With great interest I have been following the high dudgeon embroiling the nascent Malibu Stage Company. I have lived here for only four years now, but I hope to make Malibu my home. So I’d like to see the company succeed and provide our community with the kind of theatre that we want and deserve. However, this will never happen as long as Charles Marowitz remains at the helm
Two years ago, I responded to an ad in The Malibu Times for a part-time position – business manager of MSC. I was reluctant to pursue it because of what I’ve heard of the dreadful reputation that Mr. Marowitz has in L.A.’s theatre community. But my optimism got the better of me and I made the phone call.
I met with Mr. Marowitz and it was clear that he was woefully ignorant of the realities of running a small, semi-professional theatre. He came across to me as a blow-hard, offering up a hackneyed vision and shop-worn platitudes. But to survive in entertainment, one learns to look beyond first impressions. So I listened politely and at the end of the conversation, I offered to draw up a production budget for an upcoming fund-raiser for the MSC – selections from the works of Shakespeare.
While putting together some numbers for this proposed evening of Shakespeare, it became apparent to me that Mr. Marowitz does not have an entrepreneurial bone in his body. His business model for the MSC reminded me of Henry Ford’s marketing philosophy for Model T’s: “They can have any color they want, as long as it’s black.”
A bone of contention for me was that Mr. Marowitz did not expect to pay any of the artists involved with the exception of a small permanent staff. But a hefty fee was included for the director. I refused to draw up a budget that did not include artists’ salaries, albeit modest ones. It was, and still is, my contention that we should not be dragging struggling actors up to Malibu to perform without paying them.
There is no reason that a vibrant theatre company can’t thrive in Malibu. The great regional theatres across the country prosper because they reach into the community and provide services – namely classes, lectures, musical programs, workshops, theatre rentals, festivals, etc. Germane to our unique community are activities like screenplay readings, nature poetry and photography contests, children’s interactive theatre, celebrity lectures, guest-artist residencies and senior activities. Leadership at MSC ought to be concerned with the needs of our funky little beach town a decade from now, not with preserving some other city’s culture.
That Mr. Marowitz has been unable to harness either the creative energies or the financial resources of the community over his tenure is clear evidence of his ineptitude. Ten years? The time of tyrants running regional arts organizations is past. Let’s move on. There are scores of able theatre professionals that will get results. Even for no money. Let’s give someone else a shot at it.
As for the business manager position I was pursuing, it turned out that there really wasn’t a job available. When it came to discussing where and when and how much, he said he couldn’t pay me and would I work for free?
For our own good, we must encourage the new Board of Directors to appoint new leadership for the Malibu Stage Company. The show must go on.
D. Paul Yeuell