Fire Marshals Close Studio City Theater
All weekend performances of John Susman’s “Tiger Treadwell Takes Tinseltown” at the Ventura Court Theatre in Studio City have been canceled after Los Angeles fire marshals closed down the theater Thursday just before the performance was to begin.
The reason for the shutdown, according to Capt. James L. Gaffney, was the theater management’s failure to secure the proper licenses--specifically a particular permit “that allows that kind of business to be run out of that occupancy.”
The newly opened theater on Ventura Boulevard has 99 seats.
“We’d been promised since January that all the city building codes would be met and that we would be handed a legal building,” said Carolynn Botticelli, who produced “Tiger Treadwell” for the Los Angeles Theatre Unit. “Twenty paying customers filed in last night followed by the fire marshal.”
Neither the theater’s owner, Max Rubinchik, nor his legal counsel, Richard Niederberg, could be reached for comment Friday.
Botticelli said the show would resume Thursday only if Rubinchik is able to secure the needed clearances. Otherwise, the show will remain closed.
Anyone holding tickets or reservations for this weekend can reach Botticelli at (213) 851-8106.
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