Pop Music May Get Starring Role at Tinseltown

Tinseltown Studios, which offered patrons the fantasy of a glitzy Hollywood awards show, appears poised to bank on real, big-name pop music attractions to draw the crowds that mock-ups of the Oscars failed to deliver.

Officials for the Anaheim venue, which abandoned the awards-show fantasy format last week after eight months, declined Tuesday to comment on their plans, saying only that a major announcement would be made next week.

However, Gary Folgner, the most active major rock and pop concert promoter in Orange County at his two clubs, the Coach House and the Galaxy Concert Theatre, said his longtime concert director, Ken Phebus, has taken a job booking shows for Tinseltown. It is bankrolled by Ogden Corp., a national entertainment giant that also operates Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

Pollstar, a concert industry trade publication, has received a listing for a Sept. 3 concert by the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd at Tinseltown. Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni said it was submitted by the band’s representatives.

Phebus, in his early 50s, has been a key figure in the Coach House/Galaxy dominance of the Orange County concert market since 1985, booking more than 300 shows a year here, including high-profile acts such as B.B. King, Miles Davis, Tom Jones, Carly Simon, Ray Charles, Merle Haggard, Los Lobos, the Byrds, Willie Nelson and Bonnie Raitt.

Phebus, who was unavailable for comment, resigned Friday. Folgner said Phebus told him that Tinseltown will begin offering a dinner-and-concert format in September, with 1970s rock band Styx booked as well as Lynyrd Skynyrd.

“I know they’ve got offers out for Ray Charles, Tony Bennett and Faith Hill,” Folgner said.

When Tinseltown officials announced the end of the awards-show format last month, they said the Anaheim dinner theater would be able to seat 1,390 people for concerts or shows. That would provide a missing mid-sized venue for the Orange County pop concert market. The Coach House, in San Juan Capistrano, seats 492 and the Galaxy, in Santa Ana, seats 550.

A rivalry between West Hollywood’s House of Blues and Tinseltown--or whatever it might be renamed--could develop, especially since the House of Blues has announced its intention to open an Anaheim franchise in 2001.

Folgner said Phebus leaves on good terms after receiving a Tinseltown offer that doubles his current earnings.

Phebus, an affable, garrulous man, has strong relationships with agents who book touring acts. They have cited him as a key to the Coach House/Galaxy dominance in Orange County. He has been nominated at least five times for the Nightclub Talent Buyer of the Year award, a national honor conferred by Pollstar.

Folgner said he will book his clubs himself until he finds a replacement for Phebus; he’ll rely on his clubs’ stature and relationships with performers to compete.

The Tinseltown transformation is just one of several proposals for live venues that, if opened as planned, would make Anaheim an Orange County hub for concerts and musical theater. Walt Disney Co. will open its own entertainment mall, Downtown Disney, a retail, dining and entertainment center that is expected to include a House of Blues and a Latin music nightclub.

Nearby Pointe Anaheim aims to offer Broadway shows and veteran Vegas-style acts at a $500-million entertainment and shopping center next to Disneyland.

Staff writer E. Scott Reckard contributed to this report.