LATC to Launch ‘Political’ Cabaret

On the verge of a probable city takeover of the Los Angeles Theatre Center building, with the decisive City Council vote expected within the next two weeks, the LATC production company is pulling no programming punches.

The company is preparing to launch a late-night weekend cabaret, “The Platform,” which will deal with political issues, from local to international, in a “living newspaper” format.

“The Platform” will make its debut in LATC’s Theatre 4 at 10:30 p.m. on March 14, followed by a March 15 performance, as part of the “Big Weekend,” the centerpiece of the theater’s 12th annual Festival of Premieres. It’s slated to continue on the first Saturday of each month.

“If they roar (with laughter), that would be great,” said Binnur Karaevli, the theater’s literary manager who doubles as director of “The Platform.” “But I’m not aiming at ‘ha-ha.’ I want something that’s really dark and satirical, pieces that verge on the border between absurdity and reality.”

An “editor” (Armando Molina of Latins Anonymous on the opening weekend) will open each performance. Sketches will be modeled on articles, letters to the editor, classified ads or cartoons from the editor’s fictional newspaper.

Although cabaret-style seating is an eventual goal, only a couple of small tables will be brought in for the opening weekend; the needs of other shows using Theatre 4 that weekend prohibit a fuller cabaret configuration, according to Karaevli. However, audience members will be able to bring drinks, sold in the lobby, into the theater.

Among the performers and/or writers scheduled to participate in the opening weekend of “The Platform” are: Luis Alfaro, Ed Levey, Quincey Long, Lisa Loomer, Cathryn Michon, Glenn Plummer, Bernardo Solano and Belinda Wells. Although local issues will be touched on, the primary focus of the opening shows will be the Gulf War, predicted Karaevli.

The Big Weekend theme this year is “Culture Bash.” The annual Saturday afternoon symposium, on March 16, will examine “Multiculturalism vs. Tribalism, the Cultural Issue of the ‘90s.”

Elsewhere on the schedule (which begins Thursday, March 14): a preview of the pieces LATC commissioned from John Fleck and Tim Miller, two of the “NEA Four”; and readings of “Widescreen Version of the World” by Han Ong, “The Sea of Cortez” by John Steppling, “Skeleton Dance” by Shishir Kurup, “Sons and Fathers” by Jonathan Marc Sherman, “Black and Jew” by Rusty Cundieff, “Buffalo Nation” by Jim Berenholtz, “Flaubert’s Latest” by Peter Parnell, and “Reader” by Ariel Dorfman.

LATC’s new Classical Theatre Lab will present “Classical Collisions,” described as “a collage-like presentation of Shakespeare and multicultural classics.” There also will be presentations from writer Kelly Stuart, the Women’s Project, the Women Artists Group, the Latino Theatre Lab and Los Angeles Poverty Department.

Except for the concurrent mainstage productions, all of the Big Weekend events are free of charge. But seating is limited and reservations are required.

Information: (213) 627-6500 Ext. 757.

Another Freebie: Playwrights and producers discuss the tempting but sometimes perilous relationship between playwrights and the movies at a “Playwrights and Film” symposium sponsored by the Audrey Skirball-Kenis Theatre Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Wilshire Temple auditorium, 3663 Wilshire Blvd. Information: (213) 284-9027.

Padua-in-Progress: The Padua Hills Playwrights’ Workshop/Festival presents a marathon of works-in-progress readings at Cal State Northridge’s Studio Theatre, Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to about 8:30 p.m. Information: (213) 960-1060.

Box-Office Watch: The Los Angeles box office finally took a breather last week, according to Variety. The total gross of the shows that participate in the weekly survey was $2.28 million, a 7.4% slide from the previous week’s record-setting $2.46 million--which had followed on three successive record-breaking weeks.

Only six shows, instead of the previous week’s seven, reported grosses; “The Wash” closed at the Mark Taper Forum on the previous Saturday. But that accounted for only a small portion of the decline; the gross from the final week of “The Wash” was only $55,192.

A change in the performance schedule for “Tru” (Thursday matinees instead of Sunday evenings) lowered the potential dollars for that show, and its gross was off $52,596 from the previous week. All of the other shows except “The Vortex” also reported declines from the previous week’s totals.