Theater company to change address

THE West Coast Ensemble has become the second prominent Hollywood theater company to start looking for a new home, on the heels of the recent news that the Actors’ Gang is doing the same.

The 23-year-old ensemble’s La Brea Avenue theater is being sold, with escrow expected to be completed this month.

West Coast does plan to do two or three more shows there, including the just-opened “Floyd Collins,” but will have to move by the end of September, says Claudia Jaffee, the associate artistic director and financial manager.

The frequently acclaimed company is looking in Hollywood, West Hollywood and Culver City. Jaffee suggests that perhaps several companies should join forces and share one building.

Two other small companies that are expected to be homeless by the end of 2005 are the Antaeus Company and Andak Stage Company. They have been sharing the NewPlace Theatre Center on Vineland Avenue in North Hollywood, but the building has been sold and is scheduled to be replaced by an apartment complex.

*

-- Don Shirley