The Santa Monica Performing Arts Center will provide Westsiders with a new venue, conveniently located close to home, allowing for stress-free enjoyment of the arts.
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
As traffic grows more and more appalling on this side of town, as well as all over the city, Westsiders have spent increasingly more leisure time close to home, preferring to patronize local establishments; and not necessarily because of some kind of neighborhood or community pride, but because even the mere thought of venturing east of the 405 is enough to trigger a migraine. As a result, many local residents have sacrificed a great deal of what Los Angeles has to offer, especially when it comes to the arts. What good is a Tony Award-winning play at the Ahmanson or Pantages, or a performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall if those on the Westside miss half of it while they battle through the nightmare that is evening rush hour in L.A.? Even performances in Westwood have become difficult to attend. Still, Palisadians and Westsiders should not have to surrender their desires to be entertained, but where can they go? Beginning sometime in 2008 (the official opening date is yet to be released), locals will be able to enjoy acts by national, international and local artists in a variety of performance genres at The Stage at the new Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center. Dubbed The Madison Project, the new center broke ground in January of 2005 under the artistic direction of Palisadian Dale Franzen, a former professional opera singer, and will be completed this year. In the meantime, though, patrons of the arts can enjoy performances at the Center’s Second Space, which opened in October 2007 with the ‘Under the Radar’ series which was presented free of charge in the small, but very accommodating space located within the Performing Arts Center. ‘We’ve really built a real state-of-the-art theater,’ Franzen said, ‘The only one of its kind in this area. ‘I raised my children here and we didn’t have a performing arts place. If I wanted to see something locally, I didn’t have that option. I felt, as a community member, that this was a big hole.’ The new $45-million theater will feature 504 seats: 2,025-square-foot rehearsal room; four dressing rooms (three ensemble and one star); full fly house, single purchase counterweight rigging; ample wing space (26 ft., stage right, 20 ft. stage left); variable proscenium (42-to-46 ft. width, 24 ft. high); hydrolicized orchestra pit lift; fully trappable stage floor; live broadcasting capabilities for video truck positioned in the loading dock and; state-of-the-art sound system, art performance lighting and screening capabilities. ‘The Westside of Los Angeles has never had anything of its kind,’ said Dustin Hoffman, chairman of the Artistic Advisory Board and alumnus of SMC. ‘What makes it unique is that it’s a stage for dance, opera and musicals. It’s also an intimate theater and it looks great.’ Hoffman, who lives just 10 minutes from Performing Arts Center was an early champion for the theater. ‘He took his first acting class at SMC and has been involved since the beginning. He gave money, raised money and has been an incredible advocate,’ Franzen said. ‘We’re hoping he’ll find wonderful projects to do here. This will be his sandbox and we’re eternally grateful and wouldn’t be here without him.’ Franzen was also involved from the beginning. The transition from opera singer to artistic director of a multi-million dollar theater seems difficult, but was quite natural for Franzen, who spent her entire life surrounded by the arts. ‘I was given an extraordinary opportunity that few are given. It’s incredibly different and incredibly hard, but it’s like a dream in a way,’ she said. The new theater is based primarily on her vision of an intimate, versatile and professional space on L.A.’s Westside. Franzen, a self-proclaimed ‘Hollywood brat’ grew up in a beautiful old neighborhood in Los Feliz where Cecil B. DeMille and many silent movie actors had lived. Her father, Selig J. Seligman, ran ABC during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and despite her show business background and upbringing in Hollywood, she lived what she called a ‘very low key’ life, even walking herself to school everyday. She began singing when she was just three years old, and by the time she was seven, had appeared on her first television show. At age five, she began attending the opera. Years later, when she was given the opportunity to study opera at USC, she moved back to Los Angeles from Canada, where she was attending school, and began her opera studies. Her professional opera career spanned over 20 years, and proved integral to her success in the Madison Project. ‘I know how to sing for my supper,’ she said. While fundraising for the Project, one prospective donor said to her, ‘We understand you’re an opera singer; sing something,’ Franzen, without hesitation, let loose with her lyric soprano, and the donor quickly wrote her a check for $50,000. Franzen moved to Pacific Palisades from Topanga in 2005 when ground was broken on the Performing Arts Center and she wanted to decrease the length of her commute. Her husband Don is an entertainment attorney, who is currently involved in a land use case in Castellemarre. The couple has three children, Ben, a professional musician, Alexandra, a writer and Olivia, who attends PaliHi. The Franzens live in the Las Pulgas neighborhood. ‘It was a really easy transition. I like being in a community where can walk around the little town,’ she said. ‘The Palisades still has a low-key charm to it, no movie theater, no mall. You always run into people you know and it’s just so beautiful.’ Franzen will confirm the opening date of The Stage in February, when she reveals the first season, which will be comprised of 25 events. ‘I’m trying to put together a balanced season, peppered with local and lesser-known artists,’ she said. ‘I see this theater as a place where young artists can get their first start. They might go on to Disney Hall or Royce Hall, but they can start here. ‘At the end of the day,’ Franzen said, ‘this incredible facility will be here. And that feels good.’ The Stage and Second Space at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center are located at Santa Monica Boulevard and 11th Street in Santa Monica, just a short drive from Pacific Palisades. For updates visit: www.thestagesm.com.
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