THE THEATER’S THE THING

NEWLY PLAYING: Embassy Theatre--851 S. Grand Ave. Reopened May 31, 1984. Theater size: 1,632 seats. Renovation cost: $1 million. Primarily for music, opera and dance. Theater unlikely but possible.

Henry Fonda Theatre--6126 Hollywood Blvd. Opened February, 1985. Theater size: 863 seats. Renovation cost: $1.2 million.

Hollywood Playhouse & Cafe--1445 N. Las Palmas Ave. Opened February, 1985. Theater size: 240 seats. Renovation cost: about $500,000. Projected: 99-seat theater, restaurant and bar by year-end.

Hollywood Post No. 43 (American Legion)--2035 N. Highland Ave. Opened as Il Vittoriale for play “Tamara” in May, 1984. Capacity: 130. Renovation cost: $500,000.

New Mayfair Theatre--214 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. Reopened: January, 1984. Theater size: 350 seats. Renovation cost: about $200,000.

New Variety Arts Theatre--940 S. Figueroa St. Reopened: October, 1984. Theater size: 700 seats. Renovation cost: about $500,000.

Royce Hall, UCLA campus--Reopened: May, 1984. Theater size: 1,850 seats. Primarily for music and dance, but also used for visiting theater troupes. Renovation cost: part of $12-million campus renovation project.

OPENING SOON: Huntington Hartford--1615 Vine St. Reopening: fall, 1985. Theater size: 1,038 seats. Renovation costs: about $500,000 to start, another $300,000 possible later.

Los Angeles Theatre Center--514 S. Spring St. Opening: September, 1985. Theater sizes: 499, 323, 299 and 99 seats. Projected cost: $15 million.

Pasadena Playhouse--39 S. El Molino Ave. Reopening: on or before Dec. 1, 1985. Theater sizes: 750, 99 and 52 seats. Renovation costs: about $2 million.

Orange County Performing Arts Center--Corner of Town Center Drive and Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa. Opening: 3,000-seat, multipurpose theater and 300-seat theater scheduled to open October, 1986. A 1,000-seat, multipurpose theater set to open 12 to 18 months later. Projected cost: $85.5 million, including a $20-million endowment, of which more than $61 million has already been raised.

Wiltern--3790 Wilshire Blvd. Opening: May, 1985. Theater size: 2,375 seats. Plans to show music, dance, opera. Theater unlikely but possible. Renovation cost: $4.6 million.

FUTURE ATTRACTIONS: Back Alley Theatre--Now investigating movie houses and warehouses in the San Fernando Valley for conversion to a 500-seat theater. Projected opening: fall, 1986. Projected renovation cost: at least $500,000.

City of Beverly Hills--Rexford Drive. Projected theaters: 550-seat, multipurpose auditorium-theater and smaller theater of about 100 seats. Projected opening: 1988. Part of $65-million Civic Center complex.

Cultural Foundation--San Fernando Valley. Umbrella organization developing cultural facilities at Arts Park L.A. in Sepulveda Basin and Warner Performing Arts Square in Woodland Hills. Projected theaters: Arts Park includes 2,500-seat theater. Warner Square includes a 1,200-seat concert hall, a 650-seat theater and a 150-seat flexible space. Projected cost: $72 million. Projected completion date: 1988 or 1989.

L.A. Theatre Works--Venice. Projected theaters: 175 and 500 seats. Part of “a performing, visual and literary arts center” that may also include a city library. Projected opening: smaller theater first, in late 1987, and larger theater in 1988. Projected cost: about $5 million. (Possible alternate site: Miles Playhouse, a 350-seat house in Santa Monica that would cost $1.1 million to renovate and equip. Projected opening: early 1987.)

Los Angeles Music Center expansion--On acreage across 1st Street from the current Music Center. Projected theaters: 3,000-seat multipurpose hall, 1,200-seat theater for use by Center Theatre Group, 300-to-500-seat theater for CTG and others. Projected opening: early 1990s. Projected cost: “upwards of $40 million,” figure cited in 1982.

Megaw Theatre--17601 Saticoy St., Northridge. On site currently occupied by 90-seat theater. Projected theaters: 499 and 199 seats, plus conservatory. Projected opening: 1988. Projected cost: about $10 million with endowment.

Nederlander/Pantages “Entertainment Complex”--Near corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. Projected opening: late 1987 or early 1988. Projected theater sizes: 1,700, 500, 500 seats. Projected cost: about $6 million.

North Hollywood Cultural Center--Near corner of Lankershim Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue. Projected opening: late 1988. Projected theater sizes: 499, 399, 165 and 70 seats. Projected tenants: American Theatre Arts (as prime tenant), possibly the Cast Theatre and others. Projected cost: $8.5 million to $10 million.

Odyssey International Experimental Theatre Center--Santa Monica. Projected theaters: first phase, a 500-seat house and two of 99 seats each. Second phase: 800-seat house and 250-seat cabaret. Projected opening: 1989. Projected cost: more than $12 million.