On May 10, our newly elected City Council decided not to allow further review of the new City Hall design and voted for the removal of half the seats in the Malibu Performing Arts Center theatre. What a disappointment for the voters that counted on Laura Rosenthal to fulfill her campaign promise to keep the theatre intact and in its current state. She changed her position so fast it made people’s heads spin!
It is an embarrassment and a disgrace that the City of Malibu, of all cities, does not and will not have a cultural center. Malibu is a cultural void, and unless people are willing to stand up and fight for this theatre it will remain so. There is no place for Malibu residents to see professional quality artists perform without driving to other cities. At 238 seats, the Malibu Performing Arts Center will be nothing more than a small community theatre for community members to perform in, something we already have in the high school theatre (350 seats) and smaller Malibu Stage Company.
Now is the time for anger and revolt. So many promises have been broken, so many misrepresentations made. I wonder how many people are aware that the City of Malibu stated it would keep the theatre “in its current state” in the contract with the bondholders that paid for the purchase of the building? This is wrong! I am urging all Malibu citizens to come to the next City Council meeting on Monday, May 24 at 6 p.m. and make some noise. Tell them how angry you are at them for breaking their promises to keep our theatre as is and lying to us about it. They lied in the papers about this, they lied on the campaign trail and they lied to their investors. And who has to suffer? The taxpayers that own the building! We, the citizens and taxpayers of Malibu, who will be paying for this building for a generation, are made to suffer because of their lies.
Gardia Fox