Playhouse to have long future in Laguna

Tom Titus

At 83 years and counting, the Laguna Playhouse is Orange County’s

oldest live theater venue, professional or amateur, and it’ll be

around at least for another 40 years.

Laguna Beach’s City Council made certain of that in October when

it unanimously approved a 40-year extension of the playhouse’s lease

of its longtime facility, the Moulton Theater, at 606 Laguna Canyon

Road.

Actually, the playhouse’s lease expired three years ago, but at

the request of the council, the theater agreed to delay negotiations

until summer of this year.

“This new lease is the result of brief and very cordial

negotiations with the City Council, which has high regard for the

many contributions our organization makes to the life of Laguna Beach

citizens and the health of the local economy,” playhouse Executive

Director Richard Stein remarked.

“The relationship between the playhouse and the city has never

been stronger, and we will make every effort to ensure that it

continues to be so,” Stein added. “The lease extension guarantees

residents that this 83-year-old arts organization will continue to

call Laguna Beach home, and assures the playhouse the permanence

necessary to address its long-term desire for expansion.”

While the playhouse organization itself is an octogenarian, only

the last 34 years have been spent at its current location. What

theatergoers know as the playhouse today was built in 1969 -- then as

a community theater -- with private funds raised by the theater on

land obtained by the city from the Irvine Company. Prior to that, the

Laguna Playhouse operated in a since-razed two-story structure on

Ocean Avenue.

Under terms of the artistic group’s lease, the playhouse pays the

city of Laguna Beach $8,500 per year, adjusted annually for

inflation. The playhouse bears all costs of operating and maintaining

the facility and its adjacent parking lot. The latter is commandeered

each summer for the use of cast members of the Pageant of the Masters

at the Irvine Bowl.

So when should playhouse members begin getting nervous again? Try

June 30, 2043, when the just-approved lease expires. That is, is if

you’re still around.