The Doolittle Theatre in Hollywood will remain a professional venue, at least for now.
Assuming negotiations are completed successfully, union contracts will be in effect when a reworked production of "Selena Forever," the musical about the slain tejano singer, reopens the theater in January--the first production under the auspices of the theater's new owner, the Ricardo Montalban Nosotros Foundation.
When the foundation bought the Doolittle earlier this year, vowing to turn it into a Latino performance center that would host community groups, some observers expressed fears that the history of professional productions at one of L.A.'s most venerable theaters might end.
Indeed, when "Selena Forever" was produced earlier this year in several Texas cities and Chicago, it did not operate under an Actors' Equity contract. However, in arranging for the show's resurrection at the Doolittle, producer Tom Quinn agreed to the foundation's request that he negotiate union contracts--and not only with Equity but with the unions representing musicians and stagehands.
The contracts are not likely to be nearly as demanding--or as expensive--as those in effect when the Doolittle regularly hosted touring, Broadway-style shows. Quinn said he can't charge Broadway prices for tickets because Latino audiences "come as families, and the ticket prices have to be scaled accordingly." Tickets will cost from $25 to $45.
In part because of the union affiliation, the cast won't necessarily be the same as the one in the earlier production, Quinn said. Also, at the request of the Montalban Nosotros Foundation, Quinn is trying to draw more extensively on the Southern California talent pool, he said.
The show will have a new director--Daniel Valdez, who acted in the earlier "Selena Forever" and has often worked with his brother, playwright-director Luis Valdez. It also will include a little more Spanish than the earlier version, in both the dialogue and the singing. Some members of the target audience don't speak much English, Quinn said.
The initial production cost about $1.7 million, and the remount will require another $750,000, Quinn estimated. Last time he was one of four producers. At least two of the other three producers are not expected to return, but Quinn has recruited one new co-producer. Quinn was the original driving force behind the show, obtaining the rights to Selena's story.
