CURTAIN GOING UP ON NEW DOWNTOWN THEATRE CENTER : THOSE INEVITABLE LAST-MINUTE FLUBS

Going by Murphy’s law, no theater can open without a few last-minute hitches. The new Los Angeles Theatre Center is no exception. Here, under one roof, we have not one theater but four. Three have official openings tonight in what promises to be a rousing, eclectic assault on all our senses (see accompanying stories).

So what went wrong?

Not much: A brush with the Fire Department, an absent restaurateur and mild concern over the climb (or descent) to one’s seats.

Murphy would be disappointed.

The Fire Department briefly took center stage by denying use of a main door in Theater 4, the 99-seat flexible Waiver space housing the Mabou Mines production “It’s a Man’s World.”

“The seating that was sold was not built of fireproof material,” explained architect John Sergio Fisher, who designed the center but was not consulted about the seating in this particular theater.

“In a flexible seating situation, that’s determined by the set designer, not the architect,” he said. “The current configuration (of the chairs) happens to cover an aisle that leads to that one door, so egress under it was denied. It’s only a temporary inconvenience. The space has three doors. We’ll simply use the other two for the run of the show. Then we’ll change it.”

The center also expects to change the seats to meet fireproofing requirements.

Less easy to alter is the steep angle of the rake of the permanent seating platforms in the other three theaters. It is what is known as a balcony rake and older patrons may find getting to and from their seats a more precipitous hike than they’d bargained for.

“I only work one way,” Fisher explained, “by trying to optimize sight lines. My concern is the relationship of audience and actors. If we’d had a bigger site, we might have had less of a rake. It’s strictly a function of geometry. You take an average eye-height, look between heads to the next row down and draw a line down to the stage.

“Given the short depth of the theaters, that was the only way. But then we’ve not heard any of those complaints yet. The rake is no sharper than in the Greek amphitheaters--and those have survived for thousands of years.”

A visit to Theatre 3 Tuesday also revealed a surprise of a different kind. Shorties in the audience--such as yours truly--may be startled to find that, once they do sit down, their feet will only barely touch the ground. But no need to rent a footstool, just yet.

“You’re not the first person to mention it,” Fisher said. “My mother is 4-foot-11, so I know all about the problem. Apparently, the installation is uneven. It can be adjusted. It will be.”

Artistic producing director Bill Bushnell wasn’t too worried either.

“We won’t be able to determine how it all works until the end of these first runs,” he said. “The principal comment we get is, ‘What incredible sight lines!’ The rake is the same as the new Bagley Wright (Theatre) in Seattle. They’ve ended up putting in a few railings along the aisles. We may have to do so too.”

Aside from these structural hiccups, the largest single other nuisance is that the center lost its food and drink concessionaire late last week which leaves it minus its bar and restaurant.

“He couldn’t quite get his act together and I was too patient,” Bushnell said. While Friday’s gala grand opening benefit will be catered, the center isn’t rushing into any hasty arrangements.

“We’re in the process of negotiating with four other restaurants,” Bushnell added. “Meanwhile, we’re operating our own concession stand. We were able to acquire one-day licenses for (last) Friday and Saturday (it’s down to fruit juice and Perrier tonight) and we’re letting people know that there’s a very good restaurant named Irwin’s right next door.

“They’ve been good neighbors and they’re one of the parties we’re negotiating with. They’re sharing a percentage of their intermission bar during this period, but we should have the situation solved by the end of the year.”

(Theatergoers take note: Irwin’s is open Tuesdays through Sundays until midnight, Mondays until 10 p.m.)

As for other last-minute surprises, “The biggest thing we’ve had to deal with,” Bushnell said, “is instant success. With four shows in previews, we sold out last Friday and Saturday. We caused major traffic jams on Spring Street!”

That unforeseen turn of events gave adjacent parking facilities their first workout. Allow extra time for parking. It was sluggish Tuesday, but kept moving; attendants were polite and helpful.

Said Bushnell, “It’s a shakedown period, but it’s working out fine. So far the thing has gotten off the ground like a great big bird.”