‘Tamara’s’ Latest Intrigue--Will It Close for Real?

The ad for “Tamara” last week warned: “Final Six Weeks!” It was reminiscent of a similar countdown-to-closing in 1989, which was halted shortly before a blast-off. “Tamara,” an extravaganza in which audiences witness intrigues as they walk through a fascist-era Italian villa, is still with us today.

This time could be for real, said producer Barrie Wexler. It isn’t a “gratuitous” warning; “we’re seriously analyzing the situation,” which has been bleak in recent weeks, he said. “We didn’t get the lift we were anticipating from our ninth anniversary celebration,” and in general “Hollywood is not the same place for our audience and for tourists in 1993, after the riots, as it was in 1989.”

This doesn’t mean that Wexler may abandon his long-simmering plan to open yet another interactive attraction in Hollywood. But he said the design of that unnamed project, including the ticket prices, would be geared more for the ‘90s. When “Tamara” opened nine years ago, theatergoers felt more flush.

Wexler’s thoughts of closing “Tamara” have no relation to a recent dispute with his landlord, the local American Legion post, he said. “We have an absolute agreement on a new four-year lease,” he said, although he acknowledged the Legion board has not yet met to ratify the agreement. The lease contains “an out clause” that would permit him to close the show, if business doesn’t pick up.

GNUS FROM HOLLYWOOD: Now it can be told! A motion picture that will rip the lid off the Los Angeles theatrical community. . . .

Well, maybe not. But Jeff Seymour’s “The Wildebeest Company” will probably do more lid-ripping on that subject than any other movie has. For, as far as several longtime observers of L.A. theater can remember, it will be the only fictional movie that has ever been set within the L.A. theater scene.

Seymour is the man who ran the Gnu Theatre in North Hollywood for more than eight years, presenting some of the most accomplished productions in the sub-100-seat arena, in a venue that was one of the most attractive and comfortable spaces in the city. Seymour designed the theater and directed and designed most of its productions, occasionally appearing in them as well.

The Gnu is now gutted, and Seymour officially moved out on Wednesday. In his farewell statement released several weeks earlier, he cited “the current economy” as well as his own desire to do something different after 24 shows. Last week, Seymour said his lease required him to leave the building as he had found it. So any further use as a theater is unlikely.

But the Gnu may live in memory longer than most of L.A.’s smaller theaters, for Seymour is determined to make a movie based on his experiences there. He has leased a soundstage not far from the Gnu, has raised most of the $200,000 he needs and plans to start shooting by the end of the summer.

Seymour denied that the movie is literally about the Gnu. There will be plot twists that depart from the Gnu record--like the accidental death of a surly critic from a paper called the Times (not this Times, said Seymour).

But the movie’s title is perhaps the best clue to how closely its milieu will resemble the Gnu milieu. The movie will be called “The Wildebeest Company.” Yes, gnu and wildebeest are synonyms.

Seymour will build a 99-seat theater for the movie set; it will actually be bigger than the Gnu, which had only 50 seats. The exterior of the fake theater will look much like the Gnu’s. Gnu alumni will appear in cameos.

The leading character, to be played by Seymour, is “a guy who hustles” in order to run a 99-seat L.A. theater, who earns “nice reviews but not enough money to rub two nickels together,” who gets well-known Hollywood actors to work in his productions for peanuts but then has to replace them when sudden movie deals beckon.

In other words, the movie is about “running a little theater in the media capital of the world,” said Seymour. After years of writing screenplays about other subjects, “I’ve resorted to writing about what I know.”

Seymour plans to teach classes at his new facility, on Burbank Boulevard, also in North Hollywood, where he has a four-year lease. But most of his energies now are concentrated on the movie. After it’s made, he may consider converting his 99-seat movie set into a real working theater. But he vowed not to run it like the old place, where he literally lived next door; others will do most of the work, he said. “Cohorts” have volunteered for such duty, he said, adding--in an incredulous tone--”There are actually people out there who still dream about running a small theater in L.A.”

NEW TURF FOR THE GANG: The Actors’ Gang has found a new home. The pugnacious company will convert a warehouse at 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, into a 99-seat theater and stay there for at least the next four years. The first show there will be an original play about the death penalty, scheduled for October.

The Gang plans one more show at its former quarters at Second Stage, a few blocks west. Edward Bond’s “Narrow Road to the Deep North” will open there on Aug. 6.

CELEBRATION WATCH: Celebration Theatre has hired a new artistic director, Robert Schrock, who has announced a subscription season opening Sept. 10 with Win Wells’ “The Pink Triangle.” Ron Link will direct, with images designed by guerrilla artist Robbie Conal.