Arts Plaza Parts Ways With Theater Company : Thousand Oaks: A Pasadena group was to have put on six musicals. An Arizona organization is recommended as a substitute.

Thousand Oaks theater commissioners have scrapped plans to bring a series of offbeat musicals to the Civic Arts Plaza because the group scheduled to present the shows appears on the verge of financial collapse.

Theatre Corporation of America, based in Pasadena, had been set to bring six modern musicals to the 1,800-seat auditorium--shows like a boogie-woogie version of the opera “The Mikado” or a song-and-dance take on James Michener’s novel “Sayonara.”

But, citing financial disarray, TCA last week abruptly canceled a play series in Santa Barbara and pulled out of contracts with theaters in Fresno and San Diego.

Unwilling to entrust a key bloc of programming to the company, Thousand Oaks’ theater commissioners on Wednesday agreed to halt negotiations with TCA and seek alternative programming to fill the 12 weeks designated for splashy musicals.

“Frankly, they backed out of several contracts (in Santa Barbara and elsewhere) and when we asked them about our schedule, they said they couldn’t give us an answer for 60 days,” said Commissioner Harry Selvin, explaining his recommendation to drop TCA.

“We thought it was time to move on,” he added.

Selvin has recommended Theater League, based in Phoenix, Ariz., as the new company to anchor the Civic Arts Plaza’s inaugural season. The group takes mainstream musicals on national tours, including frequent stops in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

For the Thousand Oaks season, Theater League will propose one-week runs of “The Sound of Music” with Marie Osmond and “Hello, Dolly” with Carol Channing, with both shows coming to the Civic Arts Plaza during national tours.

The group will also develop a version of “42nd Street” specifically for Thousand Oaks, associate producer Joan Simmons said, and may come up with a fourth show as well.

Because Theater League plans just four weeks of programming, Thousand Oaks commissioners must scramble to fill the many dates that had been reserved for TCA’s musicals.

“It’s a rush, but we do have ample time to fill the void,” Selvin said.

As a veteran of the entertainment industry, Thousand Oaks theater director Tom Mitze said he had come to expect--although not welcome--the constant scramble to book shows.

“One thing you can always say about programming is that it’s subject to change,” Mitze said. “Once we start our season, the audience will tell us what they want to see.”

Although Theater League was the commission’s second choice for presenting musicals in the Civic Arts Plaza, officials from both the city and the group said they’re looking forward to next season, which starts with the grand opening in October.

“You and I both know that we can’t always be the first choice,” Simmons said. “Thank goodness there’s such a thing as a second choice. I worked as a casting director for many years, and I know that sometimes, the second choice is the best choice.”

* THEATER

‘Lack of community support’ in Fresno, Santa Barbara, San Diego is given as a reason to retrench. F2