CalArts Space Won’t Work for the Taper

Fact 1: The Mark Taper Forum has been looking for a mid-sized second space for years.

Fact 2: A 200-seat theater will be incorporated into the design of the new Disney Hall at the Music Center, a block away from the Taper, as part of the terms of a recently announced gift from the Walt Disney Co. It’s intended for use by CalArts.

Do these two facts add up to anything? Apparently not much.

Certainly the idea of the Taper’s use of the new hall occurred to some of the principals involved. CalArts President Steven Lavine said he and Taper artistic director Gordon Davidson discussed the situation, while Davidson said that he had a chat on the subject with Disney Hall architect Frank Gehry.

Nonetheless, 200 seats aren’t enough for the Taper’s needs, Davidson said. “To make it economically feasible, I need closer to 350 or 400 seats.”

Not only do 200 seats limit revenue, but if the Disney Hall space were used by professional as well as student productions, labor costs would be much higher.

“I don’t see this theater as solving Gordon’s need for a second space in any way,” agreed Lavine. Many of the programs CalArts would present at Disney Hall would be free to the public, he said.

Still, Lavine added that perhaps Taper personnel could become involved in the training of CalArts students in the new space--or elsewhere. “We’ll drive to Culver City too,” he said, referring to the Taper’s ongoing study of a plan to create a 420-seat theater within the shell of the Culver Theater. Davidson confirmed that he and Lavine frequently discuss the possibility of joint educational endeavors--and, in fact, one event within the Taper’s current New Work Festival was held on the CalArts campus.

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ABSENCE OF “EVIDENCE”: Speaking of Culver City, that city’s Evidence Room is about to close its doors. Samitaur Constructs--the landlord of the troupe’s big, vaulting space in the industrial district--has decided to rent the venue to a company for film and TV production and post-production beginning in January.

Bart DeLorenzo, director of the Evidence Room company, acknowledged that Samitaur “was very supportive” when the theater company began nearly three years ago, giving the company a reduced rental rate. However, citing a Samitaur plan to launch several theater companies within the firm’s properties in the area, DeLorenzo said, “it’s very strange that they’re kicking us out.”

Frederick and Laurie Smith, who operate Samitaur, do hope to create a theater district within their Culver City properties. Their ambitions go beyond the 99-seat Evidence Room; they envision three to five mid-sized theaters of 250-450 seats.

However, said Laurie Smith, DeLorenzo’s group “didn’t build an audience following large enough to warrant a company continuing. We underwrote them in terms of the rent we didn’t charge.” DeLorenzo said the Smiths had told him that they could make the same rent they charged his group each month--$2,500--in one day from commercial tenants.

“It’s time to place our bets on other companies--the kind that will attract an audience,” Laurie Smith said. “I don’t mean they should just do safe plays with mass appeal. If experimental theater is good, it has an audience.” Frederick Smith also criticized the Evidence Room board for not building enough support.

DeLorenzo defended his group’s quality, claiming that the Smiths had not attended a production at the Evidence Room in the past year. The current co-production in the space, “Accidental Death of an Anarchist” from John Cusack’s New Crime company, is selling out on weekends, he said.