L.A. report backs Latino groups to run theater center

A city report recommends that a consortium of two Latino arts groups should manage the municipally owned Los Angeles Theatre Center.

A proposal from the Latino Theater Company and the Latino Museum of History, Art and Culture was rated higher than one from downtown developer Tom Gilmore and the Will & Company troupe.

The report from Los Angeles’ chief legislative analyst -- based on drafts of proposed 20-year leases submitted by the two contenders -- cited the Latino organizations’ already existing boards, joint operating agreement and letters of commitment from several companies to produce shows at the four-stage LATC complex downtown.

The report also noted the Latino Theater’s tentative $4-million grant from a state agency to renovate LATC, and it said the lease could be terminated if that grant falls through.

Latino Theater’s artistic director, Jose Luis Valenzuela, said he hopes the L.A. City Council will accept the report’s recommendation of his proposal before the next meeting of the state agency’s board on Jan. 31.

Although the council’s budget committee is slated to discuss the issue Tuesday, Gilmore said he needs more time to respond to the report and will request that the issue also pass through the council’s arts and general services committees before reaching the full council.

The Latino Museum does not play as prominent a role in the proposal as it did when the Latino groups’ bid surfaced earlier this year. The museum had pledged $4 million to LATC but has only $3.4 million -- most of it tied up in bonds, the city report says. So, the museum would co-sign the lease only after renovations have been completed.

Programming under the Latino groups’ auspices “will not only reflect the Latino culture, but will also reflect a broad range of other cultures,” said the city report. Among the troupes listed by the city as committing to produce under the Latino consortium’s management are an Asian American company, an African American group, a company devoted to new plays by L.A. writers and two other groups.