Matt Stone Assures Actors’ Equity That Casa Bonita Isn’t Killing Off Black Bart

The restaurant and entertainment destination Casa Bonita is in hot water with the Actors’ Equity Association who claim that the company is cutting hours and eliminating roles in retaliation to the staff’s unionization efforts. Maybe they should look for those lost wages in Jimbo’s bomb shelter.

Late last year, the famous costumed performers, puppeteers and cliff divers of Casa Bonita moved to unionize with Actors’ Equity and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, seeking fair pay, benefits and “clearer communication between workers and management.” The unionization effort was successful, but, last week, with the Casa Bonita performers seeking to secure their first union contract with the world-famous dinner entertainment megaplex, Casa Bonita management allegedly cut numerous roles from the performance schedule and “unilaterally eliminated over 1,000 hours of available shifts for unionized employees,” according to Actors’ Equity assistant executive director and general counsel Andrea Hoeschen.

With Casa Bonita’s seasonal pop-up “Casa BOOnita” right around the corner, South Park co-creator Matt Stone, who famously acquired and renovated the Lakewood, Colorado institution at great cost with Trey Parker, spoke to The Denver Post in an attempt to assuage concerns about the loss of jobs and shifts by unionized employees as well as the retirement of certain beloved characters. Stone called the accusations levied against him by Actor’s Equity a “falsehood,” saying of his and his partner’s devotion to the performing staff, “Obviously, Trey Parker is not going to eliminate Black Bart.”

But, at the same time, the South Park creators have yet to demonstrate that they’re willing to pay the bandit a living wage.

According to Stone, the Halloween-themed Casa BOOnita pop-up will temporarily remove roving performers from the redecorated Casa Bonita floor as the dining entertainment establishment encourages guests to show up dressed as their favorite character from the Casa Bonita roster. “It’s a really good example of what we’ve always wanted to do with Casa Bonita — is have it change and evolve and be a live place and vibrant and full of new surprises,” Stone explained of the festive initiative. “We’ve always believed in the possibility of what could be there, you know? That’s always fun to talk about, but to pull it off takes a lot of planning and a lot of production.”

As for the costumed performers whom Casa Bonita patrons would typically see roaming the grounds entertaining diners, Stone insists that the removal of those roles during Casa BOOnita is purely a practical matter. “It would be confusing for patrons,” Stone said of the performers, who would presumably be indistinguishable from a costumed guest during Casa BOOnita. “So we decided to do something different, right? And this is going to be something that goes on with Casa Bonita from now on. We always want it to be an evolving canvas of performers and patrons.”

Stone suggested that Casa Bonita could try similar seasonal pop-ups around the Fourth of July or Christmas.

However, the Casa Bonita cast and the union that represents them aren’t ready to take Stone’s assurances at face value, nor are they willing to accept the dramatic reduction in working hours for the affected roles. “We were under the impression that positions were being eliminated at least through November 2nd and that there would be an evaluation of what happens next,” Hoeschen said of the move. “By eliminating those positions, Casa Bonita is eliminating at least 1,000 hours of work for the performers we represent just in the month of October.”

Stone, nevertheless, maintains that moves like this are essential to achieving his and Parker’s vision for Casa Bonita, saying of the cast of characters who give the destination its charm, “We’re going to change them, we’re going to go with what works, eliminate what doesn’t work, we’re going to change it seasonally. We hope to program this place so Casa Bonita is this vibrant place. That’s always been our intention.”

Perhaps consistent wages and health insurance just aren’t all that “vibrant.”