Valley Theatre Ditches Monarch Hall for Theatre 68

The Valley Theatre Department has embraced its new fall residency at the Emerson Theatre in the Theatre 68 Arts Complex.

By: Kaia Mann, Editor-in-chief

A sign on Theatre 68’s box office window reads, “Valley Theatre and Dance, please enter through the back.” (Carson Tarabochia-Martin for the Valley Star)

Valley’s theatre department has begun a residency at the Emerson Theatre in the Theatre 68 Arts Complex through 2025 while awaiting the completion of the Valley Arts and Cultural Center.

“I am really excited about getting students into a space where they can interact with professional actors and make those contacts,” said Jennifer Read, chair of the theatre department. “I’m excited about being back in a real theatre.” 

Under this new arrangement, all technical classes and performances will be held at Emerson, while acting, musical theatre, and introductory courses will continue on campus in Administration 2. 

This isn’t the first time LACCD colleges have outsourced spaces for their theatre departments, but this is a first for Valley. Although there have been off-campus performances in the past, this shift to Emerson, just over three miles from campus on Lankershim Boulevard, represents a more strategic relocation.

“We’re trying to incorporate a form of partnership with Theatre 68, so that students could possibly do an internship there,” said Read. “There are lots of possibilities, and getting into a real space at this point versus Monarch Hall is very exciting.”

Proffessor Matthew McCray calls a student for an audition in the Admin 2 building as the displaced theatre department waits for the VACC building to be completed. (Daniel Padilla for the Valley Star)

The Theatre 68 Arts Complex, in the heart of the North Hollywood theatre scene, has been a cultural cornerstone for over 23 years and has hosted a diverse range of plays and performances. The Emerson Theatre, one of the stages within the complex, seats around 50 people, leading the fall productions to increase the number of performances to accommodate for the limited space.

While this solution works now, the VACC still promises the department new classrooms, greenrooms, a horseshoe theatre, an amphitheatre, and a main stage. However, construction delays and legal issues regarding the center have left the department without a dedicated performance or rehearsal space for the past several years.

Trying to put on a show in a space not meant for it has proved difficult for the department. There have been audio difficulties and space constraints that affect the quality of performances. Theatre faculty and students have had to adapt their projects to fit their less than ideal situation with limited resources.

“As a freshman incoming, I looked at LAVC and saw that they have good, amazing programs and then I saw the theatre program and they were always moving,” said film and theatre major Luis Bernal. “I’d come to a show and it would be in a different location.”

The residency at Theatre 68, which is about a 20 minute bus commute from the campus, gives students a functioning theatrical space to rehearse and perform, and it also expands their audience past just friends and family and to other Los Angeles theatregoers. 

Several students rehearse their lines as they wait to audition for the newest fall production: “Night of the Living Dead.” Performances run from Nov. 8-16 in North Hollywood. (Daniel Padilla for the Valley Star)

“I’m glad we’re going to have a space that is more suited to our needs,” said anthropology major Sarah Glickfeld when asked about the move during auditions for the upcoming fall production of “Night of the Living Dead.” “It’s a little bit inconvenient that it’s out of the way, but I’d prefer that to not having an adequate space,” she continued. “It feels more real, it feels more official, it’s like we’re actually being considered.”