MET Gets a Revived Theater Life : Stage: A group of actors and writers leases the former Oxford Avenue site of Los Angeles Actors’ Theatre. Production could start by May.

Two of Hollywood’s most prominent theatrical institutions from the Equity Waiver era are coming back to life, under the auspices of a stellar group of actors and writers.

The group--which includes such prominent names as actors Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Holly Hunter and Alfre Woodard and playwright Beth Henley--is reviving the MET Theatre, one of Los Angeles’ seminal small theaters between 1973 and 1985. But the new MET won’t be at its old location on Poinsettia Place.

Instead, it will be at 1089 Oxford Ave., the former home of Los Angeles Actors’ Theatre (the predecessor to Los Angeles Theatre Center) and Ensemble Studio Theatre. The building hasn’t been used as a theater since the final Ensemble Studio production in 1988.

The MET takes over the lease March 1 and would like to stage its first production, Tom Grimes’ “Spec,” in May. But construction may delay production until the fall.

The MET’s move to Oxford Avenue may raise a few eyebrows. The building’s upstairs space, which is where the MET will produce plays, was usually a 174-seat theater when Los Angeles Actors’ Theatre used it. It had about 130 seats during Ensemble Studio’s tenure. Yet the MET wants to transform the theater into a 99-seat house.

This would enable the MET to work under Actors’ Equity’s 99-Seat Theatre Plan, which requires much lower fees for Equity members than the salaries that would apply under the Equity contracts at larger theaters.

The new MET quarters “would not be allowed to be used as a 99-seat space,” said George Ives, Equity’s Western regional director, when informed of the MET’s intent. In 1985, Equity objected when the Tiffany, a 280-seat West Hollywood movie theater, was transformed into two 99-seat theaters (but the owner obtained an injunction that allowed the theaters to be used as Equity Waiver houses).

However, Ives also indicated that Equity might be open to negotiation. And MET member Darrell Larson said that the MET hopes to reach an agreement with Equity similar to those established by some of the previous residents of the Oxford Avenue building or by Theatre West, another Hollywood group that uses a theater that is larger than 99 seats. In those cases, the agreements have required the groups to present a certain number of shows using an Equity contract or to refrain from using all of the available seating.

“If Equity feels, because they’re mandated to get these mid-sized houses functioning, that politically they can’t let this house go back down to 99, we’ll deal with that,” Larson said.

At this point, Ives said, the MET has asked Equity only if the union would be willing to reclassify the space for 99-seat use if the Fire Department certified that 99 was the maximum capacity. He said that the union would have to examine the Fire Department report.

MET members cite aesthetic as well as economic and fire safety reasons for wanting to shrink the seating capacity. “Those extra seats really cramp the space,” Larson said. “You want to feel there is room for the production and the audience.” He said the seating configuration would be flexible and might vary from production to production.

The new MET is envisioned as “the ultimate democracy” for its 18 founding members, according to Larson. “Anyone (within the 18) who wants the theater for a project can get it . . . it’s only a matter of scheduling.”

There will be no artistic director, but a salaried managing director will coordinate the scheduling. “There may be a couple of times when antlers lock, but so far we’ve been able to come to agreement,” Larson said.

“The format of the theater is so loose and so steeped in anarchy that I like the freedom,” said actress and MET member Holly Hunter. “Within the group, no one will censor someone else’s choices.”

Each member paid $3,500 for this freedom, with some of the members contributing even more for specific purposes, such as a new air-conditioning system for the theater. As each new member was invited and accepted, he or she helped decide who else would be invited. Woodard and Henley were the final two members, but the inviting stopped at 18 because more would have been “unwieldy,” said Larson.

Outside actors will be hired. “One of the things we’re talking about is a piece where the cast is three-fourths Chicano,” said Larson, “but we have no Chicano members.” He hopes that such projects will draw audiences from some of the theater’s immediate neighbors.

Besides the above, the MET members include original MET co-founders Tim Scott and James Gammon, Arliss Howard, Martin Kove, Tom Bower, Joe Cortese, Paul Koslo, John Ashton, Robin Riker, Laura Owens, Alan Vint and attorney Rob Owens.