QUICK TAKES - June 13, 2009

Center Theatre Group, the West Coast’s largest nonprofit stage company, has laid off 12 employees -- a tenth of its full-time staff of 120. Those who remain will absorb one or two weeks’ unpaid furlough in the coming year.

The cuts include an end to automatic 5.25% contributions to employees’ 401(k) retirement accounts. Along with postponed shows and other reductions, they are expected to save the company $2.1 million during the fiscal year starting in July, officials said. Even so, CTG projects a $1.9-million deficit for the coming year.

The cuts were “across the board” in various departments, a spokeswoman said. Among those losing jobs is Ann Wareham, a 27-year veteran of the organization. She was one of three associate producers who help shepherd shows to CTG’s three stages: the Ahmanson Theatre and Mark Taper Forum in downtown Los Angeles and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

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Mike Boehm