Theater Venture Investigated as Union Pacts Are Unsigned and Top-Billed Stars Bail Out : Show business: Producer, who has record of false advertising, says “Music Man” will go on as scheduled at North Hollywood theater.

Only three weeks before the advertised debut of an ambitious series of musicals and plays in North Hollywood, top-billed stars are bailing out, vital union contracts have not been signed and the theater’s facilities do not meet union standards.

The producer, Kevin Von Feldt, who in the past was sentenced to jail for false advertising, insisted that the show will go on as promised.

The Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday began an investigation into the venture.

“We have to make sure the producer has a reasonable intent of putting on the shows and a way of paying the money back to ticket buyers if he cannot,” said Detective Richard Levos of the bunco forgery division. The investigation was requested by the city attorney’s office.

In brochures received two weeks ago by San Fernando Valley residents, and in an advertisement in The Times, Von Feldt announced that the North Hollywood Renaissance Theatre subscription series would open May 7 at the former El Portal Theatre on Lankershim Boulevard with a production of “The Music Man.”

Von Feldt said Monday that he had sold about 880 tickets, about half of which were for the four-show season. The season tickets were advertised at $78 and $85.

But John Davidson, advertised as the star of “The Music Man,” dissociated himself from the series Monday, along with Broadway veteran Victoria Mallory and comic Don Rickles, advertised as the star of a future production of “Death of a Salesman.”

“The producer did not have the right to advertise John’s participation until certain financial conditions were met,” said David Westberg, Davidson’s agent. “We were supposed to get a deposit before they used his name.”

Von Feldt acknowledged a dispute with Davidson over money, but declined to comment further on it.

Mallory was listed in newspaper ads as playing the female lead in “The Music Man.” But her manager, Richard Berman, said she turned down the role last week. “They really didn’t have the right to use her name,” Berman said. “There was no deal. We were just talking.”

The curious casting of Rickles--a comic with a Las Vegas following and best known for his caustic, insulting humor--in the somber “Death of a Salesman” was news to the comedian. “The producer had made an offer but Don turned it down right away,” said Paul Shefrin, Rickles’ publicist.

“When one of Don’s friends saw the brochure and told him about what was in it, he got his agents to call up and tell them to cease and desist immediately.”

Von Feldt’s previous attempt to produce Equity theater in Los Angeles failed in 1989. His announced production of “Scrooge” with George C. Scott at the Wilshire Theater was canceled when the actor quit the show two weeks before it was to open. Scott’s agent said the actor pulled out because “payment had not been made in a timely fashion.”

In 1987, Von Feldt was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading no contest to 10 counts of false and misleading advertising for running a bogus airline agency and selling tickets to a nonexistent series of classic movies. At the time, he was termed a “career con artist” by City Atty. James K. Hahn.

To replace Davidson, Von Feldt said, he has cast Gary Sandy, who was a regular on the “WKRP in Cincinnati” television series. (Sandy’s agent said that the deal will not be final until the Equity bond is posted).

Casting problems are only a part of what Von Feldt will have to overcome if he is to get the theater venture off the ground in just three weeks. He has yet to complete his arrangements with Equity, the stage actors union, that would allow its members to perform in the 1,245-seat theater.

“He has to post a bond before any contracts can be signed,” said Kevyne Baar, an Equity business representative. The bond must cover two weeks of pay and benefits for the more than 30 cast members.

Von Feldt would not discuss the show’s budget, but it would be difficult to produce a musical in that size of a theater without moving into the six-figure range. The Equity bond alone for a 30-person cast would exceed $50,000, according to Baar.

Von Feldt said that he already had enough funding from backers to do the show and that the Equity bond would be paid later this week.

Von Feldt said that by the time the theater is ready to open, he will have extensively renovated the dressing rooms, which are currently empty, concrete-walled rooms under the stage.

About two-thirds of the cast members that Von Feldt said he has hired were in a production of “The Music Man” in San Bernardino that closed in February. Because of their experience, he said, the show will not have to go into rehearsal until April 26.

As for musicans and crew, Von Feldt acknowledged he has yet to begin negotiations with unions. “We know their regulations and what we need, so that can be taken care of very quickly,” he said.

Finally, he said that the musty theater will undergo a thorough cleaning and will have new carpet installed before opening night.

Times staff writer Don Shirley contributed to this story.