by The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre recently opened a brand-new training center in New York City, and they’re about to open their first legitimate training center in Los Angeles, too, which also will include an 85-seat cafe theater — the UCB’s fourth performance space.
UCB Theatre Sunset, 5419 W. Sunset Blvd., will begin offering classes in November and launch with a Nov. 1 grand opening show that will include appearances and/or performances by many UCB actors — among them the “UCB Four” co-founders of Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh and Ian Roberts.
The new venue on Sunset is about a mile south by southeast from the current Hollywood outpost of the UCB Theatre on Franklin Avenue, which will continue to offer improv, sketch and stand-up comedy shows nightly.
“What we’re excited about, which is the whole philosophy of the theater, is that we’re a comedy collective and we want to be the perfect place for comedians to gather and collaborate. Without a central place, that was hard,” Besser told LA Weekly. “[The Franklin Avenue theater] is a great theater, but there’s not much social space around it: You’re either in the green room or in the audience or on stage.”
From the official press release:
“The highly anticipated new Training Center at UCB Theatre Sunset will house 14 classrooms, with three of those classrooms dedicated to sketch writing. The Training Center will have a full reception area, conference room and administrative offices. In 2013 alone, UCB Theatre Franklin offered 550 courses which they expect to increase significantly with the new Training Center. The new café will offer a second location within UCB Theatre Sunset for performances. The Inner Sanctum has a highly-trained team of baristas who will be serving everything from fresh brewed coffee and espresso from Stumptown Coffee Roasters to hand-made sandwiches and snacks. The Inner Sanctum’s work-space and gallery provides separation from the counter service environment, where diners, students, and performers can relax and hang out on the ample couches, lounge chairs, and tables. An incredible art and sculpture collection compliment the lounge space, which also offers a low-key performance space that will feature open mic nights, improv jams, and other shows where performers can work on their comedy. All the artwork seen in the Inner Sanctum is from the Diane and Sandy Besser Collection.”
Certainly looks a lot cozier at night, and also four months later:
Our future Sunset/Western location is in a building seeking storefront businesses. Leasing: KAPE Property 310-5561180 pic.twitter.com/Yqv9vCoI0F
— UCB Theatre LA (@ucbtla) June 10, 2014
