Theatre Center hires manager

Hoping to rise above its precursors’ legacy of fiscal problems, the New Los Angeles Theatre Center has hired a new general manager as it tries to turn downtown dwellers into ticket-buyers.

Paul Stuart Graham arrived last month after three years as producing director of Actors Co-op, the respected 99-seat theater based at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. The general manager’s job includes trying to attract a healthy audience for LATC’s four stages, which range from a small black box to 500 seats.

“Running a 99-seat theater is a whole different ballgame than operating a venue with four theaters,” said Graham, who also teaches arts management at Cal State Los Angeles.

The city-owned LATC is in a restored 1916 bank building; converting it into a theater complex and sustaining its operations has cost more than $31 million in public funding since the mid-1980s. Envisioned as a cog in the revival of downtown L.A., it has struggled since to become self-sustaining. The Latino Theater Company has operated LATC since 2006 under a 20-year agreement with the city.

-- Mike Boehm