Latest News from the Balboa Theater in Newport Beach, CA
July, 2010 - Curtain Rising - A local foundation seeks to restore Newport’s iconic theater
(Article from NEWPORT BEACH MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2010 pp54-56)
By Vicki Hogue-Davies, Select photos by Kri Sado)
Imagine a 300-seat community performing arts venue in Balboa Village offering live music, theater, dance, educational programs and more. Imagine that it collaborates with the best of Orange County’s performing arts institutions, including the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Laguna Playhouse, Irvine Barclay Theater and others.
That is the plan being implemented for the original Balboa Theater on Newport Peninsula. Opened in 1928, the theater entertained Newport Beach locals and visitors alike with vaudeville, theater, early talkies and movies that are now hailed as classics. But since its closing in 1992, the theater has sat empty on Balboa Boulevard.
The Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation, the nonprofit or¬ganization spearheading the drive to renovate and reopen the theater in the next couple of years, uses the following quote from the great actor Sir Laurence Olivier to inspire its case for the project: “I believe that…even in a small city or a village, a great theater is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture.”
The First Act
For 74 years, the original Balboa Theater brought culture and entertainment to the city of Newport Beach and the surrounding areas. Opened by J.P. Greeley as the Ritz Theater on the former site of the Rendezvous Ballroom, which at that time had recently burned down, the facility featured vaudeville acts, musicals and small stage productions. With the advent of the film industry, interest in vaudeville waned during the 1930s and the emphasis of the theater changed—its focus became motion pictures and it was renamed the Balboa Theater. Movies that have become the most loved classics in Hollywood history, such as “Casablanca” and “Citizen Kane,” were shown at the theater, as well as more avant-garde art films. In its final years, as competition from cinema multiplexes increased, the theater was sold to the Pussycat chain in one of its final incantations before its closure in the early 1990s.
“I saw ‘Gone with the Wind’ there,” remembers Dayna Pettit, a local resident and emeritus board member of the Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation. “I used to take my mother-in-law there. We saw ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ with Jimmy Stewart and other movies. The theater used to show great old movies.”
Perhaps the movie that locals most remem¬ber seeing at the original theater is “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” during the 1970s. It was shown there regularly at midnight.
“When they showed the ‘Rocky Horror Pic¬ture Show,’ the lines went around the corner,” Dayna says. “Everyone dressed in costume and knew all the words to the movie.”
Craig Smith—a foundation volunteer who is now its treasurer and a member of its board of directors—points to the movie as his first introduction to the Balboa Theater and the impetus for his involvement in the renovation project. Both he and his wife, Nancy, are involved.
“I used to travel a lot for work, and in order to spend more time with my children, would often take one child with me on trips,” he says. “I brought my then 12-year-old daughter with me on a trip and she wanted to stay at Balboa. She wanted to go see the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ at the theater, so we did. It was a fond memory. Years later, when I saw the theater sitting there in sad, forlorn shape, I thought it would be good to be involved with the renovation.”
The Curtain Slowly Rises
Just a few years following the theater’s closing, a group of concerned residents, led by Dayna, took up the cause to save the theater. They began meeting regularly and lobbying the city to buy the building from its current owner. The Balboa Performing Arts Theater
Foundation was founded in 1996. Two years later, the city bought the theater and leased it back to the foundation at no charge with the requirement that the organization would renovate, reopen and operate it as an arts facility to benefit the community.
Assisted by donations from local benefactors and Divas of the Balboa Theater—a group of “society women who supported the arts,” according to Dayna—as well as other fundraising activities like 5K runs and a unique “bulldozer ballet” (where ballerinas danced around two bulldozers as the machines “swooped around”), the foundation gained the $3 million funding needed for the first renovations.
During Phase I of the renovation process, feasibility studies, soil and other tests and earthquake retrofitting took place. The interior of the theater was torn out, with some of the original chairs sold for souvenirs. Preliminary design studies also took place, as well as a more than four-year-long process to amend the city’s general plan in order to add another level and a rooftop deck and gain California Coastal Commission approval for the project.
Changing the Sets
The Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation hired award-winning Los Angeles architect John Sergio Fisher—whose expertise includes the design and renovation of more than 150 performance venues—to design the new venue. Fisher created a 3-D model of what the renovated theater will look like and is awaiting the go-ahead to begin the final, detailed design.
With only the original walls of the theater retained to preserve the exterior’s facade, the key to the theater’s new design is the flexibility to allow for a variety of uses, according to Craig. In addition to holding dance, music and theatrical events at the renovated theater, plans call for the screenings of first-run, classic and art films, as well as lectures, seminars and other events, including renting the facility to corporations for meetings and events. The foundation also has plans for educational programs that will teach children about the arts.
