Theatre LA Lures Leader From Pasadena

A year ago, Lars Hansen headed the committee that searched for an executive director for Theatre LA, the area’s primary organization of stage producers and theaters. The group selected Alisa Fishbach to take the reins.

Now Fishbach has resigned--and her replacement will be none other than Hansen himself. He’s leaving the Pasadena Playhouse after 11 turbulent years as managing director and then executive director.

Lee Wochner, who headed the latest Theatre LA search committee, said people joked last year that Hansen ought to apply for the job, “but we never really imagined he would.” This year, however, Wochner called Hansen to suggest the possibility--and Hansen brought it up before Wochner could say anything.

“It was too exciting to not want to do,” Hansen said last week. At age 49--part of the vast baby boom generation--he feels that many of his peers are only now beginning to discover the joys of theater: “They’ve been rafting, the kids are grown, they’re ready for the theater.” He believes the numbers of these new fans can translate into bullish years for L.A. theater, “as opposed to the early ‘90s.”

Ah yes, the early ‘90s--not the rosiest time for L.A. theater. In addition to being afflicted by such common L.A. woes of that time as recession and earthquakes, the Pasadena Playhouse went through its own distinctive odyssey. The theater was run by David Houk’s Theatre Corp. of America, an organization that initially played a large part in reviving the playhouse from dormancy but then unsuccessfully tried to convert it into the headquarters of an expanding circuit of touring productions.

The grand plans ended in bankruptcy for both the Theatre Corp. and Pasadena Playhouse Associates, the Houk outfit that actually owned the building. The separate Pasadena Playhouse State Theatre of California, the nonprofit that subleases the theater, took control of theater operations in 1995 and managed to keep the theater active throughout the turmoil. Today, this nonprofit is the biggest single creditor (with $3 million in claims) in the bankruptcy proceedings against Houk’s organizations.

In 1988, Houk had hired Hansen away from the now-defunct California Music Theatre, and Hansen was a loyal lieutenant in the early Houk years. But the two men have no contact now, according to Hansen. “I did everything that was asked of me, but the needs of the Pasadena Playhouse were more important than the needs of Theatre Corp. of America,” Hansen said. Houk could not be reached for comment.

Hansen not only survived the Houk fiasco, but he became the theater’s unofficial artistic director, in addition to his business duties, during most of the period between the resignation of Paul Lazarus in 1992 and the hiring of Sheldon Epps in 1997. (During part of this period, the playhouse was so poor it didn’t even belong to Theatre LA and therefore wasn’t eligible for Theatre LA’s Ovation Awards.)

The number of playhouse subscribers fell in recent years--from 22,000 in 1992 to “somewhere south of 13,000”--and then rose to the current figure of around 13,000, board chairman David Davis said. However, an increase in single ticket sales almost made up the revenue gap from fewer subscribers, and contributions have gone up recently (Houk was philosophically opposed to contributions). Davis hopes that Hansen’s successor will be able to get the subscription level back up.

The playhouse will miss Hansen, Davis said. “We talked to him about staying, but this was an opportunity for him to move in another direction. It could be a positive for us, having fresh talent come in and provide new expertise. Meanwhile, Lars will continue as a cheerleader for the theater in his new job” (and possibly as a playhouse board member).

The Theatre LA board hopes Hansen can “beef up the revenue” there, said Theatre LA chairman Jeff Brown. (Hansen’s title will be president and CEO, which brings it into closer accord with the group’s bylaws, according to Brown.)

Theatre LA’s Wochner said he’s impressed by Hansen’s “can-do” attitude in marketing and fund-raising. Hansen “headed the Ovations Award marketing committee and planned it like a military invasion.” Wochner also called Hansen “a visionary” in other areas--Wochner especially admires the “marvelously mixed audiences” at the playhouse. “While many theaters go after smaller slices of the pie, what I’ve seen at the playhouse is a trend in the other direction. Lars is a futurist, and theater in L.A. needs to make the leap into the future.”