Santa Ana Arts Center Signs Dinner Theater as First Tenant

The Celebrity Dinner Theater, offering a meal and a musical, has been confirmed as the first tenant of the Santa Ana Performing Arts and Event Center.

Improvements to the lighting, sound system and backstage must precede the anticipated mid-November opening of “A Big Band Christmas.”

Limon/Carr Productions of Tustin has contracted to bring shows to one of the three halls in the downtown venue, a restored, 71-year-old Masonic Temple.

Co-producer Joshua Carr foresees a six- or seven-show season in 2002, beginning in January with “The Pirates of Penzance.”

Bruce DiMauro, the center’s general manager, expects its restaurant, the Athena, will open within 60 days. He said other groups want to bring swing music, salsa and cabaret to the center, but no other agreements have been signed.