FREEDMAN FORUM GOES FOR AN ECLECTIC LINEUP

After a faltering debut last February with the sparsely attended musical “42nd Street,” the Freedman Forum in Anaheim hopes to get back on its feet with a surprisingly eclectic lineup of pop-rock concerts and stage revues, theater operations officials announced Thursday.

Artists who will appear in the theater’s varied series of pop concerts include seminal rockers Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino, pioneering rap musician Grandmaster Flash, country singer Ronnie Milsap and Puerto Rican pop idols Menudo.

The 2,300-seat theater-in-the-round will reopen July 3 with the popular dance music groups the System and Club Nouveau, said Otis Warren, spokesman for the theater’s new operating team, California Celebrity Theatre Inc.

Warren said negotiations are continuing with other acts. However, he added, “we have no other musical production on tap or in negotiations. Right now, it’s just ‘Sophisticated Ladies.’ ” A touring version of that musical is slated for a five-night run, beginning Nov. 3.

Most acts announced for Freedman Forum also will appear at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, another in-the-round-facility. Edward Haddad, who is co-owner of the 2,600-seat Phoenix theater, is a key member of Freedman Forum’s new operations group.

In addition to Haddad, the official announcement listed Brad Jacobs and David Duffy, who have been involved with bookings for the Beverly Theatre and other Southern California venues, as the new group’s other principal partners.

Freedman Forum has been closed since March 8, when “42nd Street” ended a 24-day run amid poor notices and small turnouts.

On April 14, Leo Freedman, owner-developer of the $8-million theater, said he would retain ownership of Freedman Forum, but was relinquishing all producing responsibilities to the Haddad-led operating group.

“It’s not something I enjoy doing (giving up the producing role). But I have to face realities, and I know these people know this business and will do a great job,” Freedman said at the time.

The developer also built the original 3,270-seat Melodyland theater-in-the round in Anaheim in 1962 across from Disneyland. Melodyland was considered the county’s leading showplace for musical revivals and headliner acts until attendance faltered in the late 1960s. The facility was closed as a theater in 1968 and sold to the Anaheim Christian Church in 1969.

From the start, Leo Freedman’s newest theater project has had its share of woes in a field known for soaring costs, tightening competition and an increasing shortage of major musicals.

In 1985, Freedman bought the 1 1/2-acre site for the theater for $483,000 from the city’s redevelopment agency. The site is at Broadway and the former Claudina Street, which since has been renamed 42nd Street, next to Anaheim City Hall.

While originally planned as a “Shubert Theatre-styled” 2,000-seat proscenium facility, Freedman Forum’s design was changed to the theater-in-the-round format. Freedman, who said he was financing the entire cost of construction, explained at the time that the new design would be less costly.

Last fall, when Freedman announced that construction was nearly completed for the two-level, 53,000-square-foot theater, he said he would present Broadway musicals in “long-running engagements” in addition to “Las Vegas-caliber” acts.

Freedman also said he expected that his theater would hold its own in the increasingly competitive Orange County market. The newly opened Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa is counting on musicals, such as the forthcoming “Big River” and “Me and My Girl,” as big box-office attractions. Both the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in Irvine and the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa are among Southern California’s leading pop concert venues.

But when Freedman Forum opened officially Feb. 13 with its own production of the musical “42nd Street,” it had a faltering start. Freedman had hoped the musical would run at least two months. But the show received poor reviews and drew only sparse audiences.

Aides reported that the show, which starred Peter Marshall and Constance Towers, cost $250,000 to mount and another $150,000 a week in operating costs.

Earlier, the theater’s New Year’s Eve “sneak preview” concert with singer John Davidson also drew a small audience.

Despite the changeover in Freedman Forum operations, there were indications that the theater may face union squabbles similar to those that marked the “42nd Street” run.

Spokesmen for three unions said this week that their organizations have not held talks with Freedman or the theater’s new producing group about pacts for any upcoming attractions.

Although the theater had a contract with Actors’ Equity Assn. covering the 40-member cast of “42nd Street,” equity officials said they have entered into arbitration proceedings over union claims of back pay for “42nd Street.”

Local 7 of the Orange County Musicians Assn. had an agreement covering “42nd Street’s” 16-member orchestra, but Douglas Sawtelle, association president, said no talks have been held since.

Freedman Forum had no “42nd Street” agreement with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, and union members picketed the theater during the run of that show. The theater still refuses to negotiate a pact, said Jerry Weaver, business agent for the stagehands’ Orange County Local 504.

The schedule announced for the new “Celebrity Theatre at Freedman Forum” series is:

--July 3: The System and Club Nouveau.

--July 4: “Summer Rap Festival ‘87,” featuring Grandmaster Flash, Kool Moe Dee, D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and Whistle.

--July 17: “The Golden Boys of Bandstand,” featuring Bobby Rydell, Fabian and Chubby Checker.

--July 31: Chuck Mangione.

--Aug. 9: The Four Tops, with an additional performer to be announced.

--Aug. 21: Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino.

--Aug. 22: Menudo.

--Sept. 11: Zap and Roger Troutman, with an additional performer to be announced.

--Oct. 17: Ronnie Milsap.

--Nov. 3 to 7: “Sophisticated Ladies,” a revue based on Duke Ellington’s music. Information on cast and other details for this production were not announced this week. The touring show also was scheduled for Nov. 10 to 15 at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix.

Performances for concerts (tickets from $15 to $18.50) and for “Sophisticated Ladies” (from $19.75 to $21.75) will be in the evenings, said Warren. Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster or at the Anaheim theater’s box office, he added.