White Papers

Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts – entirely reconfigured in just one day

As one of the entertainment centers of the world, Southern California is home to a number of live performance theaters in both Los Angeles (think Hollywood) and Orange Counties (think Disneyland). So in 1986, when the City of Cerritos wanted a theater that was different from other Southern California theaters, the first reaction from some was that there were already enough entertainment venues to go around. Cerritos offcials did not agree. A city of visionaries and risk takers, they sought out and brought in experts from overseas to conceive and design a new type of theater—something that would be a departure from what existed in the area, something that would attract both funding and theatergoers.