ABOUT US
About California Repertory Company
Since 1989, California Repertory Company (Cal Rep) has been among the foremost educational theatre institutions in Southern California. The company is comprised of graduate students, faculty, and staff from the Theatre Arts Department at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). Cal Rep is dedicated to nurturing artists and challenging audiences by developing exciting, relevant, and thought-provoking work.
Cal Rep’s alumni are dispersed throughout the United States and abroad, working as college deans, chairs of theatre departments, heads of acting and design, and theatre faculty at such prestigious schools as Tulane University, Vanguard University, California State University Fullerton, Chapman University, Point Park University, University of the Pacific, Eckerd College, College of Santa Fe, Montreat College, Irvine Valley College, and Orange County High School of the Arts.
In 1998, the University, in partnership with Edison International and community members, raised over $500,000 to transform a vacant storefront in downtown Long Beach into a 99-seat theatre for use as Cal Rep’s performance space. During its tenure in the venue, Cal Rep won several major Los Angeles theatre awards, including four Ovation Awards, numerous Drama-Logue Awards, six LADCC Award nominations and the prestigious Polly Warfield Award for an outstanding season for a small repertory theatre.
In the fall of 2006, CSULB entered negotiations with the City of Long Beach to purchase the Edison Theatre. In order to satisfy the University’s stringent standards, several studies were conducted, and a seismic study indicated that the space was not in compliance with newly issued CSU safety standards. Cal Rep was compelled to vacate the Edison mid-season and relocate to an on-campus theatre. One year later, assisted by a dedicated alumna, Cal Rep soldiered on and found a home in the National Guard Armory in the Long Beach East Village. After a two-year residency, Cal Rep moved again, this time to its current home at the Royal Theatre aboard the Queen Mary.
Cal Rep Aboard The Queen Mary
California Repertory Company has taken up residence in the Royal Theatre aboard the retired luxury liner. Joanne Gordon, Cal Rep’s artistic director, says, “The elegant refined glory of the Queen Mary combined with the vibrant exciting aesthetic of Cal Rep is sure to produce a thrilling synergy and an invigorating theatrical experience for our audiences.”
