the long voyage
by Douglas
Messerli
Why have I delayed in announcing the death of one
of the truly great theater producers in Los Angeles? In a sense it is because
his influence and talent, and the theater complex he created in Los Angeles was
so very overwhelming. Ron Sossi, a Michigan boy who grew up in Detroit, moving
to Los Angeles, worked many jobs as he moved to attend the UCLA film school. He
supported himself as first as a photographer and water filter salesman to earn
his M.F.A. But he was also a singer and actor, who traveled for the USO to
Korea, Japan, and Guam. He briefly married actor Bonnie Franklin, and oversaw
ABC productions, including Bewitched, The Flying Nun, and Love
American Style.
He was obviously frustrated by his work in
television. And founded the Odyssey Theatre first in a storefront church on
Hollywood Boulevard, presenting the early productions of Brecht, Jean Claude
van Italie's The Serpent, and classics such as Euripides' The Bacchae.
In 1973 he moved to a larger venue, producing and directing such major works as
Ibsen's Peer Gynt, Georg Büchner's Woyzeck, and so many others of
both classics and new works such as The Adolf Hitler Show, The
Chicago Conspiracy Trial, Master Class and so very many others. He
single-handedly introduced nearly all of Brecht's plays to Los Angeles,
including Mother Courage, Baal, The Caucasian Chalk Circle,
and others. Before the Mark Taper Forum, you could see Beckett on his stages.
In 1989, about the time I began to attend Odyssey productions, he had moved to
a large former warehouse, creating three theaters (sometimes it seemed like
more) on Sepulveda Boulevard, bringing works to production that you couldn't
imagine in any theater company. At those theaters I not only saw one-man and
woman shows by John Kelly, David Greenspan, John Fleck and Tim Crouch, and many
others, but productions of major works by Max Frisch, Friedrich Durrenmatt,
Henrik Ibsen, Irene Maria Fornes, Arnold Wesker, Shelagh Delaney, Taylor Mac, Edward
Albee, Murray Mednick...the list goes on. I have never before encountered a
space with three stages performing such a variety of work, revivals and
contemporary productions.
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I am truly at a loss. Ron Sossi was
theater, and his sometimes amateur productions such as a recent revival of
William Inge's Picnic, revealed nuances you never before perceived. I
looked forward each month to his direction and productions, running over
56-years, which serves as a lesson in world theater. When I now look back I see
a theatrical variety which was so very rich that I know of no other local
theater company that could have even have imagined his accomplishments. I never
met this wonderful man. I saw him, reviewed his plays, but never dared to
introduce myself. What a shame. I might have at least shaken his hand, bent down
and bowed before his remarkable achievements. I can now only toast him, speak
of my love for all he has done.
Los Angeles, March 26, 2025
Reprinted from International
Theater, Opera, and Performance (March 2025).
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