{"id":2189,"date":"2022-01-13T21:55:20","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T21:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/news\/performing-arts\/waco-theater-center\/"},"modified":"2022-01-13T21:55:20","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T21:55:20","slug":"waco-theater-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/news\/performing-arts\/waco-theater-center\/","title":{"rendered":"WACO Theater Center is a home for Black artists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The Where Art Can Occur Theater Center provides a space for artists of African descent to showcase their work.&nbsp; The theater company will be placing a bid to become the operator of the Vision Theater in Leimert Park.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-blackowned-los-angeles-standard-newspaper\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Support_Standard_web.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"296\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The L.A. Standard Newspaper needs your support so that we can continue to create positive stories about Black communities. $20, $50, $100, $500, $1,000. Any amount would be greatly appreciated. -Jason Douglas Lewis, Owner\/Publisher. Donations can be made through Cash App <a href=\"https:\/\/cash.app\/$LAStandard\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/cash.app\/$LAStandard<\/a>, Venmo https:\/\/venmo.com @LA-Standard-Newspaper, PayPal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/paypalme\/lastandardnewspaper\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/paypalme\/lastandardnewspaper<\/a>, and GoFundMe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-blackowned-los-angeles-standard-newspaper\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-blackowned-los-angeles-standard-newspaper<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-2187\" src=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WACO_Theater_Center_08_web.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WACO_Theater_Center_08_web.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WACO_Theater_Center_08_web-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption><em><strong>Founders Richard Lawson and Tina Knowles-Lawson. Photo by Cliff Watts<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure>&nbsp;<\/figure>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KQAhnTuM164\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<figure>&nbsp;<\/figure>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">By Jason Lewis<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The Where Art Can Occur (WACO) Theater Center provides a platform and a home where Black artists can create new work.&nbsp; Founded by actor Richard Lawson (&ldquo;Poltergeist,&rdquo; &ldquo;Dynasty,&rdquo; &ldquo;All My Children&rdquo;) and his wife Tina Knowles-Lawson (mother of Beyonc&eacute; and Solange Knowles) in 2016, WACO is a performing and visual arts organization dedicated to the empowerment of Los Angeles artists and stories of the African Diaspora.&nbsp; WACO features a 99-seat theater space which features live plays, film screenings, musical shows, and dance series. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">While there are theater companies all over Los Angeles, theater companies that feature Black artists are very important.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;There are only a handful of Black spaces in Los Angeles for Black artists to showcase their work,&rdquo; said Shay Wafer, WACO executive director.&nbsp; &ldquo;There are only a few Black theater companies that are producing on a regular basis.&nbsp; Having a Black space is extremely important.&nbsp; The likelihood of you getting your work there is higher than going to another space where they are only featuring one or two works by people of color.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Los Angeles is known by many as the Entertainment Capital of the World, so there are many places to see live performances.&nbsp; But for a Black audience, the WACO Theater will have shows geared toward their tastes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to see people like Debbi Morgan (&ldquo;Eve&rsquo;s Bayou,&rdquo; &ldquo;All My Children,&rdquo; &ldquo;Power&rdquo;) who you may know from television or from films,&rdquo; Wafer said.&nbsp; &ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to be able to see her here on the stage live and in person, sharing a very vulnerable and honest story about her life.&nbsp; You&rsquo;re not going to see that in her television roles.&nbsp; The same for Vanessa Bell Calloway (&ldquo;Coming to America,&rdquo; &ldquo;What&rsquo;s Love Got to Do with It&rdquo;).&nbsp; You&rsquo;re going to see another range of her talent, beyond the characters that she&rsquo;s embodied in television and film.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Seeing a live production in a small theater is a different experience than seeing a film at a movie theater.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;It&rsquo;s different when you&rsquo;re able to see it live, and you&rsquo;re in a community of audience members at the same time who are experiencing it live,&rdquo; Wafer said.&nbsp; &ldquo;You&rsquo;re able to engage with the artist following the show.&nbsp; The engagement between the artist and the audience is totally different.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The WACO Theater Center has education programs in collaboration with the KIPP Charter Schools.&nbsp; WACO launched the Films for Teens by Teens program where they teach students how to create short films.&nbsp; Currently the program is open to KIPP students, but the program will soon be open to students city wide. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-2188\" src=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WACO_Theater_Center_07_web.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WACO_Theater_Center_07_web.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WACO_Theater_Center_07_web-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption><em><strong>Photo by Patrick Bastien<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure>&nbsp;<\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Richard&rsquo;s Warriors is a mentorship program for teenage boys and Tina&rsquo;s Angels is a mentorship program for teenage girls.&nbsp; The WACO Theater Center has acting classes for people of all ages through Richard Lawson Studios, which is a resident company at the theater center. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">One of the most spectacular events at the WACO Theater Center is the annual Wearable Art Gala.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an amazing event, and it&rsquo;s been called the Black Met of the West Coast,&rdquo; Wafer said.&nbsp; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big party.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s food, it&rsquo;s drinks, it&rsquo;s a Second Line (parade).&nbsp; And it&rsquo;s a chance to honor individuals who are doing tremendous work in their communities.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The WACO Theater Center is in North Hollywood&rsquo;s Arts District, but it could move its entire operations to South Los Angeles in the near future.&nbsp; The Vision Theater in Leimert Park will be looking for an operator when renovations are complete, and the WACO Theater Center will be submitting an application. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">For more information about the WACO Theater Center performances and education programs, visit their website at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wacotheatercenter.com\" target=\"_blank\">www.wacotheatercenter.com<\/a> and follow them on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The Where Art Can Occur Theater Center provides a space for artists of African descent to showcase their work.&nbsp; The theater company will be placing a bid to become the operator of the Vision Theater in Leimert Park.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[2198,2196,2197,169,170,93,2193,168,167,161,218,156,157,2199,75,135,163,162,1221,1486,2195,2191,2194,102,2192,158,2190,160,159],"class_list":["post-2189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-acting-school","tag-actor","tag-actress","tag-african-american","tag-african-american-newspaper","tag-baldwin-hills","tag-beyonce-knowles","tag-black-newspaper","tag-community-newspaper","tag-crenshaw","tag-inglewood","tag-ladera-heights","tag-leimert-park","tag-live-events","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-standard-newspaper","tag-mid-city","tag-park-mesa-heights","tag-performing-arts","tag-plays","tag-productions","tag-richard-lawson","tag-solange-knowles","tag-south-los-angeles","tag-tina-knowles-lawson","tag-view-park","tag-waco-theater-center","tag-west-adams","tag-windsor-hills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}