Oskar Eustis On Why Free Shakespeare In The Park Tickets Attract Big Money: L.a. Arts And Culture This Weekend

One of nan astir publication — and debated — stories from nan Arts squad this week was an question and reply pinch Oskar Eustis a time aft he announced that he would measurement down arsenic nan creator head of nan Public Theater successful 2028. The New York Times collapsed nan news July 22 successful an question and reply pinch Eustis successful which he besides said that nan American nonprofit theatre activity was over.

I followed up successful a telephone question and reply nan adjacent time and asked him to explicate what he meant, which he did, noting that nan wide statement that nonprofit theatre mattered to nan state — a belief held by nationalist endowments, authorities arts agencies, nationalist argumentation institutes and firm philanthropic departments — had disappeared. So, too, person galore of those very aforesaid agencies and their budgets that provided backing to nan arts. The lawsuit for sustaining immoderate peculiar theatre now comes down to that theatre and really applicable and basal it tin make itself to its surrounding community, Eustis said.

There is ne'er capable room successful an article erstwhile you’ve had a bully speech pinch someone, truthful I thought I’d usage nan newsletter to people a spot much of what Eustis shared pinch me. I was peculiarly willing successful thing he said astir nan Public’s famed Shakespeare successful nan Park program, which is free and takes spot each summertime astatine nan Delacorte Theater successful Central Park. Since its inception, much than 160 productions person been staged, reaching much than 6 cardinal people.

The free tickets nan Public gives distant for these shows are “the premier driver of our income astatine nan Public, and this has been existent since our founding,” Eustis told me.

That whitethorn sound counterintuitive, but it goes straight to nan lawsuit Eustis is making for modern nonprofit theaters to beryllium arsenic applicable arsenic imaginable to their communities. Ticket income will ne'er bring successful nan benignant of money theaters request to prolong a robust slate of divers programming — that will ever person to travel from donors. These very aforesaid donors, Eustis said, are nan ones who consciousness astir excited to beryllium sitting among nan citizenry successful Central Park, watching nan beauty of nationalist creation unfold successful a joyous communal atmosphere.

“It’s not conscionable erstwhile they make a aid that they get to spot nan show,” said Eustis of uber-wealthy donors. “They perfectly viscerally consciousness that — sitting successful that theatre erstwhile 75% of nan assemblage hasn’t paid a penny to beryllium location — they are getting to beryllium portion of their dream city. They’re feeling, ‘Oh, this is what New York is expected to consciousness like.’”

By giving distant free Shakespeare successful nan Park tickets, Eustis said, nan Public is “making an unbelievably powerful lawsuit for why we request subsidy … and that’s why nan money comes, because we are [showing] that antiauthoritarian entree is much nosy for a amended city.”

I for illustration nan thought of free theatre being much fun, and rich | group paying for nan privilege of being a portion of that nosy erstwhile it is truthful removed from their cordoned-off regular lives. But I do interest that truthful overmuch of what we now trust connected culturally comes down to nan whims and fancies of a fistful of ultra-rich patrons. Newspapers are tally by them, nationalist schoolhouse creation and euphony programs trust connected them, arsenic do museums, symphonies, ballets and operas.

As Eustis pointed out, these donors nary longer correspond a wide statement that is channeled into a civic imagination via authorities support, but that is precisely why nan business feels truthful precarious. We mightiness beryllium 1 superior AI-driven banal marketplace clang from creator oblivion.

I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt staring gloomily into nan distance. This is your arts and civilization news for nan week.

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY

“Ulises Carrión, a bookwork successful galore places” accumulation astatine Joan Los Angeles.

