The Los Angeles Theater Center and Artistic Director José Luis Valenzuela
Jose Luis Valenzuela is committed to doing whatever he and his colleagues at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) can do to make a happy ending from the current economic drama.
Valenzuela took the opportunity of a recent fundraiser for the LATC — a facility located in the heart of Downtown and operated by the Los Angeles Theater Company — to promise a continued effort to “polish his art” in order to obtain more funds to finance efforts to give Latino talent a premier platform.
Valenzuela offered his remarks at the end of an LATC benefit annual gala that took place on October 3 with U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and actor and producer Jimmy Smits in attendance. Valenzuela said the event fell short of its fundraising goal of $275,000, but he vowed to find ways to fill a gap of approximately $100,000.
“It has always been difficult to raise money, but the most important thing is that it has to be done and our efforts must continue,” he said. “Theater is very difficult around the world. Especially in the United States it’s most difficult, because it isn’t subsidized by the government, or anything.”
Valenzuela said that the local Latino community loves the theater and attends the LATC in strong numbers. But the productions attract a wide-range of theater-goers, including many hard-working folks. That means, he said, that the price of tickets has to be kept low in order to ensure the performances reach the whole community.
“They can’t be expensive because then people wouldn’t come,” he said. “So the money raised from the sale of tickets isn’t enough. It’s not enough to cover all the expenses of the play. I have to get on the phone and call all my friends, people I know to ask for donations.”
Valenzuela said that he is always thinking up ways to raise funds, often seeking opportunities to provide more exposure to Latino art and theater at the same time. He said, however, that the current economic downturn has complicated such efforts.
“It’s getting more and more difficult due to the situation the country is in,” he said.
Valenzuela also decried a lack of attention from local media outlets.
“Look, you’re the only reporter here, and we’re talking about a city like Los Angeles, and I have the secretary of labor here — she’s a very big celebrity,” he said. “Don’t you think the news media should be here? Don’t you think the newspapers should be here? I’m talking about the L.A. Times and all of them. At least, La Opinion.”
It’s not as though he hasn’t asked, he said.
“We do everything we can and they know because we announce it with plenty of time,” Valenzuela added. “There’s no support from the local media. I don’t know if they see the importance or they don’t think it’s important. But one keeps on doing the work, which is what’s most important — the work.”
Valenzuela said that — fundraising shortfalls aside — he considered the gala to be a success because attendees and sponsors responded to the invitation in whatever way they could and showed their interest in Latino theater in Los Angeles.
Valenzuela soon turned to the next possibilities he sees on the horizon for LATC, announcing his desire to forge relationships with Mexican producers and actors such as Salma Hayek, Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron — all of whom are enjoying success in Hollywood.
“The Latino directors and producers who are very famous are Mexican, and this is the Mexican-American community, so we have to create a relationship with them because there hardly is one,” he said. “But we have to do it to see if they’re interested. I actually do know Salma, she’s who we know the best, I think. We’ve been to some events or things like that together, but not Guillermo. I don’t know him, or Cuaron, or Alejandro Iñárritu. I don’t know them, but other members of the foundation [that helps support LATC] do, so we have to work.”
