridge pedagogical gaps, providing extended learning opportunities in both academic and life skills. These schools provide a safe, structured, and stimulating place where young people can discover and explore individual creative visions, building responsibility, connection, knowledge, and teamwork.

East L.A. Classic Theatre (ECT) will collaborate with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to produce and perform a unique adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing for up to 3,500 middle- and high-school students at the Grand Theatre on the campus of Los Angeles Trade Technical College in downtown. As many as 1,200 of these students will participate in pre- and post-performance workshops, one-hour sessions designed to increase their appreciation of the play and increase their knowledge of Shakespeare and theater in general. The performances will be the highlight. Outside the theater, actors will greet arriving students and performers in Elizabethan costume, calling out to them in Renaissance English to play a game, solve a riddle, or be entertained by a juggling act. William Shakespeare himself, ECT’s version of the Bard, will tell stories and answer questions as he strolls the plaza. Students will take home gift bags filled with games, fun prizes, and colorful study guides. The pre- and post-performance workshops leverage key learning opportunities presented through a live theater production. Principal topics include an overview of Shakespeare himself, theatrical, and literary vocabularies, as well as a plot breakdown and character analysis. After a conversation about universal themes and application of those themes, students discuss appropriate audience behaviors and basic stage and theater design elements. The post-performance session examines what elements and characters from the play were memorable and how these roles affected the students. 

Visit them at: www.eastlaclassic.org