The Geffen Playhouse is a not for profit performing arts theater in the Westwood

Westwood, Los Angeles, California

Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...

 neighborhood of Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Originally named the Westwood Playhouse, UCLA purchased the property in 1993. UCLA's then chancellor, Charles E. Young, appointed Gil Cates (founder and former president of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television) Producing Director. The theater was renamed in 1995 after media mogul David Geffen

David Geffen

David Geffen is an American record executive, film producer, theatrical producer and philanthropist. Geffen is noted for creating Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, and DGC Records in 1990...

 donated $5 million, one of the largest philanthropic donations ever made to an already constructed theater.

The Geffen Playhouse was built in 1929 as the Masonic Affiliates Club, or the MAC, for students and alumni at UCLA. One of the first 12 structures built in Westwood Village, it was designed by 'architect Stiles O. Clements

Stiles O. Clements

Stiles Oliver Clements was a Los Angeles architect trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and a key figure in the art deco movement of 1920s Los Angeles...

.

In 2002, The David Geffen Foundation made a $5-million lead gift towards an eventually $17-million capital campaign to renovate the theater. The renovation was completed and the Geffen reopened on November 16, 2005; the historic character of the theater was maintained, but the interior was gutted. The renovation resulted in the main 500 seat theater being retained, as well as the new 125-seat Audrey Skirball-Kenis

Audrey Skirball-Kenis

Audrey Skirball-Kenis was a noted American philanthropist.-Early years:Audrey Skirball-Kenis was born Audrey Marx in Alabama in 1915, daughter of Otto Marx, Sr., and Agnes Mosler Marx...

 Theater being added.

The Geffen offers 5 plays per season on the main stage and 3-4 plays on the second stage (the Skirball-Kenis). The theater is known for having well known film and television actors in their productions. Some actors in recent productions include:
Jason Alexander

Jason Alexander

Jay Scott Greenspan , better known by his professional name of Jason Alexander, is an American actor, writer, comedian, television director, producer, and singer. He is best known for his role as George Costanza on the television series Seinfeld, appearing in the sitcom from 1989 to 1998...

, Debbie Allen

Debbie Allen

Deborrah Kaye “Debbie” Allen is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, television director, television producer, and a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities...

, Dana Delany

Dana Delany

Dana Welles Delany is an American film, stage, and television actress, producer, host and health activist.After various roles in the early career, Delany garnered her first leading role in 1987 in the short-lived NBC sitcom Sweet Surrender and achieved wider fame in 1988–1991 as Colleen McMurphy...

, Roma Downey

Roma Downey

Roma Downey is an actress, singer, and producer, from Derry, Northern Ireland. She is best known as Tess's angel/employee, Monica, the main character of the TV series Touched by an Angel. She is also the wife of television producer, Mark Burnett.-Early life:Downey was born and raised in Derry...

, Peter Falk

Peter Falk

Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...

, Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...

, David Hyde-Pierce, Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher

Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...

, Rebecca Pidgeon

Rebecca Pidgeon

Rebecca Pidgeon is a British actress and singer-songwriter. She has maintained a recording career while also acting on stage and in feature films. She is married to the American writer and director David Mamet.-Early life:...

, Martin Short

Martin Short

Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...

, Alicia Silverstone

Alicia Silverstone

Alicia Silverstone is an American actress, author, and former fashion model. She first came to widespread attention in music videos for Aerosmith, and is perhaps best known for her roles in Hollywood films such as Clueless and her portrayal of Batgirl in Batman & Robin .-Early life:Silverstone...

, and Rita Wilson

Rita Wilson

-Early life:Wilson was born Margarita Ibrahimoff in Los Angeles, California.Her father, a Bulgarian who worked at a racetrack, was born in Greece. Before immigrating to the US, he had lived in Bulgaria and Turkey....

External links

• Geffen Playhouse website
• UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television website
• Ronald Frink Architects - (http://www.rfa-architects.com)