As the LATC Turns...

By Eric Richardson
Published: Friday, March 17, 2006, at 06:15PM

Los Angeles Theatre Center Eric Richardson [Flickr]

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — In this week’s Downtown News Jon Regardie pens a well-written piece on the current turmoil with the LA Theatre Center. If you haven’t followed the process, you might take a look at this round-up of previous coverage.

Basic gist of this round is that Will & Company, the only theatre company to consistantly program the LATC, is out of a space they’ve occupied for quite a long period of time. There’s the typical he said, she said off who wrote a letter to who, but that’s anything but new to the LATC takeover.

Obviously I have no way to say who’s really done what, but I think the eviction of Will & Co. reflects very poorly on the Latino Theatre Company and puts up a major red-flag for their ongoing operation of the center.

In the article Jose Luis Valenzuela, artistic director of LTC, claims that the eviction occured when Will & Co. didn’t answer letters sent after LTC took control of the center. Clearly implied is that LTC had no choice but to evict them.

But Will & Co. is no ordinary tenant, and the LATC is no ordinary building. LTC is receiving a property that has has tens of millions of City dollars poured into it, and is receiving it through circumstances that can only be in the most generous sense called odd.

The way in which LTC received the theatre center should have been cause for them to proceed in the most accomodating way possible. The onus was on them to be transparent in their efforts to keep Will & Co. in the building during the transition. Remember, Will & Co. had been specifically told they would be allowed to remain. Loud was the proclamation that no one would be evicted.

If Will & Co. was being unresponsive, LTC should have been tugging at the ear of everyone from Jan Perry’s office to the Downtown News to let them know that they were trying. But we in the public heard nothing, and the response of the Councilwoman would seem to clearly state that neither was her phone ringing on the matter.

Given the way things should have gone, and the way events have instead transpired, it seems clear that LTC wasn’t all too concerned about the fate of Will & Co. once they got the building. Is that just a case of bad blood between two groups that fought for years over a building? Who knows. Certainly, though, this puts a dark cloud over an already troubled situation.



Comments

1
Dana Gabbard writes:

I’m not surprised. This whole process was dominated by insider influence, not what is best for the complex. The so-called Museum has a spotty history, at best. And why are these folks with little or no expertise at findraising or running a complex being handed millions of taxpayer dollars (which is what the endowment is)? I forsee yet another fiasco unfolding in the tortured history of LATC. I pray I am wrong.

# on Mar.20.2006 AT 10:34 AM
2
Michelle writes:

I’m not sure if Will & Co is guilty of sour grapes or not. If the group isn’t, then the new owners of the LATC may very well be lousy landlords and incompetent theater operators. However, how come some of the other former tenants of the theater have managed to negotiate with LTC?

# on Mar.20.2006 AT 01:24 PM
3
Joel C writes:

^ The difference between Will and Co. and the other tenants is the fight they had with the Latino Theatre Co. I think the whole feud is ridiculous, personally. It’s about power, not theater.

# on Mar.22.2006 AT 12:03 PM
4
Maya Lilly writes:

I have had the pleasure of working with Will and Company (Colin Cox) on two productions. I have also worked with students/now friends from UCLA, who are members of Latino Theatre Company (Aaron Garcia, Noni Limar, to name a few). I testified in court about this situation in favor of Will and Co.

Sour grapes this is not.
The simple fact is, Jose Luis Valenuzuela wanted Colin Cox’s office.
And he played the race card with the new latino mayor’s office to get it.

I write this as someone with a Cuban grandmother, so give me leave.

LTC has always wanted sole control of the building, which is BY FAR big enough to house MANY theatre companies.
Colin Cox of Will and Co. offered to let LTC …REPEATEDLY… share the space.
LTC was offered their own theatre COMPLEX elsewhere, which they refused for no apparently good reason.

I have no doubt that they won’t be able to program a season as successfully as Colin Cox did.

Valenzuela is an Ego, not an Artist. I vow never to see one of their productions again… which weren’t very good anyway… and I’ve encouraged ALL of my artist friends to join me in that.

As a Latina myself, I am ashamed.

# on Mar.23.2006 AT 07:00 PM
5
David Kennedy writes:

The whole situation is unfortunate. This is all so obviously about insider influence and nepotism trumping transparent governance. This latest turn of events only provides further evidence of what the LTC is all about.

I’d overlook this nonsense if I thought the Latino Theater Company was an artistic hothouse producing superb theater. I don’t expect great artists to be well-rounded human beings. Yet, nothing indicates these guys are capable of anything but these kinds of underhanded powerplays. What’s even worse is apparently this bunch has a 20-year lease(!). I’m sure we’ll be reading about this sillines for decades.

My only solace will likely be reading the blistering reviews their mediorce productions will receive over the years. I wish I were wrong.

Let’s hope Will & Company bounce back from this unfortunate event and find an even better home.

# on Mar.24.2006 AT 02:02 PM

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