Working at Industrial Strength

It’s a constant refrain in the Los Angeles theater world, one that sometimes rises to the decibel level of a whine: “Why isn’t the entertainment industry more involved?”

Both arenas involve actors, sets and scripts; surely there’s got to be a way to funnel a fraction of the expected mega-profits from, say, “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace” onto the L.A. stage.

It’s not easy for a nonprofit theater to survive, whether in the shadow of the entertainment biz or in the middle of Iowa. Just ask Gil Cates, producing director of Westwood’s Geffen Playhouse, which is nearing the end of its third full subscription season.

Since taking over the Geffen--formerly the Westwood Playhouse--in 1995, Cates has been so busy with administrative and fund-raising chores that it took three seasons for him to get a chance to do what he loves most: direct. His first Geffen directing effort, the Los Angeles premiere of Donald Margulies’ drama “Collected Stories,” opens May 19.

But this is one Los Angeles theater that doesn’t have to worry about getting access to Hollywood. Cates, a film and TV director best known for producing the annual Academy Awards show, has never had a problem asking members of the entertainment industry to do lunch.

It’s right there in the name: the Geffen Playhouse, so dubbed because of a $5-million gift in 1995 from the David Geffen Foundation (onetime music mogul Geffen is now the “G” in DreamWorks SKG, with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg).

It’s there in the fact that the theater’s inaugural performance under the Geffen name was “Four Dogs and a Bone,” a cynical take on the movie industry by John Patrick Shanley, a playwright who also holds an Academy Award for the screenplay of “Moonstruck.” And that production was directed by filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan (“The Big Chill”), who says Cates gave him his first opportunity to direct a play since his days at the University of Michigan. In fact, “Four Dogs,” which starred Martin Short, Elizabeth Perkins, Brendan Fraser and Parker Posey, proved so popular in the town that never tires of itself that it was extended for three weeks.

And the Geffen’s Westwood location also serves to brand it with the “industry” stamp. No matter how much of L.A.’s actual production happens over the hill in Burbank, or elsewhere, the entertainment industry continues to be associated with Los Angeles’ Westside.

The 498-seat theater is also in its second season of experimenting with the “Industry Flex Plan,” subscription packages based on a voucher system, which allow the patron to wait until the last minute to choose a date and still find prime seats available. The idea is to appeal to those who work under unpredictable shooting schedules.

Although the brochure touts the three-play subscriptions as “exclusive to the entertainment industry,” theater marketing director Deborah Warren acknowledges that the program is also wide open to those who are not in the biz. So far, some 200 of the playhouse’s 8,500 subscribers have opted for the plan.

As Cates charitably puts it: “Listen, are you talking about the Westside experience? I bet half the people on the Westside are, by definition, in the industry, whether it’s a lawyer or an accountant or someone who pumps gas on the corner near an industry office.”

Veteran Los Angeles theater director David Schweizer, currently in discussions with Cates about a “holiday project” for the Geffen, is one who enjoys that industry energy. “What I like about the flavor of the Geffen is that there is not a lot of phoniness about not referring to the entertainment industry,” Schweizer observes.

“The projects that land and have a real community impact here are those that can somehow reflect that energy--not that they are soft or stupid or the same as movies, but that have a kind of unique pull that can appeal to that audience that stands in the movie lines, which is often a very open and playful and rewarding audience, because they don’t go to the theater so often” Schweizer says.

And, while enthusiastic about using industry talent, Cates studiously avoids plays that are too influenced by the screenwriting mentality. “If you were to ask me what the key term is in my mind when we discuss a script, I would say that it has to be theatrical--somehow it has to engage the audience at that visceral level,” he says.

“You don’t have to know the term, you don’t have to know what it means, but you know it is happening here. When you stand up and applaud, it is happening to you. When was the last time it happened to you when you were watching a television show? When was the last time it happened to you in a movie? It doesn’t happen, because it’s not live.”

