Freedman Forum Owner Dickers for New Operators

Developer Leo Freedman confirmed Tuesday that he is negotiating to relinquish operation of the beleaguered Freedman Forum theater in Anaheim to a group headed by producers at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix.

Under the deal, which has not been completed, Freedman said he would retain ownership of the $8-million, 2,300-seat theater-in-the-round, which has been dark since its only theatrical production closed an unsuccessful 24-day run on March 8.

“I’m talking with a group of people now--and we’re close to a final agreement. I’m being very selective about who I pick (as operator),” Freedman said in a telephone interview from his Beverly Hills home Tuesday.

Freedman said he will be the landlord but would no longer act as an executive producer, as he did with the musical “42nd Street.”

Only two productions have been staged at the Freedman: a New Year’s Eve “sneak preview” concert with singer John Davidson and the 24-day run of “42nd Street,” starring Peter Marshall and Constance Towers, which received tepid reviews upon its Feb. 13 opening.

Executives at the Celebrity Theater were unavailable for comment on the negotiations, a Celebrity spokesman said. The Phoenix facility is “just like the Freedman Forum,” said the spokesman, who described it as a 2,600-seat, in-the-round theater that has booked a variety of musical acts including Diana Ross, Kenny Rogers, Lou Rawls, the Mexican pop group Menudo and theatrical productions such as “A Chorus Line.”

Similar Bookings

Celebrity Theater officials reportedly are aiming toward similar bookings in Anaheim. Among the names mentioned are former Temptations members David Ruffin and Eddie Kendrick, as well as 1960s soul singers including Mary Wells and Martha Reeves.

Booking agent Bob Engel of Variety Artists in Los Angeles said he has been negotiating with Celebrity officials to bring Ruffin and Kendrick to the facility “possibly the end of June.”

“I believe they are changing the name to the Celebrity Theater,” Engel said. “It’s a nice alternative in that marketplace--it needs one. Other than summer venues (Irvine Meadows and Pacific amphitheaters) there’s not much going on in Orange County. The Performing Arts Center is so expensive to go in there, nobody wants to touch the facility. All the promoters say they don’t want to go near it. So the new place will be a good addition.”

The Freedman Forum was seen by some city officials as the catalyst for a cultural revival in its reconstruction plan for the downtown area.

The Freedman Forum was built and financed by Freedman, who also built the 3,270-seat Melodyland Theater in Anaheim in 1962. That facility closed in 1968 and was purchased the following year by the Anaheim Christian Church for use as the church’s headquarters and for weekly services.

Bought Land in ’85

Freedman bought the 1 1/2-acre site on which the Forum theater was built from the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency in 1985 for $483,000. City aides said that under the agency’s action, the facility is limited to presenting theater and arts-related activities. Freedman is not required to make mortgage payments on the land purchase until 1989, aides said.

Freedman envisioned filling the theater’s schedule with touring productions of Broadway musicals--”top drawer, legit theater” he told a Times reporter in 1986.

Freedman and theater general manager James Woodin also talked of supplementing the bookings of musicals with periodic concerts featuring Las Vegas-type showroom acts, but none materialized.

Negative critical reaction to “42nd Street” wasn’t the theater’s only early problem, as opening-night playgoers were greeted by picketing stagehands protesting their lack of a contract with theater management.

Although the union representing local musicians obtained an agreement with the Freedman Forum, stagehands did not. Edward Weston, regional director for Equity Actors Assn., said he plans to submit for arbitration claims for back pay he says Freedman owes his members from “42nd Street.” Construction contractors are also reportedly in dispute with Freedman.

Freedman said Tuesday that he will announce details of a “full season” of concert headliners and other acts in coming weeks.