What they like about the Ford

Three Ford “super-subscribers” talk about what keeps them coming back

By Linda Chiavaroli


“The thing I like most about the Ford is the experience of walking up the hill — the fountain, the picnic area and the rusticness of it,” says Dr. Kerry English. “The approach puts you in a terrific mood for art.”

English is one of the Ford “super-subscribers,” patrons who attend a half dozen shows or more in a season. Medical Director of the Foster Care Clinic at King Hospital, he lives in Hollywood, close to the Ford. He’s been coming to the Ford’s indoor space since the 1980s, when it was occupied by the Center Theatre Group.

“I didn’t experience the outdoor amphitheatre until many years later,” he recalls. “I’ve seen a lot of Big!World!Fun! family shows. I remember Justo Almario and Alex Acuna doing a jazz piece for kids and deer were grazing behind them the whole time.

“I’m not selling the (Hollywood) Bowl short, but, at the Bowl, you’re in the audience looking at a manmade structure. At the Ford, you’re sitting in a manmade structure looking at the hillside. It’s a completely different feeling.”

English also likes to frequent the new play series that runs November through April in the indoor theatre. “The quality and adventurousness of the productions have kept me coming back.”

For Jeanette Argentin her relationship with the Ford was love at first sight. “Once I was taken to Hollywood Bowl as a guest and sat in a box seat, but buying a ticket there was just not affordable. I saw the Ford sign from the freeway and decided to try it.”

“It’s a small venue – even in the back it’s a good seat,” says Argentin, a wharfinger who lives in San Pedro. “I love that there’s no roof and it’s open to the stars. I like the whole experience of being able to drink and eat in your seat while watching the show.”

She’s especially fond of the dance performances. “Now I’m familiar with the dance troupes and recognize the dancers.”


Argentin, became a donor to the Ford Theatre Foundation (the non-profit that helps support Ford programming) the very first time she attended. Her donor level allows her to reserve a picnic table in the entryway. “I find it hard to keep up with birthdays so bringing friends and family to the Ford in the summer is like my birthday gift to them. “The people I bring are always impressed. They can’t believe the parking is only $5. The Ford brings art to your everyday person.”

For Franchon Marie (she requested her last name not be used), the Ford experience began unpromisingly with not just one but two snafus involving tickets she had won through a radio station, but the clinical laboratory scientist at West Hills Hospital and Chatsworth resident persevered.

A single mother of children ages 6, 15 and 18, she is always looking for cultural activities that are a learning experience. “The family series touches on different cultures, different countries.. My daughter takes a Chinese class and she was able to see Chinese dance. My two older children are Nigerian and they could experience that culture.” That children are admitted free to the series makes the family shows “a very economical, fun educational thing to do.”

Franchon came with her then 4-year-old daughter Shelley to the very first free J.A.M. (Jazzed and Motivated) Session in 2008. Participants in the interactive session had to bring a string instrument and a work colleague had lent a dulcimer. “We actually didn’t even know it was a dulcimer. Shelley was by far the youngest person there and was put in a group with four old guys playing guitars. She had never touched a dulcimer, but she started to play it.

“There’s never been a year when the Ford hasn’t been able to entertain all of us. I take my older children to the hip hop shows — Culture Shock and J.U.i.C.E. Also the taiko drumming and the comics from Kollaboration. My son, who is not one to talk on the phone a lot, called a friend and said, ‘Oh I’m at the Ford with my mom and we’re watching a show.’ I was very happy.”

Linda Chiavaroli, Director of Communications for the Los Angeles County Arts Commission/Ford Theatres, has worked in marketing and pr for dance companies, orchestras, individual artists and arts centers, and as a journalist covering the performing arts.

Photo credits: deer – Arthur Trowbridge; Ford entryway – Paul Antico; J.A.M. Session – Lizzet Alvarez
 

What’s YOUR favorite thing about the Ford?
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E-mail communications@arts.lacounty.gov to share your story.