Thousand Oaks Names Head of Arts Complex

A 20-year veteran of the arts who calls theater his consuming passion has been appointed executive director of Thousand Oaks’ new performance halls, now under construction at the former Jungleland wild animal park.

Thomas C. Mitze, a long-serving director of the La Mirada Theater, will assume the $86,000-a-year post in Thousand Oaks on June 1. He will take charge of recruiting staff, booking performances, raising money and drumming up publicity for the auditoriums, scheduled to open in October, 1994.

Selected from 225 applicants from around the world, Mitze “has exactly the qualifications that we were looking for,” City Manager Grant Brimhall said.

Mayor Judy Lazar seconded the applause: “We are thrilled that Mr. Mitze has accepted the position. He has outstanding qualifications.”

Mitze, who began his professional career as a cryptography expert and intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army, joined the La Mirada Theater a year before it opened in 1977. With a bare-bones staff of six, Mitze expanded the 1,260-seat theater from a simple performance space to a full-fledged production company.

But after 17 years in La Mirada, Mitze said he is ready for a change.

“He’s got a great reputation nationally,” said Victor Gotesman, general manager of the recently opened Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. “I think he’ll be a great addition to the city.”

Mitze, 49, will be responsible for both the 1,800-seat auditorium and 400-seat forum theater, overseeing an as-yet-undetermined budget that will probably top $1 million.

Determined to attract a variety of shows, from classical ballet to Broadway musicals to country-Western singers, he must also strike a balance between splashy, big-name performers and community groups such as the Conejo Symphony.

His experience as assistant managing director for the Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, which has three stages plus a banquet hall, should help him juggle Thousand Oaks’ grand auditorium and intimate theater, Mitze said.

“I want to make the complex more than just a place where people book in performances,” he added. “It should be a cultural and social center and it should belong to the citizens of Thousand Oaks. The key is to make it a place that appeals to everyone.”

With critics still fuming about the Civic Arts Plaza’s $63.8-million price tag and its 10-story tower next to the Ventura Freeway, Mitze knows he will not win over the entire community immediately.

But as he begins planning for a monthlong grand opening ceremony, which will include both high-profile acts and community performers, Mitze said he feels sure the complex will eventually be recognized as “a very dramatic, dynamite place--everyone’s going to be proud of it.”

Even longtime skeptics like Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski expressed relief at Mitze’s appointment, taking it as a good omen for the Civic Arts Plaza.

“If anyone can make it a success, he’s certainly qualified,” Zukowski said.

Mitze, whose term as executive director is indefinite, will address the public at Tuesday’s study session on the Civic Arts Plaza, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in City Hall.

Eager to jump into his new job, Mitze plans to spend this weekend house-hunting in the Conejo Valley with his wife, Marnie, a classical pianist and managing director of the Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University in Malibu.

“I think he’s an excellent choice and we’re privileged to have him,” said Dick Johnson of the Alliance for the Arts. “He’s down to earth, logical and imaginative. I think he can do almost anything.”