Redondo Beach Cuts Ties With Civic Light Opera

The city of Redondo Beach has terminated its relationship with the , effective immediately, City Manager Bill Workman and Mayor Mike Gin told Patch on Monday afternoon.

According to Workman, the Civic Light Opera, which uses the for some of its performances, has not paid its rental fees and charges for the 2010 season.

The organization owes the city $209,000, according to Gin. The last payment it made, for $10,000, was submitted to the city in February 2010.

Normally, fees and payments due to the city are made up front; however, the city has granted the Civic Light Opera leniency over the years because of their "longstanding relationship," Gin said.

"We've always received payment in full for their prior season by June," the mayor said. "[This year] to date, we have not received any additional funding other than the $10,000."

Gin also said the decision was not made lightly.

"This is a very tough decision, very frankly, for me personally. … I for one have had season tickets to the South Bay Civic Light Opera for years and feel that they've brought an extraordinary amount of talent and cultural richness to our community," Gin said.

The Civic Light Opera's reservations for using the Performing Arts Center in September and December have been canceled, Gin said. The organization has planned productions of Company and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

In a phone call to Patch, Gin said recent budget cuts brought the payment issue to a head.

"This is a very tough decision, but it was a decision that needed to be made particularly in light of the tough budget that we have experienced as a city," Gin said, noting that the city had asked employees to make "a significant amount of sacrifices."

"It was something that, frankly, we had to do to really be accountable to all taxpayers in our community," he said.

When called for comment, a representative of the Civic Light Opera directed reporters to a news release posted on the organization's website. The representative did not directly address questions about the city's decision.

"Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities will proudly continue to provide exceptional theatrical productions to our audiences, just as we have for the past 20 years," James A. Blackman III, the group's founder and executive director/producer, wrote in a news release dated Thursday. "We are in active negotiations on very significant growth and expansion opportunities for our organization. I expect to be able to announce new dates for Company, as well as other exciting news in the very near future."

The news release also did not address the payment issues; instead, it announced that the Civic Light Opera had simply postponed its production of Company.

According to its website, the Civic Light Opera primarily uses two venues: the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center and the Hermosa Beach Playhouse.