All the Town’s a Stage

One would think after reading Reed Johnson’s insulting and vacuous piece (“Getting Ahead ... on the L.A. Stage?” Aug. 12) that all theater, film and television performers in Los Angeles are white. The photos are all of successful white people, and the actor interviews, beginning with 31-year-old Malibu-blond Eric Gunhus, feature successful white people. The only person of color mentioned in the piece is Pasadena Playhouse artistic director Sheldon Epps commenting on conservatory training.

Furthermore, the article lacks any meaningful economic analysis of the plight of unpaid stage actors who, Johnson blithely implies, can just choose to be TV stars! He’s also off the mark in suggesting the difficulty in academic theater programs is balancing formal training with how to land a job. Not so. In the new corporate university, the struggle is to retain creative thinking against the tide toward vocational training, formal and practical. Oh, and it’s Indiana University, not University of Indiana.

And finally, what’s that cover photo about?SUSAN MASON

Professor of theater arts and dance

California State University, Los Angeles

It’s wonderful to see a featured article about local theater in your publication. Far too many people think that “Los Angeles” and “stage actor” don’t belong in the same sentence. However, the decision to only include photos with TV/film stars ultimately undermines the content of your article.

The Los Angeles theater community pulsates with talented, dedicated theater artists who continue to work in theater because the artistic rewards are just too important and too valuable. Some of these artists make their living doing TV/film/commercial work, while others rush to rehearsals and performances every night after long hours at their day job. Regardless of the pay or lack thereof, these artists will always find their way back to the stage because they have no other choice.

This is the real L.A. theater community, and these are the artists I’d like to see an article about, photos and all.

RAUL STAGGS

Van Nuys

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I thoroughly enjoyed Johnson’s article, with one caveat. As we all know, perception and being current are as essential to the life of an actor as, oh, let’s say, breathing. I also understand that brevity was necessary in composing an article with so much to say.

Bearing that in mind, the next time you mention “stints” I’ve done subsequent to “Saturday Night Live,” you might want to venture beyond 1977. In the era of the Internet, it’s terrifically easy to obtain current information on just about anything--namely more recent credits of mine including “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and Nickelodeon’s Emmy-nominated “As Told by Ginger.”

When my 10-year-old daughter saw “St. Elsewhere” and “Laverne & Shirley” listed as some of my credits, she had never heard of them. I told her they were a long time ago, which prompted her to ask if they were in black-and-white. As perimenopausal beads of sweat formed on my temple, I calmly assured her that “Mommy’s not that old.”

She then asked me if those L.A. Times people were aware that I was a founding member of the Groundlings and have had a thriving career in animation for the past seven years ....OK, she didn’t really say that, but the black-and-white thing is true.

LARAINE NEWMAN

Los Angeles