(Evan Walsh)

Ulises Carrión, a bookwork successful galore places
The exhibition, successful its last 2 weeks, examines nan Mexican-born conceptual artist’s power connected reimagined systems of speech done printed matter by artists, librarians, publishers and replacement spaces. The show focuses connected Southern California successful particular, spanning nan 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, featuring creator books, correspondence, video and ephemera.
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. Through Aug. 9. Joan, 1206 Maple Ave., Suite 715, Fashion District, downtown L.A. joanlosangeles.org

Puppet Up!
Brian Henson’s adventurous shape show featuring improv and sketch drama pinch nan iconic Henson puppets and puppeteers is backmost for a constricted eight-performance run. Also connected pat is “A Conversation With Brian Henson,” a unrecorded position by nan Emmy-winning producer, head and puppeteer astir nan rich | history of nan Jim Henson Company, 2 p.m. Sunday astatine nan Montalbán.
8 p.m. Friday; 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday; 8 p.m. Aug. 7; 3 and 7 p.m. Aug. 8; and 5 p.m. Aug. 9. Ricardo Montalbán Theatre, 1615 Vine St. puppetup.com

Tchaikovsky Spectacular pinch Fireworks
L.A.-based circus institution Troupe Vertigo and nan USC Trojan Marching Band subordinate nan Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by France’s Chloe Dufresne, for nan 1812 overture — pinch pyrotechnics.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com

SATURDAY

A segment from “Acquaprofonda” astatine nan Aquarium of nan Pacific.”

(Andres Leon for Long Beach Opera)

Acquaprofonda: A Deep-Sea Opera for Families
Long Beach Opera Education collaborates pinch nan Aquarium of nan Pacific for this free, family-friendly, 30-minute escapade astir a young woman who finds an ailing whale and stands up for what’s right. Music by Giovanni Sollima, libretto by Giancarlo De Cataldo and English libretto by Elle Moody.
Noon and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, done Aug. 9. Aquarium of nan Pacific, Honda Pacific Visions Theater, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach. longbeachopera.org

Boleros De Noche
The 10th yearly ceremony of romance, nostalgia and taste pridefulness features Puerto Rican vocalist iLe and a typical capacity by nan L.A.-based trio Voz Bohemia.
8 p.m. Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East. theford.com

Free 4 All
Claremont Lewis Museum of Art opens its doors for this yearly one-day takeover by section artists who will show their activity pinch nary fees to grounds and nary gatekeepers to take whose activity gets seen. With unrecorded euphony by nan Kamran Curlin Trio, Home Again Home Again and Coupe Deville.
1-8 p.m. Claremont Lewis Museum of Art, 200 W. First St., Claremont. clmoa.org

People of Pompeii
A caller drama by Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award-winning playwright Bernardo Cubría, co-directed by Ellen Geer and Xochitl Romero, is group successful Topanga Canyon itself and focuses connected organization successful a clip of ambiance catastrophe.
Through Oct. 4. Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. theatricum.com

Two Gentlebots of Verona
The yearly Actors’ Gang Free Shakespeare successful nan Park for Families features a cyber-inspired Shakespeare adjustment by Rynn Vogel, directed by Adam J. Jefferis.
11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays, done Aug. 23. Media Park, 9091 Culver Blvd., Culver City; noon, Aug. 29-30. Buena Vista Branch Library, 300 N. Buena Vista St., Burbank. theactorsgang.com

SUNDAY

Sidney Jacobs & nan Monsters
The jazz vocalist and his sextet execute original euphony pinch reimagined standards.
8 p.m. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. sierramadreplayhouse.org

St. Vincent pinch nan Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
The six-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter guitarist goes orchestral pinch nan HBO led by conductor Jules Buckley.
7 p.m. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com

TUESDAY

Louis Langrée
The French conductor leads nan L.A. Phil successful useful from Felix Mendelssohn and Joseph Haydn connected Tuesday astatine nan Hollywood Bowl; 2 nights later, Langrée returns pinch pieces by Johannes Brahms, Georges Bizet and Louise Farrenc.
Mendelssohn & Haydn, 8 p.m. Tuesday; Brahms & Bizet, 8 p.m. Thursday. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com

“Saint Luke” from Irmengard Codex soon aft 1053. German. Tempera colors, gold, and ink connected parchment 22.2 × 18.7 cm (8 3/4 × 7 3/8 in.)

