The Theater Times is the Web site of Cristofer Gross. My publishing experience has been in weekly newspapers and monthly
magazines and my theater experience has been as the Public Relations Director of South Coast Repertory from 1983 to 2005. My
experience as a Web master is taking place before your eyes.
The fundamental mission of theatertimes.org site, which began in 2006 as theaterealtor.com, is to promote the sense of community
among theater artists in Southern California (and beyond) as it promotes theater attendance by the general public. To do this the
Web site carries theater listings of productions from the San Fernando Valley to San Diego. (A form for submitting listings can be
accessed through the link at left.)
More importantly, Theater Times provides reviews of as many shows as possible, with special efforts made to cover all the major
theaters as listed on our Theaters page. Because I come to the task of theater criticism first through the institution's stage door
and artists' entrance, I try to write reviews that come from an understanding of the challenges specific to theaters and artists to
do -- regardless of the production budget.
Here are a few thoughts that explain why reviews on these pages may not read like reviews elsewhere.
magazines and my theater experience has been as the Public Relations Director of South Coast Repertory from 1983 to 2005. My
experience as a Web master is taking place before your eyes.
The fundamental mission of theatertimes.org site, which began in 2006 as theaterealtor.com, is to promote the sense of community
among theater artists in Southern California (and beyond) as it promotes theater attendance by the general public. To do this the
Web site carries theater listings of productions from the San Fernando Valley to San Diego. (A form for submitting listings can be
accessed through the link at left.)
More importantly, Theater Times provides reviews of as many shows as possible, with special efforts made to cover all the major
theaters as listed on our Theaters page. Because I come to the task of theater criticism first through the institution's stage door
and artists' entrance, I try to write reviews that come from an understanding of the challenges specific to theaters and artists to
do -- regardless of the production budget.
Here are a few thoughts that explain why reviews on these pages may not read like reviews elsewhere.
The old fear that photographs stole the soul of the subject seemed ludicrous, but that is just what critics who reveal plot twists and
punch lines are doing when, after benefiting from a play's surprises, they use the playwright’s cleverness to make their own
review more entertaining.
The surprise in plot twists and character development that I enjoy will be protected in these reviews. Only in the rare case of a
really negative review, in which the opinion can't be justified without details, will something be divulged. And in that case, we're
talking to the creators since, as far as we're concerned, the production should really be avoided.
Though it would be fun, if time consuming, to do a lot of research before attending a play, much like someone studying a foreign
language or culture before visiting another country, there is some value in a play being able to work as theater without a lot of prep
schooling. Referring back to our original mission, of encouraging the general public to attend theater, we want to approach it as
much as possible from the stand point of a person of average intelligence wandering in and seeing what's there for them. (Be
sure, we seek the accompaniment of much smarter friends to insure we meet that standard.)
What a theater goer should be required upon entering a theater to get a fulfilling experience is open to debate. And, it certainly can
change from show to show. Generally, though, the average person should be able to glean from the show what is needed -- or
something that is satisfying on some level.
punch lines are doing when, after benefiting from a play's surprises, they use the playwright’s cleverness to make their own
review more entertaining.
The surprise in plot twists and character development that I enjoy will be protected in these reviews. Only in the rare case of a
really negative review, in which the opinion can't be justified without details, will something be divulged. And in that case, we're
talking to the creators since, as far as we're concerned, the production should really be avoided.
Though it would be fun, if time consuming, to do a lot of research before attending a play, much like someone studying a foreign
language or culture before visiting another country, there is some value in a play being able to work as theater without a lot of prep
schooling. Referring back to our original mission, of encouraging the general public to attend theater, we want to approach it as
much as possible from the stand point of a person of average intelligence wandering in and seeing what's there for them. (Be
sure, we seek the accompaniment of much smarter friends to insure we meet that standard.)
What a theater goer should be required upon entering a theater to get a fulfilling experience is open to debate. And, it certainly can
change from show to show. Generally, though, the average person should be able to glean from the show what is needed -- or
something that is satisfying on some level.
theatertimes.org
THEATER TIMES ABOUT US
The Journey
Like characters from W.C. Fields’ ‘It’s a Gift,’ my parents were driven out of Chicago on pipe dreams of success as California citrus
ranchers. Unlike the Sousés, who jump-cut to fresh-squeezed manor life, the honeymooners did not achieve instant wealth. Instead, they
single-handedly did five years hard labor, planting seeds and raising saplings on many acres of Escondido hillside. It was then that some off-
hand seed planting ushered in a different kind sap. Within two months, they had hit the highway for salaried employ.
