COUNTYWIDE FOCUS : THOUSAND OAKS : Broadway Musicals Sought for Arts Plaza

Fame-seeking students, a wild and crazy aunt and a love-stricken American man in Japan will occupy center stage for the Thousand Oaks Civic Auditorium’s inaugural season--if negotiations go smoothly.

A seven-member commission charged with setting policy for the Civic Arts Plaza has decided to begin negotiating with the Theatre Corp. of America for an exclusive contract to present Broadway musicals when the 1,800-seat auditorium opens next fall.

Based in Pasadena, the Theatre Corp. of America plans to present James Michener’s “Sayonara,” Juliet Prowse in “Mame” and the California premiere of “Fame: The Musical” for its first half-season.

For its second three shows of 1994-95, the company is mulling a musical based on the film “Raising Arizona,” an updated version of “The Mikado” set in the 1940s, and an evening of Jerome Kern music titled “A Fine Romance.”

The company has proposed staging six shows a year in the Civic Auditorium, each for a two-week run. The Thousand Oaks facility would receive $5,000 a week in rent, plus a percentage of gross ticket receipts, said Tom Mitze, executive director of the Civic Auditorium and the smaller Forum Theatre.

“We think it’s a good, professional group and we’ve investigated them financially and everything seems to be top-class,” said Harry Selvin, theaters commissioner.

TCA is renovating the Alex Theatre in Glendale, where it will stage the same six shows it hopes to bring to the Civic Arts Plaza. But officials said they did not expect the two venues to compete for the same audience.

Firming up other programming plans, the Thousand Oaks’ theaters commission also agreed to grant Avalon Attractions, the largest presenter of contemporary music in Southern California, an exclusive right to book 20 to 40 pop artists a year. Avalon books such stars as Bruce Springsteen, Neil Diamond, B. B. King, Willie Nelson and Phil Collins.