Topics / THEATER : Theater Group Hoping Its New Name Will Sing

Saying that its name should match its high-interest offerings, the San Gabriel Valley Civic Light Opera is changing its name to the Music Theatre of Southern California.

“People on the Westside might want to check us out,” said Bill Shaw, the 10-year-old company’s artistic director and co-founder. “We feel that by changing our name, we might get a little more interest.”

Some shows fill 70% of the San Gabriel theater’s 1,440 seats, said M. Roger Lockie, its executive director. The goal is to consistently fill at least 80%.

Shaw said business surged last year for the La Mirada Civic Light Opera when it changed its name to the Whittier/La Mirada Musical Theatre Assn. Paul Garman, associate executive director at Whittier/La Mirada, confirmed that ticket sales went up 40%. But because the group made other changes last year, Garman is uncertain what role the new name played.

He and Shaw said part of the reason for the changes were public perceptions of what “civic light opera” means.

Such groups have traditionally performed works similar to those by Gilbert and Sullivan, which are called light operas. However, the companies have been exclusively producing Broadway musicals for so long, patrons may have forgotten the term’s roots and tend to associate it with heavier fare, such as Don Giovanni.

The San Gabriel company also hopes the change will attract patrons from farther away.