Arts Plaza to Celebrate 1st Anniversary in Style : Thousand Oaks: Champagne, commendations and a full-scale production by a local company will mark the occasion tonight. While some hail center, critics remain.

Nearly a year ago, theater director Tom Mitze stood backstage at the Civic Arts Plaza with his infant son and watched in horror as members of the English Chamber Orchestra fled the stage and rushed past him, heading for the exits.

Inside the 1,800-seat theater, the audience was making a similarly hasty retreat. The fire alarm wailed, lights flashed and a droning voice on the loudspeaker informed patrons it was time to abandon the building.

Oct. 28, 1994, was a bad day for the fledging theater. But Mitze can look back on that technical nightmare now and laugh a little.

The nervous fire alarm has long since been fixed and the Civic Arts Plaza is celebrating its first anniversary in business tonight with champagne, commendations from Mayor Jaime Zukowski and a full-scale production by a local company of the musical “The King and I.”

Since the facility opened Oct. 21 of last year, 347,962 people have attended more than 400 concerts, comedy shows, plays and musicals in its two theaters. The nonprofit center made an unexpected $400,000 during its first season and organizers say what could have been a risky venture has been a ringing success.

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They say the Civic Arts Plaza has reshaped Ventura County residents’ cultural outlook and made Thousand Oaks a livelier, more interesting place. One fan calls it “a breath of fresh air” for the county--not only bringing in national acts, but also promoting local companies.

Having the $64-million center has enriched educational opportunities for area schoolchildren, organizers say, pointing to the many plays and performances area children have seen over the past year. Just last month the center was the site of the first Thousand Oaks Children’s Film Festival.

More than 1,000 local volunteers have given their time to promoting and staffing the new complex. The city saved about $150,000 during the first season because so many residents--640 to be precise--signed up to be ushers for performances.

But critics of the vast facility remain. They still have problems with how much it cost in the first place. They joke about the copper curtain hanging on the freeway side of the building, saying it looks more like the innards of a refrigerator than public art. And some young people complain that musical programming at the center caters mostly to the older set.

As dust settles on playbills from the first season, there is finally time for a little introspection on the part of theater and city officials.

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Zukowski said the center has certainly changed Thousand Oaks, though she sees that change taking place less in the past year and more gradually over the past decade. “We are a different community than we were when we began this,” Zukowski said.

Fiscally cautious, Zukowski is careful to point out that the center cost $64 million and that the land it was built on another $20 million. Thousand Oaks will be repaying that debt for years--money that could have been spent on other priorities, she said.

“It depends on one’s point of view whether the benefits outweigh the costs,” Zukowski said. “But certainly for the arts community it has been a real milestone.”

Whereas last year’s grand opening featured actress/singer Bernadette Peters belting out show tunes, this year’s celebration is oriented to what organizers refer to fondly as “the home team.”

Zukowski will give commendations to the local symphony, New West; to Cabrillo Music Theater, a civic light opera company based in Thousand Oaks, and to Santa Susana Repertory Company, a theater group.

After champagne and congratulations, a blend of both local and professional singers and actors will take to the stage in the Probst Center for a performance of “The King and I,” produced by Cabrillo and starring stage celebrity Dale Kristien.

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In the facility’s smaller Forum Theatre tonight, Santa Susana Repertory Company--a group that began in Simi Valley--will perform “The Fantasticks.”

The first year anniversary celebration is symbolic of the effort local performers have made to use the Civic Arts Plaza, Mitze said.

“What it means is that we are a living performing arts center and not just a booking hall,” Mitze said. “It’s important that we have the home constituency. That’s the heart and soul of the Civic Arts Plaza. The touring groups are the glitz and sparkle.”

The reward of seeing those local groups grow is tremendous, Mitze said. In the past year, New West Symphony was born, the result of a contentious merging of two county symphonies. Cabrillo Music Theater has started to come into its own as well, he said, pointing to the group’s feat in snagging Kristien for the role of Anna in “The King and I.”

Soprano Kristien, who played Christine during the entire Los Angeles run of “Phantom of the Opera,” had attended an earlier Cabrillo production of “Peter Pan” this summer. Laura Lorona, who helps promote local groups, including Cabrillo, said the star was charmed by the “Peter Pan” production and asked to be part of the “The King and I.”

Kristien is the biggest star the local group has hired yet, and the draw of her name has boosted ticket sales considerably, Lorona said.

While the local groups are thrilled with the opportunities they have been given, the producers who book nationally known acts at the Civic Arts Plaza caution against relying completely on them to keep the center going.

Mike Pettite--who brought Preservation Hall Jazz, Hal Holbrook’s “Mark Twain Tonight!” and Mikhail Barishnikov to Thousand Oaks last season--said new theaters can quickly dwindle without outside performers.

“They regress and become local arts groups,” Pettite said. “They go in more for local productions, but they don’t have the world-class performances.”

Following that trend, business will drop off, he said. Although he has already seen a slight diminishing in the second season of sales at the Civic Arts Plaza, he is confident Conejo Valley residents will keep supporting the building.

“I think the honeymoon will continue,” he said.

More than 50% of theater-goers at the Civic Arts Plaza are from the Conejo Valley, according to box office figures.

Nick Masters, who books major acts at the center through Avalon Productions, said he expects a slight dip in ticket sales during the coming season. In the first year, Avalon sold an average of 75% to 80% of available seats for performances. But even with the expected drop-off, he too is optimistic.

“The building has the ability to keep drawing,” Masters said. “We’re going to keep nipping away at the outer edges and expanding the audience. In three years I think the building will have a bigger presence.”

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Upcoming Avalon acts include John Denver, Air Supply, Natalie Cole, Johnny Cash, Tom Jones, Roger Whittaker and Manhattan Transfer. Both Patty Loveless and John Tesh played at the Civic Arts Plaza last weekend.

While that lineup may excite older generations, Masters concedes it doesn’t thrill too many young people.

“It is not as youth-oriented as some people would like it to be,” Masters said.

The size and scope of the center have a lot to do with the kinds of acts it draws and how much tickets cost, Masters said. But there are other factors as well.

“Artists are afraid of new buildings,” Masters said. “They don’t want to be the first one in.”

A lot of alternative acts don’t think performing arts centers are “cool” places to play, he said. And successful touring bands want to play larger venues, such as the Hollywood Bowl, where they can make more money. He knows the acts he has booked so far aren’t exactly popular with younger people and he wants to change that.

“We hear this and we are not insensitive to it,” he said. “We address it when we can. You get them when you can and if you wait, you’ll get them all.”

FYI

The public is invited to a champagne party tonight) to celebrate the first anniversary of the Civic Arts Plaza, beginning at 6 on the plaza in front of the box office.