Following a remarkable, nearly 15-year “run” at The Theatre in Old Town, Miracle Theatre Productions (MTP) is on the move. Since 1992, the organization has operated the State of California-owned theatre as a concession under contract to the state.
Due to recent changes in the operation of Old Town, the state put the concession out for bid in May. By choice, MTP was not a contender.
“The Theatre in Old Town has been a great artistic home for us, but it has had its challenges, just dealing with the State of California and trying to fit into a historic state park, which is not really what we do or who we are,” producing director Jill K. Mesaros said.
According to Mesaros, local residents are not going to Old Town as they once did.
“We are very much looking forward to moving to an area where we still have a driving, growing opportunity. Old Town has really taken a hit since the changeover there [and the loss of Bazaar del Mundo],” she continued. “The majority of our audience members are San Diegans. People have the misconception that because we’re located in a tourist area we get a lot of our business from tourism, and it’s just not true.”
MTP artistic director Paula Kalustian agreed that the venue had become a poor fit for the production company and the move will be a welcome one.
“I remember the moment when Jill [Mesaros] and I saw the RFP (Request for Proposal),” Kalustian said. “We looked at each other and heaved a humongous sigh of relief, because there was just no way we were going to bid. The hardest thing for us in this whole transition was in not knowing the timing. It was very frustrating in terms of programming and future planning to not have word for so long, knowing that potentially it could happen any day.”
It is likely that the state will award the theater concession to the only bidder, Mark Anderson of Insta-Theatre Inc. of Encinitas.
Meanwhile MTP business partners Mesaros, Kalustian and associate artistic director Steve Anthony are in negotiations with the City of Encinitas and a private developer with a large commercial project planned for the North County coastal area.
“We’re proud of the fact that we put The Theatre in Old Town on the map,” Mesaros said. “For the first five years, we had the daunting task of just letting people know there was a theater in Old Town.”
And when you’re a for-profit theater company, you “bet the bank on every show every time,” she added. That means that in the case of a flop, there isn’t time to recoup production costs. The business partners hope that the new location will allow more flexibility in programming.
Memorable productions during MTP’s 14 years at The Theatre in Old Town were “Beehive, the 60’s Musical,” a five-year run of “Forever Plaid,” “Shear Madness” and, most recently, “Forbidden Broadway: SVU.”
Following the close of “Forbidden Broadway,” Mesaros and Kalustian produced brief engagements of three shows during November and December, among them “Sister’s Christmas Catechism” and “The Wonder Bread Years.”
Insta-Theatre will likely take over the venue sometime this month under a new name yet to be announced.