Some of the members of Long Beach’s newest theatre venture. Photos by Greggory Moore. 

Seven short years ago, a group of CSU Long Beach grad students were making on of their dreams come true, having founded their own theatre company. A group of CSULB undergrads were so inspired by their slightly-elders that within two years later they had done the same.

We’re talking about the Garage Theatre and Alive Theatre, respectively, and in 2013 the two have finally collided—in a good way—to birth a single celestial theatre body, which, in the unconventional style that is a hallmark of both companies, they’re naming, “The Garage Theatre in Collision with Alive Theatre.”

It’s a move that had been suggested to them numerous times in recent years, particularly last year, when the two groups were looking into co-occupying the idle Edison Theatre space. So the obvious question is: Why now?

“The real answer is: necessity,” says Thomas Amerman, a collider from the Alive side.

“It really wasn’t feasible for two companies of, like, three people each to keep doing it,” says Aliver Joe Howells, a statement that gets a big, knowing laugh from the 10 “Collision” members I sat down with in the Garage Theatre space, which will serve as the stage for this joint venture.

“Where it started for us is when we found out we were losing Jessica [Variz] and Kristal [Greenlea],” says Garage co-founder Eric Hamme, referring to last year’s departure of a full third of the Garage’s board. “That left us with a hole in the company that needed to be filled.”

Last year’s departures contributed to the Garage’s season being one play shorter than its usual half-dozen. Meanwhile, similar goings-on over at Alive resulted in no full productions since April 2012. It was time for an infusion that each company was well equipped to provide for the other.

“Alive Theatre brings a whole new creative energy and talents that we don’t possess,” says Hamme. “It’s exciting to incorporate those into the season and really bringing new things to this room, being able to share with our audience things that they’ve never seen before.”

One of those talents is guerilla marketing.

“We used to do that, too, when we didn’t have a home,” Hamme says. “We’d be out at the art walks and doing wild stuff in the streets. But over the years just maintaining this space became so much work that this is where we spent most of our time.”

Collision in progress (all in good fun).

“What their strengths are our weaknesses, and vice versa,” says Alive co-founder Danielle Dauphinee. “For example, sometime [Alive] got way too bogged down with the process of things. […] We would have multiple meetings about the process—I’m not kidding.”

Amerman notes that the two companies share a “philosophy to do works that are less known rather than just the standard crowd-pleasers.”

“We are not ashamed to say that we follow directly in their footsteps,” he says. “They’ve been the inspiration for us from the beginning.”

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t adjustments to be made.

“We’re still sort of in the dating phase of the relationship,” says Hamme. “Speaking for the Garage, we’ve really been so spoiled for the last eight years, because the seven or eight people who were running this company had been working together for so long and are such good friends. It was very comfortable and very easy, and we knew each other so well that a lot didn’t have to be discussed; we were all on the same page. On the one hand I think that was a good thing, because it was easy. But the other side of that is you get comfortable with the way you do things, and sometimes that can hinder you from evolving or moving forward.”

“I think we’re still finding that path forward,” says Garage co-founder Jamie Sweet. “So dating is a good metaphor, because right now it’s at the ‘dinner and a movie’ kind of level….”

Amerman: “We don’t just jump into bed with a guy on the first date.”

Sweet: “And as we go on, we’re going to find out [whether] this is somebody we want to move in with.”

Dauphinee: “We do stay the night a lot together. We’re dating, but it’s good dating.”

From here the dialog takes the “dating” metaphor into safe-sex territory that may not be fitting for a family publication such as the Long Beach Post but nicely exemplifies the irreverent humor that has characterized many Garage and Alive productions over the years, as well as how easily these people can work together. After all, numerous actors and crewmembers have already worked on shows by both companies.

But the couple’s official coming-out party will be a fundraiser Sunday, February 17, at Alex’s Bar, where a sawbuck for the cause will get you four bands (Slippers, So Cal Tennis Pros, June Holidays, and Bobby Blunders), plus a DJ for your dancing pleasure, not to mention the announcement of the Alive/Garage Collision season, along with “some hilarious whatnots.” What whatnots? Come out and find out.

“We’re trying to, against all odds, create a theatergoing public in Southern California,” says Amerman. What he doesn’t say is that, however hard things may be for theatre in SoCal, it’s that much harder in a city like Long Beach, which is wounded by the triple-edged sword of not yet being a destination location for those outside the city, having large portions of the city in which you would be hard-pressed to find any theatergoers at all, and having no solid, go-to resource to keep people informed of Long Beach’s theatrical goings-on.

Nonetheless, a malaise the Garage/Alive Collision does not suffer is a lack of spirit and energy. And if you come out Sunday night, you’ll see what I mean.

The Garage Theatre/Alive Theatre 3rd Annual Kickoff Party (yeah, it’s confusing, considering this is their first season as a joint venture. Get over it) begins at 7:30PM Sunday, February 17, at Alex’s Bar (2913 E. Anaheim St., LB 90804). Admission: $10. Music! Dancing! Prizes! Tomfoolery! 21 and over only, please.