Included in the design plans are a pneumatic platform stage that adjusts in height, a full fly loft, a non-fixed proscenium and fully retractable telescoping seats that will disappear under the
balcony at the push of a button. The flexible seating allows for different configurations of the theater—from traditional theater seating to cabaret style. A lobby will be added in the facility, and a new floor will be constructed to house dressing rooms and restrooms, including a
women’s restroom “with 50 percent more stalls than code requires, which is one thing I’m fond of reporting,” Craig says with a laugh.
The theater will be topped off with a rooftop deck for pre- and post-event crowds to gather, and as a spot where special events can be held, with blue water views of the Pacific on one side and beautiful Newport Bay on the other. Elevators will carry visitors to the upper level and the deck.
Fundraising and community educational efforts during the past few years have included “Season Without Walls,” which collaborated with Orange Country arts organizations to offer performances exemplifying the programs the theater will offer when it opens. The event took place during three seasons and “successfully met its objective of raising money and establishing a subscriber base of more than 100 people,” Craig says.
A New Season
“Seasons Without Walls” is no longer being held because the foundation has narrowed its focus to better move ahead with renovations. Phase II of the renovation project is focused on two objectives: to initiate the theater’s final design so a building permit can be applied for by the end of the year and to raise the funding to initiate construction in early 2011. The capital campaign for Phase II calls for raising a total of $10 million for finalizing design, construction and operational costs. Naming opportunities to contribute to the new theater’s success are available, which include the performing arts center itself, the rooftop deck, the learning center and other areas of the theater.
To help reduce costs, the foundation announced last year that it was becoming an all-volunteer organization.
“Arts groups across the country have seen a 20 to 30 percent decrease in charitable giving,” Craig said at the time. “The foundation has also seen a decline in gifts. We felt it was prudent, given the current economic climate, to reduce our costs wherever we can.”
One bright side of the current economy is that construction and materials costs have come down. Craig notes that there is a “window of opportunity to complete construction in the next few years” at substantial savings.
“Ideally, we’ll start construction to take advantage of the current re¬duced material costs,” he says.
Although Dayna is no longer actively involved with the theater’s renovation, she still believes strongly in the cause.
“The push now is to get the fundraising going so people can see progress being made,” she says. “People need to know how important the theater is to downtown. With the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum and a performing arts center, it will bring more of a cultural feel to our downtown community.”
For more info: (949) 673-0895; thebalboatheater.org.
July, 2010 - Long-stalled Balboa Theater Restoration Project Gets Infusion of Funds
(Article from Los Angels Times Newspaper, dated July 1, 2010)
Newport Beach allocates $175,000 to the effort to create a new performing arts space, which has dragged on for 14 years.
It took 16 years to finish the complex, sprawling Walt Disney Concert Hall, so 14 years to renovate Newport Beach's historic but much smaller Balboa Theater may be a little too much suspense.
Just ask the City Council. Last week, the council voted to give the theater's foundation $175,000 to revive long-stalled renovation work.
Arts-minded donors have also contributed $3 million since 1996. They envision a professional theater on an economically revitalized Balboa Peninsula. But despite this funding and a list of wealthy backers, the foundation has yet to finish the job. Some wonder when, if ever, the curtain will rise again.
"I think people are leery; people want to see if it will actually happen," said Seth Siegel, chairman of the foundation board. His group plans to funnel the city's grant to theater architect John Fisher of John Sergio Fisher and Associates, who will then finish the design work.
Over the years, the vision of the theater has grown to encompass an ambitious multi-use space with a rooftop deck and Art Deco accents. Its stage would accommodate live plays, operas and after-school arts programming. Its 300 seats would collapse to make room for banquets and dinner-theater cabaret.
And, of course, it would show films.
The Balboa Theater had screened everything from art films to classics revivals, pornography and, on a weekly basis, " The Rocky Horror Picture Show," for many years before it closed in 1992. In the early years, from 1928 to 1939, the theater hosted vaudeville and other small live productions.
But by the 1990s, tourists and locals alike had many other entertainment options. The theater's operator couldn't make enough to cover rising rent, and the owner couldn't find a replacement. Then, in 1996, activists formed a group to save the building. They persuaded the city to purchase the structure for $480,000 and lease it to the foundation for 25 years at no charge.
Since then, a series of setbacks has caused the project to drag on.
It took two years to win approval from the California Coastal Commission, which granted the foundation a construction permit in 2008.
By then, the project had lost some momentum. Construction costs had skyrocketed. Negotiations to buy or lease an adjacent building for dressing rooms and an office collapsed in 2002. That was after the City Council had committed $1.4 million for the purchase.
"It came to a screeching halt," said Nancy Gardner, a city councilwoman and former member of the theater Board. "People lost faith."
