The show must go on... How this Los Angeles based theater company is moving forward despite these weird times
By Alejandra Enciso-Dardashti
 |
| An interview with LATC´s Artistic Director José Luis Valenzuela. Photo: LATC.org |
Before these apocalyptic times, I reached out to the Latino Theatre Company to request an interview and talk about their upcoming season. We had scheduled the interview in advance so, when it was time to do the call, we were living in a totally different time than just two weeks before... here is my chat with Artistic Director, José Luis Valenzuela:
F.A.0: Let us start with the bad
stuff... What is the approach that you all are taking with the current
situation and how is the pulse? How is everybody feeling over at your
organization?
J.L.V:You know, it is complicated with an
organization as small as we are. If you are not producing, and if you are not
performing... We had to postpone the season... For us, unfortunately a lot of
it means money. We decided that we will still pay the workers because of their livelihood.
Right now, everybody is staying
home, we are trying to have a person at the office answering the phones because
people are calling about their tickets and what is happening. We are going to
hold on as much as we can but, financially it is a big deal for us.
F.A.0: First it was AB5 and now
this...
J.L.V: Exactly! first AB5 and now
this! That is correct. It makes it very difficult for companies that do not
have lots of resources.
F.A.0: Are you getting a lot of
requests for refunds?
 |
| Photo Courtesy of LATC.org |
J.L.V: We have not yet. We are
asking people if we could just extend the tickets for another date you know?
Hopefully they will agree.
F.A.0: Different companies are
taking different approaches. For example, even though things are changing every
day, Broadway is set to re start between April 12-15. Other companies until May
and so on. Do you have a tentative re-start date?
J.L.V: We are trying to figure out
if we could begin -at least the rehearsal period- around April 21 or something
like that if it is possible. I am not sure; we are so close to it. Maybe we
would have to do it later, but the idea was to reopen the season in May. We had
two companies from Europe that will not be able to come. And, it is a
little nerve-racking just because we do not know if we will open the season and
people will come anyway.
The fear is so big, that they may not want to go
anywhere.
 |
| Photo Courtesy of LATC.org |
F.A.0: Which companies are these?
J.L.V: Marta Carrasco with the
show Perra de nadie and Kulunka Theatre with Andre and
Dorine. I do not think they will be able to come. Not during this time
because the doors are closed to come from Europe. We are trying to do the three
other shows, at least from the middle of May to the end of June. After that, it
is very complicated for us to have shows because we rely a lot on the schools
and young people from colleges and universities. They are closed, some all the
way to the summer taking online classes now and others like UCLA and USC for
the rest of the year.
F.A.0: What are you doing to keep
sane and move forward?
J.L.V: So, right now, we are trying
to figure out financially what it will do for us if we close the season until
the fall. We are trying to figure other ways to provide other services without
going to the theatre. Online services for people who bought a ticket and
provide them with a special link, so they are able to see the shows online. We
do not know what the response from the union is going to be in order to film. I
think they are trying to figure it out. What can we do and what can we not do?
F.A.0: Well, I think they have to
be flexible...everybody is on the same boat. Are you setting up a go fund me or
something of the sort for these times?
J.L.V: Yes, in order to keep the
operations of the theatre, especially for that. Because that will not get
lower. You still must pay for the electricity and everything else which is very
expensive in a building like us.
F.A.0: Can you tell me ballpark
figure, how much does it cost? is it monthly?
J.L.V: Right now, our operation
costs us around 150,000 dollars a month.
F.A.0: Oh Jesus...
J.L.V: Yeah... it is a lot of money
for us.
F.A.0: Yes! a lot of money in
general!
J.L.V: I think these two weeks are
going to be crucial for everybody, for the entire country. So, we are trying to
be sensitive to the idea that people are thinking about their livelihood you
know.
 |
| José Luis Valenzuela. Photo Credit: UCLA |
It is a difficult time for the world right now but, we have to keep going
and figure out how to survive.
F.A.0: How many employees do you
have over there?
J.L.V: We have 11 employees that
are full time and we hire many hourly employees, 300 a year. We are concerned
for all those workers, so we are trying to allow them to come to the building
and be able to work away from each other in order to help them financially.
This is work that we need to do in the theater anyway, these are light people,
sound people, carpenters, etc. We are trying to be sensitive and give them
hours even though we do not have the season running.
F.A.0: So, you are trying to keep
things as stable and flowy as possible -in that sense- for people to still keep
getting paid.
J.L.V: Yeah...
F.A.0: That is awesome.
J.L.V: It's a small organization
but everybody is very committed, and they are wonderful people. We have an
amazing staff. They are part of what we do and who we are. Just because they
are hourly does not mean we do not have a responsibility towards them.
F.A.0: Is it the same for the rest
of the employees?
J.L.V: Yes. We are keeping
everybody on salary and letting them work from home. A lot of the work can be
done from home. That is why it makes it really complicated because we do not
know how long this can last without bringing the company under. And I am sure
this is happening everywhere.
For the actors that were supposed
to be in contract right now, they can't because we are not rehearsing. That is terrifying.
They were supposed to get a job and they didn't. It is going to be difficult
for a lot of people, especially the artists because they are seasonal too. It
is not a full-time job. I was talking to one of my playwrights and he was
mentioning that all his shows were cancelled and that he will not receive any
royalties. "I have no idea how I am going to survive".
F.A.0: The thing about this, is
that you do not know. We do not know if it will be four weeks, four months or
however long. How can we know what to do? The other thing is that, when things
go back to normal, how are all those dates of audiences and missed shows moving
forward?
J.L.V: When we come back, instead
of doing 22-23 performances for each show, we will do maybe 35. More dates for
people to be able to come. It is great and hopefully people will come.
F.A.0: What is the capacity of each
of your theatres?
J.L.V: I have a 500, a 350, a
300 and a 99 seat. So, we have capacity for 1,200 people a night, total.
F.A.0: Do you have times where all
your theaters are running at the same time?
J.L.V: Yes. Sometimes, and when it
does, it is very exciting.
 |
| Los Angeles Theatre Center Campus. Photo LATC-Facebook |
José Luis Valenzuela and The Latino
Theatre Company are the Padrinos of the new phase of this blog and its persona
in English. We are very grateful that they took the call and confirmed the
interview BEFORE these apocalyptic times and granted us to speak with the
Artistic Director of the place no less!
Please check back their website as they
prepare to launch their funding campaign and ways to help the artistic
community. Or simply click on their Donate button. No donation is too
small.
No comments:
Post a Comment