Open Gate 40th Year

History Video (1982-2022)

With a distinctive approach to joining the arts, Open Gate Theatre has been creating and performing its own work for 40 years. Open Gate is built on long term collaborations from different disciplines working with a central vision.

Open Gate started in 1982 performing at Siebu Studio 200 in Tokyo.Will Salmon (music/dance), Tobar Mayo,(drama) and Debra Samoy (dancer) were the first Open Gate ensemble.

We have been continuously been creating and performing new mixed media work since that time. From 1983- 1989 we were closely associated with Scott Kelman’s Pipeline theater in Downtown LA. At that time Alex Cline-(percussion), Betty Nash -(dance/performance), Bruce Fowler (trombone), and William Roper (Tuba) became key creator/performers, developing Open Gate's unique style and approach. In 1990 we moved to Pasadena and have been centered here since that time. At that time, we also started presenting/producing other related ensembles. The most notable of our concert presenting other people is our “Sunday Evening Series” which has been monthly for 23 years featuring two bands a night, usually of the Avant Gard Jazz nature. We were joined by the clown Tuba Heatherton and the puppeteer Ted Lamoureux who brought key elements to the Open Gate mix.

We have become adept at low budget/high ambition productions and avoided being stopped by funding variables. This has enabled Open Gate to do a lot of work. Including the creation of sixteen evening long works. We have extended this approach to presenting other ensembles and artists extensively. Indeed we have produced and presented over 480 different performances. We have created, presented, and performed Most of these have been in the Pasadena area, but we have also performed in Tokyo, Kyoto, Chicago, Berlin, and throughout the LA. Open Gate Theatre is the joining of creative artists from a variety of disciplines including instrumentalists, clowns, singers, puppet/mask makers, dancers, and actors as well as writers, composers, choreographers, videographers, and visual artists. Most of these artists have worked together for many years and many projects.