THE FINALE NEARS FOR CLO AT THE MUSIC CENTER

After more than 20 years on the hill, The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, long plagued by a scarcity of product and a decline in subscriptions, will cease operating at the Music Center after 1987.

The reason for its departure is a further cut in the allotment of its annual playing time at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion--from 16 weeks a year to a proposed 12 weeks in 1988.

“They’re actually forcing us out of there,” said James M. Nederlander, chairman of the board of Civic Light Opera, who claims he is baffled by the move. “They’ve been cutting us down all along. To amortize our costs we need at least 16 weeks.”

The cut in time is attributed by Eaton C. Ballard, chairman of the board of the Music Center Operating Company, to increasing demands by other resident companies, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Joffrey Ballet and the new Los Angeles Music Center Opera, which will be launched in October.

In 1985, the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera gave up its 17 summer weeks at the Ahmanson Theatre, which it had found hard to fill, virtually cutting in half its overall time at the Music Center. This year it was reduced to 16 weeks at the Chandler Pavilion, forcing the Nederlander Organization (which acts as the booking agent for Civic Light Opera) to put one of the CLO’s three shows--the successful “Tango Argentino”--into its Hollywood Pantages Theatre.

Contracts between CLO and the Music Center were negotiable every three years, but as of 1984 one-year extensions were offered.

Said Neil Papiano, vice president/secretary of the LACLO and its chief negotiator: “They asked us what was the lowest we could go and they agreed to give us 16 weeks. When we went to 16 weeks, a promise was made that we would never be cut below that. Yet when the time came for the rollover into 1988, they offered us 12 weeks, which is totally unacceptable.

“I really don’t understand it,” he continued. “We’re the only paying residents at the Pavilion, the only ones who carry our own load. We don’t require subsidies either from the county, the Performing Arts Council or from private sources and yet we’re the ones whose time has been (consistently) cut down--from 27 weeks to 24, 22, 19 and 16.

“Now when they say 12 it means we have to tell some subscribers you can’t come here any more.”

In a 1984 interview, Ballard and then operating company president Alan Colman had predicted that by 1986 the demands for space at the Music Center could result in “a juggling act.” Additional theaters to accommodate the many companies vying for space at the complex are still in the planning and fund-raising stages, even though James Nederlander had tried to help expedite matters (and solidify the CLO’s tenancy at the Music Center) by extending the use of a $20 million line of credit.

Does Ballard (who declined to comment on the difficulty for CLO of recovering costs on short bookings) see musical theater as less important than ballet or opera?

“Not less important,” he said, “but the board felt a community obligation to accommodate opera and ballet. At the same time we are very reluctant and sorry to see the Civic Light Opera go.”

Was there disenchantment with the Civic Light Opera operation?

“No. They had disappointments of their own, which is not unusual.”

Why not put opera and ballet into the Ahmanson Theatre?

“I’m told it’s inadequate.”

Any chance that the Music Center might change its mind?

“Our task is to start planning for other uses in the summer of 1988.”

Meanwhile, unhappy though he is about moving out of the Music Center, Nederlander expects to go on with Civic Light Opera at the Pantages and the Wilshire Theaters, both of which are co-owned by his Nederlander Organization.

“Frankly, from an economic standpoint, it will probably be better for us, but the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is such a beautiful place.”

“We’ve always believed Civic Light Opera belongs in the Music Center,” echoed Papiano. “Our seasons had been getting stronger. Subscriptions were climbing (after dipping in the early ‘80s, though Papiano declined to give any specific figures). We’re bringing the Bolshoi for three weeks in 1987. That will leave us only 13 weeks. It’ll be tight, but maybe we’ll do one long-running show . . . “

Any chance that LACLO might reconsider and accept 12 weeks?

“Oh, no. Absolutely not.”

Meanwhile, Edwin Lester, who founded Civic Light Opera in 1938 and was responsible for its unparallelled success until his retirement in 1977 (after which it began to run into trouble), had some reservations about the future.

“It’s almost impossible to operate anything successfully on a 12-week minimum,” he confirmed, “though I’m not sure the downtown audience will accept the Pantages. But what they want to do at the Music Center will cause extra (financial) drains. The Civic Light Opera’s first year in the Pavilion is what kept them (the Music Center) alive. Everything else was costing so much money.”

Ironically, in 1988 LACLO will be marking its 50th anniversary.