IT'S HIS CALL NOW MICHAEL RITCHIE BRINGS A STAGE MANAGER'S SAVVY TO HIS NEW JOB RUNNING THE CENTER THEATRE GROUP.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Writer

In live theater, the director may be the man in charge, but the person who often really possesses the keys to the kingdom is the stage manager, the one who never leaves the theater until the show is over and all the lights have been turned off.

So says longtime stage manager-turned-artistic director Michael Ritchie, who well remembers the world of props, replacement cast members and unions.

``You're the point person for the interaction between everybody. Everybody's perspective goes through you,'' explains Ritchie, who took over as artistic director of the Center Theatre Group's Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre and Kirk Douglas Theatre in January. ``And, in some ways, you translate that perspective to another person who doesn't necessarily have it.''

As the producer of the Williamstown (Mass.) Theatre Festival from 1996 to 2004, Ritchie, 46, left his stage-managing duties behind several years ago, but you get the idea he never forgot what he learned, or how to apply it.

``You end up with a unique perspective on how a play gets presented and produced, and ultimately how it's reacted to because you're in the theater every night running the show, and you have that interaction as well. So that, to me, was my great strength in becoming a producing artistic director. I had a sense of where everybody was in the process.''

Stage managers also get to meet people, some of whom can prove to be influential.

In the fall of 1981, Ritchie was working his first Broadway production - George Bernard Shaw's ``Candida'' - when someone called his name. A visitor to the Circle-in-the-Square offices wanted to introduce himself and say hello to Ritchie.

That visitor was CTG artistic director Gordon Davidson, who, Ritchie says, really had no reason to chat up the stage manager. But he did anyway, and Ritchie appreciated and remembered the kindness. Nearly 25 years later, it was Davidson who telephoned Ritchie immediately after CTG's board leadership had informed Ritchie that he had been selected as Davidson's successor - only the second person to run L.A.'s largest professional theater in the institution's 38-year history.

``We had a great conversation,'' recalls Ritchie. ``Not only did I know Gordon well, but his daughter Rachel and I had worked together at Williamstown for a number of years. In some ways there was, not a family connection, but a familial connection. To get the phone call from the consultant and the board leadership and then get the phone call almost immediately from Gordon, it was a nice way to get the news.''

Officially passing the torch Tuesday at a ceremony announcing Ritchie's inaugural seasons at the Taper and Ahmanson, Davidson sta leaving the institution in good hands.

``He understands from whence we came and whence the theater came, and I think he honors that,'' said Davidson. ``I think he has some dreams of his own and he'll put a stamp on this theater. I think you'll find there's a connection.''

The CTG post was one of the few that Ritchie allowed he would even consider. In the past, he had been approached by theater companies with offers to change jobs - and had nixed every opportunity.

``I (had) a great job at Williamstown, partly because of what the institution does and could do and why it related to my life,'' says Ritchie, who has two children with his wife, actress Kate Burton. ``I (lived) in New York City for nine months out of the year, a city I happened to love, and I had been there 25 years.

``And in the summers, since the festival produces on the campus of Williams College, my family would pack up and we would go to this idyllic spot in the Berkshire mountains and produce these great plays with some of the best people working in the theater. I never thought I'd ever want or desire any change from that job.''

That sentiment changed when he was asked to join the list of candidates to helm CTG and ultimately was offered the post. Over the years, various professional engagements had brought Ritchie and Burton to L.A. for extended periods of time.

``This is a better theater town than it ever gets credit for,'' says Ritchie. ``I am surprised at the quantity and quality of the work that gets done here, also because I think there's a dynamic theater community here even though we know we're in a town that's so known for the TV and film industry.''

Since being named to the post in October 2003, Ritchie has been spending time in L.A. getting acquainted with CTG operations, meeting people and seeing productions whenever possible. He officially took over administrative duties on Jan. 1 with Davidson concluding the Taper, Ahmanson and Douglas' '04-'05 season under the title founding artistic director.

Although he hopes audiences and subscribers will save their judgment for the summer of 2006, when the season concludes, the new man at the Music Center acknowledges that people figure to already be paying close attention.

``Certainly, one suspects a lot will be read into this season,'' he says. ``In announcing it, it begs the question, `Where does Michael Ritchie come from and what can we expect in the years to come?' So there's added, personal pressure in choosing it.''

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

no caption (Michael Ritchie)

John Lazar/Staff Photographer