Historical Overview
East L.A. Classic Theatre's beginnings reach back to 1992, when a group of multicultural arts professionals, Tony Plana, Robert Beltran, Ruben Sierra, and Julie Arenal, launched the company as a forum where classically trained Latino and other minority artists could investigate the classics in culturally specific productions and adaptations. ECT was incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 1995.
Its debut — as the resident professional company at Cal State Los Angeles — was a Mexican-American adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s A Touch of the Poet. Thereafter, The Price, Mirandolina and Hedda Gabler., were added to ECT’s productions. Later productions included Cyrano de Bergerac, a Zoot Suit version of Romeo & Juliet, a pop-musical adaptation of Twelfth Night and its popular Much Ado About Nothing – Mariachi Style.
A tour of A Midsummer Night's Dream was so well received that it launched ECT's Beyond Borders school program in the Montebello Unified School District which was funded by a Federal Title VII grant.
By 1999, Beyond Borders was fully established through contracts with the
Los Angeles and Montebello Unified School Districts as it provided an innovative and creative way to engage students to improve their literacy, English language development, and social skills.
Recognizing this impact and given the tremendous need in the community, ECT created Language in Play (LIP) in October 2004 as an after-school and intercession option for schools requesting a Beyond Borders curriculum. Both programs serve elementary, middle and high schools throughout the greater Los Angeles area and beyond.
"We're focused on kids at the most vulnerable time in their childhoods, working to integrate the arts into cross-curriculum studies and teacher training. Our mission has a unique bicultural/bilingual twist as well."
-Tony Plana
Founder & Executive Artistic Director
East L.A. Classic Theatre
