Name Change in Works for Deane Theatre

Gaslamp Quarter Theatre officials said on Friday they will change the name of the company’s Deane Theatre as requested by patron Charles Deane.

Armed with a financial review by board members that they say refutes Deane’s allegations of irresponsible management of the theater, Kit Goldman, the theater’s managing producer, declined to say when the name change will occur.

Talks regarding the resolution of $150,000 pledged by Deane to the theater are still proceeding, said Goldman, who also declined to say what the new name of the theater will be.

The fiscal review, by four members of the theater’s board of directors, was made after Deane, who is also on the theater’s board, disputed construction and outfitting expenses charged to the theater by its developer, Dan Pearson.

On Friday, Pearson, who is married to Goldman, said he was “relieved that it’s over.

“The cloud is removed from my reputation,” he said. “I can go back to living my life and my business the way I did before this thing started.”

Deane, however, called the review “a nonsensical whitewash.”

“It’s absolute window dressing . . . just to make themselves look good at this point.”

The report of the four-member panel, composed of a certified public accountant, a computer consultant, an attorney and a theater consultant, affirmed Pearson’s claims that the $3.4-million theater project came in $17,000 under budget. Deane has disputed those figures, but on Friday would not go into detail, saying he was “hopeful” his differences with the theater could be ironed out through talks.

Deane, a former precious-metals trader who lives in Rancho Santa Fe, pledged $250,000 for construction costs of the 250-seat theater, which opened in January. When the dispute erupted this spring, he had not paid $150,000 of that money. Goldman would not comment on whether the theater plans a suit to recover the $150,000.