Public’s Invitation to O.C.’s Tinseltown to Be Rescinded

Tinseltown Studios, which has struggled with attendance since its opening, will close its doors to the general public Aug. 1 and limit its Hollywood awards show to corporate events, general manager Ron Drake said Thursday.

When it opened last November, the Anaheim dinner theater offered twice-nightly shows six days a week. Within a month, the shows were reduced to one per night four times a week because of slumping ticket sales. There were two shows on Saturdays.

The shows were further reduced to three times a week in June.

Drake said New York-based Ogden Corp., which bankrolled the $15-million theater, has no plans to close it. In addition to the corporate awards shows, the theater will be used for both public and private events such as banquets, proms, weddings, fashion shows, musical events and comedy shows.

“We are converting to a multipurpose entertainment facility,” Drake said. “The Tinseltown experience will be based on group demand.”

Drake said that by next month, he hopes to be able to unveil a lineup of “major entertainment” but said nothing has been finalized.

The dinner theater, originally 678 seats, will be able to accommodate 1,390 seats for non-banquet events such as concerts and shows, and will have its sound system and lighting system updated.

Drake said that the addition of Gotcha Glacier, a $40-million, four-story indoor sports park that will be located behind Tinseltown, will help add “synergy to the area” on the fringe of the Edison International Field parking lot. The groundbreaking for Gotcha Glacier, which also will be managed by Ogden, will take place next month.

Tinseltown is designed to make guests feel as though they are insiders at a Hollywood awards show. They are greeted by autograph hounds and paparazzi. After entering the theater, they are entertained by a musical tribute to Hollywood.

Some guests are then chosen to perform in computer-altered movie clips alongside real actors as part of an awards show that takes place during dinner.

“The awards may be a niche product,” Drake said. “A lot of people have come and enjoyed the awards show and in our surveys it is very highly rated. But maybe the size of the market isn’t as large as we had originally anticipated.”

Drake said some of the theater’s 221 employees, most of whom are part-time, face temporary layoffs.

In addition to the sluggish ticket sales, another trouble sign for Tinseltown came in April when it was announced that former Disneyland President Jack B. Lindquist, who played a major role in the creation of the facility, was parting ways with Ogden and would no longer be involved in Tinseltown.

Lindquist, who had been in charge of ticket sales and marketing, said at the time that the parting was amicable and that he did not feel he was being made a scapegoat for Tinseltown’s woes. Lindquist could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Tourism experts have said that “eatertainment” themed venues like Tinseltown have declined in popularity.