Evicted Operators of Ventura Theatre Say They’ll Refund Tickets

Two weeks after they were evicted for falling behind in rent, operators of the Ventura Theatre say they are arranging to refund tickets for canceled shows and are scraping together money owed to employees and construction crews.

“The big questions are, are the people who purchased tickets going to get refunds, and are employees going to be paid?” said Glenis Gross, Backstreet Entertainment co-manager. “The answer is, “Yes, they are.’ ”

Of 1,350 tickets for eight shows from June through August, about 515 still need to be refunded, theater co-manager Dan Catullo III said.

Tickets bought at Ticketmaster sites can be refunded there. Tickets bought through Ticketmaster at the Ventura Theatre box office can be refunded by mailing the old tickets to an Oxnard post office box, he said.

Payments should be made within a week, Catullo said.

Still, Catullo said he and Gross will not give up their lease to the 1928 Art Deco hall on Chestnut Street without a fight.

They have found an investor in San Francisco ready to support them if building owner Angelo Elardo will allow them back, Catullo said. In the meantime, Catullo said, he is considering whether to sue Elardo.

“They thought they could kick us out, and we would pack our bags . . . and they would take the venue over,” Catullo said. “But I want to get back inside that venue.”

Elardo could not be reached for comment.

The financial failure of the remodeled theater dealt a psychological blow to nearby merchants. Many had hoped the restored concert hall would draw shoppers downtown during a chaotic year of construction.

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Work has already begun on a four-story parking structure, and will soon begin on a 10-screen movie theater at Main and Chestnut streets.

But work ground to a halt after the theater’s reopening May 10 with a Ventura Chamber Music Festival concert.

Just the month before, Catullo and Gross had signed a long-term lease with Elardo to operate the onetime movie theater, which has been a concert hall for eight years.

The pair poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into restoring the theater. They had hoped to attract David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen and other big-name stars, and wanted ballet troupes and theater productions to entertain on the Ventura stage.

But then they fell two months behind in their rent, and Elardo evicted them June 13, leaving concert-goers with useless tickets. Catullo said Backstreet Entertainment owes about $14,000 to customers who bought tickets at the theater box office. He said he does not know how much Ticketmaster owes.

Catullo said he and Gross owe between $18,000 and $36,000 in back rent to Elardo, and still have to pay many employees.

He also said he and Gross owe about $220,000 to employees and contractors in back pay.

Catullo and a Ticketmaster spokeswoman said they have set up a system to refund tickets.

“Ticket holders should get a full refund,” said Tina Suarez, a marketing director for the Los Angeles ticket company.

Suarez said Catullo called her about three weeks ago, when the theater was shut down. It has taken this long to get the code numbers for the tickets and set up the post office box, she said.

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Meanwhile, Gross and Catullo said they are struggling to get back on their feet financially.

Gross said it breaks her heart to see the now-radiant theater locked and dark.

“But it is pretty clear he does not want us in that building,” she said.

FYI: Ticket holders who purchased at the New Ventura Theatre box office should mail the tickets along with their name and address to New Ventura Theatre Ticket Refund, 3600 S. Harbor Blvd., Suite 318, Oxnard 93035. Those who bought at other Ticketmaster sites should take tickets there for refunds.