Curtain call?

Tariq Malik

To play -- or not to play?

That’s the question on the minds of some Huntington Beach Playhouse

officials who fear that a potential increase in rent costs could push the

group out of the Library Theater at 7111 Talbert Ave.

Last week, the city’s library board unanimously approved a lease

proposal that would, if passed by the City Council, ultimately require

the playhouse to pay an additional $110,000 a year on its lease.

“That’s literally almost half our annual budget,” said Don Stanton,

treasurer for the playhouse. “If the council votes to approve [the

lease], they’ll be essentially evicting us from the library.”

The lease proposal includes a staged increase over the next few years,

adding on to the current annual rent of more than $28,680 until it

reaches about $130,000. That lease price, board members said, will

completely cover the theater rent, as well equipment replacement and

other costs.

During the April 17 meeting of the library board, officials outlined a

possible lease schedule for the playhouse, spanning four years and

starting with 2001. The first year would see no increases, serving

instead as a time for business planning to explore the possibility of

fund-raisers and foundations as funding sources.

Raising ticket prices by $2 in 2002, and then by $1 each of the next

two years, would generate added revenue, about $55,000 initially and

$27,500 each following year, to help meet the lease.

Increasing ticket prices could prevent senior citizens and students,

who receive discounts, from attending community theater, playhouse

officials said.

Only by substantially raising ticket prices will the playhouse

survive, though another alternative, he added, includes “going dark” for

a season and finding another theater.

Library officials said they understand the playhouse’s frustration,

but the rent increase is necessary largely because of the city’s effort

to cut 5% from the budget of each of its departments.

“I think everyone is supportive of the playhouse because they do

wonderful things,” said Patricia Bril, a member and former chair of the

library board. “But the demand of the public for desired facilities

outstrips our resources.”

Ron Hayden, the city’s director of library services, said about 60% of

the library budget cuts will be in books.The playhouse has called the

Library Theater home since 1995, when it began a five-year lease with

rent set at about $28,680 per year and adjustments made according to the

consumer price index. That lease, library officials said, was a

substantial discount to the traditional $121,000 rental fee charged to

theater-users. It ran out in December 1999. The playhouse has operated on

a month-to-month basis ever since.

Last October, the council put off a decision on a three-year lease

proposal supported by the library board, while an ad hoc committee

studied the city’s approach to nonprofit enterprises, such as the

playhouse and the surfing museum.

Playhouse officials said they are the only nonprofit group in the city

paying their own rent, with many others subsidized by the city with a $10

or $1 payment.

Councilman Peter Green, who chairs the ad hoc committee, said its goal

is to find some means of standardizing that process, and results may

appear before the full council in the next few months.

“It feels like we’re in a slumlord situation,” Stanton said. “We’re a

nonprofit that’s not part of the city, and have been receiving overtures

about our business plans and finances pointing us to report to the

library. And then we’re criticized for not having fund-raisers, but we do

. . . they’re called plays.”

Library officials said their playhouse lease decision last week is far

from final, with the last vote sitting in the lap of City Council. The

issue, however, will wait until Green’s ad hoc committee reports back to

the council, and any provisions required are in place, before appearing

for discussion.