Meghan Pressman has led Center Theatre Group since 2019. (photo courtesy of Center Theatre Group)

Center Theatre Group could be called the creative heartbeat of Los Angeles. As America’s largest theater company outside of New York City, CTG brings diverse artistry to the masses – from the biggest hit Broadway musicals at the Ahmanson to the most intimate plays at the Mark Taper Forum.

Managing director and CEO Meghan Pressman is the woman who keeps the heart beating. She came into theater honestly. Born of creative parents, it really just made sense.

“My mom was a professional actress and – by the time I was in grade school – became a full-time drama teacher at some local private schools, including mine, and she directed me in plays,” Pressman explained. “I was in grade school, and my dad was a chiropractor, but a lot of his patients were Broadway folks, and he was a show doctor.”

She remembers being backstage when Patti LuPone was in “Anything Goes” and Carol Channing was reviving “Hello, Dolly.” She had on-stage seating for the original Broadway production of “Cats.” Even still, she resisted going into theater herself.

“I started college as a math and chemistry major – since I really liked science. And I still did theater, and [eventually] realized that I was more of a theater major than anything else. I think … [I] admitted defeat,” Pressman chuckled.

She took an impressive route from there. With an eye for producing and education, she received her masters in theater management from Northwestern University in 2003. She started her own theater company and took classes at Second City. She received a business masters from Yale in 2010 in nonprofit management, and from there had a series of jobs at high-profile theater companies. First, a fellowship at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, then managing jobs with Signature Theatre Company in New York and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. In 2019, CTG came calling – just months before the world shifted in its own theatrical style.

“I had six months under my belt before I had to lay off a couple of the people and shut down the theater,” she remembered.

CTG was one of the organizations that suffered coming back from the pandemic, having to work to bring crowds back into theaters after years away. Just last year, the Mark Taper Forum was forced to cancel most of its season.

“Some shows are doing great – pre-pandemic numbers or close – and some shows are still not necessarily hitting the stride of what they would before,” Pressman said.

There are several highly anticipated productions on the horizon now, though, as CTG surges back to the steady beat that has made it so intrinsic to the city’s culture. Several big Broadway stars will be hitting the stages in the 2024-25 season, including Sutton Foster, Lea Salonga and Bernadette Peters. Among the other upcoming highlights are “Once Upon a Mattress,” Stephen Sondheim’s “Old Friends” and “American Idiot.”

Pressman said these high-profile productions help to fund other programs at CTG.

“Part of our model is looking at how – in particular the Ahmanson – can help financially subsidize our other theater and play development programs and education programs,” she said. “So, when we have ‘Once Upon a Mattress,’ which I truly believe has the potential to sell out, and then followed up by Bernadette, that really allows us to feel more confident going into our subscription season and how that all helps support shows at the Taper,” Pressman said.

CTG is also concentrating on celebrating the rich cultural diversity of Los Angeles all season long.

“The next thing with the Taper after ‘American Idiot’; is [‘Fake It Until You Make It’] by the first indigenous playwright – Larissa FastHorse – to be on Broadway,” Pressman said. “We’re trying to make sure we’re really reflective and focusing on different stories.”

With the trials of the early-2020s in the rear view, Pressman is looking forward to continued success in the season to come.

“I got into producing because I love working with people and supporting the people who are doing the work … seeing the great joy of the audience experiencing something that really, really speaks to them,” she said. “It’s so great when people are able to be proud of the work that they do. I like the people I work with. It’s fun to come in and collaborate with them. When they’re proud of their work, it is everything I hope for.”

Sutton Foster, right, will star in “Once Upon a Mattress,” coming to the Ahmanson Theatre Dec. 10. (photo by Joan Marcus)