Kirk and Anne Douglas Give $2.5 Million To CTG

Classic movie house to be turned into legit venue

Clara Sturak
Associate editor

   Over 100 well-wishers, journalists, photographers and the members of a middle school marching band suffered the unusual cold and wind last Wednesday, January 30, at an outdoor press conference on Washington Boulevard in Culver City.
   On a day when most level-headed Angelenos would choose to stay safely inside their homes or even cars, the crowd gathered for what was billed as a “surprise announcement” by Kirk Douglas and Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Gordon Davidson. Given the fact that the event was held outside the historic Culver Theater – the announcement was not much of a surprise.
   After a brief introduction by actor and Center Theatre Group (CTG) board member Richard Thomas, a beaming Davidson took the podium in front of the vacant movie house to announce that Kirk and Anne Douglas will donate $2.5 million to CTG’s campaign to raise funds for a 400 seat live theater venue, to open on the site in 2004. The new theater will produce new plays, nurture young talent, and provide a facility for educational theater programs for children.
   The former cinema, designated an historic landmark, will be renovated by Steven Ehrlich Architects, a Culver City firm. Ehrlich’s local projects include the Paul Cummins Library at Crossroads School and Sony Music’s West Coast Headquarters. Theater Projects Consultants of Norwalk, Connecticut will collaborate on the design of the theater’s interior.
   CTG Board President Richard Kagan told the crowd that the Culver City Redevelopment Agency had committed $1.25 million to the project, and a $250,000 federal grant had been brokered by California Senator Dianne Feinstein. “Today we are encouraged that people like the Douglases are making a stand for what they believe in,” he said, “Anne and Kirk Douglas have issued a challenge to all of us who love theater.”
   Culver City Mayor Ed Wolkowitz presented a Culver City Council proclamation to the Douglases, declaring, “January 30, 2002 will forever be known as Kirk and Anne Douglas Day throughout Culver City.” The new theater will provide a much-needed westside venue for live theater in the Los Angeles area, and, according to Wolkowitz, “is a critical component in the ongoing revitalization of [Culver City’s] downtown.”
   Davidson returned to the podium to announce that the Culver theater will join CTG’s Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatres in bringing top quality theater to Southern Californians, and will be renamed – “with Anne’s blessing” – the Kirk Douglas Theatre. And finally, the man himself was invited to the podium.
   In a black leather jacket, chinos and Vans, with his silver hair tied back in a ponytail, Kirk Douglas’s cool was perhaps rivaled only by the reflector shade-wearing kettle drummer for the Culver City Middle School Band. They could have been brothers, were it not for the 70-or-so years between them.
   The star of dozens of films, including Lust For Life, Spartacus, and Seven Days in May, suffered a stroke that affected his speech in 1996. He spoke slowly but with little outward effort, as he talked about the hopes he has for his namesake. “For years…the center of the world’s theater has been New York. Gordon Davidson changed that. He’s produced and directed new plays that have ended up on the Broadway stage, and he is still making LA an ever more vital community…but there is still a void. The void will be filled here, by serving as a school for new talent, a place for experimentation for young actors, writers and directors,” pausing for effect, the dimple-chinned actor added, “But wait a minute! What about me? I’m 85 years old!”
   Douglas charmed the crowd with the pledge that the Kirk Douglas Theatre “will be a place for the old as well as the young to experiment. God willing, my hope is to perform on this stage in 2004,” and finished with a rousing, “Hear this, Broadway! LA is the capital of the entertainment world — now and forever — movies, TV and theater!”
   After a few rounds of “I am Spartacus!” from Douglas and the enthusiastic audience, a red curtain was dropped to unveil a new marquee on the Culver Theater: Kirk Douglas Theatre: Innovative Theatre and Creative Education For Young People.”
   At the ceremony’s completion, Douglas told the Mirror that his latest donation has much in common with his and his wife’s pet project – building and refurbishing playgrounds for the children of Los Angeles and Israel. “We’re in favor of anything that helps children. Playgrounds help kids and theater helps kids. We’re just happy to be a part of this.”
   As were the young members of the Culver City Middle School Band, who gathered around both Douglas and Davidson, autograph books in hand, offering hopefully, “I’m an actor, too!”