The Groundlings - History

History

In 1972, Gary Austin (a veteran of San Francisco's "The Committee") assembled a group of performers in Los Angeles who just wanted to work on their craft. Together they would improvise, perform monologues, scenes, characters, songs, dances, classic plays, you name it. After about a year, they started doing performances and inviting friends to come and watch. Word got out about the workshop, more people started coming, and soon a core group of performers began to showcase their material at various venues around Hollywood.

In January 1974, Austin announced that he wanted to create a theatre company. There were fifty founding members of the company (membership at that time required only that you pay the $25 to attend workshops), who would develop material in the workshops and then perform the best pieces in the shows on the weekend. The first show as this new group was in the 30-seat basement of the Oxford Theatre (now The Met) near the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Western Ave. Esteemed LA Times theatre critic, Sylvie Drake, was in the audience that first weekend, and wrote a rave review. "This could be the start of something big," Drake predicted.

As the buzz about the new company increased, the entertainment industry started taking notice. Comedian Lily Tomlin was a regular in the audience, and she hired several Groundlings to perform on The Lily Tomlin Show. Later that year, Lorne Michaels, who produced Tomlin's TV special, asked Groundling Laraine Newman to be a cast member for his new late night comedy series Saturday Night Live.

Before long, membership in the company grew to 90 performers. To keep the size of the company down, auditions became required to join. (Phil Hartman, who then was a graphic designer and not an actor, attended that first audition. He got in, but because of the stiff competition, it would be over a year before he started performing in the shows.) With such a large company, workshops seven days a week, and sold-out shows going up three nights a weekend, it became clear that The Groundlings needed a place to call their own.

The Groundlings School of improvisation officially began in 1978 with only 17 students and original staff members Gary Austin, Tom Maxwell, Phyllis Katz, and Tracy Newman. It now boasts an enrollment of over 4200 students. The Sunday Company was formed by Suzanne Kent in 1982 to further develop the talent coming through the school.

The Groundlings Theatre at 7307 Melrose Avenue (previously an interior decorator’s studio, a furniture showroom, a gay bar, and then a 'massage parlor') was acquired by the company in 1975. Through equity and with the use of their own funds, company members set out to modernize the building and turn it into a performance space. It would be four years of battling red tape, building codes, and parking restrictions before any shows would appear on the stage. During that time, The Groundlings performed their revues at a handful of theatres all over town, including The Improv, The Matirx, The Hollywood Canteen, and the White House. Finally, in April 1979, the revitalized 99 seat theatre was finally able to open its doors to audiences.

In November 1979, Gary Austin stepped down as artistic director. Tom Maxwell was voted in as his successor, and he would remain at the helm for the next ten years. In 1989, The Groundlings began the enduring tradition of having Groundlings or Groundlings Alumni direct each new revue. The Main Company (now capped at 30 members at a time) collectively acts as the organization's artistic director, democratically making business and creative decisions as a group.