Before long, the family income would come from the writing, as it had for a couple generations past. My maternal grandmother was a low-
flying playwright, with a couple minor scripts staged by Laguna Playhouse and La Jolla in the mid-1900s. With a University of Wisconsin
agricultural journalism degree, my father pursued applied the family trade to more utilitarian pursuits in editorial, advertising and marketing
work, eventually founding a magazine in the 1960s.
Unintentionally following the same path, I graduated from USC’s School of Journalism, spent two years on Philadelphia weeklies before moving
to Orange County 30 years ago this spring and stepping in as an editor of a regional in-flight magazine at 24. Our readership literally rode with
the airline’s expansion, which at its height covered a region from Seattle to San Diego to El Paso to Chicago. For several years we monthly
diverted and delighted tens of thousands of travelers, captive in their lap restraints with only the magazine, the evacuation instructions and
the vomit bag as reading choices.
Because the airline and magazine industries are leaders in capitalist natural selection, the magazine and then the airline eventually were
swallowed by bigger predators in each genus. I survived the first course, but not the second. It had been a good run, however, and I’ve
been told that the Smithsonian collected as many past issues as they could find as an example of a dying breed of publication.
Enter Theater
As timing would have it, South Coast Repertory, which I had grown to respect as a lone cultural player in Orange County,was looking to hire
its first full-time public relations director. Although I’d not worked in theater or public relations, I applied for the job. Even odder, I was hired.
So began the promotion of more than 250 productions over 21 years. This involved writing, publication layout and production, photography,
and lots of telephone calls. These years learning about this ancient art coincided with the years in which first computers and then Internet
technology were expanding. This became another on-the-job learning opportunity.
With a new millennium and midlife in convergence, I obtained a California real estate license for side income, but soon got the same
independence bug that pushed my parents and W.C. Fields out of security and into free fall. Integrating nearly three decades as a
professional in the fields of publishing, promotion, computer graphics and editorial – I set up shingle with a single website to bring together two
worlds, and in the promotion of both real estate and theater, attempt to show that our professions and our predilections need not be strangers.
Like characters from W.C. Fields’ ‘It’s a Gift,’ my parents were driven out of Chicago on pipe dreams of success as California citrus
ranchers. Unlike the Sousés, who jump-cut to fresh-squeezed manor life, the honeymooners did not achieve instant wealth. Instead, they
single-handedly did five years hard labor, planting seeds and raising saplings on many acres of Escondido hillside. It was then that some off-
hand seed planting ushered in a different kind sap. Within two months, they had hit the highway for salaried employ.
Before long, the family income would come from the writing, as it had for a couple generations past. My maternal grandmother was a low-
flying playwright, with a couple minor scripts staged by Laguna Playhouse and La Jolla in the mid-1900s. With a University of Wisconsin
agricultural journalism degree, my father pursued applied the family trade to more utilitarian pursuits in editorial, advertising and marketing
work, eventually founding a magazine in the 1960s.
Unintentionally following the same path, I graduated from USC’s School of Journalism, spent two years on Philadelphia weeklies before moving
to Orange County 30 years ago this spring and stepping in as an editor of a regional in-flight magazine at 24. Our readership literally rode with
the airline’s expansion, which at its height covered a region from Seattle to San Diego to El Paso to Chicago. For several years we monthly
diverted and delighted tens of thousands of travelers, captive in their lap restraints with only the magazine, the evacuation instructions and
the vomit bag as reading choices.
Because the airline and magazine industries are leaders in capitalist natural selection, the magazine and then the airline eventually were
swallowed by bigger predators in each genus. I survived the first course, but not the second. It had been a good run, however, and I’ve
been told that the Smithsonian collected as many past issues as they could find as an example of a dying breed of publication.
Enter Theater
As timing would have it, South Coast Repertory, which I had grown to respect as a lone cultural player in Orange County,was looking to hire
its first full-time public relations director. Although I’d not worked in theater or public relations, I applied for the job. Even odder, I was hired.
So began the promotion of more than 250 productions over 21 years. This involved writing, publication layout and production, photography,
and lots of telephone calls. These years learning about this ancient art coincided with the years in which first computers and then Internet
technology were expanding. This became another on-the-job learning opportunity.
With a new millennium and midlife in convergence, I obtained a California real estate license for side income, but soon got the same
independence bug that pushed my parents and W.C. Fields out of security and into free fall. Integrating nearly three decades as a
professional in the fields of publishing, promotion, computer graphics and editorial – I set up shingle with a single website to bring together two
worlds, and in the promotion of both real estate and theater, attempt to show that our professions and our predilections need not be strangers.
| Theater Listing Submission Form |