Maypole dancers and the cast of Robin Hood at Camino Real Playhouse, 2017. (Orange County Register/SCNG, photo by Cindy Yamanaka)
Dorothy is on a dazzling adventure across the rainbow, but her heart aches for one thing: her home. Camino Her Real Her Playhouse people, and as it turns out, many other arts organizations within the OC, also know exactly how she feels.
“I've been trying to find a new space for more than two years, going down all kinds of rabbit holes and knocking on doors in buildings that aren't for sale,” said the nearly 35-year-old museum's artistic director. , Leslie Eisner said. A business is losing a city-owned home near the historic San Juan Capistrano Mission to a redevelopment project.
“We've worked with five real estate agents so far. We still don't have any space. We don't know what else to do. The clock is ticking.”
Every second act has a low point when everything seems hopelessly, hopelessly, irretrievably lost. And Camino Real Playhouse appears to be there now. But it's soft, what kind of light in the window over there will break it? Actor Carla Naragon said that it is in these most hopeless crossroads that miracles happen.
“Every story has heroes, villains, and unexpected strangers who show kindness,” she says. “There's a chance a hero will emerge. Maybe there's a hero out there somewhere. Maybe it's in someone's cosmic contract to come forward and experience being a savior or a silent angel.” . There is room in this story for those people to come forward.”
It would be a tragedy for a community theater that managed to survive the pandemic shutdown to be doomed by the exorbitant fortunes of California real estate. But it's happening. In recent years, the Attic Theater has lost ground in Santa Ana. Stage Theater lost its position in Fullerton. Modjeska Playhouse has lost its location in Lake Forest.
“Real estate is expensive,” says Richard Stein, president and CEO of Arts Orange County. “This is a bigger problem than just community theater, and it exists everywhere in the arts. It's very difficult to find affordable places to perform and exhibit. God be with you, Henry Segerstrom.” Thank you. Can you imagine the land with all those buildings?”
Alchemy Theater Company has been homeless since its 2013 banner. “I have been working hard to find a home, but the rent is astronomical,” says founder Jeff Lowe. “Unless you have a city or an actual city council that provides a building or puts a lot of money into it, that's not possible. And when you don't have a home, it's hard to create an audience that comes back.”
I know of the Modjeska Theater, which is now closed. It never recovered after the pandemic. The landlord wanted to almost double the rent and wanted to pay the entire lease upfront.
“As much as we wanted to remain in this space and continue as a theater company, their terms weren't realistic, so we had no choice but to close,” Christopher Sullivan said. said. “It is very difficult for a theater to survive in Orange County unless it is very well-funded by donors or the building in which it performs is owned by the city, reducing the burden of rent and day-to-day operating costs. Ticket sales alone are not enough to keep the doors open.”
help wanted
Camino Real Playhouse is grateful for the decades of greatness we have enjoyed. The city of San Juan Capistrano allowed him to convert the feed store and Pacific his Bell building, which the city owned, into a theater in 1991. Rent was almost free. Camino Real has built a beloved fan base. San Juan was so loved that he promised to finance a new home for as long as his home in Capistrano remained. However, if the company leaves town, the money won't come later.
Eisner was looking. And I'm looking. First, go to San Juan Cap. After that, it spread rapidly to surrounding cities. The proposal to move to the San Clemente location received significant pushback from the city's community theaters. San Clemente has not taken any action on this and it appears to be uncontroversial.
“Last year, more than 11,000 people came to see our shows in theaters. Eight of our 10 shows were all sold out and had to be extended. We're firing on all cylinders. “If we didn't have the building…” Eisner said.
Some cities invest more in the arts than others. Laguna Beach owns the Laguna Playhouse and Pageant of the Masters sites and charges dramatically lower rents for long-term rentals, but a recent audit shows the Playhouse's The cost is approximately $18,000 per year. Garden Grove is home to the Gem Theater, where One More Productions produces musicals and hosts educational workshops. The Curtis Theater, owned by the City of Brea, is available for rent to creators starting at about $500 per day.
Mission Viejo is studying the possibility of building a theater. Lake Forest's City Council Building is a flexible space that can host performances.
