GLENDALE : City Sues Former Operator of Landmark Alex Theatre

The city of Glendale filed suit Tuesday against the former operators of the city-owned Alex Theatre, accusing them of breach of contract, absconding with donations and the fraudulent selling of 11,000 subscription tickets for a season of musicals “knowing they would be unable to deliver the musicals.”

The defendant is the Pasadena-based Theatre Corp. of America, which had promised Glendale it would produce splashy musicals and other major entertainment events at the Alex, a 1925 Art Deco theater that reopened this year after a $6.5-million renovation.

Theatre Corp. of America, which manages the Pasadena Playhouse, had told Glendale officials the Alex could be operated at no cost to the city. But city officials say that in July, after tickets were sold for a three-musical series, the company informed them that most of the money had gone to pay debts and that remaining funds would not be enough to produce even one show.

The agreement between the city and the company was formally severed in August. In the suit, filed in Glendale Superior Court, the city asks for a full accounting of money collected and spent in order to determine how much the city might be owed. The city believes it “exceeds the sum of $1 million,” according to the suit. Theatre Corp. of America officials could not be reached for comment.