NEW DINNER THEATER HAS THAT OLD SPIRIT
LA MESA — Once more the mighty American entrepreneurial spirit is manifesting itself against odds that could make a bookie have heart seizure--this time in the risky realm of commercial dinner theater.
A year ago the Lyric Dinner Theatre shut its doors in the wake of a nasty feud with the Actors’ Equity Assn. (the professional actors union). Now it’s open again. But not as the Lyric.
The new Celebrity Dinner Theatre will make its bow Thursday, trotting out yet another production of “Fiddler on the Roof†to brighten the lives of San Diego County’s tired businessmen.
The Celebrity’s key people are quick to assure us that the theater has different management this time. Gary Stauffer, former executive producer of the Lyric and a prime figure in the Actors Equity feud, made it clear that he is not a part of the operation. The disagreement with Equity--which Stauffer refused to discuss--had to do with a “failure to make correct payments to many of our members,†according to Edward Weston, Equity’s western regional director in Los Angeles. The matter was settled in Equity’s favor in arbitration, Weston said.
This time around Stauffer is only the landlord. “I don’t want my name connected with the theater,†he said. OK, Gary, you’re not involved.
The producer is Donald W. Breemer, a man who spent 15 years in the electrical wholesale business before cashing in because of job burn-out. He is 47 and a newcomer to theater.
Breemer’s big plans for the Celebrity include an additional, separate restaurant and a lottery ticket concession plus Monday night oldies rock concerts. Besides the 200-seat dinner theater, there will be the Easy Street Restaurant with its New Orleans theme, which will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. There will be no show at the Easy Street but diners will be able to watch as sound technicians work scores of controls in a glass booth to electronically perfect the acoustics for the musicals on stage next door.
Breemer conducted a visitor through the rambling building at 7578 El Cajon Blvd., pointing out the extensive refurbishing that is keeping him and a crew of 10 working almost around the clock. “Our objective is to have the classiest place in town.â€
However, this would-be posh operation offers a fairly un-classy, one-page photocopied typewritten program.
Easy Street, Breemer says, will employ a French “cordon bleu†chef who will also be responsible for the dinner-theater fare. “But we don’t want people to get the idea this is a French restaurant. They are expensive. We’re not just French. We’re also going to offer American and Italian cooking, which will be excellent but not expensive,†Breemer said.
Compared to such gourmet cuisine, the Celebrity’s theatrical fare will be primarily meat and potatoes--the tried and true musical standards. Director Jack Tygett is staging “Fiddler,†which will be followed in a month or so by “Anything Goes,†and “The Sound of Music†for Christmas. So OK, a lot of people like those shows, even for the 10th time. Like the Fiesta Dinner Theatre, the Celebrity will use non-union actors, and pre-recorded musical accompaniment will replace the pit band.
The big question is Will the Celebrity Dinner Theatre make money? “I would be happy if we can break even in three or four months,†said Breemer, who admits to putting more than $60,000 into the project.
Then what’s the weekly nut? How much do you have to take in to break even? “I don’t know what the nut is,†the producer said, “and if I did, it’s not something I would say. It’s just out of my hands.â€
Let’s hear it for the good old-fashioned American entrepreneur.
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