Redondo Waives Fees to Get Opera

After what might be called a long song and dance Tuesday night, Redondo Beach opened up its civic auditorium to just that.

Despite strong objections from some council members that the city cannot afford luxuries during these tough economic times, the City Council voted 3 to 2 to waive rent fees in the Aviation Park Auditorium to accommodate the newly formed South Bay Civic Light Opera.

The organization’s proposal prompted a fierce debate over whether a city that was considering last month laying off employees should now provide free rent and other services totaling more than $114,000.

“We have a budget problem,” Councilman Stevan Colin said. “We have a funding crisis in this city. As much as I’d like to bring this organization into Redondo Beach, if they don’t have the financial wherewithal to make it on their own, they may not have the financial wherewithal to make it at all.”

Councilwoman Kay Horrell added: “This is frivolous. This is ridiculous that we even consider this while we’re in such dire straits.”

At one point, when a vote was near, Colin and Horrell considered leaving the room so the council would no longer have a quorum. But they stayed, and their objections were overruled by the majority.

“We have an opportunity to really bring something great to this city,” Councilman Terry Ward said. “You don’t see a need? The gangs and graffiti are all around you. . . . This (positive influence) will help to drive that out.”

James A. Blackman, managing director of the company, argued that by waiving the first-year fees, city officials would be bringing first-class performing arts to Redondo Beach. The fee waivers are necessary, he said, because of the grim condition of the city’s 1,464-seat auditorium, which requires costly renovations.

“If I’m going to pay $114,000 for a building with no sound, no ushers, no box office . . . --that’s a rip-off,” he said. He added that it will be his reputation on the line when reviewers come to see the performances.

The city agreed to waive $71,480 in first-year rent, as well as fees for custodial service, staff, police protection and other services at the auditorium, at Manhattan Beach and Aviation boulevards. In exchange, the city would retain ownership of any lights, sound equipment or marquee that the company installs.

Mayor Brad Parton, who supported the company, said the city is really not losing the first-year rent because it has never been able to fully lease the auditorium anyway and is not displacing any other users.

The opera company will offer four shows--”Mame,” “Man of La Mancha,” “My Fair Lady” (still under negotiation) and “Anything Goes”--beginning next April 15 and running through Dec. 26. Ticket prices will range from $13 to $35.

Colin and Horrell argued that the ticket prices were too high for families that were struggling to make ends meet during a recession. After the council had approved the idea, Colin passed a scrap of paper to the mayor--a mock ticket of sorts--reading “Admit One . . . $114,000.”

For Blackman, who has conducted musicals in Pasadena, Oxnard and Santa Barbara, as well as at the Reagan White House, the Redondo Beach performances will be a homecoming. He attended Aviation High School in Redondo Beach and studied drama under Larry Boyd, who is now the opera company’s chairman of the board.

“Our goal is to give downtown L.A. and Century City a run for their money,” the company’s fund-raising brochure says.

“And why not? Isn’t it about time we had our own professional civic light opera? For over 20 years, we have been sitting on the Harbor or the San Diego Freeways sweating an 8 o’clock curtain to see Broadway-style musicals,” the brochure added.