The longtime Malibu resident has served in various capacities for the city, from executive director of its two theaters to Thousand Oaks’ cultural affairs director.
By Paula Kashtan / Special to The Malibu Times
Malibu resident Tom Mitze, executive director of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Foundation Plaza and cultural affairs director for the city of Thousand Oaks, is retiring in December after nearly 20 years of leading the city’s cultural arts programs.
Mitze has been with Thousand Oaks since 1994, when he co-founded the Civic Arts Foundation Plaza. The nonprofit presents a variety of performances, from concerts to theater to popular entertainment. In his current position, he also oversees all the cultural and arts programs throughout the city, as well as youth and senior services.
“I started as just the executive director of the two theaters [the Kavli Theater and the Scherr Forum Theater], and then over the years the visual arts were added,” Mitze said. “We also have an art gallery in another part of the city, and the youth programs and the council on aging programs were additional duties that came along over the years.”
Mitze grew up in St. Louis, Mo. and attended college at Washington University in St. Louis, where he studied theater and English. He then entered the United States Army, where he served for four years. After being stationed along the Black Sea in Sinop, Turkey he moved to Fort Meade in Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. He said it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time that his career took its next turn.
“I went over to the Kennedy Center to do some volunteering,” Mitze said. “I always wanted to work in theater management. I’m not an actor or a singer, but I love theater.”
Mitze helped open the Kennedy Center, and served as education program coordinator.
From there he went to the Milwaukee Performing Arts Center as an assistant director. In 1976 he came to California to be the founding director of the La Mirada Theater for the Performing Arts.
“He was very good at what he accomplished for the theaters,” said Virginia Davis, vice chair of the Alliance for the Arts, which is the nonprofit fundraising arm of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. “It was his ability and experience that made the theater what it is.”
After almost 20 years in Thousand Oaks, Mitze has a variety of memories.
“Something I will never forget is the opening week; we opened with a Bernadette Peters performance, and we were so new that there was still plaster dust in the air,” Mitze recalled. “My son Michael was a baby at the time, and in a sling around my neck. The plaster dust set off the fire alarm, and we had to evacuate the theater. It was more excitement than I was hoping for, but we figured out the problem and were able to resume the performance.”
During his 40 years in the industry, he’s seen tremendous growth.
“There have been a number of new organizations founded,” Mitze said. “The New West Symphony didn’t exist, and now it’s our resident orchestra. A lot of groups have grown up because of this space for them to perform in.”
Hundreds of thousands of people a year come to the plaza as patrons or performers, he said. “It’s become a social place as well as a cultural center.”
For Mitze, the work has been fun as well. “My job is everybody else’s play,” he said. “Especially neat are the children’s performances. The most enjoyable times I’ve had are standing in the lobby before a school performance, because the kids are all so excited. It’s electric.”
In retirement, Mitze, a 20-year resident of Malibu, doesn’t plan to stop learning. He’s looking forward to taking classes in literature and art at Santa Monica College, and volunteering at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Malibu, where he serves on the vestry. He also intends to spend more time with his family. He lives on the Pepperdine campus with his wife Marnie and now 17-year-old son Michael, a water polo player. His parents are in their mid-90s and live independently in Sacramento.
“I want to be able to help them more, and do volunteer work with seniors,” Mitze said.
Mitze said he is also excited about the decreased time commitment.
“I’m looking forward to not working nights and weekends,” he said. “Whatever I do, I’m going to do it in the daytime.”