‘Nunsense’ Begins to Turn the Tide Towards a Profit

The opening of three local for-profit theater companies this summer seemed to indicate that for-profit ventures were an idea whose time has come in San Diego. But the fate of two of the companies that saw their expectations rise and their resources fall with their shows--”The All-Night Strut” and “I Wanna-Be!?”--served as a reminder that commercial ventures are always a gamble.

Still, James A. Strait, who launched the third company, T.S. Productions, with a for-profit production of the off-Broadway hit, “Nunsense,” is showing that it can be done.

When Strait and partner Paul D. Taylor first opened the production July 20 at the Sixth Avenue Playhouse, Strait expressed the hope that he would pay back his investors by the end of summer and begin paying profits in the fall.

But the secret of his success to date has been that he didn’t count on such lofty predictions. He kept his overhead so low that he only needed to sell 70 tickets a night to break even.

Sales dipped below the break-even point a couple of times, which necessitated additional loans from Strait and Taylor to the production.

But now his patience and that of his investors’ are finally starting to pay off. Not with profit checks--yet. But the first checks returning some of the initial investment costs were sent out last week.

Those checks are small, he acknowledges--a mere $440 to be split among eight investors.

“Still, just the idea of giving something back was kind of fun,” Strait said.

The company spent just more than $71,000 for mounting and running costs. Investors put up $32,500 of that, and the show, as of Aug. 26, has brought in just over $39,000 in net ticket sales for a total of $71,500--leaving about $440 to be returned to the investors.

Also working in Strait’s favor was his decision to spread the investment risk among several people, keeping each individual’s risk relatively small. The largest single investment in “Nunsense” was $5,000--a modest amount in contrast with that of mounting “The All-Night Strut” and “I Wanna-Be!?,” each of which depended on the backing of just one or two investors. In both cases, those investors, faced with disappointing reviews and poor ticket sales, closed the shows ahead of schedule. “Nunsense,” a loony, lighthearted comedy about six nuns staging a talent show to raise money to bury some of the members of their order, is set to run through the end of September, but Strait would like nothing better than for audience support to justify indefinite extensions and, ultimately, profits for all.

Certainly he would like the show to run at least long enough to validate his investment in an upcoming casting change.

Priscilla Allen, the San Diego actress who played the exploding head in Arnold Schwarzenegger movie “Total Recall,” will replace Dianne Holly as the Mother Superior on Sept. 19.

Holly, who is on the faculty at San Diego State University, has to return to her teaching and designing duties. The longtime Gaslamp Quarter Theatre Company costume designer will doff her “Nunsense” habit to design costumes for the upcoming SDSU production of “Candide.”

“I Wanna-Be!?,” a musical look at the life of modern wannabes, who want to be things they are not, may try another run at the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre Company, said one of the show’s creators, Judy Milstein.

Milstein, director of Underground at the Lyceum, is negotiating with Kit Goldman, producing director of the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre Company, for another staging of “I Wanna-Be!?” on dark nights at the Gaslamp’s smaller house, the Elizabeth North Theatre.

Details are still being worked out as to whether the show will be a rental or a cooperative venture, in which the Gaslamp will share part of the revenue.

The show, which had committed itself to a four-week run at the Hahn, closed after nine days when the principal investors dropped out.

The new production, which might take place this year, may be structured in such a way to compensate the Gaslamp for the rental revenue that was not paid when the show closed. One possibility being bandied about is offering the show free to Gaslamp subscribers.

“We support the project and want to work with them,” said Goldman. “I think our subscribers might enjoy it.”

PROGRAM NOTES: Larry Mendte, the Channel 8 weatherman-funnyman, is set to make his San Diego acting debut tonight in “The KPUG Talk Radio Broadcast” at the New Valley Playhouse at Town & Country Hotel. That brings to three the number of San Diego murder mysteries now running. And there will be one more, for one night only. “Casting for Murder,” a benefit for the San Diego Arts Coop will be staged at the Kingston Hotel on Sept. 21. . . .

And more benefits: Harold Gould, Peter Mark Richman, Leonard Stone and Helen Richman have lined up for a staged reading of “Don Juan in Hell,” to benefit the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre Company, Sept. 24 at 7:30 p.m. . . . The cast of “Nunsense” will perform at a benefit for SOAR, Save Our Aging Religious--an organization that raises money for retired priests and nuns--at 7 p.m. Sept. 21 at All Hallows Parish Hall in La Jolla. . . .

The Theatre in Old Town is available for rent. United States International University, which has a contract to manage the space, has moved all but one of its shows this season to the larger Poway Center for the Performing Arts. . . .

Congressman Jim Bates, who supports reauthorization of the National Endowment for the Arts without content restrictions, will meet with interested members of the public to discuss the NEA at 5 p.m. tonight at the Kingston Hotel. Call 231-6979 for further information. . . .

Discount tickets are available for “Our Town” at the Old Globe Theatre and “A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur” at the San Diego Repertory Theatre. Former “Our Town” actors who can identify the role they played and where the production was presented will get a free ticket with the purchase of a full-priced ticket to the Old Globe’s production of “Our Town” at the Lowell Davies Festival Stage. Special $5 performances for the final dress rehearsal of “A Lovely Sunday” Sept. 21 are available as part of the San Diego Theatre League’s new sneak preview series.

David Henry Hwang’s Broadway hit, “M. Butterfly,” which starts its national tour next week in Boston, will probably head to San Diego in 1991, said a representative of the show’s New York office. The show, starring Philip Anglim of “The Elephant Man” as the British diplomat and A. Mapa as the mysterious Oriental lover he calls his Madame Butterfly, will go to Los Angeles as part of the Los Angeles Playgoers series in December. San Diego dates are being discussed, but have not yet been firmed up, the representative said.