The Geffen’s programming is hard to categorize, and Cates bristles a bit at the suggestion that a theater should have a social agenda beyond presenting good work. He is admittedly uncomfortable discussing the ethnic breakdown of either the Geffen’s audience or its plays. “You lose in that conversation,” he protests. “I will say that I did not do ‘Harriet’s Return’ because it was a black play; I did it because it is a terrific story.”

Debbie Allen, whose turn as Harriet Tubman in last February’s “Harriet’s Return” was a surprise hit of the season, believes that, while Cates may reject the idea of adopting a “politically correct” agenda, he “kind of seeks it out on his own.”

“That was my experience of him both at the Academy Awards and on the stage,” adds Allen, who has frequently served as choreographer for the awards.

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Allen praises Cates for taking on challenging material. “[“Harriet”] was a wonderful kind of challenge, to bring audiences from across town--and a show that might even bring with it a certain level of discomfort, in their minds,” she says.

Allen adds that Cates shared her excitement when “Harriet’s Return” drew audiences from Beverly Hills to Compton. “His agenda is really great theater, whatever that happens to be,” she says. “And if it is, he’ll put it up on that stage, honey!”

The theater’s link with Hollywood, at least from a marketing standpoint, is more evident than its connection with UCLA, which owns the place. The theater’s main reason for being is to tie the academic community with a professional theater, to provide a place where students can see professional productions on their home turf. The theater also offers internships, and actors performing there often give master classes, as Annette Bening did during her recent run in “Hedda Gabler.”

Cates was dean of the UCLA School of Film, Theater and Television when the university purchased the theater in the early 1990s. He was instrumental in securing private donors to provide the down payment to purchase the building, which they then donated to the university.

Still, Cates chooses to downplay the university connection as far as public perception of the theater is concerned.

“There was a big discussion early on about whether we should call this UCLA’s Geffen Playhouse, and I was against it,” he says. “I thought it was a bad idea, because people would think they were going to see college productions. But in the program, in the lobby, clearly there is an affiliation with UCLA. It just seemed healthier to do it this way.”

Michael Blachly, director of the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, said the Geffen lends the Westside a “stimulating theatrical profile” different from his own programming, which presents all of the performing arts. “Gil has met that head-on, and what he does stands strongly alongside [downtown’s] Mark Taper Forum,” Blachly said.

Tim Miller, artistic director of Santa Monica’s Highways performing arts space, is on the UCLA faculty and is less convinced than Cates that showcasing the UCLA connection might confuse the average ticket-buyer. “Yale Repertory Theatre is an important theater that also has a relationship with students,” he says.

But Miller adds that whatever its name may be, having a professional theater as a resource is a real boon for students. He adds with a laugh: “Of course, the students may be thinking: ‘Why don’t I get to be in any of those shows?’ ”

In a conversation in Cates’ office upstairs at the theater--a charming brick structure on Le Conte Avenue that once housed a Masonic temple--the director, 64, said the industry flavor is only to be expected. Aside from his long directing career and association with the Academy Awards, Cates also served two terms as president of the Directors Guild of America, from 1983-87.

“It’s mostly because those are the people I know,” he said with a shrug. “It’s not because I think the people in the entertainment industry might have the most to give us, but I know Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, so it is natural that I would go to them for money.”

Cates says that, almost across the board, Hollywood’s actors, writers and directors are eager to support the theater. While directing “Four Dogs and a Bone,” Kasdan found the same thing. “So many actors find themselves sitting around waiting for bad parts in movies; if you do a play, you’ll find plenty of good parts,” Kasdan says.

Kasdan also noted that the Geffen season, which requires a limited run for each show, also works well for movie and TV actors who cannot make long-term commitments. “ ‘Four Dogs and a Bone’ [which ran Oct. 18-Dec. 10, 1995] could have gone on indefinitely, but [a shorter run] is part of the appeal for actors on a shooting schedule,” Kasdan says.

Cates notes, however, that the enthusiasm of the artists in the industry is not always reflected in the executive ranks. Not all, he says, are as generous or enthusiastic as Geffen, whose gift of $5 million over 10 years is unrestricted. (Geffen himself attributes the popularity of the playhouse to “the size of the theater, the convenience of the theater, and vivid general support for what Gil is doing for theater in general, and Los Angeles in particular.”)

