Actors Lend Hand to Raise Funds to Build Theater

Actors Steve Allen, Ed Asner, Lynn Redgrave, Harry Hamlin and David Warner will perform Shakespearean readings Oct. 12 to raise funds for the city’s first professional theater.

The theater at 29243 Pacific Coast Highway is the site of an abandoned Lutheran church. The City Council approved a zoning change and reconfiguration to a theater last spring, said City Manager Harry Peacock.

“I’m looking forward to seeing whether there’s enough community support for theater here,” he said.

Artistic director Charles Marowitz said that traditionally, only 1% of a city’s population regularly attends theater--making for a projected 200 theatergoers in Malibu. To succeed, he said, the theater will have to appeal to a regional audience.

So far, the proposed theater consists of a stage and folding chairs, said spokeswoman Jackie Bridgeman.

Thus far, she said, most productions by the Malibu Stage Company have been performed at Pepperdine University.

The fund-raiser also will feature selections by members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Tickets are $150 each and are available by calling (310) 456-8226.