South Coast Repertory: A Chronology

1963--David Emmes, a drama teacher at Long Beach City College, accepts an offer from a Long Beach community theater group to produce a play at its Off-Broadway Theater. A San Francisco State College acquaintance, Martin Benson, who had been looking for acting jobs in Hollywood, joins Emmes in a production of “La Ronde” that opens in August.

1964--Pleased with “La Ronde,” the Off-Broadway board asks Emmes to produce a summer series. Again, he solicits Benson’s help and, recruiting from San Francisco State for their company, they stage “The Hostage,” “Major Barbara” and “The Alchemist.” The group talks about starting a resident theater. On Nov. 12, South Coast Repertory is launched at the Ebell Club in Newport Beach with a touring production of “Tartuffe.”

1965--In March, the company opens the 75-seat Second Step theater (the move to Orange County had been considered the “first step”) in a converted marine hardware store on the Balboa Peninsula owned by Emmes’ father. The season opens with Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” which meets with box office indifference and brickbats from some critics. The fall season includes the Southern California premiere of Harold Pinter’s “The Birthday Party.” For the first time, SCR attracts a critic from a major metropolitan newspaper, Cecil Smith of The Times. Smith’s review is a rave. The search for a larger theater begins. Later in the season, a production of Bertold Brecht’s “Baal,” which includes murder and rape scenes, provokes bitter audience reaction.

1967--In July, the company finds a vacant, 5,000-square-foot dime store on Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa. Conversion costs are estimated at $12,000. SCR receives a $2,500 pledge from the Newport Harbor Foundation, raises another $2,500 in a fund drive, and borrows $7,000. The 217-seat Third Step theater opens in October with Henry Livings’ “Big Soft Nellie.” The old Second Step theater remains open briefly for separate productions but, after five shows, is abandoned.

1968--Still trying to work off its debt, the company receives a boost in November from an Irvine Foundation grant of $7,500. But attendance remains low at the new theater, and there is talk of closing or moving.

1969--The 1968-69 season, after a fitful start, closes on a high note with the regional premiere of “We Bombed in New Haven,” which draws an enthusiastic response from critics and audiences.

1970--SCR wins its first Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award for a series of productions that includes Arthur Kopit’s “Indians.”

1971--In January, SCR opens “Mother Earth,” an original musical revue by Ron Thronson and Toni Shearer (later to gain fame as singer Toni Tennille) about environmental issues. The show is a hit, grossing $26,583. (Until then, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” had been the biggest hit, having grossed $8,269 the previous season.) A producer buys the rights to “Mother Earth” and eventually opens a heavily altered version on Broadway. Later, a consultant on subscription drives helps to organize the company’s disjointed ticket sales efforts. Subscriptions go from 574 to 1,300 in 1972, and jump to 4,200 in 1973.

1972--There are talks with the Irvine Co. about moving South Coast Repertory to Newport Center, near the Newport Harbor Art Museum. An 18,000-square-foot facility with 750 seats is envisioned, but plans never materialize. The Young Conservatory is begun. It offers a two-year course of study for children, culminating in a third year of staged productions.

1976--Audiences are filing an average 94% of seating capacity at the Third Step theater. In April, the Segerstrom family announces a gift of 1.65 acres beside the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa, along with a $25,000 pledge toward construction of a new theater. Initial plans call for a $1.8-million building with 450 seats, to open in October, 1977. A fund-raising drive is launched. In June, the Costa Mesa City Council pledges $250,000 in federal revenue-sharing money toward construction.

1977--Plans now call for a $2.5-million, 500-seat theater. Emmes says that the board hopes to open the theater debt-free but that the new building is unlikely to open in time for the fall season. In January, the Board of Supervisors pledges $250,000 toward construction, bringing the drive halfway to its goal. By October, theater backers have raised $1.6 million.

1978--After a two-year campaign that brings in $3.3 million, the Fourth Step theater opens in November with William Saroyan’s “The Time of Your Life.” The new facility includes the 507-seat Mainstage and the 161-seat Second Stage.

1979--SCR’s second season in its new home opens with John O’Keeffe’s 1791 romp, “Wild Oats,” on the Mainstage, and David Mamet’s “A Life in the Theater” on the Second Stage.

1980--The company mounts its first holiday production of “A Christmas Carol,” which becomes an annual tradition. John Guare’s “Bosoms and Neglect,” a West Coast premiere, opens on the Second Stage.

1982--SCR is selected as one of five theaters to participate in the Foundation of the Dramatists Guild/CBS New Play Program. The grant pays for only one production but inspires an entire season of new works on the Second Stage. Also, SCR announces a $9-million endowment campaign, with an immediate goal of $3 million. Season ticket-holders at the Fourth Step theater total 19,000, with audiences filling an average of 90% of the seats at Mainstage productions and 80% at the Second Stage.

1984--In April, the company’s production of John Millington Synge’s “Playboy of the Western World” wins eight Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awards. In May, SCR meets its $3-million endowment goal. In September, the Collaboration Laboratory, which commissions new plays, is launched. SCR marks its 20th season that month by hosting the first Arts on the Green, an outdoor arts festival in Town Center.

1985--Craig Lucas’ acclaimed “Blue Window” premieres at SCR. The theater launches a series of Monday night readings intended to gauge the “playability” of works in progress.

1986--SCR’s Hispanic Playwrights Project, in its first year, oversees the development of six plays.

1987--In June, SCR opens a new $1.7-million, 11,000-square-foot wing called the Artists Center. The three-story addition includes offices for visiting writers and SCR staff members, an expanded costume shop, a board room and a 1,700-square-foot rehearsal hall.

1988--In March, SCR’s production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Misalliance” wins six Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awards. In June, as they approach the end of their 24th season, founders Emmes and Benson accept a special Tony Award in New York for artistic achievements and contributions to the cultural life of their community. SCR’s capital and endowment campaign to raise $6.5 million by 1990 reaches the $5-million mark.