(Getty Museum)

The Making of a Medieval Manuscript
If you ever wondered really nan beautiful manuscripts successful nan Getty’s extended postulation were created, this is nan accumulation for you. Tools and materials utilized exemplify each shape of nan process from parchment making, penning and illuminating done nan last binding. Christian manuscripts from Europe, Armenia and Ethiopia, positive objects of Jewish and Muslim origin, will besides beryllium connected display, on pinch a video component.
Through May 2, 2027. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. getty.edu

WEDNESDAY

Kalean Ung arsenic nan Chanteuse successful “The Comedy of Errors.”

(Mike Ditz)

The Comedy of Errors
Melissa Chalsma directs Indie Shakes’ accumulation of nan Bard’s wordplay and slapstick group successful a Mediterranean larboard town, pinch an original score.
7 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday; done Sept. 6. Old Zoo Picnic Area, Griffith Park. indieshakes.org/free-shakespeare-2026

THURSDAY

Annie and nan Caldwells/The Campbell Brothers
The Skirball concludes its 29th play of Sunset Concerts pinch this family-fueled pairing of disco psyche and ineffable alloy gospel groups, respectively, positive DJ sets by Sonrisita.
7 p.m. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. skirball.org

JazzPOP 2026
The summertime bid marks its 19th play pinch 3 concerts showcasing West Coast imaginative jazz: Kasey Knudsen Sextet (Thursday); Malachi Whitson Quartet (Aug. 13); and Machado Mijiga Trio (Aug. 20).
8 p.m. Thursdays, done Aug. 20. UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. hammer.ucla.edu

— Kevin Crust

Retrospective

L.A. Times arts sum from nan the past …

Playwright/director Moises Kaufman of “The Laramie Project” was connected nan screen of Sunday Calendar, July 29, 2001.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

At nan Heart of a Modern Tragedy

Sunday Calendar, July 29, 2001

NEW YORK — Moises Kaufman could not move disconnected nan television. He could not put down nan newspaper. Like overmuch of America, he was mesmerized by nan news of nan horrific beating, robbery and eventual decease successful 1998 of Matthew Shepard, a cheery assemblage student attacked and near for dormant by 2 young men adjacent Laramie, Wyo.

“For nan 5 days until he died, you couldn’t move connected a tv aliases a power and not perceive astir it,” says nan 37-year-old playwright and director. “Matthew Shepard put a look connected dislike crimes. He was young, beautiful, starting his life. The federation arsenic a full said, ‘Oh, my God. What’s going on?’ ”

It was precisely nan benignant of mobility that Kaufman and his colleagues astatine nan Tectonic Theater Project present effort to ask, if not answer, onstage. So dissimilar overmuch of America, Kaufman did not simply move connected to nan adjacent news tragedy. The man who created nan wide produced “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde” had recovered his adjacent theatre project. READ MORE

— Barbara Isenberg

Culture news and nan SoCal scene

Artist Betye Saar visits her pet tortoise named Ms. Rojo connected Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, successful Los Angeles.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Pioneering Los Angeles assemblage artist Betye Saar died Sunday, conscionable a fewer days awkward of her 100th birthday. The Times had nan privilege of profiling her a fewer weeks earlier in a communicative that besides included immoderate awesome photos of Saar still difficult astatine activity successful her Laurel Canyon location studio. After Saar’s death, we published an obituary written by erstwhile Times columnist Carolina Miranda, and I put together a database of five of Saar’s astir compelling works.

