In the 1970s, music production on television was in its infancy. It consisted of the current top-ten recording artists lip-synching on weekly dance shows and the appearance of well-known, established recording stars on television variety shows. The biggest of what are known today as the major award shows were the American Music Awards, Grammy’s, Academy Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards. With the exception of weekly shows such as Solid Gold, Soul Train, Midnight Special and the flagship of all music television, American Bandstand, there were few productions on television dedicated to the proliferation of popular music.

During those years, Jan Parent was a musical instrument technician and the resident television production specialist for the above-mentioned shows. The techniques used in those early years of multi-performance award shows were primitive at best. With little or no sound reinforcement and all hand and analog instruments, it was a production challenge that was far less complicated than it is today.

Johnny Caswell and Jan Parent met in 1980 and became working associates. Johnny had recently relocated to Los Angeles from the East Coast, and his background was primarily as a performing artist. Jan and Johnny quickly began cultivating their dream of providing the highest quality rehearsal space, professional service, better equipment and more personal relationship to the working professional musician than had previously been available in the industry. With this in mind, they carved out a niche in the television music market and became the conduit between television producers and musicians to more effectively accomplish production goals. Over the last 20 years, Jan and Johnny have fulfilled those early aspirations by being diligent and standing steadfast in their convictions, consistently providing quality service, respect, knowledge, cooperation and concern for others. As a result, Jan and Johnny forged the techniques that to this day drive musical production for television.

Jan and Johnny’s effort to become an independent, freestanding entity was difficult. They had little to work with in the way of equipment—a van, pick-up truck and no permanent location—but made due with the little they had. They made up for it with their passion to achieve, along with the support from a multitude of friends and associates, including television producers and musical instrument manufacturers. With relationships that were strong and loyal within the television industry, the work was steady and quickly grew. They worked for several years out of their garages and a basement storage locker on the lot of KTLA television studios. In 1990, they rented 800 square feet of space in Burbank and, for the next three years, it served as the first home for the yet to-be-named CenterStaging Musical Productions, Inc.

The move to CenterStaging’s current location along with the construction of a warehouse, administrative offices and Studios 1, 2 and 3, came in the fall of 1993. In January 1994, the newly incorporated CenterStaging Musical Productions opened the doors to its new facility. Second to none in its functional appointments, CenterStaging was quickly recognized as the premier rehearsal facility in the Los Angeles area.
In response to production demands on the East Coast, CenterStaging took the first steps towards expansion in that area in March of 1996. As a result of our diligence, dedication and hard work, we can now proudly include CenterStaging East as part of our family. The facility is located just outside Philadelphia, and is poised to quickly respond to the production needs of that region.

In 1998, the acquisition of an adjacent parcel of land in Burbank became “SoundStage One,” our first soundstage and the beginning of a new chapter in our quest for growth. The success of “SoundStage One” exceeded our most optimistic expectations, and the plans to build “SoundStage Two” and “SoundStage Three” were well underway.

In 2000, we expanded our compliment of rehearsal studios to 10. We now occupy over 100,000 square feet of space and can proudly proclaim we are the largest of our kind in Southern California. We are proud of our employees who we consider to be family members. They are the lifeblood of our Company, the source of our pride, and the substance that sustains CenterStaging. We take this opportunity to thank them for their dedication. It is a credit to them that we are successful in our daily challenges, and a credit to them that we continue to prosper and grow. They are all experts in their chosen fields, and they all adhere to the doctrine of quality service and dedication.

CenterStaging is young and vital, excited about the future, and has a passion for growth. Our Company began as an idea designed to improve and expand on a theme, as well as to invent and discover new techniques to apply to an already existing genre. It is well on its way to achieving that end.