Arts center wants more high-profile plays

Andrew Edwards

Officials around the Orange County Performing Arts Center are hoping

the center’s planned expansion will bring more Broadway-style shows

that pack theatergoers into restaurant booths.

“The Lion King” was scheduled to conclude its 6 1/2 -week run at the center Sunday. Performing Arts Center spokespersons said Disney

would not allow the center to disclose box-office figures until the

show’s engagement concluded. Performing Arts Center President Jerry

Mandel said the musical came close to selling every show out and drew

“the biggest demand for tickets that I can remember.”

When high-profile shows like “The Lion King” are performed in

Costa Mesa, restaurants often enjoy more business, South Coast Metro

Alliance executive director Diane Pritchett said.

Similarly, South Coast Plaza spokeswoman Debra Gunn Downing said

long-running shows often result in theater fans from other cities

looking to grab a bite at the mall.

“All of the long-running shows and major shows over here have a

positive impact, especially on our restaurants,” she said. “The

long-running shows often have a great cultural tourism impact.”

For restaurants, “The Lion King” differed from past high-profile

shows, like “The Phantom of the Opera,” said Mark Kuehn, general

manager of Scott’s Seafood Grill & Bar on Bristol Street.

The Disney show had more family appeal than other productions and

appeared to attract guests on tighter budgets than other shows, Kuehn

said.

“We didn’t have the thunderous show turns that we would sometimes

get with a Broadway show,” Kuehn said.

When “Phantom” ran, Kuehn said he would prepare tables for 400 to

500 diners. During “The Lion King,” that number was between 350 and

375.

The Performing Arts Center is expected to complete expansion by

fall 2006, when the Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and Samueli

Theater open. The center’s current facilities are Segerstrom Hall and

Founders Hall.

The expanded capacity will make it possible for the Performing

Arts Center to compete for more extended engagements and first-run

performances, Mandel said.

“We intend to run all four halls at the same time, so there will

be 2,000 more people,” Mandel said. “It will enable us to do more

runs of Broadway shows.”

The center’s expansion would likely result in more diners,

especially if Costa Mesa can snag shows that would otherwise have

their first runs in Los Angeles, Kuehn said.

Sixty-three locals were hired to play music, style hair, do

wardrobe work and other tasks during the show. The local payroll

included seven musicians, though Frank Amoss, president of the Orange

County Musicians’ Assn., said it doesn’t matter to union performers

-- at least as far as money is concerned -- if a show is a hit or

not.

“A job’s a job and pays the same no matter what the name of the

show is,” Amoss said.

Like restaurateurs, Amoss said musicians expect the center’s

expansion will brighten their financial prospects. More shows equal

more jobs.

“That’s a big boon to the arts community in Orange County,” Amoss

said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS can be reached at (714) 966-4624 or

[email protected].