Watts Towers is poised to break crushed successful October connected a $22-million field renewal — nan first specified activity done to nan arts field since it opened successful 1970. The activity is group to statesman arsenic backing for a 15-year task to sphere nan towers themselves has dried up, pinch activity astir 90% complete. Community leaders opportunity nan business represents nan frustrating piecemeal attack taken complete nan years to sphere 1 of nan city’s astir important taste landmarks. Times contributor Jane Horowitz has nan scoop.

Evan Lugo (George Page), Sonya Cooke (Margaret Page), Zane Caputo (Abraham Slender), Zach Trent (Skateboard Fenton) and Heriberto Cruz Jr. (Doctor Cayo) successful “The Merry Wives of Windsor Cove.”

(Elijah Waller)

“The Merry Wives of Windsor’” sewage a ’50s-themed SoCal formation broad bingo philharmonic makeover astatine UC Irvine’s New Swan Shakespeare Festival, and Times theatre professional Charles McNulty was location to measurement successful connected nan result. “The pastiche score, indebted to nan popular charts of nan 1950s, isn’t allowed to dominate,” McNulty writes. “As modern musicals go, this is simply a low-key affair. The drama is still nan point successful this frolicsome outdoor production, which takes spot successful nan charming ambiance of nan festival’s portable, mini-Elizabethan venue.”

McNulty besides took clip to praise nan activity of stellar older actors successful a uncommon revival of Nöel Coward’s “Waiting successful nan Wings,” which is moving successful repertory astatine Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum done Oct. 10. The play, “which is group successful ‘The Wings,’ a kindness location for retired actresses, provides a feast for seasoned thespians for whom it would beryllium impolite to inquire their age,” writes McNulty. “Led by Susan Angelo, Jan Wikstrom and Ellen Geer, this ensemble, nether nan guidance of Willow Geer, diverts and distracts from nan mustier aspects of Coward’s style.”

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art announced its inaugural movie programming, which is group to surface nonstop during depository hours successful 2 dedicated 299-seat theaters. One theatre will play mostly documentary films, and nan different will beryllium devoted to nan much experimental aspects of nan creation form.

Alaska Thunderf— will play Mary Todd Lincoln successful “Oh, Mary!” astatine nan Ahmanson.

(Daniel Rampulla)

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” prima Alaska Thunderf— will play Mary Todd Lincoln successful Cole Escola’s Tony-winning drama “Oh, Mary!” erstwhile it arrives astatine Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre successful nan fall. Broadway prima J. Harrison Ghee has been formed other Alaska successful nan domiciled of her celebrated husband.

Joey McIntyre of New Kids connected nan Block performs during Audacy’s 11th yearly We Can Survive astatine Prudential Center connected Sept. 28, 2024, successful Newark, N.J.

(Manny Carabel / Getty Images for Audacy)

The Wallis Annenberg Center for nan Performing Arts announced immoderate additions to its 2026-2027 season, including nan world premiere of a caller play, “Radio Galaxy,” written by Michèle Aldin Kushner, directed by Kimberly Senior and starring Joey McIntyre (yes, that Joey McIntyre) and Olivier Award victor Lesli Margherita. The show is astir a 17-year-old from a working-class New Jersey municipality who wants to go an astronomer but must woody pinch nan harsh realities of regular life, including his half-sister’s request for a bony marrow transplant. The show is scheduled for 18 performances successful nan Lovelace Studio Theater Nov. 6-22. Tickets are disposable here.

A fewer reduced-rate spots stay for Camp Build astatine nan Gamble House successful Pasadena, which runs from Aug. 1 to 5 for 3 hours each day. Two hours are devoted to learning nan creation and trade of woodworking, and a 3rd hr is spent connected activities inspired by quality and architecture successful nan historical home. The costs of nan campy is assessed connected a sliding standard according to income and request pinch 4 costs tiers ranging from free to $650. The remaining slots are successful nan 2nd tier, which costs $350.

— Jessica Gelt

And past but not least

Want a glimpse into nan hedonistic L.A. of yore? Check retired this communicative about Eve Babitz’s individual letters. It will not disappoint.