Shows Go On but Not at Gem : Theater: High fees, red tape and standoffish management policies seem to have discouraged rentals.

The Gem Theatre here has been relegated largely to children’s productions since the collapse last June of GroveShakespeare, which continues as rental agent for the city-owned venue.

During the past five months, only two amateur theatrical productions not geared to children have made use of the 178-seat Gem: the New Mission Ensemble, for eight performances of “The Elephant Man,” and the Orange County Light Opera for 13 performances of “H.M.S. Pinafore.”

The dearth of shows was not for a lack of prospective renters.

“We turned down a lot of stuff,” said Chuck Estes, who worked at the Gem as GroveShakespeare’s artist liaison until he was laid off Oct. 29. “There was an adversarial atmosphere, which I didn’t understand, because it didn’t seem the way to run a business.”

“I don’t know what the disease is,” he added in a recent interview, “but I see the symptom--and it’s an empty building.”

According to several local producers, the Gem has gained the reputation of being a difficult theater to rent because of high fees.

“They quoted us a price that was just ridiculous,” Al Valletta, producing artistic director of the Backstage Theatre Co., said Monday. “I couldn’t believe it. Their rental fee was $500 a day. It was way too high for us.”

Valletta wanted to stage a revival of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” at the Gem in January. He will do it instead at his storefront theater in Costa Mesa, he said.

For New Mission’s production, in lieu of the rental fee, the ensemble paid 90% of its box-office receipts to GroveShakespeare. It was also required by an outside creditor to settle a portion of GroveShakespeare’s old royalty debts.

Kevin Cochrane, GroveShakespeare’s producing artistic director, confirmed Monday that the basic one-day rent is $500, which includes full lighting and full sound equipment. Renters must also take out liability insurance.

But, Cochrane said, the rental fee “can be negotiated downward if someone is coming in for a week or three weeks.” And rates for children’s shows “are considerably lower because they only come in for four hours a day.”

Nevertheless, bureaucratic hassles and standoffish management policies also appear to have affected rentals.

When the Light Opera used the Gem in August, for example, it was not allowed to sell tickets from the box office.

Light Opera president Marti Klein, who said she nonetheless wants to produce other shows at the Gem, recalled being told that legal concerns prevented use of the box office.

Cochrane said the box office was not available at the time because it was serving as a storage facility.

“There were official records in there,” he explained, adding that the Light Opera’s agreement spelled out the box office’s lack of availability. The records have since been moved, Cochrane said.