‘The Jeffersons’ Are Movin’ on Upstage

“The Jeffersons” are back, but this time they’re on Marla Gibbs’ own stage, not CBS.

Opening Thursday at Gibbs’ 1,050-seat Vision Theatre in Leimert Park is “The Jeffersons--Movin’ on Up Tour,” a staging of three of the 22-minute scripts from the long-running sitcom that made Gibbs a star. The cast includes most of the stars of the TV series: Gibbs as Florence the maid, Isabel Sanford and Sherman Hemsley as George and Louise (Weezie) Jefferson, Franklin Cover and Berlinda Tolbert as Tom Willis and his daughter Jenny, and Ned Wertimer as Ralph the doorman.

It’ll be Gibbs’ first professional production in the theater she bought in 1990, and the first time an Actors’ Equity production contract has been used at the venue.

Gibbs, who is not an Equity member herself, hopes the theater will be used by other Equity productions. But its first priority will be for community productions that help develop local talent, she added. It already has been used by the L.A. Festival and for a variety of concerts, student productions and special events.

Gibbs’ Crossroads National Education and Arts Center is planning to produce a season at the theater beginning next month. Expected on the schedule:

* “The Meeting,” the Jeff Stetson drama about a fictitious meeting between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X (Feb. 24-March 13).

* “Before It Hits Home,” the controversial first major play by the rising young writer Cheryl West, two of whose plays will be produced at the Old Globe in San Diego this year. “Before It Hits Home” examines the impact of AIDS on a black family; Gibbs hopes to play the mother (March 31-April 16).

* “Hell’s a Poppin’,” a musical by Mickey Stevenson (May)

* “Look at Me,” a new piece by Barbara Montgomery and Hattie Winston. (June)

And in the Vision Complex’s smaller theater, Crossroads plans to present “The Other Weapon,” “Frederick Douglass” with William Marshall and “Mitote.”

A subscription package will be offered, said Avril Harris, Crossroads executive director. She estimated the budget for the theater season at $1.3 million. Professional actors will be used in most of the productions, though they will be working under individual Actors’ Equity Guest Artist contracts rather than using an overall contract for the entire season. Students at the Crossroads Arts Academy also will participate.

Information about the season will be available at performances of “The Jeffersons.” But will people really pay to see “The Jeffersons,” when they can see reruns on TV for free? “They have to stay up until 2 a.m.” to do so, replied Gibbs. “And they really want to see us live.”

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N.O.T.E. NOTES: You know you’re in trouble when you see ABC’s Peter Jennings reporting on earthquake damage from in front of your building. That happened to the New One-act Theatre Ensemble, whose Theatre of N.O.T.E., just north of Hollywood Blvd. and Kenmore, is in a building that has been condemned. The company is “searching frantically” for new quarters, said house manager Margo Rose-Thomas.

A fund-raiser to assist that effort has been scheduled for Feb. 26, location to be announced. Information: (213) 666-5550.

Theatre of N.O.T.E. appears to be the only professional theater group that was made homeless by the quake, though American Renegade Theatre and Actors Alley--both in North Hollywood--suffered major damage.

Meanwhile, more than 1,500 people turned out to see “Les Miserables” at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Jan. 17, the same day as the quake. There was no curfew in Pasadena. During its two-week run, “Les Miz” took in house-record grosses for one night ($130,323), one week ($845,973) and two weeks ($1,601,452).*