South Bay : A Cultural Star Is Born as Musical Debuts

Who says the South Bay is a cultural wasteland?

“Western Star,” a musical about settlers of the Old West, just completed its world premiere at the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities in Redondo Beach.

The show, written by Dale Wasserman, who penned the words for “Man of La Mancha” and the stage adaptation of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” was seen by more than 18,000 people in just 15 performances before it closed Sunday.

It was the first time the 3-year-old theater group has produced a new work, although it has put on 14 theatrical standards in four seasons.

The milestone came as a delight to James Blackman, who co-founded the Civic Light Opera in 1992. He had returned to the area after six years in Washington, D.C., and found his hometown culturally deprived by comparison. So he set up theater shop in the 1,425-seat auditorium of his alma mater, Aviation High School.

“There was no children’s museum, no ballet and no symphony,” Blackman recalled. “All that happened while I was gone was, they put a top on the Del Amo Fashion [Center] and made it bigger. . . .”