Esparza to Star in Center Theatre Group's LEAP OF FAITH This Fall
Raul Esparza will be appearing in the Center Theatre Group's production of Leap of Faith, which Esparza participated in a reading for in the past. The world-premiere will take place Sept. 5-Oct. 17. With music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater, Leap of Faith is based on the Steve Martin film of the same title. Tony award-winner Rob Ashford will be directing and choeographing.
Esparza most recently starred opposite Sutton Foster in Encores' Anyone Can Whistle. He first drew attention with his performance in the 2000 Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, which won him the Theatre World Award. Additional Broadway credits include Cabaret, Taboo, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Company. He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award for his performance in the Taboo, and his performance in Company earned him a second Tony nomination.
Beginning in November 2007, Raúl appeared in Harold Pinter's play The Homecoming and was Tony-nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In 2008, he played Charlie Fox in the revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow co-starring Jeremy Piven and Elisabeth Moss on Broadway. His performance in Speed-the-Plow earned him a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Play, making him the second performer after Boyd Gaines to be nominated in all four acting categories a performer is eligible for at the Tonys.
Center Theatre Group is a non-profit arts organization located in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest theatre companies in the nation, programming subscription seasons year-round at the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Center Theatre Group has a combined subscription audience of 55,000-plus and a total audience exceeding 750,000 a year. Michael Ritchie is currently the artistic director of CTG.
Since its inception in 1967, the Ahmanson Theatre has presented a wide variety of dramas, musicals, comedies and classic revivals, including 11 plays by Neil Simon (five world premieres). The Ahmanson has been represented on Broadway as a co-producer of the award-winning Smoke Joe's Café, August Wilson's The Piano Lesson and Two Trains Running, and Frank Loesser's The Most Happy Fella.
In 2002, Center Theatre Group opened its third theatre - the Kirk Douglas Theatre - through the generosity of Kirk and Anne Douglas and with the help of the Culver City Redevelopment Agency. This 317-seat theatre was met with such warm reception that it sold out of subscriptions for its first season.
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