3 in Serious Contention to Run Cerritos Center

Two Southern Californians and one Coloradan are under serious consideration for the job of executive director at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, the facility’s interim chief confirmed Wednesday.

The short list of candidates consists of Walter Morlock, the center’s marketing director; Wayne Shilkret, executive director of the Pasadena Symphony; and Mitchell Gershenfeld, executive director of the foundation that runs Denver’s Paramount Theatre, said Kurt Swanson, the Cerritos center’s acting director.

The list may change before the position is filled in about a month, said Swanson, who heads the city’s community and cultural services department, which oversees the center.

“It’s possible [any one of the candidates] could drop off,” Swanson said. “We are not to the point of being ready to offer the position.”

Victor Gotesman was the center’s executive director from its 1992 opening through last November, when he was hired by a theater-design consulting firm in Connecticut, Swanson said.

The center, which has a maximum seating capacity of 1,700, has operated this season at 79% of its capacity.

Morlock refused to comment about the executive director’s position. Shilkret, who operated Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium from 1976-89 and then became the Hollywood Bowl’s general manager, said he would consider accepting it. He has been with the Pasadena Symphony since 1990.

Gershenfeld, who operates a historic, 2,000-seat venue for performing arts, said he would “absolutely” consider an offer.