Some have compared the Balboa's plight to that of the Fox Theater renovation in Fullerton. There, the City Council approved a $6-million loan to move the process along — 22 years after the theater closed.
"Sometimes the trick is to hang on long enough until you gather some resources," said Betsy Vigus, a curator at the Orange County Historical Society.
Many donors have promised to contribute funds for construction, said Siegel, the board chairman.
His group estimates that it will take an additional $4.5 million. Before they give, he said, donors want to see finished plans and building permits from the city.
"This is the line in the sand," Siegel said.
By attracting heavy-hitters, such as Bergeson, the former state legislator who recently joined the board, and Jerry Mandel, past president of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, the board hopes to begin pulling in construction funding as soon as building permits are issued, which Seigel expects to occur within six months.
Bergeson said she joined the board because she liked the idea of the theater breathing life into Balboa Village, the area near the Balboa Pier.
In recent years many shops have turned over, and some residents say there are too many tattoo parlors and T-shirt vendors.
The theater project is "a good catalyst for revitalization," Bergeson said.
Indeed, many council members at last week's meeting cited the potential to revitalize that part of the peninsula and the increased sales and hotel tax revenues a bustling Balboa could generate.
"It's quite clear that if the theater's successful, there will be a return of dollars to the city," said Councilman Michael Henn, whose district includes the Balboa Peninsula.
He and others argued that the city needs a professional performing arts theater and that these funds will help trigger additional donations for the construction.
"It's a gamble; I think it's well worthwhile," Henn said. "We need a richer, fuller, broader arts scene in Newport Beach."
With strong support for the project, some council members were perplexed at the foundation's slow progress.
"With this many influential people behind the project," Councilman Steven Rosansky said during the council meeting, "I don't understand why the money has not been committed."
"I'm not convinced after 13 years that they're going to cross the finish line here," he added.
Despite these concerns, the council voted unanimously to grant the foundation the money. Gardner suggested that the city make some modifications to its lease so the foundation would have to meet milestones or lose the building.
"One thing that has been lacking is a sense of urgency," she said.
May, 2009 - Balboa Theater Achieves 2009 Fund-raising Goal in Record Time; Sets Increased Goal for Year
On April 15, 2009, the Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation Board set a goal of raising $500,000 in donations and pledges by December 31, 2009. The funds would be raised as part of the BPATF’s efforts to raise the funds necessary to renovate and reopen the fabled theater in Newport Beach.
On May 15, the BPATF announced that they had successfully reached this goal in a short 4 weeks. The majority of the funds pledged came from Board members of the BPATF, as well as donations from private citizens.
Based on their overwhelming success, the BPATF Board has now challenged patrons and the community to match this success by committed to raising an additional $500,000 by year’s end, bringing the 2009 calendar year fund-raising goal to $1,000,000.
Pledges and donations may be made by calling the Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation at 949.673.0895.
May, 2009 - BPATF Adds New Board Members
The Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation has announced the addition of two new Board members to their ranks:
Jerry Mandel is a key leader in the Orange County arts community. Jerry served as a fundraising executive for UC Irvine and Cal State Long Beach before becoming the president of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. He has also served as both President and Chairman of the Orange County High School of the Arts, and as President and CEO of the Irvine Public Schools Foundation. He also sits on the board of the Tiger Woods Learning Center. Jerry earned his Ed.D and Ph.D. in Organizational Communications at Purdue University. Jerry is also an accomplished musician and is also the leader of the Jerry Mandel Jazz Band, which performs frequently in Orange County.
Judith Posnikoff is a Managing Director, Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company, and is one of the original founders of the firm. She is the Sector Specialist responsible for the evaluation and management of equity market neutral and merger arbitrage hedge funds in the various PAAMCO portfolios and, as a member of the Investment Management Committee, she is involved in all stages of the investment process. In addition, Judy specifically focuses on the complex customized portfolios of the firm's Asia/Pacific institutional accounts. She is also a member of the Account Management Committee, and is a member of the firm.
Prior to forming PAAMCO, Judy was Assistant Portfolio Manager/Research Associate at Collins Associates, an institutional fund of funds and consulting firm, where she focused on market neutral strategies, in addition to directing large-scale quantitative research projects focusing on alternative strategies. She has numerous publications in the area of alternative investments, and has taught at the University of California, Riverside, at California State University, Fullerton, and most recently at the University of California, Irvine, where she held the position of adjunct faculty member at the Graduate School of Management. Judy has eleven years of experience in investment management and portfolio construction.
Judy graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a B.S. in Administrative Studies, received her M.B.A. and M.A. from University of California, Riverside in Financial Economics, and received her Ph.D. in Financial and Managerial Economics.