“Among the creative community, there is definitely a warm connection; Dustin Hoffman came to a play last night, and he comes regularly,” Cates observes. “Lots of big folks in the industry do. But there is no generalization that I can make regarding the executives.

“I’ll tell you a story about an executive,” Cates continues. “I’ll not tell you his name--you’ll know why. My word of honor, this is a true story.

“I was out raising money, and I called one important industry executive whom I know. I got him on the phone and I said: ‘I’d like to have lunch with you to discuss something that’s very dear to my heart.’

“And he said: ‘What is it?’ I said, ‘Do you want the short version, or the long version?’ He said: ‘Give me the short version.’ I said: ‘I am manager of the Geffen Playhouse, I love it, I think it’s important to have another theater in Los Angeles.’

“He said: ‘Can I just interrupt you?’ I said: ‘Sure.’ He said: ‘I just want you to know that I hate the theater. I’m bored when I go, it’s unpleasant for me, and I don’t like to go.’

“I thanked him for his honesty, and--hey, I don’t want to have lunch with him and blow two hours. You would never hear that reaction from a writer, a director or an actor. They may not be interested, but--’I hate the theater?’ Now that’s a minority, but it makes my point that I really don’t know about executives.”

And, Cates maintains, no matter what the source, fund-raising dollars are always hard-won. Unlike the downtown Taper, established more than 30 years ago, the Geffen’s support system is new and fragile. Cates draws no salary as producing director.

Of the Geffen’s annual $4-million operating budget, $2 million comes from ticket sales, and the rest must be raised. The $5-million Geffen gift makes available $500,000 annually; Lou Moore, the theater’s managing director, says those funds may be used toward meeting the annual fund-raising gap if needed, or for building expenses, or, if they are lucky, banked for future use.

“We ballooned into a $4-million operation immediately; overnight, we became this rather significant theater corporation,” says Moore.

So far, Moore adds, the theater has been able to raise the needed $2 million a year, but with little left over to start an endowment. “For example, last year, we were in the black, but only by $138,000,” she says. “Each year, we have to start all over again to raise the $2 million.” She adds that, within the next two years, the theater will also undertake a separate $5-million fund-raising campaign for renovation, including adding a rehearsal hall, enlarging the wings, new restrooms and a new air-conditioning system.

Cates points out that the Geffen’s commitment to a full subscription season can be costly. “If a play doesn’t do well, you are still obligated to run it for six weeks, and you are running at a loss,” he says. And if a show begins to pick up steam at the end of its run, it still has to move out on schedule.

Both Cates and Gordon Davidson, producing director of the 32-year-old Taper, dislike comparisons between the two theaters. Both have an appetite for new material. Davidson notes that, besides geography, a key difference is the Taper’s long-standing reputation as a developer and producer of new work.

“We have breakfast regularly, and we talk about things,” Davidson says of Cates. “I’m a colleague; I’m sympathetic and supportive. I was thrilled that he has taken on the job. Every once in a while, we might want the same play, but two is better than one. . . . Listen, if I find a play that I can’t do, I’m sure I’ll say: ‘There’s the Geffen. . . .’

“We all struggle,” Davidson says. “The only thing that would bother me is if someone said to me: ‘Oh, it’s wonderful that we have the Geffen Playhouse--now I don’t have to go downtown.’ ”

Cates has had less time than Davidson to ponder his mission as chief of a regional theater. “This whole thing is still an experiment to me; it’s exciting, and nervous-making,” he says.

“One of the things that I want us to be is a place where you see plays that you otherwise couldn’t see unless you traveled thousands of miles,” he adds thoughtfully. “And I want to be a theater with a broad, risk-taking point of view.

“If we do five productions a year, and you really loved two of them, are not sure about two and hate one, I feel I have done my job. Because if you like every play, we’re not taking any chances.”

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“Collected Stories,” Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood. Opens May 19. Regular schedule: Tuesdays-Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 4 and 8:30 p.m., Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends June 13. $30-$40. (310) 208-5454; Ticketmaster, (213) 365-3500.