OUR STORY

Founded in 1981 by Les Hanson, the West Coast Ensemble
began in a Hollywood storefront as a company of 20 actors.
Over the last 25 years, the ensemble has grown in size
and multi-cultural diversity to more than 150 theatre artists.
West Coast Ensemble has presented over 250 plays and musicals
and has introduced hundreds of emerging actors,
directors, playwrights, designers and technicians to southern California.

The principal program of West Coast Ensemble is the
presentation of a four-show season of MainStage plays
along with a workshop season of smaller, more challenging original works.
In addition, WCE provides development programs for musical
and non-musical theatre works, giving voice to emerging playwrights and composers.
WCE fulfills its commitment to the total theatre artist
through a conservatory of ongoing free classes in scene study, voice,
improvisation, movement and stage combat,
as well as through a Director’s Lab and Playwright’s Unit,
giving fledgling directors and writers the opportunity to continually develop their craft.

West Coast Ensemble has continued to advance its mission of
producing high-quality theatre that is accessible to a
wide audience through our critically hailed productions including
Zanna, Don’t! (2007), Floyd Collins (2005),
Sunday In The Park With George (2003 Ovation Award Nominee for Best Musical),
Merrily We Roll Along (L.A. Times Top 20 Production of 2000),
House of Blue Leaves (1997 L.A. Weekly Award for Best Revival), Company (1997),
Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love
(1995 - Entertainment Today Top 10 Production of the Decade),
Kimchee and Chitlins (1993 NAACP Award for Best Production), and Equus (1993).

Along with continued accolades for our productions,
WCE has won several major awards including
the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Margaret Harford Award
for Outstanding and Ongoing Contribution to Theater,
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Charlie Award for
Ongoing Contributions to Hollywood, four L.A. Drama Critics’ Circle Awards,
10 NAACP Awards, countless L.A. Weekly, and BackStage West awards
and the prestigious Jonathan Larson Foundation Award
in support of original musical development.

In addition to serving its members and existing audiences,
West Coast Ensemble fulfills its responsibility to the audiences of
tomorrow with our Families-At-Play program.
A collaboration between West Coast Ensemble, local libraries
and literacy organizations, Families-At-Play focuses
on involving inter-generational family members
in the theater experience through free performances,
Sunday talkbacks and workshops.
As part of this program, West Coast Ensemble
has produced critically heralded productions of:
The Diary of Anne Frank (2000),
The Grapes of Wrath (2002 L.A. Weekly Award for Best Revival),
To Kill A Mockingbird (2003)
and
Moliere’s The Bungler (2004).