Sushi to Turn Fund-Raiser Into Entertainment Revue : * Theater: The San Diego avant-garde performance gallery wants to give its supporters their money’s worth at upcoming gala.

When cooking up fund-raising benefits, many theaters follow the same recipe: Whisk together a handful of big-name stars, toss them on stage, stir up some philanthropic feelings among patrons, add some steep ticket prices and maybe a catered meal and-- voila! --revenue is served.

In organizing Saturday’s Sushi Performance Gala at the Lyceum Theatre in Horton Plaza, Sushi founder-director Lynn Schuette has deviated slightly from the directions. Rather than cater to the wealthy and stress the need for charity, Schuette is more interested in producing a quality show.

“I don’t think this gala fits the model of your standard fund-raising benefit where only rich people can afford to go, and you’re sort of throwing away your money and getting a bad dinner,” Schuette said. “We think the tickets are really modestly priced at $25. That’s why we’re calling it a gala instead of a benefit. We think that it’s a fair price for the caliber of artists performing.”

The 7 and 9 p.m. gala performances will feature controversy-plagued solo artists Tim Miller and Holly Hughes, Chicano comedy trio Culture Clash and dancer-choreographer Ron Brown.

All of the artists are donating their time and services, but Schuette didn’t have to cajole anyone into performing.

“They were all incredibly gracious,” Schuette said. “Sushi has a really symbiotic relationship with the artists, a really close relationship. Our well-being is closely related to their well-being.”

The bond between performance artist and performance-artist producer is closely tied to finances. Schuette has emphasized paying artists as well as she can.

“Our annual budget is around $300,000,” Schuette said. “Of that, $100,000 goes to pay artist fees. People like Tim and Holly can earn about $1,800 a weekend. We’ve been real sticklers about that.”

Lately, grant money has been even tighter than usual at Sushi, as the National Endowment for the Arts has been giving smaller amounts to the organization. Schuette said performance galleries across the country are suffering from public funding cuts.

“I have a letter from the NEA dance program saying Sushi was cut $7,000 from the past grant, not due to substantive changes in programming or quality, but due to the fact that there is less money and more applications,” Schuette said.

“We get funding from three programs in the NEA and we’ve taken cuts in two of them. We dropped $22,000 in public funding this year that has virtually nothing to do with quality.”

Although NEA funding cuts motivated Sushi to mount its fund raiser, the arts endowment’s controversial relationship with gala performers Miller and Hughes will no doubt benefit Sushi.

Miller and the Obie-Award winning Hughes have reaped enormous national publicity in their ongoing battle with the National Endowment for the Arts. Along with performance artists Karen Finley and John Fleck, they are suing the agency, charging that all four were censored when their panel-approved grants were rescinded last year by NEA director John Frohnmayer after questions were raised about alleged indecency in their stage performances. Despite the fact that they are still pursuing the lawsuit, both Miller and Hughes learned last week that they will receive 1991 NEA fellowships for $8,000 each.

Miller and Hughes both deal with explicit homosexual issues in their performances, and the subsequent controversy revolved around the NEA’s implicit statement that homosexuality itself was offensive. Both performers took legal action against the NEA; both suits are still pending.

“What happened with Holly and Tim in particular, of course, is that the NEA controversy has catapulted them into being spokespeople for a lot of freedom of expression issues,” Schuette said. “Both of their careers have taken off in a way none of us were aware would happen.”

“With the discussions and controversy revolving around the arts and arts funding, we truly do have people coming to shows just to see what it’s all about,” Schuette said. “The NEA controversy has had a good effect on Holly and Tim. They’re reaching a larger audience. People are seeing that the work is good.”

“These performers aren’t people who are standing up and delivering didactic political dialogue,” Schuette said. “They are accomplished theater artists who are capable of making an entertainment-like statement about issues that are relevant.

“We’re not talking about political diatribe at all. We’re talking about art.”

So is Culture Clash writer-performer Richard Montoya. Whereas Miller and Hughes remain in the performance gallery circuit and have a vested interest in Sushi’s survival, Culture Clash is making a transition to the television and film industry. The group has already filmed a Fox Network sitcom with Cheech Marin, it has several movie deals in the works, and is putting the final touches on a PBS special for the Great Performances series.

Even though his troupe is busy with “high-powered, high-level television and feature film meetings,” Montoya said he and fellow Clashers Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza were happy to help Sushi Gallery raise some money.

“Now that we’re in a position to help people out, we’re going to do it,” Montoya said in a phone interview. “We have an ongoing relationship with Sushi. Sushi has been a great space for us and for other artists, and, if they’re in trouble, we’ll try to come to their aid.”

“We’re donating our time at a time when we’re trying to edit our Great Performances show ‘A Bowl of Beings’ for PBS,” Montoya said. The hourlong show is scheduled to run Feb. 23, and the group will perform about half of the show at the Sushi gala.

“We’re taking a weekend out, but it will be well worth it. The other performers have been real heroes of ours, and it will be real exciting to share the stage with Tim and Holly.”

Montoya, Salinas and Siguenza created the satirical, politically active Culture Clash seven years ago in San Francisco and have toured the country until recently. The trio moved to Los Angeles eight months ago when “the industry” developed an interest in the group.

Though Culture Clash has moved to Los Angeles, Montoya insists that the troupe has not “gone Hollywood.”

As if on cue, Montoya’s phone’s call-waiting clicked in the background.

“Can you hang on a minute,” he quipped, “it might be a mogul.”

When he returned, Montoya talked about “selling out” and maintaining professional relationships: “We’ll never go fully Hollywood,” he said. “A few weeks ago we did a benefit for the Los Angeles Theatre Center. This weekend we’re doing a benefit for Sushi. After that, we’ll be doing a benefit at the Mark Taper Forum.”

“Even though we’re in the throes of Hollywood, our background is primarily in theater and touring,” he said. “Culture Clash was born in a gallery. Our performances have always borrowed from the performance art scene. We haven’t forgotten that.”