Bradac Acknowledges Grove Ousted Him

Thomas F. Bradac on Thursday acknowledged for the first time that he was forced from his job as artistic director of the Grove Shakespeare Festival and said he was still “in a state of shock” more than two weeks after the ouster.

“I’m a bit angry at the way I was treated,” added Bradac, who founded the troupe in the late ‘70s. “I think after 12 1/2 years (it) was a rather cold and a rather callous way of dismissing someone.”

Originally, Bradac said he had offered his resignation, citing unspecified “personal reasons.” But sources maintained that he had been forced out, largely because of trustees’ dissatisfaction with his performance as a fund-raiser. Bradac eventually went so far as to say the parting was by “mutual agreement.” But as recently as Tuesday, board president Tom Moon continued to insist that it was all Bradac’s call. Thursday, however, Bradac said that he had been told to leave after all and that the move had been sudden and unexpected. He said that it apparently was related to differences over the financial state of the company but that he never was given a specific reason.

Moon and managing director Barbara Hammerman were unavailable for comment.

Bradac said he had taken part in budget discussions at a board meeting June 24. The topic was to be taken up again July 1. That morning, Bradac said, a “friend” called and warned him that the board would demand his resignation, or fire him. Bradac said that Moon called him later that same morning and said the same thing, adding that he had lined up enough votes “to make that happen.

“I figured that if there was that kind of difficulty within the organization with my staying, then I should leave,” Bradac said.

Bradac’s comments came in response to questions stemming from statements made Tuesday by Moon, Hammerman, acting artistic director Jules Aaron, board president-elect David Krebs and actor-director Carl Reggiardo about the theater’s future.

The troupe is no stranger to problems. It has faced perennial financial hurdles and, a couple of years back, a stretch of outright hostility from some members of the City Council.

The Monday of Bradac’s resignation also marked another milestone in the theater’s history. In 1988, the City Council voted to phase out the company’s funding over three years. The last check arrived July 1.

So now, Moon and the others said, there is more pressure than ever on the company to raise money from private sources. Ticket sales are going well for this year’s season; subscriptions are 97% gone and individual ticket sales “very strong,” according to Hammerman. Still, while the officials say the company is current on all bills, it must raise $150,000 by year’s end to pay for the current season.

The 1991 fund-raising drive kicks off July 29 with the company’s annual gala, which this year stars Sally Kirkland, a 1987 best actress Oscar nominee for her role in “Anna.” Krebs said the company hopes to line up a “corporate partner,” a single donor to underwrite a major portion of the costs, for the first time.

But there are obstacles. Moon had acknowledged, even before Bradac’s statements Thursday, that the artistic director’s sudden resignation “does not look good at all,” but he and the other officials say they do not anticipate a backlash from potential donors. They feel their main problems are the same ones facing other arts groups: a recessionary economy, competing demand for limited private dollars from public service organizations.

“The Grove is like other financial organizations in its basic financial challenges,” Hammerman said, pointing to current difficulties at the Orange County Philharmonic Society. When the Reagan Administration began scaling back government support for the arts in the early ‘80s, she said, “federal officials said private donors would step in to fill the breach. Now, we are going to find out if that is true.”

Bradac said Thursday that it’s “not going to be easy” to raise the money. But the Grove faced a major financial crisis last fall, with threats of canceled productions and managed a financial turnaround by year’s end and even retired a $41,000 debt from the previous season.

One of the board’s first steps after Bradac’s departure had been to name Aaron, one of the Southland’s busiest free-lance directors and one long associated with the Grove, as acting artistic director through the season, which ends in December.

Aaron had already been slated to direct the Grove’s production of “Measure for Measure,” which opens next week. Now, he will take over direction of “Taming of the Shrew” from Bradac and will direct the coming gala. “While we will very much miss Tom as a leader, I very much believe in this theater continuing,” Aaron said.

One of his first tasks, Aaron added, was to reassure company members through a series of meetings. Reports had circulated that the company would switch from professional to amateur, and would reduce its commitment to the classics.

Reggiardo said there have also been “two quick get-togethers” among members of the actors’ union, at which concerns were voiced in the absence of company officials. Reggiardo, who is directing the upcoming production of “Our Town,” said there has been a “great diversity” of reaction, including confusion and some anger.

Issues of loyalty also have been raised. Bradac said he has received many calls and letters of support.

“There’s naturally concern” among actors and stage technicians when there is a major personnel change, Aaron acknowledged, but he and other company officials insist that no big changes are in store.

“We remain commited to the stated mission--professional, classical theater, with Shakespeare as its focus, and using classical plays and the best of modern plays,” Hammerman said.

Hiring Aaron has given the Grove “a great deal of continuity,” and the company is in no rush to undertake a search for a permanent director, Hammerman said. Aaron said he has not decided if he will pursue the job on a permanent basis.

Moon said his main emphasis is on going “full speed ahead” with the current season and keeping any transition in artistic leadership as smooth as possible. He said he, too, does not see Bradac’s departure as an opportunity for major change in the Grove’s operation or focus.

Krebs said that while he encourages open discussion of new options and directions among the board, he does not foresee any big changes, either.