It’s Final: O.C. Troupe Is No More : Theater: The financially troubled GroveShakespeare is ‘ceasing operations’ with outstanding debts of ‘close to $300,000,’ attorney says.

The financially beleaguered GroveShakespeare, once the county’s second-largest professional theater troupe, has taken its last breath.

Jerry O’Brien, an attorney for the company, said Tuesday that “GroveShakespeare is ceasing operations” with outstanding debts of “close to $300,000.”

The 15-year-old company had folded in all but name in June, when it canceled its 1993 season due to a lack of funds. All but three members of its board of directors resigned shortly afterward.

Since then the company has struggled fitfully to stay alive, chiefly as the rental agent for its two city-owned venues, the 178-seat Gem Theatre and the 550-seat Festival Amphitheatre.

The city is likely to seek proposals from groups interested in managing both facilities. Several groups already have expressed interest. And the drama department of Chapman University, which wants to expand its graduate theater program, is considering making a proposal.

O’Brien said the board voted unanimously Jan. 26 to dissolve GroveShakespeare’s parent corporation, the Garden Grove Assn. for the Arts, confirming a press release issued by GroveShakespeare on Monday.

But he disagreed with the assertion, made in the release, that $149,715 in debt “is currently in process (of being paid) and would most likely be erased over the next six months.”

“I don’t foresee that getting paid,” O’Brien said. “And I would not consider it to be anything other than outstanding debt. We have ceased operations, and there are essentially no assets.”

O’Brien, a Brea-based attorney working without a fee, also discounted the press release’s claim that GroveShakespeare was leaving only “$133,860 of unsettled debt.” He said the two figures should be combined. A total of $283,575 in outstanding liabilities, “is more like it,” he said.

The press release also stated that GroveShakespeare’s “accumulated past debt” had reached $427,700, the highest ever acknowledged by the company but that $144,125 had been forgiven or renegotiated by creditors.

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O’Brien, who specializes in bankruptcy, said he had agreed to represent the company until January, 1995, largely to answer any questions that creditors might have. “If anybody wants to file lawsuits and serve them, I’ll be here to accept,” he said.

But he added that he didn’t think anybody would. And he did not foresee bankruptcy proceedings.

He also noted that the March opening of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” at the Gem, which is being produced by the independent Musical Theatre Co., is not likely to be affected by GroveShakespeare’s demise.

“I’ve gotten that assurance,” said George Quick, the troupe’s executive director, who also will stage the musical.

“When we signed our contract in December,” he said Tuesday, “it was with the understanding that GroveShakespeare might dissolve, but that the Gem would remain open.”

* BARCLAY SUBSIDY IN DANGER?

Irvine considers phasing out its subsidy of the Irvine Barclay Theatre. F2