A NOISE WITHIN GETTING LOUDER; COMPANY AIMS FOR NEXT LEVEL AT CAL STATE L.A.

Byline: Reed Johnson Staff Writer

When Art Manke was asked recently how A Noise Within was adjusting to its spacious new digs at California State University, Los Angeles' Luckman Fine Arts Complex, he hesitated only a second.

``It took us the first week to find where the restrooms are and where to park,'' joked Manke, artistic co-director of the formerly Glendale-based theater troupe.

So much for the big challenges.

Now Manke and his artistic cohorts must find a way for their classical repertory company - which has made quite a noise in L.A. theater circles in recent years - to pump up the creative volume another notch or two.

After eight seasons in a cozy 144-seat theater in downtown Glendale, A Noise Within announced last May that it had entered into a long-term contractual relationship to become company-in-residence at Cal State L.A.

The new three-year partnership will be consummated tonight when A Noise Within opens its first production of the season, Edmond Rostand's swashbuckling romance ``Cyrano de Bergerac,'' which Manke will direct.

The 5-year-old Luckman has a capacity that can be expanded from 252 to 500, 700 or up to 1,150 by mesh curtains that seal off the balcony and part of the orchestra seating. The facility also is equipped with full dressing rooms, state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems, plush seats, air conditioning and vast amounts of fly space and wing space that will make it possible for A Noise Within to design bigger, more mobile sets.

``If you're a cook, it's like going from your kitchen at home to a full industrial kitchen and trying to find out where the light switches are and the walk-in freezers,'' Manke said. ``You can still cook, but it's an adjustment.''

Yet, the Luckman already has begun to feel like home.

``We thought this space would be too vast for the work we do. Having been over there, it feels very intimate,'' said Julia Rodriguez Elliott; she and husband Geoff Elliott are A Noise Within's other artistic co-directors.

According to Manke, A Noise Within had been searching for new headquarters for the past 2-1/2 years because it was rapidly outgrowing the bulky nine-story, gothic-style former Masonic Temple, a couple blocks south of the Glendale Galleria, where it had been since 1991.

Unable to secure a long-term lease from the Glendale building's owner, or to purchase the structure outright, it would have been virtually impossible for the company to launch a long-term capital campaign, Manke said. Few foundations or individual donors are willing to sink money into a building unless they know its occupants are going to stick around for a while.

``What success has done has been causing us to be bursting at the seams,'' Manke said.

While A Noise Within's budget has increased over the years, to $900,000 this season, so have its expenses. When it first opened, actors were paid at the 99-seat rate of $15 a show. When A Noise Within's seating capacity went up two years ago, so did its salary rates.

This year, the company will be negotiating a long-term agreement for Luckman with the Actors' Equity union, under which A Noise Within also will be required to contribute to actors' health and pension plans.

A Noise Within's most pressing challenge, however, may not be financial or artistic, but the psychological one of persuading subscribers to follow it into East Los Angeles. About 20 percent of the company's audience base resides in Glendale. The next largest segments come from Westwood and Los Feliz, with the remainder divided among Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, followed by Pasadena and San Marino.

Many of these patrons may actually find it easier taking the 10 Freeway to the Cal State exit east of downtown than navigating some combination of freeways plus downtown Glendale surface streets.

There's also the question of how audiences will handle the transition from bustling downtown Glendale, where dozens of shops and restaurants are within easy walking distance, to a self-contained commuter college campus.

To give customers a look at the new location, A Noise Within held two open houses this summer, each of which drew 300 people. Subscription renewals are running strong, Manke said, and the company plans to run a shuttle from Glendale for one performance per production this season.

Leaving Glendale was ``a difficult decision for us, because we've made a lot of friends here,'' Rodriguez Elliott acknowledged.

But for the company whose very first production, ``Hamlet,'' hinted at its future ambitions, the past is now prologue.

``We could've produced in (the Glendale building) for the next 10, 15 years, but that isn't what we set out to do,'' said Rodriguez Elliott. ``It's exciting, it's scary, it's all those things. But I think those are great motivators.''

The Facts

What: A Noise Within's production of ``Cyrano de Bergerac.''

Where: Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex, California State University, Los Angeles, 5151 State University Drive.

When: In repertory through Nov. 7.

Tickets: General admission $26 and $30; $22 and $26 for students and seniors. Call [phone] or [phone].

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO A Noise Within artistic co-directors Geoff Elliott, clockwise from top, Art Manke and Julia Rodriguez Elliott are broadening their horizons - literally - with a move to California State University, Los Angeles.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer