Subdued opening night at the Geffen

On Wednesday night, the Geffen Playhouse run began for "Next Fall," handpicked for the schedule by producing director Gil Cates. He had died Monday night after leaving a meeting, says Barbara Schroeder in a post at The Wrap.

The audience began arriving, milling about in the very lobby where the staff had seen Gil for the last time, waving goodbye, ”See you soon!” he said with that charming smile of his. He was practically giddy with excitement; he had just finished a meeting where he was conjuring up his next great show – holiday music at the Geffen with his latest find, an astounding singer, Nathan Pacheco. “My own Josh Groban,” Gil liked to say.

Usually on opening nights at the Geffen, festivities abound. Not tonight. There were no trays with treats being passed around. The only outward sign of Gil’s passing was just that, a sign at the front of the theater wing that bears his name: The Gil Cates theater. The staff had arranged a simple display featuring a large poster with a picture of Gil and one of his quotes, “Onwards and upwards with the arts.”

Gil Cates wasn’t there, yet he was everywhere. In the warm embraces that triggered tears, in the faces of his staff, his “second family” as he liked to call those he loved and respected so, in the heavy hearts of the actors about to take to the stage on this most difficult of opening nights.

House lights down. Stage lights up. An opening line that couldn’t have been scripted better. “This is weird,” intones one of the leads … instantly transitioning the audience from real life sorrow into the world of the play.

Previously on LA Observed:
Jon Stewart's heartfelt tribute to Gil Cates