Fanning Out

Since reopening as a performing-arts venue in 1994, the Alex Theatre has presented a lot of things--dance, travelogues, musicals, jazz, classical music.

But this weekend the Alex is trying something new: rock concerts.

In partnership with Pasadena’s public radio station KPCC-FM (89.3), the Alex will present a series of concerts under the banner “Live @ the Alex.” Four shows are planned through April, but if the idea proves successful, more could be added. The inaugural concert Saturday features Los Angeles-based bands Uma and Five Easy Pieces.

Randy Carter, a member of the Alex Regional Theatre--or ART--board, said the series is a result of planning and a certain amount of serendipity. The board was trying to figure out how to raise the profile of the restored 1920s-era theater--especially among those working in the entertainment industry who moved to Glendale in greater numbers as studios located more offices there.

Then, Carter ran into Shana LaVigni, KPCC’s music director, at an Alex Film Society screening. The station, it turned out, was looking for a concert venue.

Daytime listeners know KPCC for its “intelligent talk” format, heavy with National Public Radio programming. But at 8 p.m., KPCC goes all-music. After adult-album-alternative station KSCA-FM (101.9) changed to a Mexican regional music format two years ago, KPCC beefed up its music programming to draw listeners looking for that mix of alternative rock and contemporary folk music. In addition to adding more music during the evening hours, the station hosted concerts at the Troubadour in West Hollywood.

By moving to the Alex, KPCC gains a venue central to the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, the heart of their listening audience. At the same time, she said, it’s a classy venue, appealing to their 25-to-49 demographic--people who like rock music, but not necessarily crowded rock clubs.

So the Alex provides the venue. KPCC picks the musicians and provides on-air promotion. And the bands? They just show up and play.

For Uma, the Alex show is a chance to make a bigger splash in its hometown. Each of the three players--Chris Hickey, Sally Dworsky and Andy Kamman--have performed or recorded with plenty of well-known artists (REM, Michael Penn, the Indigo Girls and Vonda Shepard, to drop a few names). But Uma has been a public entity for only one year.

Hickey and Kamman were recording as a duo, when Dworsky came in to help on their album for Refuge, a joint-venture label with MCA. The chemistry seemed to work out, and that record, “Fare Well,” got lots of airplay on KPCC. They were a natural choice for “Live @ the Alex,” according to ART board member Michael Wade.

Wade said he heard Uma on KPCC and was immediately taken with the charm of their personalities and their music.

“I listen to a lot of music,” said Wade, who, with Carter, heads “Live @ the Alex.” “It’s pretty rare for me to find a record that, the first time I heard it from beginning to end, I was transfixed. And that happened with both of these bands.”

Sharing the bill is “Five Easy Pieces,” a group that got noticed playing three-hour Saturday gigs at Baja Cantina in Venice. Singer and guitarist Marc Dauer describes their style as “rock-pop-country-alternative music.” No wonder their shows take three hours.

Now the group has a self-titled album on MCA, and a single, “Lovers,” in release. They’re touring the South playing their own shows and opening for groups such as Candlebox and Spin Doctors. But they haven’t played their hometown in a while, so they hope to draw their 300 or so core of fans to Glendale and make new ones.

As for the name--well, they weren’t huge fans of the Jack Nicholson film. Dauer, in fact, hadn’t even seen it when the band formed. But, he said, the wording fits. “We’re just not the easiest pieces individually. But when we come together, we create something that works.”

Carter hopes the pieces of “Live @ the Alex” slide together in a similarly complementary fashion.

The ART board considered economics first, so they only have to fill 500 of the theater’s 1,460 seats to pay the bands’ basic fees and break even on costs.

After that, the bands and the Alex split the door. That could work out well for Uma and Five Easy Pieces, and is certainly a better deal than at many local rock clubs where performers have to guarantee that they will fill the house.

As Wade explained, “My philosophy has always been that if you treat the artists right, make the experience good for them, that comes back to everyone involved tenfold.”

For the Alex, the payoff could be in terms of new patrons. To be fair, the Alex has held concerts that would be categorized as rock, most notably Don McLean and Blood, Sweat & Tears. But they didn’t sell out and they didn’t attract people in their 20s and 30s.

“What we’re really hoping is that this will draw a different age group into the Alex,” Carter said. “We’ve had Marvin Hamlisch, Marilyn Horne, our dance series. Now we’re trying to round out our audience.”

BE THERE

“Live @ the Alex,” featuring Uma and Five Easy Pieces, 8 p.m. Saturday at the Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. $15. (818) 243-7700. Tickets also available through Tele-Charge, (800) 233-3123.