San Juan Capistrano, on the other hand, has been on the list of generous arts patrons for decades, but unfortunately. California abolished redevelopment agencies in order to push surplus city-owned properties onto the market (and back onto the tax rolls). The developer's original vision for the Playhouse site included a state-of-the-art performing arts center, but that was removed from the project ultimately approved by the City Council. The developer has set up a nonprofit to raise $40 million to build an arts center elsewhere, but no one knows when or if that will happen. I don't understand.
Camino Real Playhouse was told it needed to leave its home this year. Although there is no set departure date, not knowing what will happen next causes great anxiety. Theaters need space to build and paint sets, store costumes, rehearse, and more. The best space would be a warehouse of approximately 10,000 square feet with parking for 40 to 50 cars.
Mr. Eisner promised the late Barbara Jean (“BJ”) Scott, founder of Camino Real Playhouse, that she would take care of the theater. “That weighs heavily on me,” Eisner said. “I definitely want to fulfill that promise.”
think outside the box
San Juan Capistrano City Councilman John Campbell doesn't want to lose the playhouse.
“They have been such an important and integral part of our community for so many decades. “We had no intention of moving the playhouse until we had to,” he said. “We want to keep them in the city, but we can't do that.” make Someone please sell them the building. ”
Fellow City Councilman John Taylor feels the same way. He served on the board of the Camino Real His Playhouse. “Having a community theater in the city is really important to me,” Taylor said. “It would be very sad if it moved.”
The wrecking ball isn't hanging above the playhouse yet, but Taylor suspects it will take a little longer than originally expected in its current location. As for what happens next, he understands that theater people not only want to build and store sets and costumes, but also space to perform, but recently the value of real estate has increased. is very high and probably not viable. He thinks he may need to adjust his expectations.
“Can we do something at the local movie theater?” Taylor said. “And there are vacancies near the center where the Marshalls are… How about a long-term lease? Donor funds will go toward securing an endowment to pay the rent. We need a lot of money to make that happen. I would certainly be creative if someone offered me that. A lot depends on whether the donor is receptive to it.”
However, the city subsidy has disappeared. “Unfortunately, we're not really in a position to do that. I wish we had,” he said. “I wish we were like Dana Point or Newport Beach. They've got millions of dollars in the safe. We're running a very tight ship.”
Another ingenious idea came from Watermark OC Church near the airport in Costa Mesa. The company is converting thousands of square feet inside a commercial industrial warehouse building with 30-foot ceilings into a theater.
Senior Pastor Benjamin Appleby said, “We feel that God has called us here not just to serve the church, but to reach out and serve the community.'' Told. “That's our design. That's our mission.”
This project was highly praised by the warehouse owners association. Final approval from the city of Costa Mesa is expected soon. Contractors are being vetted and the church hopes to complete the project by the end of the year.
Arts OC's Stein connected the church with several homeless theater groups to tour the space. The most frequently asked question is, “When will it open?'' Applebee's has not yet released details on rental rates, but plans to make it affordable and convenient.
Edgier groups like the Homeless Alchemists may not fit in with the church and are forced to get creative. Consider “Drinkspear,” a free show dedicated to “bards and bars.” The audience's job is to get the actors tipsy before performing Shakespeare, which results in a huge uproar. In February, Alchemy will perform “Hamlet” on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Craftsman Wood-Fired Pizza in Placentia and “Romeo and Juliet” on Thursdays at 8 p.m. at Lone Wolf Brewing Company in Yorba Linda.
Rowe adheres to Shakespeare's wisdom that “we hold our destinies not in the stars, but within ourselves.”
family
There's a lot at stake here. Stein said the arts enrich our lives, contribute to our health and well-being, and boost local economies, especially in high-tourism destinations like San Juan Capistrano. “You can't underestimate the whole culture of community theater, a group of people working together to create art,” he said.
Camino Real has been doing just that for the people of San Juan Capistrano, and the entire region, for decades.
Jordyn Brady came to the Playhouse in 2021 to appear in “Little Shop of Horrors.” “She was so excited to be back on stage, but she didn't expect to find her family as well,” she said. “Camino Real's Playhouse became my home. The friends I made became my forever family.”
Actress Naragon feels the same way. She is a therapist specializing in trauma care.The stage is she Form of treatment. The theater is her church, a way to connect with God, and the Camino Real is one of her favorite things.
“Not every story has a happy ending, but I believe, thank you, Shakespeare, that there is more in heaven and earth than is dreamed of in our philosophy,” she said.
Come on, better angels. bring it on.
